KANGAR, March 4 (Bernama) -- Products invented and created in the country should be made to be natural treasures for further study, said Deputy Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Fadillah Yusof here Sunday.

KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) has granted about RM157 million to 183 projects for research and development of green technology.

KUALA LUMPUR: Seorang bayi perempuan berusia hampir lima bulan, Dammea Darwisya Mohamad Zaki, yang dikesan menghidap jantung berlubang atau kecacatan septum ventrikel (VSD), memerlukan sumbangan RM45,000 sebagai pembayaran pembedahan bagi memperbetulkan kegagalan fungsi jantungnya.

Kata ibunya, Farah Abdillah, 31, penderitaan anak keduanya itu tidak disedari keluarga memandangkan beliau lahir sebagai seorang bayi normal yang sihat dengan berat 3.1 kilogram (kg).

“Lubang di jantung Dammea hanya dapat dikesan pada imbasan kali kedua memandangkan kedudukannya agak tersorok ketika diperiksa pada kali pertama. Bagaimanapun, sebelum itu, doktor sudah mengesan keganjilan apabila jantung dan paru-paru kirinya didapati membesar,

Sejak dikesan menghidap VSD, Dammea lebih banyak menghabiskan masa di hospital,” katanya yang berasal dari Kuching, Sarawak.

Farah yang kini bercuti tanpa gaji sejak November lalu bagi membolehkannya memberi tumpuan kepada Dammea berkata, doktor memaklumkan pembedahan berkenaan diperlukan bagi memperbaiki saluran injap bayinya itu.

“Walaupun saya diberitahu pembedahan ini berisiko, namun sebagai seorang ibu, saya mahu melakukan yang terdaya buat Dammea kerana kasihan terpaksa melihat beliau berhadapan dengan masalah kesihatan pada usia sekecil itu.

“Bayangkan, bagaimana perasaan saya sebagai seorang ibu apabila melihat sendiri kesakitan Dammea yang sering tercungap-cungap, tidak aktif seperti bayi seusianya dan saiz badan yang semakin mengecil disebabkan penyakit ini,” katanya ketika ditemui di Pusat Perubatan Gleneagles Intan, Jalan Ampang, di sini, semalam.

Farah memaklumkan, beliau dan suami, Mohamad Zaki Bustahar, memohon keprihatinan masyarakat negara ini memandangkan tidak mampu menyediakan jumlah yang diperlukan bagi pembedahan itu.

“Pada masa ini, suami hanya bekerja sendiri dengan pendapatan kurang RM1,000 dan saya pula sudah beberapa bulan bercuti tanpa gaji bagi memberi perhatian kepada penjagaan Dammea,” katanya.

Sebelum dipindahkan ke Gleneagles, Dammea menjalani rawatan di Hospital Sarawak (SGH) saja.

Orang ramai yang bersimpati dengan penderitaan bayi itu boleh menyalurkan bantuan kepada Berita Harian dengan menulis nama penerima di belakang cek dan dialamatkan ke Bahagian Kewangan/Unit Kebajikan, NSTP, Balai Berita, 31 Jalan Riong, Bangsar, 59100 Kuala Lumpur.

KUCHING: The state is in dire need of 2,217 teachers for primary and secondary schools before the 2010 schooling session commences.When contacted by Utusan Borneo yesterday, director of the State Education Department, Datu Dr Julaihi Bujang said about 1,347 and 870 teachers are needed for secondary and primary schools respectively.

Julaihi said to meet the shortage of teachers before school commences in January, the department plans to give options for teachers to serve in the state or recruit untrained temporary teachers.

“The Education Department will strive to fill up the shortage by the 2010 schooling session. This problem can be settled once we can identify teachers who meet the requirements of the Education Ministry,” Julaihi said.

He said the shortage was mainly in rural areas as most teachers, especially women, were reluctant to be posted there. Female teachers are more comfortable teaching in urban areas as most are unaccustomed to being far from their families.

Julaihi revealed that they were short of teachers in subjects like Bahasa Malaysia, History, Geography and English.

“In general, the state always has problem getting English teachers for rural schools. If schools in town areas are filled, teachers have no choice but to teach in rural areas,” he said.

Julaihi assured that the ministry would support and encourage teachers wishiing to contribute to society by teaching in rural areas.

Asked what he thought of the Sarawak Teachers Union (KGS) president William Ghani Bina’s statement on the ‘scare-tactic’ of the Education Department to improve service quality of teachers, Julaihi said the ministry has not made any decision on the proposal.

He advised teachers to ignore the rumours.

They are believed to have been swallowed by quicksand; police classify incident as drowning case

SIBU: Four siblings returning home with their parents after collecting shellfish in Lebaan along the bank of the Rajang River on Sunday were feared drowned when the parents lost sight of them.Wong Sie Kong, 12, Sie Sang, 10, Sie Hou, 8, and Sie See, 6, were believed to have gone down a quicksand around 3pm while on the way home with their parents.

Hours before the incident, the family was collecting shellfish known locally as ‘siput’.

But on their way home, as the father was leading the way with the mother behind, and then the children, suddenly, the mother got stuck in the quicksand.

Her husband heard her cry for help and reached over to pull her out by the hand, only to realise moments later that their children were nowhere to be seen.

Fearing that the quicksand had dragged in their children, the couple ran to the roadside to call for help.

The police, firemen and personnel from the Malaysian Civil Defence Department (JPAM) were called and soon a search was mounted.

By 7pm, when the dusk had set  in, the operation was called off.

The children were still unaccounted for.

The search resumed yesterday at 8.30am but until press time, not a single child was located.

The couple, both in their 30s, said they had not been sleeping as they were too devastated.

“I could not sleep. The moment I closed my eyes the faces of my children appeared,” grieved the father.

Sources said the family lived in Permai Garden (opposite the Sibu General Hospital), and were visiting relatives in Lebaan that fateful Sunday.

Acting Sibu police chief Superintendent Zamani Hamdan said the case had been classified as drowning.

“It was a tragedy, and I feel sorry for the family,” he said.

The river was said to be shallow at the time of the incident.