Quote of the Day (27)

5 Dec 2010 - Private health care providers in Malaysia are urged to be transparent and reasonable about their charges. Patients have the right to be informed, in advance, about the pricing of care and treatment, as this may avoid misunderstanding and misconceptions. The Director-General of Health Tan Sri Dr. Md. Ismail tolf doctors at private hospitals that health care should not be equated with business. He said "Looking at profits solely, the way other business do, may not be ethically or morally justifiable. Profits made must be reasonable, and not excessive." The comments came about reports in the media over unreasonable charges by private hospitals.

Sinterklaas

5 Dec 2010 - Today is a special day for the Dutch all over the world, because it is ":Sinterklaas". Wikipedia says that Sinterklaas is a "traditional Winter holiday figure", whose birthday is celebrated annually in The Netherlands on 5th of December. Traditionally Sinterklaas arrives mid November by steamboat from Spain. He parades through the street on a white horse, and he is accompanied by an army of black men, called Zwarte Pieten. The Zwarte Pieten (his helpers) throw candy and gingerbread cookies around, while the Dutch children sing their traditional songs like "Sinterklaas Kapoentje" (I cannot translate that). Sinterklaas always visits schools, hospitals and shopping centers. Dutch children are told by their parents that Sinterklaas will put them in a bag and take them to Spain, if they don't behave well. However, if they do behave well they receive presents on the 5th December. I have never heard a child taken to Spain - in modern times this would probably be called "kidnap":

Plastic Surgery Kills

4 Dec 2010 - The death of an aspiring Chinese pop singer during plastic surgery has cast an ugly light on an obsession with beauty that sees millions go under the knife in China each year. Wang Bei, 24, a former contestant on China's answer to American Idol, died on 15 November during "facial bone-grinding surgery" in Wuhan. That Wang even felt she needed to improve her looks has underlined the extent to which cosmetic surgery has taken hold. Her beauty had already made her a popular contestant on the smash TV hit "Super Girl". An "anaesthetic accident" occurred during Wang's procedure at Zhong Ao Cosmetic Surgery Hospital. Wang's jaw suddenly started bleeding during the procedure blocking her windpipe and causing her to suffocate. Surging demand for cosmetic surgery has led to untrained doctors carrying out operations, Zhang Hua-bin, a professor of plastic surgery at Guangdong Medical College said.

Missing

2010 - You normally think this is a scenario of a Hollywood block-buster, but miracles happen in real life too. Three teens who have been missing in the South Pacific for 50 days - and were already eulogised in a memorial service have been found alive by a fishing boat. The boys, two 15 year old and a 14 year old, disappeared while attempting to row between two islands in the New Zealand territory of Tokelau early last month and were given up for dead after an extensive search involving the country's air force. their craft had drifted 1,300 km to a desolate part of Fiji, when the crew of a tuna fishing boat saw them frantically waving for help. The boys were dehydrated, sunburned and thin, but otherwise fine.

Bird's Highway

2 Dec 2010 - Bird migration is big in Israel. Per square kilometer, the country has one of the highest levels of bird traffic in the world. Every autumn, more than 500 million birds cross the Israeli air space, heading south for warmer weather in Africa. One person commented: "Politically Israel is a disaster, but for bird watching it is heaven." However, so many birds in a small airspace cause a major hazard for pilots, notably for the country's substantial air force. Tough pilots have fought many wars, but often their closest encounter with death was when a bird flew into their engine and they had to make an emergency landing or use the eject seat. An average migrating bird bird weighs about 6 kilos but at top speed it has the impact of an item of around 40 tonnes. The Israeli air force has responded with state of the art radar system, that can pick up migrating birds. Bird watchers can also call a hotline to warn for flocks of birds.

World AIDS Day

1 Dec 2010 - Today is World AIDS Day. In the last year a good friend was told he was HIV+, so I am thinking of him - and millions of others - today. Although HIV is no longer a dead sentence, it is still an uphill battle for many, in particular in the developing world. For example, read this testimony from a 27-year old Kenyan woman, which I picked from the MSF website. "There is a very bad thing for AIDS widows. When the husband has died, the relatives take everything from you and just leave it like that, because they know that you are going to die. They took everything from me. I had many things, but they took it away. If you go to my house now, you don't find anything that belonged to my husband. I even had no mat or mattress to sleep on. You remain just like that without anybody caring for you. I am not the only one, it happens to many."

Sit Ups

30 Nov 2010 - A group of male passengers traveling in a female-only carriages on New Delhi's new metro system were ordered to do sit-ups on the platform by furious women, according to reports. At least one carriage per rain is reserved  for women in the Indian capital, where female rsidents and tourists have complained about sexual harassment on public transport for decades. The metro has become severely congested with the lines expanding into the suburbs over the last year and most carriages packed to capacity. The Times of India said on Saturday that police led a crackdown at a station in Gurgaon on the outskirts of Delhi, after sets of complainst - and women passengers joined the action

Computer Crash

29 Nov 2010 - We seldom realize that in a 10 - 15 years time frame we have become almost completely dependent on the computer, so its mayhem and chaos when the computer fail. A freak computer glitch at Australia's biggest bank froze cash machines and left millions of people struggling to access their money. National Australia Bank said a corrupted file wiped out a huge number of transactions , including salary payments and transfers, and crashed some ATMs, angering many customers who were facing a weekend without money. Telford dais that the rogue file knocked out transactions on Wednesday, and the work to fix the problem hit Thursday and Friday. As the electrionic system buckled, some ATMs had crashed, but the bank did not reveal how many. "we are very apologetic", said a spokesperson for the bank.

Workaholic No More

28 Nov 2010 - "Workaholic" may no longer be the most appropriate label for Japanese businessmen. A survey has shown that Japanese men spend less time at work than they once did amid an economic downturn and use their leisure time surfing the internet at home rather than going for a drink with the mates. Japanese men now work eight hours and 39 minutes a day on average, around one hour less than they did in 2000. The survey covered 400 male corporate employees in their 20s to 50s. In their private time workers spend a record seven hours and 59 minutes a week on the internetor catching up with e-mail, the survey showed. The previous survey in 2000 showed they spent seven hours and 52 minutes watching TV - then the top leisure time activity. Drinking coffee at coffee shops or bars now took up just two hours and 25 minutes a week, down from a high of seven hours and 52 minutes in 1990.

Marina's Magic

28 Nov 2010 - Not many people know Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, but the diughter of the former Malaysian Prime Minister is an national celebrity in her home country. She was recently awarded the United Nations Person of the Year in Malaysia Award for all the good work she has done for women's rights, and the battle against HIV/AIDS. Marina served as president of the Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC), an umbrella of about 40 non-governmental organizations working on HIV/AIDS in the country, from 1993 to 2005. Currently, she is a board member of Sisters in Islam, an advocacy group which champions justice and equality for Muslim women. Ms. Marina was not available to pick up the price herself, but said "It is gratifying to be rocognised. However, there are many people doing a lot of good work in Malaysia. I always believe that when you win an award it is not because you worked alone. I had the support of all the people in MAC and SIS."

Kabaddi

27 Nov 2010 - Probably you have never heard of Kabaddi (my spell check does not recognize it). Note however, that this is one of the sports of the Asian Games. According to some, Kabaddi is the key to good health and long life. "Look at me, I am 50 years old and I can hold my breath for three minutes," boasts Balwan Singh, India's coach. "You can live 100 years playing Kabaddi.". The sport, long dominated by South Asian countries, involves teams joining hands, holding their breath and raiding opponents, chanting "kabaddi, kabaddi , kabaddi" as they do so. "you can keep chanting kabbadi and your internal organs, your heart, your lungs will become strong," explains Singh. He is not the only one to espouse the health benefits of the sport (game?). Three of the 14 members of Japan's kabaddi team are reportedly monks, while five others have graduated from a ZAn Institute.

Sexy Trunks

26 Nov 2010 - The skimpy trunks sported by the Singapore waterpolo team at the Asian Games are causing red faces and uproar in the conservative city state. The trunks display the Singapore flag's half white crescent moon on the front of the red briefs in what has been described as "inappropriate fashion". The government mouth-piece The Singapore Times used strong language as "disgusting" and "disgraceful". However, many Singaporeans praised the design as "sexy" and "cool". Unfortunately the team did not seek advice from the Ministry of Information, Communication and Arts, who condemned the design. Singapore has strict rules on the public display of the republic's flag The Singapore team were placed sixth after losing to Kuwait 5 - 4. Team manager Samuel Wong apologized for the trouble caused by the uniform.   

Bruni Comics

26 Nov 2010 - Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, world famous as France's first lady and as a model/singer, has now been "immortalised" as a comic book heroine, an American publisher said. The 32-page comic book, released last month in English, but yet to find a publisher in France, is an unauthorised political biography with a difference.  A depiction of Mme. Sarkozy is on the cover, bare-shouldered in an evening gown with her hands crossed demurely in front of her poised before a billowing French tri-color. The readers are promised that "... being a French story, it has romance, sensuality, the occasional menage-a-trois." The scenes depict Bruni's family moving from Italy to France during the 1970s Red Brigades attacks, her modelling and music careers, her views and work on AIDS fundraising and her controversial meeting with the Pope. Other women who have received the comic book treat are US First Lady Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, J.K. Rowling and Olivia Newton-John.

Military Rule

25 Nov 2010 - Myanmar's military Government ordered more than 80 people at a shelter for patients with HIV/AIDS to leave following a visit by newly freed democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi (see my post yesterday). Suu Kyi, who was released a week ago from 7 years under house arrest, visited the shelter on the outskirts of Yangon on Wednesday, promising to provide it with badly needed medicines. She also addressed a crowd of about 600 people, who came to see her. A day after the visit, Government officials told patients they would have to leave by next week or face legal action because the center's permit was not being renewed. By law, home owners must seek government permission every two weeks to allow visitors to stay overnight. The shelter accommodates 82 patients, including young children, offering them housing, food, medicine and educational opportunities.

Great Picture (25)

24 Nov 2010 - I have paid tribute to Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi in the last few days, and like to share this picture from Magnum pictures showing a woman reading in her garden. There is no other human being around - she is all alone, but seems comfortable in her environment. Ms. Kyi pays an enormous personal price for standing up against the generals and advocating for democracy, human rights and economic progress. The Military regime has kept her under detention for more than 15 years of the last 21 years, and her release last week drew thousands of cheering supporters into Yangon's streets. This picture shows her isolation and her dignity.

Facebook Hooligans

23 Nov 2010 - Big alarm in Malaysia: police are monitoring a new trend in gangsterism in which members of gangster syndicates are recruited via Facebook, days Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar. "We are aware of new trends and are monitoring Facebook gangsterism and will investigate specific cases if necessary, " the Inspector-General said. Criminal gangs are recruiting youngsters for their ranks and were frealy revealing their background and even disclosing dates, times and venues of their meetings. It is estimated that in Malaysia alone about 2,000 people are using Facebook to get connected to gangsterism, including uploading pictures and video clips of their activities. Some parents have already responded and raised fears that (quote) "this new trend will negatively influence and pollute their children's mind." The trend is already wider spread in Singapore, where Facebook gangsters are involved in illegal money-lending, extortion and other (quote) "undesirable activities". And I thought Malaysia was a quiet place ...

Target

22 Nov 2010 - A country employee in Arizona has been fired after mistakenly euthanising a dog that saved soldiers in Afghanistan and lived through explosions in the war-torn country, officials announced. The unidentified Pinal County  animal control employee euthanised the female shepherd mix on Monday last week and was immediately placed on administrative leave. The dog, named Target, has been brought to the Phoenix area in August by Sgt. Terry Young after his tour of duty. Target reportedly frightened a suicide bomber inside a military base and potentially saved dozens of soldiers' lives. The dog escaped from Young's back yard, but later Young found Target's picture on a website used by country dog catchers to help owners track down lost pets. When Young went to collect Target he found her already dead. Country officials said it was all a mistake ...  

Plastic Bags

22 Nov 2010 - In the last seven years I have seen how Hong Kong slowly moved from being completely plastic indifferent to somewhat plastic aware. The Government struggled to introduce a levy of HKD 0.5 to be paid for every plastic bag used by the consumer, but succeeded in the end. It turned out that Hong Kong people can actually remember to bring their own back when they have to pay for the plastic one. Now in Malaysia, the situation is worse than I have ever seen in Hong Kong. Consumers are not required to pay for the plastic bags they use. Shop assistants tend to hand them out like candy, bundling wares two or three times over, no matter how small. Hey Malaysia, if you are shopping frozen goods, souvenirs or small items, or are just running your errands, please bring along your own bag, and do tell salespersons not to give you one if it is not necessary.

Quote of the Day (27)

21 Nov 2010 - Burmese Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi reached out to the country's splintered opposition, calling on thousands of exuberant supporters to unite following her release from house arrest. She later told a news conference that she was in favor of dialogue and national reconciliation. "Ihad better go onliving until I see a democratic Burma.", Ms. Kyi said.

City Parks

21 Nov 2010 - Lonely Planet has published a Top Ten of city parks. The argument goes that it is all nice and well to be working on the - let's say - 34th floor of your air-conditioned office building, but the question is if we really now what the world out there, and in particular nature out there, is all about. Most office workaholics would not really care, so it is good to know that the city park is just around the corner in most urban jungles. No surprise but the list is topped by New York's Central Park. It's iconic, endearing and cinematic, and shady lanes and strawberry fields (forever). London has St. James's Park and Paris has the Jardin du Luxembourg. The list goes on with Sdney, Beijing, Singapore and Barcelona mentioned, but what about Amsterdam's Vondelpark. Maybe it's on the small side to make the list, but it has everything a good city park needs to offer. So maybe not in the Lonely Planet Top Ten, but my number eleven.