Made In China

China really has to clean up its act in coming up with more stringent quality control to be imposed on factories operating within China, whether local or foreign owned. Tight scrutiny in foreign owned factories should have been done but I think 'profit over safety' blinded those foreign owners.

In a recent case where a top China official from the food and drug administration was 'executed by the authorities' due to taking bribes from health manufacturer that produced health goods which caused death to consumer(s).

Subsequently, food products exported to USA were tainted with substance that can caused illness. Toothpaste was a big issue too.

Recent days, toys manufactured by an OEM manufacturer in China, Lida Toy Co., marketed under the Fisher-Price brand have been recalled by Mattel from throughout the world. This caused its share price to drop as much as 4% from US$23.00.

The toy products being recalled are as follows:-
* 18.2 million magnetic toys globally, including 9.5 million in the United States, with magnets or magnetic parts that can be dislodged - inclusive of 7.3 million Polly Pocket dolls and accessories with magnets, 1 million Doggie Day Care magnetic toys, 683,000 Barbie and Tanner magnetic toys, and 345,000 Batman and One Piece play sets; and
* about 253,000 Pixar Sarge die-cast toy cars with lead paint were also recalled. Lead has been linked to health problems in children, including brain damage.
* Big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters because their paint contains excessive amounts of lead.

After an investigation, Mattel gave an account of what has happened:-
The recall of the Sarge toy results from Mattel's increased investigation and ongoing testing procedures following the recall of select Fisher-Price toys on August 1, 2007. The toy was produced by Early Light Industrial Co., Ltd (Early Light), one of Mattel's contract manufacturing facilities in China, which subcontracted the painting of parts of the toy to another vendor, Hong Li Da (HLD), also in China. While the painting subcontractor, HLD, was required to utilize paint supplied directly from Early Light, it instead violated Mattel's standards and utilized paint from a non-authorized third-party supplier.

With dignity down the drain, the Chinese owner by the name of Zhang Shuhong had committed suicide due to the recall. That's how bad the situation is.

If you are concern as to the exact toys being recalled, you can check at Mattel's Voluntary Safety Recall Facts and click your language and respective countries. As for Fisher-Price, click its Fisher-Price's Recall Information.

Reading: What Went Wrong at Mattel - BusinessWeek
Reading: Chinese products win praise - China Daily

Tags: China Made, Toys, Mattel, Fisher-Price, Early Light Industrial Co Ltd , Hong Li Da, China, Toy Manufacturer, Recall, China Products

Car For Sale

Hey guys,
Can you pass this onto anyone you know wanting to buy a car as I'm selling mine.

* Small amount of rust
* Some repairs required
* Mechanically sound
* Passed rego
* Price negotiable
* RWD great for Drifting



Tags: Car For Sale, Car

F1 Driver is Without a Driving Licence

Former F1 Champion, Nelson Piquet from Brazil, has his licence withdrawn by the Brazillian authorities for infringing various traffic laws. Together with his wife, Viviane whose licence was withdrawn too, were required to attend a Driving Education Course.

This is a 30 hours course that will last over 8 days and upon passing an exam, both Nelson and Viviane will get back their driving licence.

At the moment, he can't drive ..... hehehe

Tags: F1, Formula One, Nelson Piquet, Brazil, Driving Licence

Psychiatrist Patient Cured

Dr. Leroy, the head psychiatrist at the local mental hospital, is examining patients to see if they're cured and ready to re-enter society.

"So, Mr. Clark," the doctor says to one of this patients, "I see by your chart that you've been recommended for dismissal. Do you have any idea what you might do once you're released?"

The patient thinks for a moment, then replies, "Well, I went to school for mechanical engineering. That's still a good field, good money there. But on the other hand, I thought I might write a book about my experience here in the hospital, what it's like to be a patient here. People might be interested in reading a book like that. In addition, I thought I might go back to college and study art history, which I've grown interested in lately."

Dr. Leroy nods and says, "Yes, those all sound like intriguing possibilities."

The patient repleis, "And the best part is, in my spare time, I can go on being a teapot."
Tags: Psychiatrist, Patient, Mental Hospital, Doctor, Joke, Funny, Humour

Most Expensive Beer

Beer drinkers in Malaysia would have to fork out more money to buy beer/alcohol as the coming national budget in September 2007 would definitely increase the six tax on it.

However expensive, it won't be the price for US$39 for a pint of beer produced by Vielle Bon Secours served in a London bar, Bierdrome.But a New Zealander paid a staggering price of US$2,595 for a pint of beer in Hong Kong.
Tags: Most Expensive Beer, Beer, Luxury, Vielle Bon Secours, Bierdrome

Iran Has Something Bigger Than USA

I do not know what else Iran has that USA doesn't have but in this issue that I'm going to blog about, I'm very sure that Iran has something bigger than USA for once.

Atomic? Nuclear?

It's this giant carpet that was made in Iran measuring 5,625 sq m (60,546 sq ft). Can you beat that? I'm sure you go into a shop selling carpets and asked "How many sq m is that carpet?" .... hahahaha

It took 18 months to complete weaving the carpet with 38 tons of wool and cotton. It was made to order for a mosque situated in United Arab Emirates at an estimated cost of US$5.8 million.

More photos in Spluch's blog.
Tags: Carpet, Iran, USA, United Arab Emirates, Mosque

In Short - No Racism Please

What prompted two royal family members from Perak and Selangor respectively to voice out in support of No Racism in their speech during the last week or so. It was very rare for the royal family members to speak out on such topics.

In launching a tribute book for the late Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman's sacrifices for the country's sake, Raja Nazrin, the crown prince of the state of Perak, reminded the nation the following:-

"They took responsibility to voice out and defend the needy and the people. This is the spirit which enabled this country to be stable politically and economically prosperous. Tun Dr Ismail was known to be a Malay nationalist, he was not a racist and did not practise racism. Tun Dr Ismail envisaged a Malaysia for all without colour lines, without ethnic borders and without any one group feeling a sense of inferiority.”

Subsequently, Raja Nazrin was at the First Annual Malaysian Student Leaders Summit 2007. In addressing the participants, he requested the local and foreign university students to maintain socio-political stability. The following points were mentioned by Raja Nazrin:-

"essentials necessary for effective and sustained nation-building were the rule of law and the inviolability of the Federal Constitution; economic and social justice for all; and good governance and a thriving civil society. To understand nation building, first of which was getting a copy of the Federal Constitution and familiarising themselves with it. Active participation in community service geared towards promoting interaction between communities was another method of contributing to nation-building."

And then the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin, expressed his concern over the following:-
* corruption is still a problem, which the people are very concerned about, and more effective action needs to be taken
* government agencies continued to slow down approvals for foreign investors, saying the lackadaisical attitude of some government servants had affected the investment momentum
* expressed his concern over the country’s brain drain, saying talented young people were leaving the country and was sad to see good people being lost to other countries (esp to our neighbour, Singapore)
* urged the people in Selangor to reject any form of racial and religious intolerance. Islam respects other religions and other religions must also respect Islam and that multiracialism must be instilled at primary school level

Just think for a moment, did the royal family members see something that we common people didn't see it coming at us or has happened already but was covered up. The issues brought up by Sultan Sharafuddin have always been denied by the government. Government had mentioned that corruption level has improved / told the foreign investors to get out if they don't like the way Malaysians work / brain drain didn't affect the country as only minority group left / always maintained that racial & religious are under control.

I want to say that both of them really did stand out prominently in the eyes of many Malaysians with such calls. Hey, you guys who have those dignitary titles in that white tall building, did you get the message?
Tags: Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, Raja Nazrin, Sultan Sharafuddin, Racist, Racism, Corruption, Religion