Dr. Liew Ngoh Chin : In Remembrance Of A Professional N True Friend

Dr. Amin, A professional and a true friend indeed by Dr Liew Ngoh Chin & Friends

" THE death of Dr Amin Tai Abdullah and Dr Haliza Mohd Shafie came as a shock to us, a group of friends who knew them well and had been climbing with them for years.

.........We were planning a trip to the Lost World of Maliau Basin in Sabah....."

the above captioned was taken from The Star Online ( thestar.com.my/news/story ) dated Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Memories of how meticulous and thorough the late Dr. Amin Tai Abdullah had planned , prepared and organised for outings as far as Kilimanjaro, Annapurna and Everest base camps in Nepal for those who went there together brought so much nostalgic feelings to Dr Liew & his friends.

His memory went back to how he was touched by the late Dr. Amin, who has helped a felllow mountain climber, a Danish lady doctor in their team to overcome mountain sickness & incessant vomiting, despite in tiredness like everyone else in the trekking group.

" Amin walked over to her tent and handed her a cup of warm tea and some medicine and kept her company and encouraged her. Dr Wit recovered, persisted and made the whole journey to Uhuru peak! "

How endearing this man was to his friends.

Besides what the late Dr. amin has done in Mercy Malaysia and the details of his activities with the humanitarian organisation,

Dr. Liew has highlighted that “ the late Dr. Amin, would put his private practice aside at short notice and volunteer for any humanitarian aid missions locally and overseas, even at times when his safety was in peril. ”

What a remarkable man he was.

And to be able to do that, a touching remarks from Dr. Liew was that “ behind every great man, there is a great wife and a loving family who supported him and his work.

" Dr.Amin was able to achieve all these, he had a great wife and family who would support him all the way "

" Not many people realised that Amin was one of the great surgeon in our surgical circle. When we encountered difficult cases, his help is sought after and he would, at any time of the day, offer his expertise, even for free. His expertise was well recognised and he was a member of the liver transplant based in Singapore.

Recently many of our universities were plaqued with resignations of surgical specialists. The Department of Surgery in UPM was badly affected too. Amin volunteered his service as an honourary lecturer and had been actively teaching the medical students for the past two years.

Definitely how the late Dr. Amin’s choosing to be part of the solution to face the predicament in that field of medical challenges will truly be remembered.

And for remembering Dr Haliza,

Dr. Liew illeterated that he had trekked with both the late Dr. Haliza & her husband Ridzwan in Sikkim three or four years ago.

' Despite her lack of trekking experience, she was never one to give up easily. While I don’t know her that well, her caring attitude and bubbly magnetism impressed me. "

Indeed the the death of Dr Amin Tai Abdullah and Dr Haliza Mohd Shafie is a lost to all their friends. who respect them for who they were, and honour them for what they have done to impact lives on others.

Mercy Malaysia Grieving The Loss Of Dr. Haliza Shafie N Dr. Amin Tai

Wednesday, 01 April 2009

Found this article from Mercy Malaysia's website.
" we at MERCY Malaysia extend our deepest sympathies to the families of Dr Haliza Mohd Shafie

and Dr Amin Tai Abdullah @ Tai Yun Ming who both passed away after a jungle trekking accident in Kuala Lumpur.


.........Dr Amin, 57, was a founding member of MERCY Malaysia

..........both were exemplary MERCY Malaysia Volunteers who served with passion and dedication grounded in the spirit of humanitarianism.

.......best remembered for their dedication to Cambodian children, and their important role in developing capacity at the Angkor Children’s Hospital (ACH).

.......They served humanity with humility, passion and respect.

The tragic accident has caused two precious life,

It is a lost to the nation,

A lost to the medical fraternity,

a lost to the children and parents in need of them,

A lost to Mercy Malaysia,

A lost to the families and friends.

A lost to trekkers who were inspired by them,

as someone who has conquered Mt Kilimanjaro, Everest Base Camp, and reached some of the highest peaks in africa and asia before.


My Condolences To Both Your Families And May You Rest In Peace

Bukit Tabur : Fatal Accident,, Where ??? Part 2

Continue from ...


Bukit Tabur : Fatal Accident Where Was It ??? Part 1

.................the very day Eric found something amissed.......posting dated march 31, 2009


We trekked towards the " carpet grass " at the end of Bukit Tabur ranges, went down the orchard downhill.


We kind of know the possible position the victims might have fall from on top of the mountain.


But we need to be sure by confirming the position from the foothill.




Trekking through the thickness of undergrowth in the orchard,



first to look out for us was, broken branches and fallen trees.




clearer pic of the broken branches.



and the bushes that had been threaded upon by the rescue team to evacuate the fall victims.



and bigger area which the rescue team had passed through




we looked up and it matched the place, exactly like what we had suspected was the location of the fall.




We were settled that the location at the foothill where the broken branches, fallen trees and the bushes threaded by the rescue team matched the location on top of the mountain which Eric had found something amissed.


Reaching the foothill via orchard, we discussed about it.

Aloysius, who had been up to Bukit Tabur 90 times, went to take photos from other angles from a high building nearby

I said, " Aloysius, take photos, if we can, show the trail from another angle, "

" there is a spot of ground with fresh debris fallen on it "




Just to confirm another time after we have confirm twice on the the spot that me & Eric had identified from on top of the mountain and foothill in our search of the possible spot the victims could have fall.


After a few shots, we downloaded the photos taken...

It looks like, he has got all the professional poses of a photographer,



The outcome of the photo shooting,

' Ada gaya saja '

and not too bad,

Against the backdrop of The Majestic Bukit Tabur, he captured lots and lots of big lumpy patches of thick jungle !




with His Lumix.

so is my camera,


which I complaint 2 separate times to the shopowner that there really is a problem in this camera.

Looks like I need to put down my feet on my third visit to him, once and for all tell him, I am disappointed with the camera you sold, either you listen to what i have to say and accept that this indeed is a manufacturing defect or never in my life will I buy another camera, same brand like what I complaint, more so from your shop.

Bukit Tabur : A Favorite Spot For Training

( Click on pictures for clearer view)

Bukit Tabur is a favorite spot for training, especially for those climbers preparing to go Gunung Kinabalu due to its proximity to Kuala Lumpur city.


We did our training before we went up to Gunung Kinabalu in 2008, for adults




and children alike.



Last Sunday, we had the chance to meet a group of 30 trekkers



who will be going to Gunung Kinabalu this coming mid year trained in Bukit Tabur.



Our personal friend, Derrick Wong, who was training to compete in his Gunung Kinabalu's climbathon 2008 trained intensively in Bukit Tabur.




He used to start his journey from the Klang Gate Dam, climbing up Bukit Tabur East, going down the orchard.

He usually did at least 3 complete rounds from Klang gate dam to orchard in his training sessions to gather his stamina & endurance before the competition in Gunung Kinabalu.


Nonetheless, to be able to do that, one must have the knowledge on the terrain and the nature of the tracks in that mountain.

This is because the terrain and the nature of tracks in Bukit Tabur is very different from many other jungle tracks in other parts of Malaysia.

Different tracks has their own danger spots, the earth in one part of Gunung Angsi in Ulu Bendul Kuala Pilah, is so sandy that going up or down is very risky.

Almost near to the peak to Gunung Dato' in Rembau, Negeri Sembilan, the slippery big boulder is such a challenge to sight, looking at it can cause you to chicken out, especially if you have fear of height.

So is the steepness of Bukit Kutu, and few different mountains in Fraser's Hill.

while others in Gunung ledang or any mountains in Titiwangsa range etc.......... all of them has different challenges on terrains, slopes and steepness, types of earth etc... etc...

Bukit Tabur is totally different from the rest as it is made up of quartz and limestones, the rocks are quite sharp in edges and both sides are vertical cliffs.




some parts of the rock can be chip off very easily,



even stepping on it is very risky.




In our effort to put up the enhanced rope at the " First Rope " location, which there is a steep cliff when you come down.

Truth is you can't see at all what is underneath that big piece of rock the trekker steps on before he comes down.


which most accidents could happened if there is a slip somewhere.



Our rock climbing expert Lau is of strong opinion that some parts of the rock, even though it looks solid, it is in fact hollow inside, a tap will produce hollow sound from within.



Lau had refused to put any iron pegs to hold the enhanced rope at the " First Rope " location, to hold the main rope.

His advice was that it will be more dangerous as trekkers may have the false perception that they can rely on the iron hook to carry their weight down.

We would like any leaders to bring their friends there to be aware of dangers here that pose as trekking risk.

The leader must know the terrain well, first familiarise themselves before bringing others there.

Which safe way to go up, which safe way to come down, no one can take things for granted, especially safety.

There are quite a number of first timer go to Bukit Tabur, brought by their friends who is a second timer. Looking at the way they trek, we can get heart attacks sometimes.

Erosion is another phenomena that needs to look out for.



In this picture, Eric used his walking stick to point at the erosion.

Regularly going there, we have at many times notice pieces of big rock was intact when we passed through them, but after a week or two, the rocks dislocated and rolled downhill, may be caused by erosion or due to trekkers stepping on it too much.


The is the big rock rolled downhill caused by erosion which Eric pointed with his walking stick.
The Big rock dislocated from the erosion that I circle in yellow box.


From newpaper reporting, the friends of the two specialist who fell had said that they might have gone there to recky the terrain.


Lay man like us will interpret that they might be an oversight on the danger of the terrain.

more so, it was raining incessantly the past few weeks.

The rock was slippery for either climbing up or climbing down.

As a respect for the fall victims, we will never speculate what actually happened.

But for those who intends to go there,

oversight and over confidence on safety is something that you have to tackle with.

Accidents can happened in any spots/location.

Just like the surgery specialist perform on the patient in operating theatre, different approaches may be needed to perform on each individual, as each individual is unique , though the name of the disease may be the same.

Likewise, irregardless of how many times you have gone to the same mountain or different mountains, different approaches will be needed in climbing because challenges comes in different terrains and uniqueness in its track.

Strictly, Nothing Can Be Taken Granted For.

As always, you can have fun, but please be careful, think about your loved ones who is waiting for you to come back home safely, just as they send you off to trek and climb mountain safely.

Accidents Can Happen To Anyone, Please Be Careful At All Times.

Patients N Parents Grieveing The Lost Of The Late Dr. Haliza Mohd Shafie, 53

Among the blogs that mentioned about The Late Dr. Haliza Mohd Shafie, 53 & Dr. Amin Tai Abdullah @ Tai Yen Ming 57, - a paediatrician and a paediatric surgeon at Ampang Puteri Medical Centre in Ampang Kuala Lumpur , most expressed they are in shock and in grief, speechless and devastated by their sudden demised.

With stories of how both specialists have contributed to the well being of their children, and impacted their lives attending to their sick and premature babies etc,......


With many related their personal stories, of the doctor's positive energy as jovial and smily, she was like a battery charging them to go through their complicated life...



Her patients of young age reacted so strongly when they heard that the doctor they called 'doctor kak...." will not be there for them anymore.



Accounts of how the child will not have made it thus far in life if not for the specialist commitment and expertise brings back fond memories that will be cherished for a long long time.......


Pics courtesy of spiderjane of http://rimarhythm.blogspot.com

An anonymous had said.." although it was a sad memory for all,... she will want to depart in good blessings.... and that people remembered her as good person..... that has done her very best deeds to the world..... by using her best might that God has given.. and she has done it to you all........ teach your childrens of her mights, may she'll be forever your children's hero "

How endearing she has been to the children and their parents and friends, such inspiration and a good role model.

We can be sure their personal touch in the medical profession will be missed by many too.

Appointments were made months before to see both specialists for check up,

for vaccination,
for follow up,
for new consultation,
for circumcision to be performed .....
etc...
etc......
etc..............
but now they are not there......

To have lost someone that you have known since they are babies and been familiar with, whom you have learned to trust in their profession and bonded like friends and family is traumatic.

Words is not enough to describe the pain for those who are still living.

It is not even enough if you never have the chance to say goodbye.

The three of us, Eric, Teksi Lau, from the time we started off the journey from the foothill in search of our answer to identify the possible danger spot/spots the two specialists had fall.

We have closely trail one behind the other, calling each other out intermittenly, to check whether each is doing fine.

Asking if each step that we threaded upon is ok and manageble in that challenging terrain,

Making sure the search for the clue to the accidents comes after the safety of our trekking buddies.

We may not be family, but we bond together as in the Trekkers Soul.