DaiRY SMS-es - Real or FAKE?

I was lying down on my bed yesterday when I received an SMS on my phone which read:

Please help to sms to the others.
Due to the current China's milk situation, please take note of the following products which have been recalled:

M&M's
Snickers
Mento's Yoghurt bottle
Dove Choc
Oreo Wafer Sticks
Monmilk
Dutch Lady sterilized milk
Wall's All Natural Mango
Mini Poppers Ice Cream
Magnum Ice Cream
Moosandwich ice cream
Mini Cornetto
Youcan ice cream

Stores have been asked by AVA to remove them
If you have them in your house, don't eat them.

Now, I am aware of the recent China's situation revolving the infant dairy products which had to date resulted in 4 deaths and a number of babies still in critical condition.
Well, 53,000 babies is quite a number, ain't it?

The dairy products which were contaminated with melamine was the root cause of the whole situation and this only came to light last week.
(Oh yeah, that's why the whooping number of more than thousands! What have you guys been doing???)

It seemed that what these morons in China did was to include the abovementioned chemical substance; Melamine which was supposedly banned in food production.
Purpose?
This chemical; Melamine is an industrial chemical which is rich in nitrogen and when mixed with milk, it can make the protein level in the milk higher than the original content.
This is their cheapskate effort in increasing the profit margin in their watered-down or more diluted milk.

WHAT???!!!

And hear this, this chemical is commonly used in the making of plastic and fertilizers!
So, you think it will be harmless to human beings?

Man, the morons are really irresponsible!~

Right now, due to their inconsiderate actions, 4 families have lost their newborn gems and more than 53,000 are still fighting the battle (which I pray they will not lose).
Are our food products today safe for consumption?
I don't know anymore.... for me, I have a case of lactose intolerance and dairy products are not of my concern BUT still, most of the products we have in the market today are one way or another; sent from their manufacturing plant in China.

Oh ya, our Health Minister has also made a call that these SMS-es are to be ignored and not to be spread around as it will be damaging to companies like Dutch Lady, Unilever's who have reportedly claimed that their dairy products were made from fresh local milk or sourced from New Zealand and The Netherlands; while Unilever mentioned theirs were from whey powder imported from Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and the United States.
Now, I wonder will they say the same thing when these countries were the one which were slapped with the reports of melamine contamination?
(Just food for thought; if you remember the mad cow disease a few years ago)

Anyway, just to reduce the panic level; please please do not spread rumours through baseless SMS-es before you are certain
(What's with all these SMS-es anyway; and how did they get our phone numbers????)

As for me, China products....dairy or not, I am staying away....
There's been too many cases; fake eggs, fake baos, fake this that, and now dairy......

*Shivers*

Parental inconvenience?

I read with much aghast and distress on the recent kidnapping case of the young girl, Sharlinie who was allegedly found missing from her playing area; the playground in front of her house.
There were mixed feelings when I first read that; alarmed and sad that yet another girl had been abducted by goodness-knows-who and wondering goodness-knows-what they had done to her.
Secondly, I was really angered as well by the fact that parents have yet again been found guilty of the negligence imposed on watching out for their own kids.
A short distance away from home means OUT of sight and AWAY from home, and haven't we been through this several times since the past few cases?
I don't get what is so confusing about the clear statement posted by these abductors and why parents are putting their young offspring at this risk, again and AGAIN!

It is so disheartening to know that parents regard lightly the distance of their kids from them.

Yesterday I was at the church and even the parish priest mentioned, do not leave your kids unattended.
He was referring to the young children waiting by the roadside outside the church after Sunday cathecism classes for their parents to pick them up.
He strictly emphasized on the notion that all children are to be inside the school canteen and that parents should not slack on making the turn into the compound to collect their "precious packages".
If they find it inconvenient, they will need to pass a note to inform the adults to have an older teen accompany the younger ones to the gate.

I find this word intriguing; convenient?
Since when is parental duties bounded by convenience?
Perhaps this explain all the risks they have themselves created by letting their children out of their sight... due to inconvenience of watching over them?

I am not indicating nor imposing more grief or hurt here; nor am I pointing finger at any party over negligence; I understand the overwhelming guilt and conscience battle which must be killing the parents every night.
However, I am trying to state a point that is important and the key to curb all these cases; or even make it challenging (or almost impossible) for a kid (regardless of boy or girl) to disappear under our noses!
I remembered how protective my mum was over me when I was a little girl; everyone said how overprotective or over-reactive she is in not allowing me to go out to buy stuffs or wait at the main road without company.
My mum was pointed by everyone that she is being dramatic, etc and that it was all in exaggeration.
My mum took no heed in whatever everyone says and told me that it may mean a minute to everyone but it all takes less than a minute for someone to grab and speed off in the car.
And that, my friends, the 1 minute of avoiding inconvenience will be a lifetime of pain and regret.

I hope that everyone will not regard inconvenience; particularly when it comes to children lightly....

Tsunami Alert

I was lying on my bed last night after completing my work (okay, I was working after office hours!)
I was about to put my mind to rest when I received a call from someone who surprised me; an old friend I haven't heard from for some time.
I was wondering whether I should use his real name but decided to follow bestie who used a pseudonym for him in her blog...haha, so ToughGuy called:)

It was really kind of him to call and to inform me of the tsunami warning issued following the quake in Indonesia and that people were warned against the seaside areas.

I even asked a silly question,
I am staying near Queensbay area; is that considered seaside?
Yes

Guess anytime past my bedtime really caused me to be so blurrrrrrr:p
And I really wanna say a BIG THANK YOU to ToughGuy....really remind me of how great my friends were...

Today, a quick browse through The Star online already showed several headlines on the tsunami warning
Penang seaside spots cleared for fear of tsunami
Quake felt in Malaysia
(CORRECTED)- OFFICIAL - Indonesia says 2 dead, 11 injured in Quake
Tsunami warning withdrawn

Still, THANKS THANKS to ToughGuy for the concern!!
It feels great to know that there's always great friends around whenever I am down:D

Pavarotti DIED???!!

Oh my, the famous tenor has passed on to the netherworld!!

I read in the news this morning:
1. The Star
2. Yahoo! News

Gosh...I can't believe this! He's 71...he's like the greatest guy who could sing those high-pitched music!!

According to the news, he has been fighting off pancreatic cancer for the past year...cancer, one of the most deadly killers in the world!!

A great tenor celebrity....he will definitely be greatly missed:(

Hair Clippings Horror!!

I was driving back from work; the long drive from Kulim and as usual I tuned into Htiz and they were talking about a couple of queer bits of news here and there and I actually heard this part about a guy who was caught and you know what he did?
He actually went around stealing hair clippings from unsuspecting ladies ( on the streets I think or salon..not sure) for his personal purpose!
And his personal purpose, hook those hair to make keychains!!!
UGHHHHSSS!!!

I am giving my keychain on my bag a cynical look now.....and it's not even with hair!!!
It's just a plain little cartoon character....sighs...

Stealing hair from ladies???!!!
What is the world turning into.....gosh!!!! Do we need a hair-thief detector soon?:p

Poor Innocent Baby

I am horrified and shocked by the recent plight of this baby whose arm was amputated due to a silly medical mistake.
It really made me wonder at the level of medical competency, skills and knowledge these days.
A question and discussion which rose from this issue was WHO was at fault?
Was it the consultant who assigned the task to the medical trainee or was the trainee directly to be blamed in this case?
Most people would pinpoint this to the medical trainee since he was the one carrying out the assigned task; to inject into the baby's arm.
Some(majority) even blamed it on the consultant who didn't make it to the hospital and ended up assigning an important task like this to a medical trainee.
And there were all different views, etc.

Me? Simple...I see it as a fault and severe mistake on both parties; not just on a single party.
The consultant is experienced and definitely an expert in his field and thus it is his mistake to just assign it to a trainee without following up or mentoring/guiding him to complete this task. It may be simple for him; but for a fresh new trainee with shallow experience, it is no easy feat. Furthermore, when it comes to dealing with infants, sometimes even consultants or experienced doctors sweat when it comes to injections and major surgeries due to the delicate blood vessels and organs in the tiny bodies.
Moreover, this is a blood vein to deal with...it is not easy to identify.

As for the trainee, don't think he's off the hook either after all I have said about the consultant. I think it is pretty sad that the medical knowledge acquired has not enlighten him on the difference between a vein and a muscle!
It is pretty dangerous; and in his case, if you are not sure or scared, do consult before taking further action...this is a human life you are dealing with!!!
He is just as much as responsible...and I daren't imagine how many more tragedies we will have if we do not scrutinize the medical skillsets before allowing public practice....

And I am truly very sad for the baby girl for losing an arm at such a tender age; it is truly devastating and I pray that she will grow up to be a strong and beautiful girl and optimistic to fight this tragedy through...God bless her

I am really starting to have a phobia of going to doctors....(I have had so much stories to tell on doctors here..and I have posted more than once here in my blog...sighs:(

Merdeka Promotions!

In conjunction with the 50th Merdeka Day celebration, I found a couple of interesting promotions

Prince Andrew coming to Malaysia!!

My bro just shared with me this piece of news
Bro is working ..okay, theoretically, his internship company is BT...a British-based company...and the Duke of York will be paying them a visit...and bro has been going through his protocols sharing and the whole office has been busy with the preparations for the royal coming:D
Maybe there may be pics of the Duke pretty soon....haha....

So, check this out: http://www.mmail.com.my/Current_News/mm/Monday/Hotnews/20070827153606/Article/index_html

Fake Buns?

Now I am not sure about the authenticity of this piece of news but a friend has forwarded this to me and it seems that there are even bogus buns out there!!
Scary.....
Due to certain policy issue...haha, I will not reveal the name of the country or anything or else I may be liable for defamation charges.

Anyway, suffice to say that there has been way lots of similar fake items which have been sprouting or rumoured to originate from this place.

This is the latest; in one of the recordings of this bun manufacturing factory, they were found to use waste paper and cardboard; which made up about 60 per cent of the bao and mixing it with the fatty meat to produce what they call as the "bao zi".

How did they manage to capture this?
It was actually done by the reporters of the particular broadcast corporation in line with the current scare of their continuous discoveries of bizarre and dangerous stuffs ranging from toxic toothpaste and toys painted with lead-based paints!!

This was done in their desperate efforts to cut down cost; and the owners didn't think the consumers could tell a difference:o
They used caustic soda; a toxic solvent used in the industry to soak the cardboard to produce that consistency taste and then mixed it with 40% of fatty meat and monosodium glutamate (MSG/flavour enhancer) before putting it on market shelves.

The owners do not consume their own baos!!
Woww....these crazy and inconsiderate folks!!
UGHSSS!!!

Don't they give you a new perspective of eating baos?

Harry Potter and the Price War

I read with interest a blogger's post on The Star blog which was titled, "Harry Potter and the Battle of the Bookstores" and couldn't help chuckling to myself on the catchy title.
To me, this can be a potential sequel title!
Hehe...I know I am a little cuckoo here...but hey, we have the whole list of titles of Rowling's book in a series which hit off with the main character's name and xxx.....
So, this is good!

Back to the price war among the bookstores and the two leading hypermarkets, it was actually not just the talk of the town but also a joke and a display of immature behavior.
It was a major blow to the enthusiasm and the excitement of the loyal readers who have been waiting for more than a year for this final instalment of the highly-acclaimed book series by the world famous writer (Now), JK Rowling.
I understand the slap that all those leading bookstores such as MPH, Popular, Borders had when an unexpected competitor comes up and slashed off the prices of this highly wanted book by almost 50% of their listed price.
And to make matters worse; not just 1 but 2 of the competitors of the same genre decide to do this and they are not even in the same line of industry; ain't that just a pain?
In retortion, these bookstores ganged up and decided to retract all their books on the shelves; after mass publicity on their events and the launch of their books, etc.
It was really a major decision which left all the readers disappointed after the elevated joy in anticipation of obtaining their favourite and most wanted book BUT also in missing all the fun and excitement of the events organized.

I am not going into factual analysis of the situation, since everyone has done so already through the media and how those bookstores should review their prices that the competitors can slash by almost 50%.
However, recent report in the news has revealed that those prices were indeed a loss to them but still, the hypermarkets will not retract.
And the fight goes on....
Anyway, pleased to know that it has finally subsided, with the bookstores taking a step back and restoring the books on the shelves for sale at even discounted prices of 20%!
Good move, and thank you!

Wonder whether it helps to know that in UK, the book is retailed at only 5 pounds....hmmmm...
Should it now be the battle of the Readers/consumers?
Too bad this is the last book; else, I am sure the titles alone can overflow the storylines:)

Speaking of which, anyone read the book yet?
I saw one of my friend's MSN status that many died but not the 3 main (Harry, Ron, Hermione)...now, that's what I call a major spoiler!!
*But I can't help seeing that status, right?...Bummer....

Indecent dressing?

Ever been subjected to discrimination due to your dressing?
I am sure it is not an uncommon scenario...
I heard of this incident which occurred in Germany where there was this young girl of 20 who boarded a bus to get to work.
She took the seat behind the driver and throughout the journey, she could sense the driver's eyes on her.
Anyway, at one point of the journey, the driver slammed on his brakes and yelled at the girl, "Get off the bus NOW!"
The girl of course was stunned...
And the bus driver continued, " Either move to another seat or get off the bus....you are exposing too much cleavage and I can't concentrate on the road with you sitting behind me!!!"

Now, that's some story huh?
Talk about a bizarre world....

Bloggers' blog

Beware of what you blog!
It seems that blogging will be a scrutinized activity from now onwards... according to sources published in the newspapers on Sunday.
Our Malaysian government is viewing blogging seriously now and will consider to take action against bloggers who criticize others openly in their blogs; subjecting them to the clause of defamation of others. In fact, quoting examples from their Western counterparts, they claimed that bloggers over there have been brought to court for publishing their thoughts which insult or in any way cause any damage to another's reputation.
What has come to the world of bloggers now?
Blogs were meant to be a private space for thoughts and opinions; a journal for our minds to speak as they think...but no, now, blogs will also be subjected to the law.
I wonder whether my food reviews and stuffs I talk about the food tastes and restaurant environments are defamation?
Anyhow, do beware....let's hope that all of you out there will not be as unfortunate as Jeff Ooi....
Blog.....but with caution:)

Haze is BACK???!!!

I noticed the foggy and blurry view of the landscapes up here in the northern region since last Friday and Saturday.
I texted and called my Daddy to check whether there is any update in the news but none.
Hmmm...can't be...I have a hypersensitive nose and intuition and I know it's the haze, I can smell it!!
And I have been restless.....
Finally on Sunday morning (yesterday), confirmed in the Star that there was indeed haze in the northern region of the Peninsula.
Sighs....and they found about 64 hotspots in Sumatra...
However, a quick check on the online Star today revealed 171 hotspots!!!
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/7/2/nation/18189065&sec=nation

Aarrrgghhh!!!
When is this going to stop???
Mummy was just telling me the other day that it was raining all the way in KL each and every day...a weird turn in the weather.
I asked why is that so, and Mummy shrugged that off by saying that "Each year, at this time, we are bound to be shrouded by the haze, but this year, no haze yet..."

**Touchwood!***
Don't speak too soon...it is back...and I hope this goes off in a short spell only.....sighs.....
Our neighbor......

Storm in Penang...am I lucky to be out?

While I was away, Daddy told me that there was a rain spell in Penang (north) and it stirred up a storm here. Pretty dramatic and an anomaly for this to hit our country; some even commented that the storm kind of reminded them of the tsunami tragedy a few years back.
I even got some pics from my colleague on the storm which hit Esplanade; you know where the famous Fort Cornwallis stood? And the mighty and legendary cannon which was reputed to be haunted/saintly as it goes off during the holy month sometimes....
It was also the place where I did my History project in Secondary 2.....
And the following pics showed how badly it was hit....







These pictures look really scary huh? I'd be freaked if I was around....
And...I have to travel to Kulim somemore, Daddy and Mummy will really worry sick:p

Daddy even told me that several places such as Pulau Tikus and Georgetown was badly hit by the flash floods...and even Sungai Dua...the place where I first stayed when I started working here. Can you imagine? It's on the highlands area...but it's not flooded; however, some food stalls suffered from the storm which destroyed some of their stalls and also some of the houses had their roofs blown off. In Georgetown, some of those wooden houses even collapsed; defeated by the strong wind and also the water current from the skies.

Phew...such drama....and all when I was coincidentally out of town/state.
Daddy said it was a good thing I was away, else they will have sleepless nights wondering how I was up here during the storm. Of course, they didn't wish for anyone else to be hurt...but just, good riddance....
I am thankful to God that the rain season has passed on.....

Jailhouse Rocks?Not so....for Hilton

Just came across an ad about Paris Hilton and some news about her life in prison.
Seems that she has chosen to decline all the prison's rationed food; and only wants to consume bread and cereal.
Life is tough for the future Hilton heiress and also one of America's most popular party girl/celebrity.

In fact, she seemed apologetic and remorseful during her hearing and even apologized to the judge with hopes that they will ease her sentence.
No such luck....
Being warranted for driving without a licence and arrested doing so while under parole certainly created a very grim situation for this young lady.
Judge actually sentenced her to a 45-days and her defense counsel at one point even raised the point that she was judged based on who she really is.

Also, there were serious warnings that there were to be no special treatment for the celebrity cum heiress and she will be locked in the same cell as any commoner despite earlier reports Paris will be imprisoned in a cell holding only 2 people; a place reserved only for celebrities and officials.

Well, anyway, it seems this LA prison is not a nice place and life is going to be tough for the pampered girl born with a silver spoon in her mouth.
However, isn't her sentence already lightened to only a 23-days stint compared to the original sentence meted?
Hmmmm....guess celebrity and wealth do have a certain playing....I mean, bargaining power:)

Well, hope Paris will come out fine and good....

Some pics from ABC News and BBC on Paris

PM getting married?

Did you know that our PM is getting married this week?
Yes, it wasn't a rumour anymore...I got this from a blog and double checked it with the Star Online....:o

It is true...he is Re-marrrying!!
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/6/7/nation/17957296&sec=nation
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/6/6/nation/20070606123209&sec=nation