Tea is born on a bush, but must be made in the factory. The quality of a cup of tea depends on the quality and condition of the leaf as it reaches the factory-only if it has been transported quickly and unbruised can the final product have the best results. From the tea bush to your cup, the leaf undergoes several processes:

Withering is achieved by spreading the leaf in troughs with perforated beds through which dry air is blown. The aim is to reduce the moisture content to about 60%.
Rolling is performed to crush the leaf cells, liberate the juices contained in them and expose the juices to oxygen.
Fermentation is the natural chemical process which occurs after the leaf has been 'ruptured' and exposed to oxygen. When the leaf starts fermentation it is green, but then turns a coppery color and the characteristic aromas develop.

Drying halts the fermentation process. The tea emerges from the dryers in its familier dry, crisp form.
Sorting removes the stalks and fibers from the tea, before being transported to the packaging area.

Boh produces many types of tea, both leaf and instant with very distinctive packaging. This area is totally mechanized, other than one small area where special orders are hand packed.

After the tour of the factory area, it was off to lunch at the Russell Bungalow. We were warmly greeted by our hostess, Joan Russell who had delicious iced tea waiting for us which was most welcome on such a hot day. We were invited to tour the home at our leisure and soon settled down to a feast prepared by Lim and her 'helpers'. It was especially amazing as there had been no electricity the entire morning!!!

I want to thank Tris and Joan Russell for inviting us to their private oasis at Bukit Cheeding, which unlike the Cameron Highlands estates, is not generally open to the public. Joan had prepared gifts of various teas for all of us which was greatly appreciated by all. We were indeed lucky to have a such a wonderful event and I know that everyone who attended will not soon forget it.

Cindy Zeier

Our group was met by Dr Indra and her colleagues who introduced us to the historical development of the institute through the 20th century. During the First World War and after, in depth studies were conducted into the causes, transmission, treatment and prevention of such diseases as cholera, small pox, leprosy, influenza, dysentery, rabies, tuberculosis, typhoid, filariasis, dengue and scrub typhus. Other aspects of malaria and beri-beri continued. In 1918, the IMR contributed to the discovery that beri-beri was caused by the deficiency of an essential nutrient that resulted in excessively milled rice then eaten by the population.

During the 1920`s the Institute expanded to accommodate new divisions of Pathology, Bacteriology and a library as well as setting up new divisions of Entymology Malaria Research, Biochemistry and Nutrition. The Ipoh laboratory came into being at this time too. Between the wars , new fields of enquiry were opened while the focus remained on malarial research. During the war years Ipoh branch transferred to Kuala Lumpur and then evacuated to Singapore. This was the period of occupation by the Japanese which witnessed the breakdown of disease control and malaria broke out in Kuala Lumpur. The IMR became involved with the production of Cholera and typhoid vaccines and provision of diagnostic services.

After the second world war IMR looked at malnutrition, smallpox, rabies and cholera researching into population, prophylactic trials of paludrine and other antimalarials, insecticide trials with DDT for malarial control.

During the emergency years 1948-60 with the threat of communism, Leptospirosis was studied in depth because it was thought to pose a serious health hazard to the security forces operating in the jungles of Malaya. During this time the division of Zoology and virus research, a new library and a lecture theatre were added to the IMR site as well as a Penang laboratory opened. During this time international scientific meetings were held on Yellow Fever and other viral diseases, another on Leptospirosis and lastly the WHO organised a study group of Filariasis.

After Independence, the Ministry of Health requested assistance from international organisations such as WHO and medical research was undertaken at the IMR. During this time the Zoology department discovered the existence of haemorrhagic fever. New divisions were set up and many publications were published annually.

In 1967 the IMR was declared Malaysia`s National centre for Tropical medicine under the southeast Asian Ministers for education organisation this allowed the setting up of a 6 month training course leading to the Diploma in Applied Parasitology and Entomology offered to graduates in science and medicine from many countries. In the 1970`s an insectarium was established. Our group spent some time looking at the breeding habits and life cycles of many varieties of mosquito, flies and cockroaches. Maggot wound cleaning was explained and deemed very important in a population where 10 percent of the population suffer with diabetes. We were introduced to the sex life of flies for breeding purposes and it was explained that one characteristic of the male fly was to have closed eyes!! Other laboratory workers were involved in physically mating the mosquitoes as some varieties do not mate in captivity. All interesting work!!

Further work until 1979 involved research investigating rural health problems including Dengue and viral diseases. In 1981 the IMR snake farm in Peris was opened in response to a high incidence of snake bites in the northern states. A diagnostic kit for snake bites was developed in collaboration with Kangar General Hospital. During the 80`s with the emergence of AIDS the IMR became the national reference laboratory to screen and help in laboratory diagnosis. In 2001 the IMR was restructured again to form 22 divisions to work on various disciplines to collaborate together and to work with other organisations outside the IMR to become more focused and consolidate resources to build on the strengths of the IMR. This will allow the IMR to venture into new growth areas and bring research into the 21st century.

We were invited to visit the museum which provided us with a deep respect for all the pioneering work the IMR has been involved in over the years. Pictorial displays, artefacts, old instruments, dried animal room, preserved snakes and information left a great impression on our minds. The IMR`s mission is to promote and conduct quality research directed at solving the health problems of the country and to provide consultative services to health providers, managers and plans for improving the health of the population. IMR`s vision is to be recognised internationally by the scientific community as a leading centre for biomedical research. The Malaysian culture group wishes them much success in this endeavour and we thanked Dr Indra and her colleagues for the warm welcome we experienced in March. We greatly enjoyed the visit.

Lynne Samuel

Wei Ling Gallery is situated in a charming converted shop house, in one of oldest parts of Brickfields. Owned by Artist Lim Wei Ling and Yohan Rajan, it originally housed the architectural practice of Wei Ling's father. It was converted into a gallery space after it was gutted by fire in early 2004.

After admiring the building, we listened to Wei Ling explain the origins of the Malaysian art scene from its inception to today. Malaysian art has less than a 100 year history. Colonized by both Dutch and Portuguese, neither left an artistic legacy and it wasn't until 1952 that the British introduced art education to Malayan schools. Along with this introduction came influences such as Chinese brush painting from China, and art movements from Europe such as impressionism. There was also the input of artists from the Nanyang School of fine art which encouraged experimentation with both European & Chinese traditions.

Many artists during the 50's & 60's went to Europe and the UK and came back to a newly independent Malaysia with ideas such as abstraction and impressionism. Enthusiastic about post independent Malaysia, they were keen to contribute to the new country and try out their new skills and ideas. The period until 1965 was really a golden era for Malaysian art with many exhibitions being held here from around the world.

It was after the race riots in 1965 that there was a country wide trend towards Islamification. Malay National Art schools were no longer allowed to teach students figurative art and self expression was discouraged. There began a 20 year trend towards decorative and abstract art. It wasn't until the early 80's when many artists were studying and traveling abroad, that students started to rebel and figurative art and self expression slowly started to return to the Malaysian art scene. Artists began occasionally expressing subtle political commentary through their work.

We are now in a very exciting period with talented young artists working with both traditional and non traditional medium. Malaysian art is on the ascendant with many Art patrons in the form of large companies and multinationals recognizing the talent of the local art scene.

After the talk we enjoyed looking at works by some of the artists represented by the Gallery as well as the solo exhibition by Sabri Idrus who works with aluminium, computer and acid treated plastic epoxy.

Thanks to Wei Ling for an extremely interesting and enjoyable morning

Angela Naylor

I liked the way Shun´s living room changed into a ´concert hall´. The acoustics were not bad and I was thinking how pleasant it must have been in the 18th and 19th centuries, when the aristocrats and the middle class gathered for chamber concerts at their homes. Just imagine, that there was no recorded music in those times, so live music was the only (and great!) option. We were about to enjoy a similar musical experience on that morning.

The first part of Shun's presentation was theoretical. A myriad of topics were covered and written materials handed out - The Development of Music in China, Music as a Mystic Force, Foreign Influences, Dialectical and Provincial Influences in Han China, Philosophy and Music, The Characteristics of Chinese Music, The Various Chinese Instruments and The Guzheng finally. I personally felt this perspective was a little too wide and would have liked to ask more questions, however Shun was anxious to perform.

Indeed, Shun's playing lived up to expectation. I admired how well she chose the programme: she played various and purposely very different pieces (by style, character, and mood). Within those pieces Shun also cared to show us a few different techniques of playing the Zheng. To choose a proper programme and a suitable order of pieces - the dramaturgy - is always a sign of a good musician! Shun, who runs her own restaurant, became a devoted Guzheng player. It is lovely to meet and watch people, who spend their lifetime in a beautiful way - giving space to their souls and minds too.

In synopsis for those of you who didn't come on that morning: Zheng is a plucked half-tube zither, one of the principal Chinese zithers. It has a history of over 2500 years. Since the mid-20th century, zheng zithers have been constructed with 18, 21 and even 25 or 44 strings. The 21-string zheng is most commonly used and Shun played this instrument too. The open strings are tuned to an anhemitonic pentatonic scale of sol la doh re mi, usually in either the key of G or the key of D, with the lowest string tuned to D. By moving certain bridges the key can be transposed. Although some conservatory-trained musicians use Western staff notation, cipher notation is more widely used. For more info visit www.grovemusic.com online.

If you like the zheng, the Actor's Studio offers a Night of Gu Zheng´s Dialog (guzheng solo, duo and quartet) performed by the Chinese Orchestra on 29th and 30th of April.

Thanks to Shun for opening our hearts and minds to this wonderful instrument!

Anna Hrindová