Chikungunya Virus Outbreak in Malaysia

Attention, everyone We have just been alerted that Chikungunya Virus Outbreak in Malaysia, spread by mosquitoes, is quite serious. More than 2,000 people are infected down south. There are claims of unreported deaths. Consult a health-care provider or visit the nearest hospital for chikungunya fever if you showed symptoms such as fever, severe joint pains and rashes. Four states have been hit, i.e. Johor, Malacca, N.Sembilan and Perak. The worst hit is Tangkak, Johor. Almost all elderly people (age 45 years and above) are infected with this virus. Many people who are infected seek treatment from Tangkak Hospital every day. There were times beds were full, and the hospital could not warded them. Therefore they were discharge after a half day treatment in the ward. This epidemic outbreak has persisted for more than three months. ► Below is the chronological of this outbreak. 1. The disease is spread by the foreigner workers in the plantations. 2. Then the 'bugs' are passed down to the local planters, of which, their families are infected eventually. 3. Now people in this town (Tangkak) are infected as well as others in nearby towns and states. ► Symptoms of Chikungunya: 1. High fever 2. Rashes 3. Chronic joints pain (which will last for > 3months) 4. Concurrent deaths ► Recommendations: 1. Increase ad hoc facilities and manpower in district hospital and clinics. 2. Bring down the population of the vector (mosquitoes) 3. Quarantine the sick people who are infected with this virus. 4. Educate the public how to prevent and contain the disease. Dr Teo Kim Lai (among the many courageous Pahlawan Volunteer veterinarians involved in the investigation of the Nipah Virus Outbreak,1999 archived at http://www.pahlawan.com.my/voice/VECrisis1.shtml) ) recommends that the sick should be quarantined as the virus is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected mosquitoes. CHIK fever epidemics are sustained by human-mosquito-human transmission. Further information can be obtained from the Health Ministry's website at http://www.moh.gov.my or call (603) 88810600/ 0700 during office hours. FURTHER READING: ► Chikungnya Di Malaysia http://www.moh.gov.my/opencms/opencms/moh/chikungunya_malaysia.html ► Chikungunya http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chikungunya ► Chikungunya - Fact Sheet by European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/Health_Topics/Chikungunya_Fever/facts.aspx ► Insect Bite Avoidance http://www.nathnac.org/pro/factsheets/iba.htm ► SAVE LIVES. Please circulate this to fellow Malaysians. Post to other groups and newsgroups outside of Facebook. We'll keep you informed of further developments at Pahlawan Volunteers discussion board at http://groups.to/pahlawan or http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=33559455073 With love from Pahlawan Volunteers Negara Kita, Tanggung Jawab Kita - From conviction to action http://www.pahlawan.com.my

How Eating Fruits Will Make You Look Younger

Graying hair, balding, nervous outburst, and dark circles under the eyes all these will not happen if you take fruits on an empty stomach.

There is no such thing as some fruits like orange and lemon are acidic because all fruits become alkaline in our body, according to Dr. Herbert Shelton who did a research on this matter.

If you have mastered the correct way of eating fruits, you have the Secret of beauty, longevity, health, energy, happiness and normal weight.

When you need to drink fruit juice - drink only fresh fruit juice, NOT From the cans. Don't even drink juice that has been heated up. Don't eat Cooked fruits because you don't get the nutrients at all. You only get to taste.... Cooking destroys all the vitamins.
But eating a whole fruit is better than drinking the juice.. If you Should drink the juice, drink it mouthful by mouthful slowly, because you must Let it mix with your saliva before swallowing it.You can go on a 3-day fruit fast to cleanse your body.Just eat fruits and drink fruit juice throughout the 3 days and you will Be surprised when your friends tell you how radiant you look!

KIWI: Tiny but mighty. This is a good source of potassium, magnesium, Vitamin E & fiber. Its Vitamin C content is twice that of an orange.


APPLE: An apple a day keeps the doctor away? Although an apple has a low Vitamin C content, it has antioxidants & flavonoids which enhances the activity of Vitamin C thereby helping to lower the risks of colon
cancer, heart attack & stroke.

STRAWBERRY: Protective Fruit.Strawberries have the highest total antioxidant power among major fruits & protect the body from cancer-causing,blood vessels-clogging free radicals.

ORANGE : Sweetest medicine.Taking 2 -4 oranges a day may help keep colds away, lower cholesterol, prevent &dissolve kidney stones as well as lessens the risk of colon cancer.

WATERMELON: Coolest Thirst Quencher Composed of 92% water, it is also packed with a giant dose of glutathione, which helps boost our immune system. They are also a key source of lycopene - the cancer fighting
oxidant. Other nutrients found in watermelon are Vitamin C & Potassium.

GUAVA & PAPAYA: Top awards for Vitamin C.They are the clear winners for their high Vitamin C content. Guava is Also rich in fiber, which helps prevent constipation.Papaya is rich in carotene; this is good
for your eyes.

-DR.SREEDHARAN

Too much melamine found in 18 types of biscuits

What now? Melamine in biscuits??? When will humans start caring about another human being? Will we ever do that? Guys, next time you go for shopping have these initials (K.G) embedded in your heads and be careful of what you purchase...

Source: The Star

Friday October 17, 2008

PUTRAJAYA: Eighteen types of biscuits bearing the Khong Guan and Khian Guan brands have been found to contain excessive levels of melamine.

Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai said the contamination is from the raising agent ammonium bicarbonate from China which was used to produce the biscuits.

As a result, Liow said, ammonium bicarbonate from China was now banned. Ammonium bicarbonate from other countries would be taken for tests.

“Results from our tests found that the melamine level in the ammonium carbonate used for Khong Guan and Khian Guan biscuits is 33.4ppm and 508ppm respectively,” he told a press conference on Thursday.

The permissible level of melamine is 2.5 parts per million (ppm).

He said 18 out of 47 products had been found with excessive levels of melamine and the manufacturer has been instructed to recall them.

“We have also requested that they voluntarily recall the rest of their products,” he said.

“All factories that use ammonium bicarbonate from China will have their products tested. We will test all biscuits in the country,” he said.

Earlier, the ministry had found Ego White Rabbit Creamy Candy and Taro brand biscuit by Bairong to contain excessive levels of melamine and ordered that the products be withdrawn.

He said the ministry was checking Julie’s Crackers and Mali unsweetened condensed milk which was reported in the media to contain excessive levels of melamine.

Liow said consumers could contact the Food Services and Quality division at 03-8883 3655/3503/3652/3500 for information.

Khong Guan Sdn Bhd and Khian Guan Biscuit Manufacturing Company Sdn Bhd, in a joint statement, said they would fully cooperate with the ministry and would ensure that the products were recalled quickly.

The two companies said they have ceased using ammonium bicarbonate from China and had switched to those sourced from other countries.

“Khian Guan and Khong Guan have never used any dairy ingredients of Chinese origin in our products. All our dairy ingredients are sourced from either Australia or New Zealand,” they added.

China's Milk Scandal - 3

Hope this info benefits everyone........

Source: STAR Online
Tuesday September 23, 2008

Health Ministry's List Of Safe Milk Products:

Mead Johnson
(Milk ingredient sourced from Australia, New Zealand, United States and Europe)
Enfalac A+
Enfalac Routine Infant Formula
Enfapro A+
Enfapro Routine Follow Up Formula
Enfagrow A+ Vanilla
Enfagrow A+ Original
Enfagrow A+ Honey
Enfakid A+ Original
Enfakid A+ Honey
Sustagen Junior Honey
Sustagen Junior Vanilla
Sustagen Junior Chocolate
Sustagen Kid Honey
Sustagen Kid Vanilla
Sustagen Kid Chocolate
Sustagen School Honey
Sustagen School Vanilla
Sustagen School Chocolate
Enfamama A+ Chocolate
Enfamama A+ Vanilla
Enfalac A+ AR
Enfalac A+ HA
Prosobee
Enfalac LF
Enfalac A+ Premature Powder

Dumex
(Milk ingredient sourced from Australia and New Zealand)
Mamex Gold Step 1
Dulac Infant Formula
Bebelac Step 1
Mamex Gold Step 2
Dupro Follow Up Formula
Bebelac Step 2
Mamil Gold Step 3
Mamil Gold Step 4
Dugro 1 Plus
Dugro 3 Plus
Dugro 6 Plus
Bebelac Kid Step 3
Bebelac Kid Step 4
Bebelac FL
Bebelac EC
Mamex LF
Nutrakids Cereals
Mamil Mama

Nestle
(Milk ingredient sourced from Australia, New Zealand, United States and Europe)
Nestle Yogurt Drinks
Nestle Bliss Zero Fat Yogurt Drink
Nestle Premium Fruit Yogurt
Nestle Natural Yogurt
Yoco range
Nespray Instant
Everyday Instant filled milk powder
Nestle Omega Acticol
Nespray Cergas
Nesvita High Cal Non Fat
Nespray 1+ Original
Nespray 1+ Honey
Nespray 3+ Original
Nespray 3+ Honey
Nespray 5+
Neslac 1+ Original
Neslac 1+ Honey
Neslac 3+ Original
Neslac 3+ Honey
Milo range of products
Kit Kat range of products
Nestle Potong red bean
Nestle Milky Bar and Crunch
Mat Kool range of products
Nestle Tropicana Lime/Vanilla
Nestle Crunch
Nestle Original Lime/Vanilla
Sundae cup KFC Vanilla
Nestle Sundae Cup Vanilla
KFC dessert orange sherbet
Nestle range of ice cream
Favorita range of products
Nestle Drumstick range of products
Maggi fixes and Maggi soup containing milk
Nestle Full Cream Milk, Low Fat Milk
Omega UHT
Nesvita UHT
Nesquik UHT
Nespray UHT
Nesvita Hi Cal UHT
Nescafe 3 in 1
Nescafe Mocha Freeze
Nestle Prebio 1 (infant cereals with milk)
Nestle Teh Tarik
Nescafe Body Partners
Nestum Sarapan Berkhasiat
Nestum Cereals 3 in 1
Nesvita 3 in 1
Nestle Cereals (premium infant cereals)
Nescafe range of can drink products
Cap Junjung sweetened beverage creamer
Ideal Full Cream Evaporated Milk
Carnation Evaporated Creamer

Fonterra Brands
(Milk ingredient sourced New Zealand)
Anlene Gold Milk Powder
Anlene Regular milk powder (plain/chocolate)
Fernleaf Kuat milk powder
Fernleaf Instant milk powder
Anmum Materna milk powder
Anmum Lacta milk powder
Anlene Concentrate UHT
Anlene Yogurt
Fernleaf Calciyum yogurt
Fernleaf full cream milk powder
Fernleaf growing up milk powder 1+
Fernleaf growing up milk powder 3+
Anmum growing up milk powder 1+
Anmum growing up milk powder 3+
Anmum Infacare infant formula
Anmum Infacare follow on formula
Chesdale slice cheese
Anchor butter
Anchor cream cheese
Anchor mozzarella cheese
Anchor Colby Cheddar blend shred
Anchor processed cheddar cheese
Anchor whipping cream (UHT)
Anchor culinary cream (UHT)
Anchor full cream milk powder

Kilang Makanan Mamee
(Milk ingredient sourced from Australia)
Nutrigen Cultured Milk
Nutrigen IQ3 Cultured Milk
Nutrigen Liteyo Yogurt Drink
Nutrigen Liteyo Stirred Yogurt

Dutch Lady
(Milk ingredient sourced from Australia, Thailand, Indonesia and Netherlands)
Frisolac 1 Gold
Frisolac 2 Gold
Dutch Lady UHT
Frisolac Comfort
Completa Brand
Yes! Tutti Fruiti
Yes! Grape
Yes! Strawberry
Yes! Orange
Dutch Lady 2

Ace Canning Corporation
(Milk ingredient sourced from New Zealand)
Drinho Rose Bandung
Dutch Mill
Nugrow

Maestro Swiss Food Sdn Bhd
(Milk ingredient not sourced from China)
Vico
Vochelle
Darry’s

Wyeth Malaysia
(Milk ingredient not sourced from China)
SMA
S26
S26 Gold
Nursoy
Promil
Promil Gold
Progress
Progress Gold
Promise
Promise Gold
Wyeth Mama
Enercal Plus
S26 LBW
S26 HMF

Malaysia Milk Sdn Bhd / Cotra Enterprise Sdn Bhd
(Milk ingredient sourced from Australia and New Zealand)
Vitagen cultured milk drink
Marigold HL Milk
Marigold Pasturised Milk
Marigold UHT Milk
Marigold Cream yogurt
Marigold Yogurt drink
Marigold sweetened condensed filled milk
Marigold sweetened creamer (from Singapore)
Vitagen Collagen cultured milk drink
Marigold sweetened creamer
Marigold evaporated filled milk
Marigold evaporated creamer

GlaxoSmithKline
(Milk ingredient sourced from UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand)
Horlicks Malt Food Drink
Horlicks Malties
Horlicks 3 in 1
Horlicks Instant cereal drink

Buying fish for the aquarium

Today, after having lunch, we decided that the aquarium at home has been empty for too long and we needed to put some fish into it.
There was an aquarium shop along Jalan Ulu Klang, as we come from the MRR-2 Road from Maluri.
Dropped by an chose one of the cheapest and easiest to care for fish. They call it 'ikan puyu', and it is a river fish.
According to the shop owner this particular fish was easy to take care and they don't die easily. Exactly what I had in mind, since from our past experiences, all fish will die off within a month or so and we had to replace them everytime during Deepavali!
Each cost us only RM2.00, compared to other breeds which ranged from RM 20.00 a pair to even RM 80.00 a pair. LA was very excited to see the fish being let into the aquarium.

China's Milk Scandal - 2

I got the message below from an email. Better if more people take note about this and take precautions.

With more and more milk products from China and Taiwan having problem. We really got to check where the things are produced. Here is a way to differentiate Taiwan made products and China made products :by looking at first three digits of its Bar Code.

If the 1st 3 digits are 690, 691 or 692 - China made
If the 1st 3 digits are 471 - Taiwan made

Hari Raya at Genting Highlands

We just celebrated Hari Raya at Genting Highlands... Well, sort of..

As you can see the entrance to the first world hotel is decorated with giant 'ketupat's or rice dumplings. However, the crowd you see give no resemblance to any celebrations. That's because we went on a weekday, before the crowds start to flow in. I guess it was a perfect timing.



The weather was cold, temperature was at 12 degrees Celsius. But all of us went there well prepared. Thick jackets/sweaters and pairs of socks was all that needed to keep all of us warm, including baby LA (Lavitra Aadithyan).

But most of the time was spent in the indoor theme park, so we couldn't actually enjoy the nature's view outside.



As LA was too young to be seated on his own in any of the games/rides, his mum accompanied him on all the family rides. He was surely excited to be going on the rides. Didn't show a single sign that he was either scared or panicked and even managed to wave at us and pose for the camera!

Effects of watching Kungfu Panda

You wouldn't believe it when I say that I have a lovable Tiger at home. Let the photograph on the right be a proof to my statement.
After Kungfu Panda, and thanks to his mum for the alphabets book(note the tiger picture in the book), my little boy can now roar like a tiger!

China's Milk Scandal

Due to the infamous China's Milk Scandal, I've been getting emails and smses of reminders and warnings. Among the items banned/recalled are:

• M&M's
• Snickers
• Mento's Yoghurt bottle
• Dove choc
• Oreo wafer sticks
• Monmilk
• Dutchlady sterilised milk(strawberry flavoured)
• Wall's all natural mango, mini poppers ice-cream
• Magnum ice cream
• Mini Cornetto ice cream

In case you were still wondering, there had been a sudden rise in infants turning up at hospitals in China with kidney stones after drinking formula milk.
In the past three years, prices for feed, fuel and other costs rose — feed by as much as 30 percent. Further pressures came last year when Beijing enacted price controls to tame double-digit inflation for food.

Melamine, a relatively cheap binding agent used in plastics and as a flame retardant, is rich in nitrogen, fooling widely used tests that check for protein. When mixed with formaldehyde, it dissolves in water.

Milk collectors found themselves squeezed between the farmers asking for more money and the processors who demanded that prices be held down.That squeeze gave suppliers incentives to tamper with the raw milk, watering it down and then adding Melamine to avoid detection of the watered down milk.

It is kind of sad to learn that human beings have gone to that level of not caring about another life, especially babies' in this case. More than 50,000 babies were affected, accompanied with cases of death.
- source: yahoo news

Archana's return

Archana is coming back today and everyone is sooo excited about it..

Initial plan was to be at the KLIA at 7.30 in the morning (what?!?! have to wake up at around 5a.m. on a weekend???!!!), but luckily (or not, read on further to find out why..) mum called early in the morning to inform me that the flight was delayed. So, now we were supposed to leave at 10.30 a.m.

So, to cut the story short, I left with baby LA around 10.45 (after the normal ding-dong and delay) from Kyoto to UK Heights, already earning dad's anger for being late by the the time we reached there. I switched car to cater for the large 'crowd' and the baggages that Archana might bring.The weather was good and the traffic was smooth flowing.

Upon arriving at the airport, we found out that the flight had already arrived. But waiting for Archana to clear her luggage and come out to the arrival zone seemed ages!!! Meanwhile, LA who was sleeping soundly, probably aware that his aunty his coming today, had awakened. Vimal was trying to entertain him at the soft-toys corner. LA immediately recognised his 'playmates' - Pooh Bear, Tigger, Sponge Bob, etc.. and was getting a little excited about them.

Finally, the awaited moment finally arrived. I saw LA's aunt from a distance and mentioned to mum. Not able to control herself, she stepped into the cordoned off area, where only the passengers were allowed. Tears flowed freely from both mum and daughter as they hugged each other and my son was just bemused at what was happening around him.

Though during her previous visit LA easily hopped on to his dear aunt when she called him, this time it was a little different. He seemed a little suspicious and tried to cling on to his dearest grandma instead.

We pushed the trolley towards our car where dad was waiting for his darling daughter. Then we packed the luggage into the car and started our journey home. But now it was really hot since it was noon time. Adding salt to injury, there was a huge agricultural exhibition going on at Serdang and a horde of vehicles were seen lining up at the toll exit. This unusual traffic jam on the highway caused us about 3 hours to reach home, instead of the normal 1 hour!!! Wish the flight had not been delayed.

We had to take a short break at the petrol station to stretch ourselves and have some bites as our stomachs began to growl in rhythm.

Along the way, Archana started telling us all that she wanted to spend quality time with mum, and so others were not allowed to come home and exhaust mum's energy. Surprise, surprise, the

little one, as though understood that there was a great competitor in town, started tearing at the potato bun and BIGGER surprise - he started feeding his grandma!!! The first time he is doing it, and all by himself, neither coaching nor coaxing from others were needed. In that timeless moment of victory, all hopes and dreams of existing and would be competitors were shattered! He will remain the little blue-eyed boy of his grandma, always..