Fighting Spiders (3)

Article in Today Newspaper dated 15 Dec 2008

A new TV drama series called Fighting Spiders premieres on Tuesday, 14 April 2009 at 8.30pm on Mediacorp Channel 5. Thereafter, the show is telecast every Tuesday at the same time:

"Set in post 60’s Singapore, in rustic kampongs, and the colorful chaotic streets of Chinatown, FIGHTING SPIDERS is a coming of age, adventure, story of three boys – Soon Lee (Edwin Goh), Charlie (Liang Shijie Jason) and Peter (Frederick Fielding), whose friendship is tested when they go to Malaysia on a quest to find and return with the King Spider, so as to challenge their nemesis, and bully, Ah Huat."

In case you think that the show is all about the 3 boys, you are mistaken. Relatively new and pretty actresses Rebecca Lim and Ezann Lee also star in the show.

Above: Rebecca Lim
Below: Ezann Lee

There is also Andie Chen, Star Search 2007 winner who also recently starred in the very successful The Little Nonya:


If you visit the show's official website, you will find a section called Relive the 1960s which contains pages describing life in the 1960s - the hangouts, the fashion, the food and snacks, the movies and the music.

Another section named Games Played in the 60s has pages describing chapteh, fighting kites, five stones, hopscotch, zero point, fighting fish and of course fighting spiders.

In fact, the website contains so much Singapore nostalgia in the 1960s that it looks like a mini yesterday.sg. It is little wonder too - the show's scriptwriter, Mr Andrew Ngin consulted yours truly in June last year on a number of topics including fighting spiders. Andrew even got Chuck Hio, a childhood friend of Chun See, to volunteer 2 hours of his time to be the 3 young actors' "spider consultant".

It remains to be seen if Fighting Spiders would be as successful a series as The Little Nonya.

Do remember to catch the show.

Earlier posts on spiders:

1. Fighting Spiders - dated 27 Jun 2008;

2. Fighting Spiders (2) - dated 21 Aug 2008;

3. Caught a Spider - dated 28 Aug 2008; and

4. Recluse Spider Bite... Or Was It? - 31 Aug 2008.

Brown Recluse Spider Bite... Or Was It?

YG had forwarded me an email containing photos of a supposedly spider-bite victim. I really appreciate YG's genuine concern for my safety because it is a fact that I know very little about spiders.

The email started with this relatively mild photo:


Then the wound got progressively nastier:


I have deliberately omitted the last 2 photos in the email because I think they are too gory for this blog.

Warning: If I am not wrong, in the last 2 photos of the email, you could even see the bone in the open wound! However, if you are not affected by such photos, you can see them here. And if you enjoy viewing such photos (or intend to attend medical school), you can see more of the same kind here.

The wound was supposedly caused by the bite of a venomous brown recluse spider (BRS):


Not that I want to be a toxicologist but I am just curious. So I googled for more information.

It is indeed true that a BRS bite can cause necrosis (unnatural death of cells and living tissue). However, not all cases of necrosis are due to spider bites. In fact, medical professionals caution that an injury should not be classified as a spider bite unless the spider has been seen doing the biting. Many of the wounds may be from other kinds of infections and could even be the result of cancer.

Finally, I found this "Truth Or Fiction" website that says that the truth of this email (the photos of which first surfaced in 2002) is unproven.

In any case, the BRS is found in the US from the southern Midwest south to the Gulf of Mexico, certainly a long way from Singapore. If I see it, I may mistake it for a common household spider, otherwise known as daddy long legs. However, I don't think I will mistake it for a fighting spider.

But still, I would like to sincerely thank YG again for his concern for my safety.

Caught A Spider

I caught a spider at Kent Ridge Park during lunch time today. However, I don't think that it is the fighting kind. Above is a photo of the spider I caught. What do you think? What species is it, is it a male or female, and most importantly, is it poisonous?

YG was concerned that I might not know about the dangers of handling spiders which I am not familiar with. His concerns are valid as I know very little about spiders. He had sent an email with pictures to Chun See explaining why. I have just received the email from Chun See. I will update this post when I get permission from YG to blog about it.

Thank you very much for your concern, YG. I am appreciative of it and am waiting in anticipation for your advice.

Earlier posts on spiders:

1. Fighting Spiders - dated 27 Jun 2008; and

2. Fighting Spiders (2) - dated 21 Aug 2008.