The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Women in Asia largely ignorant, fatalistic, about fertility Posted: 05 Sep 2012 06:53 AM PDT HONG KONG, Sept 5 — Women in Asia are largely ignorant about fertility problems and tend to blame their failure to conceive on "God's will" and bad luck, a survey has found. The survey, which covered 1,000 women in 10 countries who had been trying to conceive for at least six months, found that 62 per cent of them did not suspect they may have a fertility problem. They were even less likely to point the finger at their husbands, with 80 per cent of them not suspecting that their partners may have a problem with fertility. Infertility is defined by the World Health Organisation as the inability to conceive after a year of regular, unprotected sex. But only 43 per cent of the women surveyed knew that. Only 30 per cent of the women, all aged 25-40, recognised that obesity could reduce fertility and only 36 per cent knew that chances of getting pregnant declined with age. Forty-three per cent did not know a man may be infertile even if he could achieve an erection and 73 per cent were unaware that men who had mumps after puberty could be infertile later on. Instead of getting treatment, 46 per cent of respondents blamed their inability to conceive on "God's will" and 45 per cent put it down to bad luck. Lead researcher P C Wong at the National University Hospital Women's Centre in Singapore said such a lack of understanding could result in couples waiting too long — only to realise when they finally decided to seek help that it may be too late. "That's a lost opportunity because even if they come for treatment, our success of treatment is higher with younger women," said Wong, who heads the reproductive endocrinology and infertility division at the hospital. Chances of success with in-vitro fertilisation — the best known fertility treatment — is 40-50 per cent when a woman is under 30 years old but that drops to 10 per cent once the woman is over 40. By 44-45, the chance of success is 1 per cent. "The reason is because eggs in the ovaries decline in quality and quantity ... as we go along and age, the chances of conceiving is much lower," Wong said by telephone. The survey, commissioned by Merck KGaA unit Merck Serono, covered China, India, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia. Wong said his team hoped to work on a similar survey aimed at men in Asia. — Reuters |
| Shanghai residents stand up to save their dialect Posted: 05 Sep 2012 04:16 AM PDT SHANGHAI, Sept 5 — A small group of scholars, students and local residents of Shanghai are standing up to save their dialect, which traces its roots to one of China's oldest spoken languages, from extinction. Shanghainese, like many of the estimated 80 other dialects spoken in China, is endangered by the central government's pro-Mandarin policy, which allows only "putonghua" — literally, "common language" — to be used at schools as a way to control the vast country with its population of 1.4 billion.  The "putonghua" mandated by Beijing may dictate the pronunciation of these two characters on a billboard in the city as "Shànghǎi", but Shanghainese will tell you different. — Reuters pic "I've read in history books about how a language gradually dies out. Hope my mother tongue won't become one." Qian Nairong, a professor at Shanghai University who specialises in language research, says it's not yet too late to save the dialect — but the clock is ticking. "Shanghainese will come to an end within a generation or two," said Qian, who has written textbooks as well as a dictionary on Shanghainese. Shanghainese, a branch of the Wu dialect that was spoken in regions around Shanghai over 2,200 years ago, has its own grammar and vocabulary, with limited correlation with Mandarin. For example, a commonly-used phrase "have you eaten?" would be "ni fan chi guo le ma?" in Mandarin but would be pronounced "nong che gu la va?" in Shanghainese. The dialect's unique pronunciation also makes it a distant relative of Japanese, according to Qian. Advocates, consisting mainly of scholars such as Qian and non-governmental organisations, have started to move to protect Shanghainese, and their efforts seem to be bearing some fruit. Some public buses have started to use Shanghainese, in addition to Mandarin and English, in their announcements, while Shanghai Airlines in January began using the dialect on some of their flights. While fewer and fewer younger generations are learning to speak Shanghainese, those from outside Shanghai seeking jobs in the country's commercial hub say the dialect still plays a key role in society. Zhang Wenxia, an undergraduate from central Henan province, said she was completely left out at a job interview at a Shanghai-based media company. "I felt like I was deaf during the job interview," she said. "The only language that was spoken was Shanghainese. The hiring manager and other candidates communicated fluently in Shanghainese, and I had no choice but keep silent." Xu Shudan, a 28-year-old insurance salewoman from neighbouring Anhui province, is studying Shanghainese at a privately-run school. "Mandarin is spoken nationwide. However in Shanghai, using words like "nonghao" — a local expression for hello — can immediately close the distance between business partners," she said. — Reuters |
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