'Melamined' Malaysian Food

I thought those melamine fear factor has been restricted to China but it has found its way to Malaysian shore.

As Malaysia's permissible level for melamine content is 2.5 parts per million ("ppm"), it has found various types of biscuits produced by Khong Guan Biscuit Factory Sdn Bhd and Khian Guan Biscuit Manufacturing Co Sdn Bhd (same group of companies) to be contaminated with too much melamine.

Initial tests have revealed that the ammonium carbonate found in their biscuits to have exceeded 33.4 ppm up to 508 ppm. That's terrible man. Failure of QA/QC department? Or just don't bother to check.

Hong Kong government's Centre For Food Safety has announced that the Munchy biscuits brand from Malaysia have exceeded the tolerable daily intake of melamine:-
1) Munchy’s Mini Crackers with Peanut Butter - level of melamine detected was 5.4 ppm
2) Munchy’s Mini Crackers with Cheese Cream - level of melamine detected was 3.8 ppm

In Munchy's website, there is a notice that states all milk and dairy ingredients are being sourced from France and Australia ......... hmmmmmm now melamine has invaded another two more countries. Besides that, two independent certification agencies, Chemical Laboratory (M) Sdn Bhd and Pacific Lab Services of Zagro Asia Ltd, have certified Munchy's products to be safe for consumption.

When I read about the melamine story, I thought it was really some sort of chemical product that somehow is being added into milk products to make those end products smell or taste better.

Lo and behold, it is the same kind of melamine material that is being used in the making of a kitchen cabinet or wardrobe. Such melamine material used, if taken care, could withstand years of wear and tear. Now, imagine it being mixed into the food ingredient. IMHO, whatever permissible level, if consumed, won't be helpful at all for our human body.

Reading: Too much melamine found in 18 types of biscuits - Star

Related post - Sudden Fear of Melamine
Tags: Melamine, Khong Guan Biscuit Factory Sdn Bhd, Khian Guan Biscuit Manufacturing Co Sdn Bhd, Biscuits, Centre For Food Safety, Munchy, Munchy Food Industries Sdn Bhd, Mini Crackers with Peanut Butter, Mini Crackers with Cheese Cream, Chemical Laboratory (M) Sdn Bhd, Pacific Lab Services, Zagro Asia Ltd

Government Guarantees 100% of Bank Accounts

With the global financial markets going havoc in USA and Europe, governments in countries such as Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand have provided guarantees on all bank accounts.

To safeguard Malaysian bank accounts, there is this deposit insurance system that was established since Sept 2005 to protect Malaysian bank accounts up to RM60,000 per depositor per bank. This insurance scheme is protected via a scheme arranged by Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia ("PIDM"). To see how much your bank account is protected in case your bank fold up, you can refer to PIDM's insurance coverage on the respective bank accounts.

In providing further assurance to all bank account holders, the Malaysian government has now announced that a blanket guarantee will be provided for all ringgit and foreign currency deposits with commercial, Islamic and investment banks, and deposit taking development financial institutions that are regulated by Bank Negara Malaysia, the central bank. Now everyone can breathe easily up to 31 Dec 2010, the last day of the blanket guarantee by PIDM.

Why did the Malaysian government give such a blanket guarantee? Something wrong somewhere that we, the bank depositors, have not been made aware of?

The Association of Banks in Malaysia gave an assuring statement that Malaysian banks are safe and sound.

I would say that it is a good step taken by the government to prevent any unwanted panic situation. Imagine receiving this message via sms or emails - "this xxxx bank will be closing its operations in the next few days and you are advised to withdraw all your money before other depositors do it". It may cause mayhem in Malaysia.

There are exceptions and they are as follow:-
- Deposits not payable in Malaysia
- Foreign currency deposits
- Negotiable instruments of deposit (NIDs) and other bearer deposits
- Repurchase agreements
- Money market deposits
- Stocks and bonds
- Unit trusts

If, I'm saying a big IF, your bank was to fold up in Jan 2009 ............ like the Origami Bank in Japan, what are your chances in retrieving all those monies in the bank? Well, it's guaranteed till 31 Dec 2010 for now and you will get all your money back within three months ........ starting from which particular date, that I don't know.

Reading: Malaysia and Singapore to guarantee all bank deposits - Star
Tags: Malaysia, PIDM, Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia, Malaysian Banks, Bank Negara Malaysia, Association of Banks in Malaysia, BNM, Bank Account, Individual Depositor Account, Joint Account, Trust Account, Sole Proprietor Account, Partnership Account, Professional Practice Account, Savings Account, Fixed Deposit Account, Ringgit Currency Deposit, Foreign Currency Deposit

Plenty to Think About for Renovation

New house should be ready by Dec '08 or Jan '09. By then the housing developer will deliver the vacant possession letter to allow me to occupy the house. Give and take, hopefully one to two months to rectify whatever defects not done properly in constructing the house. That will be end Feb '09 or early Mar '09.

Need to apply to the City Hall Council for the need to obtain a permit before the commencement of the renovation. That may take two weeks (I heard and if everything is smooth).

I'm already cracking my head on how to decorate up the house, where to put the respective furnitures, how to light up the house, what sort of cabinets be it for the rooms or kitchen and the most important is the matching of colours throughout the whole house.

Yesterday was on leave and settled some documents with my financier and hopped on to my new house with a contractor, husband and wife team (the wife seems to be very good with her interior ideas). Told / explained on how I wanted to renovate ...... don't know whether they are going to have a good laugh after we went our separate ways ...... haha. Did I make sense to them?

How did I paint my dream house to them? It's all hard works by reading many magazines in the last few months.

The problem now is after reading soooooooo many of these magazines, I'm still quite confused. Reason is - each time you flip through a magazine, you'll be fascinated with a particular design or setting and you'll tell your brain to scan that and keep it in memory.

Few days later, you see another good design and thought it would be good to have this and now my brain has two designs for the same spot .......... it went on and on. Headache! Headache! Headache!

Those are the tags which I have placed on relevant pages which have captured my brain. Now, how am I going to put all of this into only one house.

Now you can imagine what I have told the contractor. I gave many options with money as the main factor. Told them not to build something fit for a king when the finance comes from a servant.

With the world financial market crumbling one by one, would it be safer to spend it and get a nice place to live in. How much to spend for a house renovation? What should be done now and which one that can be deferred? Headache! Headache! Headache!

There was once I gathered a number of recommendations for interior designers or contractors from friends. Haven't called any of them but will do so any time now. Get all of them to meet at the new house and tell once and for all????

The thought of getting so many quotes will also put me in a quandary. How to tell them "Thanks for your quotation but I think I'm getting another person to do it".

Waaaaaah, initially you pressed for the best price and then opt for someone else ............. this is the business world and the best shall win ...... not necessary the one with the lowest pricing.

With this list (plus four more at hand), I should be getting at least ten quotations. Good enough or too many?

Now, whom to choose and based on what? Headache! Headache! Headache!

Did drop by at Goodrich at Sri Hartamas which has lots of wallpaper selections. Confused as well.

Anyone of you used their materials before? Recommended?

A big piece of wallpaper measuring 9' by 9' will cost you RM2,000 plus. I was shocked indeed but it was a nice piece ......... should I? Headache! Headache! Headache!

Just when you thought buying a new house is so easy. Buy, settle loan, house ready then move in with current furnishings. My my my .......
Tags: House Renovation, Interior Designer, Renovation Contractor, Wallpaper, Wallcovering, City Hall Council of Kuala Lumpur, DBKL

Talented Enoch Fernando

On Sunday, a talented musician from USA paid a visit to my church. Enoch Fernando's the name. Doesn't ring a bell? He serves at the Saddleback Church located at Southern California.

He is actually from East India. When he was young, someone sponsored him to study music in the USA, who bought him a grand piano to start it off when he first arrived in USA those days.

One of Enoch's piano teachers (Lazlo ............ missed out the second word) was also the piano teacher for Richard Carpenters (together with sibling Karen Carpenters formed The Carpenters).

His talents on the keyboard is so marvellous. The way he played those music pieces was so enchanting and people were fascinated. Some of those music pieces were accompanied with music videos.

He has been nominated before in the Grammy awards under the Best Instrumental for Christian Country Music ........ he was surprised on how he got under this category - country music.

This round, he stopped by at Kuala Lumpur while on his way back to East India to minister to the people who are going through tough times in the state of Orissa.

Upon the end of the service, people went straight to a counter set up for selling his CDs and DVDs. It could have pushed his music up the Christian chart on that Sunday morning.

Bought two of his, Akustic Passion and Ageless Romance.
How could I not have a picture with a person who is so filled with God's talent.
This is his wife, Rebekah Jakab Fernando. She also goes by the name of Becky Jake. She has a powerful voice that could deliver and mesmerise you with the meaning of the songs with such an ease.

Her preference - country music.

May God bless both of your ministries that are touching people's hearts all over the world.

Tags: Enoch Fernando, Enoch Music, Rebekah Jakab Fernando, Becky Jake, Christian Music, Country Music, Instrumental Music, Saddleback Church, The Carpenters

Australians Are Migrating

Malaysians who wanted to migrate have listed Australia as one of the top destinations for migration. When you flip open the Star newspaper, you could see advertisements on provision of services to assist you to migrate overseas with the word 'Australia' splashed across it.

Why Australia? Knew a few friends that have migrated to Australia. Bumped into a schoolmate last year who was providing professional migration services in particular to Australia. If not mistaken, he should have migrated himself and family by now. He did tell me that I do qualify on merit and told me to try ............. yeah, he was sourcing for business at the same time. Anyway, I didn't.

Reasons for those friends that have migrated or some in the process - mainly for their children's education. Firstly, by being a resident there, the school or university fees would be much much lower than by sending them over from Malaysia as a foreign student. Of course, if your family is loaded it's not an issue at all. What's wrong with Malaysian education? You and I know very well.

Next thing people migrate would be for job opportunities. A young couple that I knew migrated owing to better work environment and of course higher salary. They are doing very well now. Malaysia is really suffering from the brain drain of professionals. All my friends who have migrated or in the process are truly professionals in their fields of work. They are bringing their experiences away from this land of Malaysia.

Just when people are migrating into Australia, not many people knew that Australians themselves are also migrating away from their land. How come?

For the record, 76,923 Australians became ex-Australians in year 2007 alone. Those who left were aged between 25 and 54. Out goes 76,923, in came 149,635 to become Australians in the same period .... hehe. I'm very sure that lots of well-to-do or professional Indonesians are flocking into Australia (heard from and verified with friends).

Do you know where did the 76,923 ex-Australians migrated to? Their top destinations were New Zealand (18.4%), United Kingdom (17.8%), USA (9.3%), Hong Kong (7.2%) and Singapore (6.4%). These top five countries have accounted for 59.1% of those who migrated.

Unfortunately, three of those countries - New Zealand, USA and Singapore - are already in recession. If you are migrating or have migrated, why?

Reading: Biggest annual exodus from Australia on record - News.com
Reading: "Weighing" Brain Drain - Education in Malaysia
Tags: Australia, Brain Drain, Migration, Professional Migration Services, Migrate To Australia

Record Inflation of 231,000,000%

When inflation sets in, many Third World countries will not be able to handle it. They are already considered poor nations but cost of living is rising daily.

Zimbabwe's economy has been spiralling downwards with no signs of any potential economy comeback.

Inflation rose from few hundred per cent up to an impossible rate of two hundred thirty one million per cent (231,000,000%). Many people will not be able to comprehend what kind of inflation is this. In layman example, a loaf of bread that was sold at 100 Zimbabwe Dollar in year January 2007 is now sold at 23,100,000,000 (that's hitting above Twenty Three Billion Zimbabwe Dollar).

The country tried to print bigger currency denomination to counter the increasing rate of inflation but to no avail. Then it changed the currency valuation by deleting the number of zeros. Is that the correct way to handle the economics? Whoever that gave this advise is really marvellous. Were they graduates from Cambridge UK or MIT, USA? Or local politicians that graduated from their local universities?

Hence, it decreases the value of the currency and on a positive note, it helped the citizens in the way of carrying lesser currency notes when they go for shopping. Effective Aug 2008, from the height of a 100,000,000,000 Zimbabwe Dollar (One Hundred Billion) currency note that equates to less than USD400.00, it now becomes 10 Zimdollar (at a rate of Z$10 billion = 1 Zimdollar).

As root of inflation was the political instability, inflation rate continued its climb. The nation needed to print bigger currency denomination notes again. Firstly, the 10,000 Zimdollar and now 20,000 Zimdollar (equivalent to US$20). You could only withdraw the maximum of 20,000 Zimdollar from your bank account ...... daily!

It will be neverending and by early next year, the 100,000 Zimdollar will be out on the street. By then, I would have lost count of the number of times it has printed new notes. Next level of inflation rate? This African nation is really one of a kind with the leaders in power, who are living in posh lifestyle, not considering the suffering citizens.

Reading: Zimbabwe inflation hits new high - BBC News/Africa

Related posts:-
* Zimbabwe's Growing the Wrong Way
* Just How Much is 500 Million Dollars?
Tags: Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Dollar, Zimdollar, Economics, Inflation, Africa

Busy Dataran Sunway Commercial Centre

Met up with a kitchen contractor, visited several shops selling housing materials and furnitures at Dataran Sunway commercial centre, Kota Damansara area, and was really surprised with the busy area. Didn't expect the place to be packed with cars and the shops available could just offer anything you needed and wanted.

As the stomach signalled its hunger for food, it was time to look for a food outlet. Saw this upbeat cafe and found it to be cooling. Need a good hideout from the hot weather.

The nearby Station 1 Cafe offers food that varies from the western dishes to oriental dishes and fusion food. It has a wide range of beverages. It's quite common to see this kind of cafe mushrooming all over Klang Valley. Apparently, this was their 18th outlet, the latest.

Price wise - reasonable for such cafe.


Kampung Style Fried Rice. Not bad lah. Same taste all over Klang Valley also.

The fried egg really looked pathetic. Would you request them to fry another one?












This was my order, the Mixed Grill. Need big portion kind of dishes to feel my stomach after the long walk all over Dataran Sunway.

The accompanying black pepper sauce was excellent. The corn was prepared with the right sweetness required.
Chicken Chop with rice. Nice mushroom sauce that comes with it.
The Deep Fried Fish Fillet. The fish was fresh and soft. It melts in your mouth (not only M&M).
The Tom Yum soup has the sour taste that comes with the spicy tinkling. As I can endure hot and spicy stuff, it didn't meet my criteria for a good tom yup soup.








There was a stage within the premise but don't know when will they have performances or was it for customers like me that whenever I feel like it, I can sing anytime.

Understood that Chervie Ho Yee Mun (sorry, don't know who she is) was supposed to perform at this outlet on 13 Oct night.
Tags: Station 1 Cafe, Kota Damansara, Food, Dataran Sunway, Kota Damansara, Chervie Ho Yee Mun