Tuesday, October 13, 2015

The Brahman Bull of Coney Island

The Malays have a saying:
"lembu punya susu, sapi dapat nama"
which means... 
someone else being credited for your good deeds.

Anyway,
I think the Sapi refers to this Brahman or Zebu Bull.

The Brahman is a breed of Zebu cattle.

===.
The Brahman Bull of Coney Island



===.
===.
.
.
Brahman (cattle)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahman_(cattle)

The Brahman or Brahma is a breed of Zebu cattle (Bos taurus indicus) that was first bred in United States from cattle breeds imported from India. Brahma cattle were produced by cross-breeding Kankrej, Gujarat, Ongole, and the Gir (or Gyr) strains. The Brahman is one of the most popular breeds of cattle intended for meat processing and is widely used in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, United States, Colombia and Australia among many other places.
.
.
===.
.
.
Zebu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebu

zebu (/ˈzˌbj//ˈzb/ or /ˈzb/Bos primigenius indicus or Bos indicus or Bos taurus indicus), sometimes known as indicine cattlehumped cattle or Brahman, is a species or sub-species of domestic cattle originating in South Asia. Zebu are characterised by a fatty hump on their shoulders, drooping ears and a large dewlap. They are well adapted to withstanding high temperatures, and are farmed throughout the tropical countries, both as pure zebu and as hybrids with taurine cattle, the other main type of domestic cattle. Zebu are used as draught oxen, as dairy cattle and as beef cattle, as well as for byproducts such as hides and dung for fuel and manure. In 1999, researchers at Texas A&M University successfully cloned a zebu.[1]
.
.
===.
.
.
Ongole cattle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ongole_cattle

Ongole cattle are indigenous to the Andhra region in the Prakasam District in the State of Andhra Pradesh in India. The breed derives its name from the place name, Ongole. Some also refer to this breed as Nelore cattle as this area was once part of the Nelore area. The bull, Bos Indicus, is in great demand as it is said to possess resistance to both foot and mouth disease and mad cow disease.[1] These cattle are commonly used in bull fights inMexico and some parts of East Africa due to their strength and aggressiveness
.
.
===.
Hopefully we'll get to see the 
free roaming bull 
and the 
Rusty-Breasted Cuckoo.

===.
.
.
News Article
~
Coney Island Park opens to the public

Coney Island Park opens to the public

NParks, which manages Coney Island Park, has worked to preserve the island's original lush vegetation (left). The park features a beach that stretches 2km and a 2.4km-long path (right) that is part of the park connector network, which cyclists can us

NParks, which manages Coney Island Park, has worked to preserve the island's original lush vegetation (above). The park features a beach that stretches 2km and a 2.4km-long path that is part of the park connector network, which cyclists can use to travel between Pasir Ris and Punggol.
~ ST PHOTOS: CHEW SENG KIM

Nature haven on Coney Island is accessible via two bridges linked to Punggol and Pasir Ris

A slice of rustic island nature, complete with a free-roaming bull, is now open to the public, and there is no need for a boat to get there.

Coney Island Park is located on the 50ha offshore Coney Island, which is connected to the mainland by two bridges on its western and eastern ends to Punggol Promenade and Pasir Ris Coast Industrial Park 6. The park was officially opened by Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan.

Costing about $3 million, the park took 15 months to build. It features a beach that stretches 2km and a 2.4 km-long path that is part of the park connector network, which cyclists can use to travel between Pasir Ris and Punggol.

Keen-eyed visitors may also encounter many different types of plants and animals there - the park is home to 86 tree species and at least 157 animal species, including nationally threatened species such as the spotted wood owl and the rusty-breasted cuckoo.

Luckier visitors may even come across the single Brahman bull that roams freely across the island.

It is not clear how the bull got on the island, but the timid and gentle animal was found in poor condition during redevelopment, although it has since been nursed back to health, Mr Khaw told the crowd to applause at yesterday's event.

To give that authentic feel, there is no electricity or piped water on the island. Instead, electricity to power the pumps for toilets is generated from solar power, while water for flushing and hand washing is harvested from rain.

Most of the signboards, benches and boardwalks are made using timber from uprooted casuarina trees, which grow well on coastal habitats like those on Coney Island.

The National Parks Board (NParks), which manages the park, has also tried to preserve the island's original lush vegetation by intentionally leaving the beaches uncleared and allowing greenery to grow in its natural environment.

"The main distinguishing feature is the rustic charm of the park. We want to keep it as basic as possible," said Ms Kartini Omar, senior director of parks from NParks. Compared to Pulau Ubin, which has a similar rustic vibe, Coney Island Park is much easier to access as it is connected to the mainland, she added.

The history of the island, also known as Pulau Serangoon, dates back to the 1930s, when it was bought over by the Haw Par brothers - Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par, who built a beach villa there.

The villa fell into disrepair after World War II and the island remained uninhabited until 1950, when Indian businessman Ghulam Mahmood bought the island with the intention to turn it into a resort.

He named it after the Coney Island amusement park in New York, but his plans never materialised after he was fined for corruption.

Long-time Punggol resident Low Joo Kek, 60, said that as a child, he would swim 30m from the mainland to Coney Island during the low tide to pick shellfish on the beach.

Welcoming the throwback nature of the island, he said: "I'm glad plans to turn the island into an amusement park didn't materialise. There is not much difference between the island then and now."
.
.
===.

The Story of 2 Nurses

===.
.
.
The Story of 2 Nurses
~ If they had not chosen Nursing as a profession, this might not have happened.
~
Orphaned Korean sisters reunited by chance in Florida after 40 years
~ PUBLISHED: 2015 Oct 13, Tuesday

SARASOTA, Florida (REUTERS) - Two orphaned South Korean sisters were recently reunited by chance in Florida after they were hired by the same hospital 40 years after their adoptions by different sets of American parents, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.

Ms Holly Hoyle O'Brien, 46, and her half-sister Ms Meagan Hughes, 44, were orphaned in their native Pusan, South Korea, in the mid-1970s when their father, an alcoholic, was hit by a train, the sisters told the paper. Neither can recall their mothers.

Ms Hughes, whose birth name is Eun-Sook Shin, was adopted first in 1976 and grew up in Kingston, New York, the paper reported on Saturday.

Ms O'Brien, or Pok-nam Shin, was adopted two years later and went to live barely 480km away in Alexandria, Virginia. She contacted the orphanage in South Korea years later but could find no records of Eun-Sook, the paper said.

They reunited this year after both were hired just months apart at Sarasota's Doctors Hospital. Ms Hughes had been living in the area since 1981 after her family moved there. Ms O'Brien arrived in Sarasota in 2005.

The hospital said that the sisters were not immediately available on Monday for comment.

"We are thrilled to have Holly and Meagan as members of our healthcare family, and we look forward to continuing to support them as they reconnect after so many decades apart," said Doctors Hospital chief executive officer Robert Meade.

They met at work and quickly discovered they had unusual similarities, the sisters said in a video interview posted on the paper's website. A DNA test came back positive Aug. 17.

"I knew in the back of my mind she's somewhere out there and I never gave up on her," Ms O'Brien said in the video before breaking down in tears.

Their story, however rare, is not without precedent.

In July, the New York Times reported the case of two pairs of Colombian identical twins who were mixed up at birth due to a hospital error and raised by separate families as fraternal twins, only to be reunited at age 24 after friends spotted the uncanny resemblance.

In 2013, two Florida-born women adopted by different parents discovered each other in a writing class at Columbia University, according to media reports.

The Shin sisters say they never imagined working in the same profession, let alone the same hospital.

"But I'm glad I joined in this field instead of something else," Ms O'Brien said.

The Story of 2 Nurses 
~ Holly Hoyle O'Brien (left) and Meagan Hughes reunited in Florida.
~ PHOTO: FACEBOOK


.
.
===.