STORY TO BE TOLD

Jerry lends a hand in Japan

Taiwanese actor Jerry Yan and former Japanese footballer Hidetoshi Nakata are the next to lend their hands in the Japanese-Yunnan disaster relief.

Recently, Nakata's boss uploaded a photo of Jerry and Nakata on his Twitter account, after they dined with the Taiwanese actor.

Jerry gave a shout-out to the Japanese citizens through the post, saying, "Press on! I would very much like to help too. I couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw the tsunami. I will be there soon, there wouldn't be any problems."

This was the first time Jerry and Nakata had met. Throughout the dinner, the pair discussed how they could help the victims in not only Japan, but Yunnan, China as well.

Jerry encouraged his fans to do their best for the people in these two places, while Nakata had already travelled to China to raise funds.

Jerry had always enjoyed immense popularity in Japan. It was rumoured that the actor had already donated NT$1 million (RM100,000) to aid the quake victims.

He is also currently discussing volunteer plans with his management agency, but the latter fears for Jerry's safety.

Source: Xinmsn

Published March 22 2011


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Texan worker gets new face

A Texas construction worker horribly disfigured in a power line accident has undergone the nation's first full face transplant in hopes of smiling again and feeling kisses from his 3-year-old daughter.

Dallas Wiens, 25, received a new nose, lips, skin, muscle and nerves from an unidentified dead person in an operation paid for by the U.S. military, which wants to use what is learned to help soldiers with severe facial wounds.

Wiens will not resemble "either what he used to be or the donor," but something in between, said plastic surgeon Dr. Bohdan Pomahac). "The tissues are really molded on a new person."

Pomahac led a team of more than 30 doctors, nurses and other staff at Brigham and Women's Hospital during the 15-hour operation last week. Wiens was listed in good condition at the Boston hospital on Monday. He did not appear at a news conference with the surgeon.

The Fort Worth man's features were all but burned away and he was left blind after hitting a power line while painting a church in November 2008. The transplant was not able to restore his sight, and some nerves were so badly damaged from his injury that he will probably have only partial sensation on his left cheek and left forehead, the surgeon said.

"When I saw Dallas for the first time I was worried that there may not be much we could do," said Pomahac.

Wiens has been able to talk to his family on the phone, said his grandfather, Del Peterson, who attended the news conference Monday.

After the accident, Wiens said "he could choose to get bitter or he could choose to get better. His choice was to get better. Thank God today he's better," Peterson said.

In an Associated Press story and a YouTube video last fall, Wiens spoke poignantly about why he wanted a transplant and how he wanted to smile again and feel kisses from his daughter, Scarlette, who turns 4 next month. Face transplants give horribly disfigured people hope of an option other than "looking in the mirror and hating what they see," he said.

He told the AP that his daughter and his faith have kept him motivated.

"She says, 'Daddy has a boo boo, but God and the doctors are making Daddy's boo boo all better,"' Wiens said. "She doesn't care and she never has since day one that I was disfigured."

No details about the donor were disclosed. The hospital said the match was based on gender, race, age and blood type.

Peterson said his grandson hopes to become an advocate for facial donations, and he thanked the donor family, saying, "You will forever remain in our hearts and our prayers and we are grateful for your selflessness."

The surgery was paid for by the Defense Department, which gave the hospital a $3.4 million research grant for five transplants.

The new federal health care law also helped Wiens by allowing him to get insurance coverage under his father's plan for the expensive drugs he will have to take for the rest of his life to prevent rejection of his new face. He will be covered until he turns 26 in May. He expects to be eligible soon under Medicare, which insures the disabled as well as those over 65.

Wiens had no insurance when he was injured; Medicaid covered about two dozen operations in Dallas until his disability payments put him over the income limit.

About a dozen face transplants have been done worldwide, in the U.S., France, Spain and China. This was the third in the U.S. and the second at the Boston hospital. The previous one was in April 2009 - the partial replacement of the face of a man who was injured in a freak accident. In 2008, Connie Culp became the nation's first partialface transplant recipient. She underwent surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.

Pomahac said one of the two people on the waiting list in Boston for a face transplant is Charla Nash, the Connecticut woman who was mauled and blinded by a friend's 200-pound chimpanzee. The animal ripped off Nash's hands, nose, lips and eyelids. She is also waiting for a hands transplant.

The world's first face transplant, also a partial, was done in France in 2005 on a woman mauled by her dog. Doctors in Spain performed the first full face transplant last March for a farmer who was unable to breathe or eat on his own after accidentally shooting himself in the face.
- AP


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Dutch woman, 63, gives birth



Miracles do happen in life.

A 63-year-old Dutch woman has given birth to a daughter on Monday, becoming the oldest-ever new mother in the Netherlands, AFP reports.

"Baby Meagan was born at the Medical Centre Leeuwarden at 9.48am local time (4.48pm Malaysia time) on March 21,' said a statement on the website of the hospital in the northern Dutch province of Friesland.

"Meagan is the daughter of Tineke Geessink, a 63-year-old woman from Harlingen."

The baby was born with the aid of Caesarian section, said the statement, adding: "Both mother and daughter are fine".

Dutch media reports said Geessink was the oldest-ever Dutch woman to become a mother.

"It is a feeling that I have had for so long, to have a child," the single mum told Dutch public radio, NOS.

"At some point there was something inside me saying: 'It is now or never', and I decided to try everything possible to see if it is still possible."

The NOS said the woman got pregnant through a foreign sperm donor as Dutch fertility doctors would not help her due to her age.

"There is no guarantee that if you have a child at a young age you will see your child grow up," Geessink added. "Of course, the risk with me is bigger. And whether the child will find it nice to have such an old mother ... I hope that she loves me so much that she will just be glad to have me."

Source: www.expatica.com
Published March 22 2011

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Medical benefits for civil servants retiring under EPF

PUTRAJAYA: Civil servants retiring under the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) scheme and their dependants are now eligible for free medical treatment at public hospitals, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

He said the benefit, made available under Section 6A(6) of the Pension Act 227/239, would cover civil servants retiring from both the federal and state governments as well as local governments and statutory bodies.

However, it will not cover those who resigned or left the service voluntarily.

“(The move) is in appreciation of the good service of public servants,” the Prime Minister said at the 12th National Civil Service Convention here yesterday.

Previously, only pensioners were eligible for the free treatment.

Najib said department heads and heads of service would also be given the flexibility to determine the methods used to assess their staff.

“(This is to) ensure that the assessment is relevant, comprehensive and suited to their needs,” he said, adding that this would replace the Competency Level Assessment (PTK) as announced under the Budget in October.

Later at the Prime Minister’s Department Service Excellence Awards event last night, Najib called on the civil service to continuously evaluate their existing systems and procedures and seek improvements to enable them to change with the times.

“This process of improvement must be a journey, not a destination. A journey without end,” he said.

Najib said 1Malaysia’s slogan “People First, Performance Now” was created as a reminder that the people were the main stakeholders of the Government.

He also noted that the Prime Minister’s Department had retained its four-star Financial Management Accountability Index, with five of its departments and agencies given five-star ratings each.

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Schoolgirl’s cupcakes enable Razif to undergo cleft palate op

KUALA LUMPUR: The smile has returned to nine-year-old Razif Azami, who was born with a cleft palate – thanks to the efforts of an enterprising young girl.

Bhavya Vel Vell Paari managed to raise almost RM5,000 from selling brownies and cupcakes to enable Razif to undergo corrective surgery.

She donated the money to Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) Malaysia, who in turn sponsored Razif’s surgery at Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur.

Sweet offering: Bhavya (right) offering Razif a brownie baked by her to raise funds for his corrective surgery.

Her efforts got the attention of several companies, which also sent donations to RMHC on her behalf.

“I love baking and I’m happy that it could help a good cause,” said Bhavya, a Year Six pupil at Alice Smith School, who had undergone cleft lip corrective surgery herself.

“When I had to choose a cause for my school’s community service project, I picked RMHC’s Gift of Smile programme as it was something close to my heart.”

Gift of Smile is a programme run by the RMHC to raise funds for children under 18 years with a cleft lip or palate, and whose families cannot afford to send them for surgery.

RMHC officer Algene Tan said such surgeries cost around RM5,000 and children would require several surgeries to fix their cleft.

“Unfortunately, the procedure is too expensive for many parents,” she added.

Since the programme began in 2004, Gift of Smile has sponsored 498 operations, which cost nearly RM2mil.

Oddly, while funding for the project continues to increase, not many parents have applied for sponsorship for their children, Tan said.

“It could be due to lack of awareness.

“There are also many families who either don’t want to, or can’t afford to come to Kuala Lumpur,” said Tan, adding that RMHC’s funds also covered travel and lodging expenses for families outside the Klang Valley.

She added RMHC welcomes more families seeking sponsorship for surgeries for their children with similar conditions.

They can obtain more information from RMHC’s website www.rmhc.org.my.