Mattel is Bleeding Away

Call it bad luck, call it bad control, call whatever but Mattel is not smiling at all.

The situation is again the same. Mattel and Fisher-Price have gotten 2 contract vendors to do the work and this 2 companies subcontracted the jobs to China based manufacturing companies which didn't meet with the standards at all. That also took a number of months to detect. The toys, if it had been bought / played by the children, would have affected children across the world by now. With that, another batch of recalling again. This time, 8.5m toys. More to come???

Barbie-branded toys. The specific affected parts include:-
* Dream Puppy House – orange on miniature dog
* Dream Kitty Condo – brown on miniature cat
* Table & Chairs Kitchen Playset – yellow food on two dinner plates, brown on miniature dog, yellow and orange on potato chip bowl, orange on salad bowl
* Bathtub & Toilet Playset – brown on miniature cat
* Desk & Chair Bedroom Playset – brown on miniature dog
* Living Room Playset (deluxe) – brown on miniature cat
* Living Room Playset (premium) – yellow flower on purse

Fisher-Price toys recalled are two Fisher-Price GEOTRAX toys and one "It's a Big Big World" toy. Fisher-Price toys with specific parts affected include:-
* GEOTRAX Rail & Road System Freightway Transport – yellow headlights on train car and miniature ladder
* GEOTRAX Special Track Pack – yellow headlights on train car and miniature ladder
* "It's a Big Big World" 6-in-1 Bongo Band – painted decal on top of clear plastic on drum
Tags: Mattel, Fisher-Price, Toys, Barbie, Geotrax, It's A Big Big World, China

Prague Sinfonia in Malaysia

Prague Sinfonia Orchestra - this orchestra team, from Czech Republic, was born as an expanded version of the Prague Chamber Orchestra during their 16th tour in North America.

Christian Benda is their chief conductor and artistic director and they have collaborated for the last 10 years. Prague Sinfonia have been on 16 tours in the United States and Canada, 6 tours to Latin America and Japan. Recently they toured with great acclaim at South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.

The Czech audience can hear them in their concert series held in the large hall of the Rudolfinum (Dvorák Hall) and as regular guest at the two major Czech music festivals, the Prague Spring and the Prague Autumn.

They have made many recordings for labels like EMI, Decca, Sony Classics, Naxos, Polydor, Nippon Columbia, Denon, BMG, Telarc, Ariola, Eurodisc, Supraphon, and their extensive discography boasts a number of prestigious prizes such as the Wiener Flötenuhr, twice the Grand Prix du Disque Académie Charles Cros, and, after having sold one million records, the Golden Disc Award.

After reading the above introduction, the renowned Prague Sinfonia Orchestra will perform a one-night only charity Gala Benefit Concert together with famed violin soloist Min-Lee, pianist Vaclav Macha and young Malaysian soprano Irma Lailatul at the Plenary Hall of the KL Convention Centre on 8 of September 2007. And I'll be there for sure. Orchestra's music is one of my favourite.

Please note that this is a charity concert where funds will be channeled to MY Budding Artists Fund (led by Kiwanis Club of PJ and the Smile Team) and the Sultanah Bahiyah Foundation.

I wonder whether I could stand besides the Sultan and Sultanah of Kedah, the Yang di Pertua Negri of Negri Sembilan as they'll be there to grace the charity concert and possibly the Yang di Pertuan Agong .............. hmmmmmmmmm

The organisers are planning 2 pre-concert cocktails: a VVIP Royal Cocktail to be hosted by the Embassy of the Czech Republic and also another VIP cocktail for the other VIP guests. Now how do I get in there?
Tags: Prague Sinfonia Orchestra, Czech Republic, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra, Entertainment, Charity, The Smile Team, Christian Benda, Prague Spring, Prague Autumn, Min Lee, Vaclav Macha, Irma Lailatul, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Plenary Hall, Kiwanis Club, Sultanah Bahiyah Foundation, MY Budding Artists Fund, Rudolfinum, Dvorák Hall, Charity Concert, Gala Benefit Concert

Starbucks in Indonesia

Starbucks has branched out in Indonesia but with the implementation of a new local policy, Starbucks has to adopt a similar pronunciation but with different spelling.

Tags: Indonesia, Starbucks, Setarbak Kopi, Coffee, Kopi

Sale of MV Agusta

The Malaysian government has stated that the sale of MV Agusta was executed after taking into account of proper decisions and research. The government stated that they relied on the research conducted by Credit Suisse Boston.

But when questioned on the ability to dispose of one of MV Agusta' renowned brand, the Husqvarna Motorcycles, at 93m Euro to BMW Motorrad International by the new management, the following was the response from the Prime Minister of Malaysia:-

1) "The rational of the sale of MV Agusta to GEVI SpA was to enable Proton to pay attention to its core business, which was manufacturing and sale of cars, thus the decision taken by the management of Proton at the time the sale was implemented was the right option in the interest of the company (Proton)'s interest and business"

2) "Proton till now has made several investigations through public sources and confirmation on the accuracy of the information thus far could not be obtained" - hello, you can read from MV Agusta and BMW Motorrad's respective websites on that sale lah, what you mean you can't obtain any information????

3) "Proton no longer has any business connection with MV Agusta. Thus any question related to question of mis-management should not arise" - you mean to say that any mis-management would be forgiven / excused because MV Agusta has been disposed of????? so I can make tons of mistakes but will be absolved from any punishments later on provided the investment MUST have been disposed of???? Wah..... new national policy. I wonder whether my company will adopt such stand also.

I want to give a standing ovation for such a response from the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Tags: MV Agusta, Credit Suisse Boston, BMW Motorrad International, Prime Minister of Malaysia

Lung Condition: To Save It or Not?

Terrible picture I'm putting in here......yucks!!! On the left, is the condition of my lungs BUT on the right hand side is the condition of a diseased lung.

A diseased lung is usually due to smoking of cigarettes. Though we can't see the lungs with our own eyes, the picture below showed two dried up lungs for comparison sake.
When I was in school, a small number of schoolmates were already smoking. I was not thinking about it as I was actively involved in sports, be it athletics, basketball, football and swimming. All this required endurance. Partly also owing to my 'want-to-win' attitude. Or you can say 'cannot afford to lose'..... hehehe

I could see that those who were involved in sports didn't do well in their games due to their habits. From those days, I knew it was not good for my health. As of today, I'm still playing football. Thank God for that.

The Department of Health in UK has embarked on this picture images campaign to drive the message across to the general public on the danger of smoking. To my friends who are reading this posting, I'm not condemning or excommunicating you but as an advice for the sake of your health.
Tags: Smoke, Smoking, Cigarettes, Lung Cancer, Health, Endurance, Department of Health

Extraordinary Submarine Race

Extraordinary submarine race!
What was I referring to? As per the title but the submarine race was conducted underwater, of course!!!!
Tags: Submarine Race, Competition, Underwater

Footballers and Singers Being Targetted

I'm sure you are familiar with the following names:-

David Beckham / Wayne Rooney / Thierry Henry / Justin Timberlake / P.Diddy (or whatever name he uses)







Wherever they go, say for the respective football matches or concerts, every single fan would want a piece of them for memory sake.

It seems that News of the World has picked up a video lead that the above 5 guys' life are in danger. The threats are not from fans who are stalking them. Who are they then?

You have not heard about it? It's the Al-Qaeda. They are monitoring all the 5 guys' life. Wow! Even they have grown fond of them????? In memory of these people, they have even created a video about them. The first question in the video - Why do u (sic) love the evildoers? Followed by "What made you among the losers? / "Why do u (sic) imitate people of desires?

Oops! what kind of questions was that? ....... Al-Qaeda said that these 5 guys are corrupting the young Islamic minds of their people and Al-Qaeda will do something to stop such corruption. Huh???!!!!??!?!??!?!

Wondering which footballer will be their following targets after taking care of the said 5 guys .... hehehe ..... Cristiano Ronaldo?? How can lah...... like this will wipe out my favourite football team, Man Utd..... Must be the joke of a rival football club.

Reading: David Beckham & Justin Timberlake Targeted By Al Qaeda - Gateway Pundit
Tags: David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Thierry Henry, Justin Timberlake, P.Diddy, Al-Qaeda, Islamic, Cristiano Ronaldo