MIXED CULTURE VERSUS PURE CULTURE FERMENTATIONS: WHICH IS EASIER?

Traditionally in microbiology and biotechnology lectures and practicals, there seemed to be a slant towards pure culture practicals. In real life, microorganisms in nature do not often occur in pure culture communities. Microbial ecology generally involves the interactions of mixed cultures and their environment.
No amount of pure culture data studies will give the accurate picture what really happened to microorganisms in nature! At best, pure culture will perhaps help in giving understanding as to what really happened in nature
Mixed culture studies seem to be avoided by most microbiologists especially those involved in the studying of microbial physiology and biochemistry of microorganisms. Don’t believe me? Just read a few popular microbiological or biochemical textbooks!
Although the study of pure culture has its own strength especially in the production of fermentation products by single pure microorganism, its success is more attributed to the ability of microbiologists to generate pure cultures or aseptic techniques. To these microbiologists the presence of other microorganisms in the industrial process is more a minus minus factor and regarded as a microbial contaminant which will complicate the fermentation process and affect its productivity
In my personal experience it is far more difficult to understand and control a mixed culture fermentation compared to doing a pure culture fermentation!
There are many parameters which affect the mixed culture fermentation process and slight change in one operating parameter will result in the change in the components of the mixed culture population dynamics….. To put it simply, the process may easily run out of control.
In pure culture fermentation this is not the problem. Pure culture fermentation are more stable and the only goal is to obtain the optimum fermentation process to produce the best yield possible!
The principles of mixed culture fermentation are often complicated by:
1 Selection of steady environment
2 Ensuring stable substrate composition and delivery
Most that involve complex substrate will often see the formation of microbial succession which could be good or bad depending on the purpose of fermentation
Mixed culture metabolism too tend to change the environment that lead to microbial succession
This is one of the main reason in traditional mixed culture fermentation becomes further complicated when the scaling up is exercised!
Merry Christmas!


Type rest of the post here.
Read more!

THINGS THEY DON’T TELL YOU ABOUT FISH SAUCE (BUDU) FERMENTATION

In the first place let us get a few things straight. Fish sauce fermentation is the traditional fermentation of many countries, especially those in South East Asian countries. It is a grave error to regard the fish fermentation as the traditional right or heritage of a particular country or state.
According to Wikipedia the Romans have been known to produce fish sauce called garum as part of their Greco Roman cuisine!!. The famous Lea Perrin sauce in typical British culinary is a fish sauce. The ingredients of a traditional bottle of Worcestershire sauce sold in the UK as "The Original & Genuine Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce" are malt vinegar (from barley), spirit vinegar, molasses, sugar, salt, anchovies tamarind extract, onions, garlic, spice, and flavouring. The "spice, and flavouring" is believed to include cloves soy sauce, lemons, pickles and peppers.
I just can’t help laughing how emotional some readers are in claiming the “rights” to the fish sauce without doing research into the origin and diversity of fish sauce. Sometimes blind ignorance can have its place in this country!
While the use of fish sauce or budu is quite limited in Malaysia, this is not the case in Thailand or Vietnam where the fish sauce is almost in everything and regarded as the Magic elixir in their cooking. Fish sauce made in Thailand is easily available on the supermarket shelves that cater for Asian cooking. The bottled fish sauce looked very attractive especially with their golden brown colour, beautifully labeled and subjected to perfect advertising and marketing strategies that make the product successful.
When you buy a bottle of fish sauce in the market, the sauce looks golden brown and appealing. Everything is so hygienic and sanitary that you would not be able to appreciate how the fish sauce was manufactured. Gladly you will buy the bottle and use it frequently in cooking dishes to your family delight at the dinner table.
Little do you suspect that what you are enjoying is merely a rotting broth of decomposing fish with the added nutritional values contributed by flies and maggots!
There are certain things they will not tell or show you about fish sauce fermentation. Zimmerman of Bizarre Foods would probably faint or go into prolonged coma if he witness up close and personal how fish sauce are produced.
Coupled to this bottled product advertising approach the fish sauce companies make great effort to prove the sanitary quality of the production facilities especially in stressing:
1 The use of fresh fish or anchovies to be used as the fermentation substrate
2 Clean and hygienic bottling facilities
3 Use of scientific quality control such as GMP and HACCP and the use of advance analytical laboratories to monitor the production especially in downstream activities
What is not shown is the true facts of how the fish sauce is really fermented. They only show you the nice sanitized end products. They don’t show you the dirt and the grime of the fish sauce fermentation! (This is akin to the presentable chicken all clean and wrapped in the butchery area of the supermarket. You don’t see the slaughter! You don’t see the blood!)
Let us get the facts straight! Let us visit the “ground zero” of fish sauce fermentation!
1Fish sauce fermentation is a mixed culture fermentation which involves the action of multitudes of microorganisms
2 Fish sauce fermentation is still basically traditional fermentation even though it might be industrialized
3 The fermentation vats for fish sauce fermentation are often ceramic vats cement vats or even PVC vats operated in batch operations
4 The fermentation is natural and septic and occur over periods of months
5 There is poor quality or hygienic control during the fish sauce fermentation in the vats
6 The fish are left to rot and decompose over long periods of times under high concentrations of salts. At the end of the period the salt would have sucked out the water from the fish entrails or tissues
7 Periodically the vats are left open to expose it to air and sunlight to enhance fermentation or decomposition
8 Its not uncommon to see flies and maggots or larvae breeding in the vat while the fish sauce is fermenting. Urgghhh! It stinks! Its visually repulsive!
I often wonder how some of these fish sauce are GMP or HACCP compliance ?





Type rest of the post here.
Read more!

EXPLOITING METHANE FOR ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF ENERGY

I really loved to hear when politicians, ministers and even salesmen talked about exploiting energy or obtaining electrical from anaerobic digestion processes. It makes me wonder which end of their bodies are doing the thinking and talking. All of them have a very optimistic and simplistic view of exploiting the methane as the alternative energy source and to feed the electricity obtained into the national grid.
In any proposal it is very important that the economic and technical viability must first be established.
Let us look at the palm oil industries where there are talks about obtaining or trapping the methane generated. Mind you, the palm oil industries in Malaysia is not one or two years old. It is a very well established industry that has spanned several decades. Despite all these years they are still having problem of how to treat the palm oil mill effluent and exploit the methane gas generated.
I find it very hilarious despite having more than 400 palm oil mills, about 95% are still operating without methane trap.( (http://www.mpoc.org.my/Government_Incentives_for_Palm_Oil_Millers_to_Trap_Methane_Gas.aspx)
What it implies here is that most of these palm oil mills are not having real modern anaerobic digestors to treat their wastes anaerobically but rely more on a series of stabilization ponds or anaerobic retention ponds.! Who can blame them? After all it is always cheaper and easier to let the wastes be collected in these ponds.
Now, the trouble with these anaerobic retention ponds are:
1 They are not operated or maintained efficiently
2 They are not equipped with methan trap such as methane hood to trap the methane
3 These retention ponds are not functioning optimally in terms of its various parameters such as ph, temperature, mixing, loading among others
4 I have my doubts if their desludging are carried out regularly….
A good anaerobic digestor producing methane efficiently would not give out that much offensive toxic smell generated by the hydrogen sulphides! Methane or even CO2 is odourless
Now we come to the second problem. It is not easy to generate electricity from methane gas. The methane gas has to be collected in substantial volume. It has to be scrubbed and removed of its water and sulphide content. It then need to be be compressed if they are going to use the gas directly. If they want to convert to electricity, the methane gas has to be used to drive the boiler and the steam generated used to turn the turbine to generate electricity! Electricity does not come from methane directly!
It requires so much investments and technical input, and if the process is not stable we have stucked anaerobic digestors!
This situation will even become worst for landfills. Please read my blog on the landfills…




Type rest of the post here.
Read more!

MIXING AND RHEOLOGY PART TWO

We can say that in the design of fermentors, the choice of impellers to execute the mixing regime has often been too over simplified. It is strange that despite the complex rheology of various fermentation broths, nost models of impellers are based on two main classes of mixings that is euther radial or axial.
Radial mixings are generated by impellers which are often based on simple flat blade design or variations of the Rushton turbine design. In radial flows all the mixing particles are brought out to the walls of the fermentor subject to tangentianal and centrifugal forces leading to formation of the common close loop pattern too commonly encountered in most standard text books in fermentation technology
On the other hand, the axial mixing are often brought about by the propeller design inpeller leading to the axial flow commonly visualised in ceiling fans
There are variations of mixings which integrate both the radial and axial flows io create a more effective hybrid flows
The important point here is that in the design of these main types of impellers, too much emphasis is given on the following:
1The fermentation broth subjected to mixing is Newtonian by nature
2 The properties of the fermentation broth do not change or remain constant
These kinds of conditions are not commonly found in the industrial fermentation industries. The fermentation broth is often more complex than expected to adhere to the Newtonian characteristics. Second, the volume of fermentation broth or fermentor is huge. This will make it very difficult for radial or even axial mixing to be efficient.
If we learn from blendings carried out in various chemical or even food industries, the type of mixers are often simpler. However in their cases their main requirements are just homogenization and that aseptic requirements are often not carried out during the mixing process itself
It is therefore very important that we need to come up with a very specific design for the mixing of specific fermentation broth and not have the “inbox mentality” of using the same standard impellers


Type rest of the post here.
Read more!

RIMBA ILMU UNIVERSITY MALAYA – FOREST OF KNOWLEDGE

The University Malaya Botanical Garden or Rimba Ilmu is treasure trove not often publicised to tourists and visitors. It is a unique Botanical garden which contain a diversity of plants from all over the country presented in an authentic forest atmosphere. A trip to the Rimba Ilmu is a wonderful experience into the types of plants which are of medicinal, economic and social importance to the nation

A) INTRODUCTION
Who would have believed that just a few minutes from the Mid Valley Megamall and nestled within the campus of University Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, lies a secret garden. This secret garden or Rimba Ilmu has kept its secret for so long, and is only known to the very lucky few. It is a Botanical garden filled with a rich collection of plants and trees, some exotic and rare, and some you will commonly meet along the road journey in Malaysia.

So much effort, time, energy and expertise were invested over three decades in bringing and planting all these plants within the few hectares of land of the Rimba Ilmu. Now, many years later, the Rimba Ilmu has bloomed into a full and mature Botanical Garden which is one of the priceless assets of the University Malaya.
The secret and attraction of Rimba Ilmu is more than just maintaining a collection of tropical plants for research and teaching. The Rimba Ilmu is also a treasure and information trove about the rich culture of the people of this country and their dependence on all these plants from source of medicines, food, shelter and even economy.

Getting to the Rimba Ilmu or the University Malaya is easy. Take a taxi,or by Rapid KL buses or the Light Rail Transit train. If you are taking the LRT make sure you stop at the University Station and then find a taxi for the short distance into University Malaya

Entrance fees for the Rimba Ilmu is very cheap and its open working days.

B) EVOLUTION OF RIMBA ILMU
It was the vision and the drive of the late Professor W R Stanton, who was then the Professor and Head of the Department of Botany, in the early seventies to see the wisdom of having a respectable Botanical Garden for future generations.

It was his driving force and persistence to see that the patch of old rubber plantation and secondary forest be successfully transformed into the Rimba Ilmu we have today
It is such a sad tragedy despite his priceless contributions to the University of Malaya, he is not even bestowed the honorific title of Emeritus Professor

C) EVOLUTION AND DESIGN OF RIMBA ILMU
During the early Seventies when University Malaya was the premier University it has large tracts of lands in the campus which remained unexploited. No one considered the importance of having a Botanical Garden until the idea of having a Botanical Garden was mooted by Professor Stanton.

At the Symposium held during the ceremonial opening of the Rimba Ilmu in August 1974, he said in his closing address:
"I suggest the golden age of botany is now and not in the 18th century, or some earlier era...we are beginning to find the raison d'etre for the great diversity of plant forms from the lowly algae and liverworts to the most stately trees of our tropical rainforest. The primary object of our new garden has been to provide the stage on which we may continue to act out the drama of Malaya's plant life for the benefit of the community. . ."

Professor Stanton is the millenium man with the foresight and vision to see the role and importance the Rimba Ilmu will play
The proposed design of the Rimba Ilmu was innovative. It would not look similar as any other Botanical Gardens. It is to be designed in such a way to reflect a rain forest garden rather than just any flower garden. It would not take the appearance of plants behind fences or in the pots, but as plants that occur authentically in nature.

Any visitor visiting the Rimba Ilmu will automatically feel the natural forest habitat as he appreciates the various plants and trees. This objectives will be faced with many challenges as the site of the proposed Rimba Ilmu was a secondary forest with rubber trees. And to make things worst, the success of the Rimba Ilmu then would only be seen in thirty or fourty years from then as the plants would have matured and acquired the feel of the real forest!


Now more than thirty years later, the dreams of Professor Stanton comes true and the value of bequithing his expertise to Univesrity Malaya in the form of one of the best natural Botanical Garden in the world
D) RIMBA ILMU LAY OUT
The Rimba Ilmu today is divided into a few specialized areas such as:
1Medicinal plants
2 Palms
3Citrus
4 Mixed forest species
5 Ferns
6 Fruit trees
There are at least a living collection of over 1600 species in the Rimba Ilmu with emphasis on Malaysian and Indonesian species. Important species of plants in the Rimba Ilmu are provided with valuable information on its taxonomic and importance for the benefit of visitors

E) THE RIMBA ILMU TRAIL
The Rimba ilmu trail starts with a winding concrete slab pathway leading to the metallic gate that welcomes the visitors into the realm of the Rimba Ilmu. Even while still a few metres out of the Rimba Ilmu you will already be able to appreciate the diversity of plants that lie awaiting for you in the enclosure of the Rimba Ilmu

The narrow trail through the Rimba ilmu is a winding path which meanders though the terrain. Most times the path is shady due to the overhead dense leafy canopy of trees. Spotlights of sunlight that break through the canopy would regularly light up the path.
Sometimes the single path might split into two paths to give the choice to the visitors of areas in the Rimba Ilmu that excites them. There is no worry of getting lost as there are enough signs and maps ti guide the visitors through the adventurous journey of discovery
The realism of the forest habitat built into the Rimba Ilmu is even brought to more realism by the unending sounds of the forest insects such as cicadas and crickets as if trying to outso each other in getting your attention
The feel of the forest is even felt by the increase in humidity of the forests brought about bt plant transpirations which throws molecules of water into the environment.
For the visitors who have never visited a forest, the experience is exhilarating and more memorable by the presence of mosquitoes eager to taste their blood!
The forest trail within the Rimba ilmu is scenic throughout from beginning to the end. The trail often passes through small , shallow streams with crystal clear waters and even a stagnant sago swamp.
F) SOME INTERESTING PLANTS
It is almost impossible to cover or describe all the plants kept at Rimba Ilmu. For discussion purposes we will cover a few important medicinal and economic species found in the Rimba Ilmu
MEDICINAL PLANTS
Before there were modern medicine and hospitals, a lot of people depends on various types of plants for the medicinal purposes. Our tropical forests are a rich source of medicinal plants which are yet to be fully researched and exploited
Most of these medicinal plants contain secondary metabolites such as alkaloids which have strong pharmocologic activities. In the Rimba Ilmu we have examples of medicinal plants commonly used by the locals such:
1 Misai kuching or literally translated means Cat’s whiskers is a plant which is commonly used by traditional medicine to cure diabetes and high blood pressure among others. The scientific name is Orthosiphon aristatus (Lamiaceae)
1The serengan plant (Flemingia strobilifera), a species of the bean alliance (Leguminosae), commonly cultivated in villages throughout the Indian and Malaysian region. A decoction of its leaves is sometimes used in treating rheumatism.
2 Catharanthus roseus, the common Madagascar Periwinkle, contains alkaloids used to retard the progress of leukaemia.
3 Brucea javanica (Simaroubaceae), which finds medicinal use against dysentery and worms.
4 Baeckea frutescens (Myrtaceae) has essential oils used in health tonics and for scenting household preparations.
5 Andrographis paniculata (Acanthaceae), commonly known as hempedu bumi ("gall of the earth"), in the medicinal plant section. The leaves are useful in treating diabetes and high-blood pressure.
THE PALMS
In this country palms have a very significant impact on the lives and economics of the people.
Sago plants rich source of sago,
Coconut trees for coconut oil, coconut milk used for Malay cooking,
Palm oil used extensively in cooking industries world wide
Now even more added values are attempted such as alcohol biofuel from sago, and from palm oil



Posted by memcantik at 6:31 AM 0 comments
Labels: botanical garden, rimba ilmu, university malaya
Read more!

ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE OF KUALA LUMPUR

One of the main attractions that draws both foreign and local tourists to Kuala Lumpur is the rich diversity of our architectural heritage found within the city itself. Our architectural heritage buildings are those that we inherit from the past or defined as at least forty years old buildings.

The best part is that all these architectural heritage are within walking distance to each other!This is especially so in our heritage square where the buildings are mostly distributed around the Sultan Abdul Samad building and also around the Malayan Railway station area

However I cannot help being sad when I see all the tourists coming all the way to Kuala Lumpur just to look and appreciate at all these wondrous buildings without knowing the history of such buildings and the glory of times past. All these buildings are frozen footprints in the sand that marked the progress of the city to what it is today. Sadder still is to to see some of the famous heritage buildings being demolished and even left as derelicts. This is the fate of the Hotel Majestic and the Main Railway station. I doubt such things would have happened in United Kingdom where the society and even Prince Charles believe in the conservation of past heritage buildings. Sometimes I feel our government is not serious enough or is whole hearted in trying to conserve such heritage. There are many buildings in the University Malaya which holds so much history for the nation have been demolished to make way for poorly designed buildings. Gone are the classical concrete lamp posts which are replaced with cheap aluminum street lights, gone are the original Chemistry building,the Student Union building and even the classic bus stops of the past. Even the Great Hall or the Dewan Tunku Chancellor now looks more like a discotheque rather than the serious solemn hall where graduates of the past have lined up to earn their degrees.

Unless something is done properly it is a matter of time when all our heritage buildings will be gone and developed into shopping complexes, apartments and hotels.

In order to appreciate the existence of these beautiful architecture in Kuala Lumpur, we need to know important historical developments of Kuala Lumpur and how factors of history such influence of the colonizers influence the architecture of Kuala Lumpur itself. In this aspect we can divide the architectural heritage into three main phases:
1 British influence- Role of British architects
2 Early Chinese influence- Traditional Chinese architecture
3 Merdeka era buildings- the search for national identity

The selection of these three groups of influences are attributed to their significant contribution to the heritahe architecture of Kuala Lumpur and also these groups build buildings out of brick and concrete that can withstand the test of time compared to wooden buildings. In a way it is sad to admit that despite the country Malay population dominance, it never really leave any significant architectural heritage impact in terms of genuine Malay buildings to be appreciated in Kuala Lumpur.The best example of Malay architectural heritage is probably the Istana Lama in Seri Menanti in Negri Sembilan and not in Kuala Lumpur. Even that, requires the nod from the British architect :)

While it’s true that the Portuguese and the Dutch exert their influence earlier on Peninsular Malaya, but most of their architectural influence are just restricted to Malacca. They have no interest in exerting their influence beyond Malacca. The British have more interest in administering the whole nation as shown by their involvement in governing the country through their British resident advisers. This also explains why the British stayed long enough in the country until Malaya achieved her independence in 1957

It was the British that encouraged the migration of Chinese and Indian workers to run their business interests in Malaya. Historically that the development of Kuala Lumpur at the muddy confluence of the two main rivers; Sungai Klang and Sungai Gombak. The river confluence is the heart of the city and till today the point of meeting of the two rivers is still there, although now it looks more like a concrete monsoon drain.

It was at this confluence that led Yap Ah Loy to develop the area into a thriving business area which in years become the city as we know it today. The influence of the Chinese business community and their tradition could still be felt in the rows of two storey houses built by the Chinese all over Kuala Lumpur. It is a architectural sight to behold although not enough publicity is given to it except in the famous water colours of Victor Chin

Despite the contribution of Yap Ah Loy in the founding of Kuala Lumpur, we must show our gratitude and appreciation to the British who left their marks in the design and construction of the various buildings which lasts till today due to their use of mortar and bricks. Wooden buildings would not be able to withstand the ravages of time!

A)IMPACT OF BRITISH ARCHITECTURE
The British have a long traditional history of architecture as early as the Medieval ages in Britain. Throughout the time of their architectural evolution they have not only influenced their colonies but are also influenced by the nations they colonized.The British architects too are influenced by the knowledge of architecture established in other countries such as Roman and even Grecian influences

The impact of British architecture is seen by the rich varied tapestry of British architecture are still to be found in Kuala Lumpur. Typical of the British they will try to transplant their lifestyles and architecture into mini England in the lands they colonized

Why did the British colonisers built such fine architectural buildings in the first place. Definitely it was not for the gracious presentations to the locals or the countries colonized. The British in the first place were not keen to relinquish their empire or colonies. The main reason they came here in the first place was to exploit the wealth and economics of the nation. It was most probably the design of such fine buildings are for their own comfort and administration. They would probably were not keen to give this country her independence. It was never for the sake of bequeathing the buildings to the locals! In India the presence of the British and the design of such beautiful buildings are more symbolism of the British Masters to be regarded as the Great Rajahs

Some of the finest heritage buildings in Kuala Lumpur are the products of the design of British architects. These public buildings are constructed under the supervision of British architects who were attached with the Public Works Department or PWD. Among the most noted British architects were Arthur Charles Alfred Norman, Arthur Benison Hubback and Charles Edwin Spooner and RAJ Bidwell.It should be noted here that although Frank Swettenham is not an architect but he left significant impact on Kuala Lumpur architecture by insisting certain building rules be followed such as the compulsion to build brick shop houses and government buildings and the provisions for walkaways of at least a few feet to provide shelter against the sun and the rain

Norman was responsible for buildings such as Sultan Abdul Samad Building , St. Mary's Church, Selangor Club Building, Victoria Institution and Carcosa. The architectural style of Norman’s works are more of hybrids reflecting Moorish, Tudor, Neo Classical and Gothic influences


Two forms of pure British architecture; Tudorian and Victorian styles are easily found in Kuala Lumpur. While the Tudorian architecture showed distinctive styles and characteristics, the Victorian style is more representative of buildings built during the Victorian era

TUDORIAN
We have uniquely British architecture shown by the Tudorian style Selangor Club as well by St Mary’s Cathederal. The St Mary cathedral architecture includes Gothic infusion into the Tudorian design

It should be noted that the original Selangor Club was razed by fire in the 70’s. The existing Selangor club is a mocked Tudorian Selangor club of yester years. The original Selangor club was a unique place where British expatriates and planters retain their unique British lifestyle


The characteristics of Tudorian style shown by the Selangor club includes Tudorian features such as:
• Decorative half-timbering
• Steeply pitched roof
• Prominent cross gables
• Tall, narrow windows
• Small window panes
• Massive chimneys, often topped with decorative chimney pots

The St Mary's cathederal although is basically a Tudorian in style but is with the infusion of English Gothic elements such as its pointed arches, vaulted roofs, buttresses, large windows, and spires.A.C. Norman,was the government architect responsible for the design of the St Mary's cathederal

VICTORIAN
The other popular forms of buildings which are commonly found in Kuala Lumpur are those buildings which are beautifully Victorian. Examples of Victorian style buildings in Kuala Lumpur are famous school buildings such as Methodist Boys School, Convent Bukit Nanas, the Victorian Institution. Other Non school buildings exhibiting Victorian style includes Industrial Court Building and the old Coliseum Theater.

INDO SARCENIC ARCHITECTURE
The British architects even went further in designing buildings which have inputs from India as well the Moorish architecture. This type often called as Indo Sarcenic influence could be seen in a group of beautiful buildings in Kuala Lumpur such as the Sultan Abdul Samad building, the Kuala Lumpur Railway station among others.
In choosing the Indo Sarcenic architecture in their buildings, the British have directly or indirectly pleased the majority of the Malay population of the country. The Malay population are mostly Islamic and easily accepts the Islamic form of architecture of the Arabs. The fact that the majority of the mosques in the country with minarets and domes is the proof of such architectural affinity
The buildings designed and built by the British which exhibit Indo Sarcenic sty;e are typified by the Sultan Abdul Samad Building and the Kuala Lumpur railway station. These beautiful designs are more like buildings that emanate from the Tales of 1001 nights where we have beautiful onion or bulbous domes coming complete with tall minarets that reach skywards. The buildings too often come with pointed arches, over hanging eaves and balconies.
Most tourists find it almost unbelievable that such beautiful palace like buildings are in fact a railway station. The Sultan Abdul Samad with its huge black dome and large round face clock is Kuala Lumpur’s equivalent to the Big Ben of Westminster Abbey in London. The Sultan Abdul Samad building was initially a town hall built in 1897. The Sultan Abdul Samad building inspired the design of other buildings in this heritage zone.



B) INFLUENCE OF CHINESE ARCHITECTURE

The importation of Chinese labour or workers to open and operate the tin mines not only develop the economy of the nation but also influence the architecture of Kuala Lumpur. As the Chinese are not only powerful economic dynamos, their culture and beliefs are brought to the fore front in the design of buildings in Kuala Lumpur.The role of Feng Shui and the accommodation to the hot and humid tropical climate influence the kind of buildings in Kuala Lumpur

The input of chinese architecture into the architecture of Kuala lumpur ranged from ornate mansions, clan houses, temples and the humble shop houses. This is especially seen in the early years of Kuala Lumpur where the streets are lined with shop houses which are uniquely Chinese in design, Some of these shops still exist especially around Petaling street.

These shop houses are often rows of two storey buildings lining the streets. The ground floor is used for conducting business and the first floor for residence. These shop houses are often with covered verandahs to provide protection against the rain and the sun

Most interesting about these Chinese shop houses are that they are built with fung shui in mind and they invest in ornamental appearance. Occasionally they even embed the date of the building was built.
Besides shop houses Chinese architecture are highlighted in the design of their temples and clan houses

C) THE MERDEKA BUILDINGS

After decades under various colonizers, the nation claimed its right to independence and sovereignty on 31 August 1957. In the haste to celebrate its independence the nation rapidly start in buildings that physically manifest the eight identities or symbolisms of the new nation.

While attempting to come up with the bona fide Malaysian design the architects are constrained too by the weather and climate. There are tendency to incorporate sunshades louvres and verandahs in all aspects of their Malaysian design

The buildings were Parliament as monument symbolising parliamentary democracy, the National Mosque symbolizing freedom of worship even though the mosque is Muslims to pray, University Malaya which symbolizes education , Stadiums Merdeka and Negara for healthy body and mind, the National Monument symbolizing the warriors' sacrifices for the nation, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka for the national language and the National Museum for national culture.

NATIONAL MUSEUM
In the search for the national identity perhaps only the National Museum passes the criteria. The design of the Museum based on the Malay house is simple, yet it possessed all the qualities of fine architecture.

There are other modern day buildings which still attempt to reach for the Malaysia design such as Menara Telekom, Menara Maybank ,The National Library building and the Kuala Lumpur Istana Budaya . However in my opinion they do not succeed as the Malay buildings are restricted by size and materials of construction such as wood. Building massive concrete Malaysian roofs like Bank Bumiputra and even National Museuem is not really a success

NATIONAL MOSQUE
The national mosque is the symbolism of Islam being the national religion of Malaysia. It is located in the proximity of the Kuala Lumpur railway station. In its search to reflect the Malaysian identity it tried not to align with the accepted traditional Moorish design of a mosque. The design of the mosque tries to take a bold and modern approach in modern reinforced concrete.
The unique feature of the Malaysian mosque is the use of close and open umbrella for the dome and the minaret. Sad to say this attempt resulted in futility as mosques which were built later in Shah Alam and Putrajaya still goes for the classical Moorish design.
DEWAN BAHASA PUSTAKA
The strength of the design of the building actually depends on the mural which depicts a Sikh, Indian, Malay, Chinese and Eurasian all united through one language
MERDEKA STADIUM
The Merdeka stadium was especially significant as it was where the national independence was officially declared witnessed by the Sultans of all the states in Malaya and thousands of cheering Malaysians.
The history of Merdeka stadium is quirky in itself. After its construction and over the years it was even renovated and then almost fall into disuse, it was resurrected in its original forms fifty years later by conservation architect to bring back the spirit of Merdeka.
NATIONAL MONUMENT
The National Monument or Tugu Negara. was built to commemorate a symbolic victory over the communists guerrillas as the Emergency ended in 1960.
The monument is the work of an American sculptor Felix de Weldon based on Iwo Jima memorial. It is sad to note that the soldiers of the monument reflect a western built body and not the Malay soldier
PARLIAMENT
The parliament building is the symbolism of democracy of the nation and is famous in the pineapple skin design





Type rest of the post here.
Read more!

IMMOBILIZED CELLS IN FERMENTATION TECHNOLOGY

I seemed to feel that the concept of using immobilizing cells for fermentation technology has been over rated. In theory the idea of using immobilized cells in fermentation technology is good. The assumption is that there is higher number of microorganisms per unit volume compared to equivalent volume of the fermentation broth. This tends to give the feeling of advantage of stochiometry that is; more cells means more product and higher conversion of the substrate into the fermentation products.

What is not often taken into view is that:
1 There is the difference in the physiology and metabolism between suspended cells and attached cells. Immobilized cells tend to have higher metabolic rates
2 There are problems of mass transfer of nutrients, waste products in and out of the immobilized cells
3 The immobilized cells are under stress that might lead to different fermentation products being formed instead of the the main product we are interested
4 Most of the cells in the deeper part of the biofilm are not really functioning metabolically or even alive
5 Its difficult to apply the growth curve with fermentation product as function of the growth curve of suspended cells

There should not be a rush into this biotechnology but instead to carry further research in all aspects of the metabolism and physiology of the attached cells before rushing to apply it into the fermentor configuration


Type rest of the post here.
Read more!