Technology & Global Warming

I attended a talk on Technology and Global Warning on Saturday at the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM)

It was interesting to note that as at 2004, the greatest contributors to Greenhouse Gases (65%) were the developed countries.USA is the largest culprit with 22% and China, a developing country, is fast catching up with 17%. Japan contributes 5%.

The talk discussed the causes and effects of global warming on all industrial sectors and what engineers can do to mitigate the problem and design projects to create a more sustainable Earth. It seems that the Architect Association of Malaysia, (PAM) has come up with guidelines to the construction of Intelligent or Green Buildings. Green projects are capital intensive and what is lacking are government incentives in terms of tax breaks to encourage green buildings and green projects. However, it is understood that the government is quite sensitive to global warming issues as green projects costs can be offset by lesser health costs and lesser wastage of resources.

On a personal note, I was pleased to make a new friend before the talk started. I met Stephanie, a young Civil Engineer who practices recycling and has, in her own words," brainwash my family to do it too". She was the second person I met in a week who practices worm composting at home. I forgot that I had meet Dr Suhaimi of Mardi who also was into worm composting, when I told her she was the first person that I have met who recycles everything. Kudos to Stephanie!

What's in a Name?

Apparently, a good name is everything. It helps open doors and when used often becomes a prayer.

However, certain names are interesting by themselves. Obama is the toast of America at present while delete "b" and replace it with "s", the person becomes the most wanted man in America. In Kuala Lumpur, there is a cardiologist by the name of Dr Quek, whose certainly not a quack. A friend by the name of Quah had a company producing soups and gravies, and gravy in Malay is kuah.

Wrong spellings of Arabic names for non-Arab Muslims has led to demeaning names. For example a wrong spelling can lead to a woman's name to mean being a prostitute and not beautiful as originally intended. A man's name which means handsome if wrongly pronounced may sound like a camel instead.

Sometimes, a name in one language mean something else in another language.For a plural society in Malaysia, this can be both funny and confusing. Bala in Malay is something not good but to an Indian it is a good name. Another example is pusing. In Malaysian Malay, it means to turn around or to go in circles but to an Indonesian, it means he has a headache. Sometimes, dialects or colloquial slang can be confusing too. A patient may tell the doctor his tummy hurts but the doctor may understand that he has a headache so gives a wrong prescription. Ask Ikmal. I know he has misunderstood a few times the Indian slang in his encounters with Indian patients in Bangalore. Even Zay had a few problems as a medical student in Kelantan.

Malaysians are also fond of using brands to denote things.Toothpaste is called Colgate; Breeze or Fab is detergent; Glo for dish washing liquid; Clorox is the name for all bleach; scouring liquid is called Vim and a plastic container is Tupperware. Whichever brands penetrates the market first will enjoy being called by its brand name.

I notice that nowadays, retailers are fond of renaming their products to bring luck to the buyer, especially some Chinese buyers. Now there are the dragon fish (arowana), red dragon fish, (called gelama pisang in Malay), the dragon fruit (pitaya) tiger prawns, tiger worms, and golden pomfret. The tiger worms and tiger prawns are so called as they have stripes. The tiger is a prominent and revered animal in Chinese folklore. They do not call them zebra worms or zebra prawns because the zebra is not an indigenous animal in China or in Malaysia. I wonder why no one has renamed the "Zebra Crossing" to the "Tiger Crossing". Maybe there are not many Zebra Crossings in Malaysia. Moreover, to call a Zebra Crossing a Tiger Crossing may scare some children who use them.

As the golden pomfret, it is also a new name. I don't think it is a pomfret at all.

Another misnomer is calling the boot or trunk of the car, the bonnet. At present I cannot think of other misnomers. I will edit this post if I can recall any of them later.

A Salute to Barack Obama

Not only America looks forward to Barack Obama to bring new light and glorious days to America once more, the whole world is waiting for greater things to come. I pray America under Obama will respect the sovereignty of other countries and not simply enter and invade other countries as it sees fit, just to protect its own interests.I hope Obama will bring a solution to the Middle East situation. I watched his inauguration on CNN last night and was inspired by his speech. With Obama as president and being the most powerful man in the world, he will surely be able to shape a better and fairer world for everyone.

I was glad that Obama had included climate change and the dependence of energy in his speech. Maybe America will contribute more to save the environment and not patronise other countries to save theirs.

Many world leaders remain sceptical of Obama's ability to carry out his mission. Let us work together because one man cannot do the job alone. Every one has to contribute for a better world. I just hope there won't be elements within the US itself that would jeapardise Obama's dreams.

As the US economy directly affects the Malaysian economy as well, whatever happens in the US will affect us as well.

In the final analysis, I simply hope American foreign policies will be a win-win situation for all. I am praying for wisdom to prevail.

The World is Full of Nice People

Since joining MM( Money Mastery) community in July, 2008, my life has been a turnaround. I did not believe that a weekend of Boot Camp can change my life. It is true. The accelerated learning process stimulated my thinking brain which had remained dormant for quite some time.Within a short period, I made more than 100 new friends.I made sure I joined different groups for every of the games and role plays which we have to participate in order to learn. It sure was fast learning. On the third day, I practically collapsed in the morning and had to be sent to hospital.I really made an impact to be remembered. I guess it never happened before.Anywhere, thanks to the MM organisers I was allowed to rest in a room at the 5star hotel for the rest of the day. After 2 hours of rest and having taken a muscle relaxant, I made it to the final session when the certificates were presented. I was pleasantly surprised that someone, a new friend had already accepted the certificate on my behalf.

You see, being hypertensive and a diabetic, I need my beauty sleep in order to replenish my energy. The camp was very intensive. I enjoyed every minute of it but my body wasn't cooperating. I thought mind could conquer but definitely I was wrong.My spirits were perked up during the camp and the excitement was way too much.I had never experienced an attack before. Due to the stress and lack of sleep, my hands tingled and I felt that I would collapse anytime. My heart was racing very fast as well. Luckily, my new friend Neelum knew how to read a pulse. Mine was 104.I requested that they searched for Dr Ghaz.The episode caused the session to be halted while they searched for the dear doctor. Luckily I had met him earlier during the orientation and during the course of the camp.

Two doctors attended to me. God is great and He was not about to take me to Him yet. Dr Ghaz alerted that I may be having a stroke. I did not panic but remained calm, say some prayers and took deep breaths. My pulse went down quite fast.

My daughter Zay came to fetch me at the hotel that night with her friend and made an appointment with her physician friend. I was fortunate to get a quick appointment at Hospital Kuala Lumpur and now the state of my health has been stabilised. Luckily my heart and kidneys are still intact.

Dr Ernest, one of the speakers at the camp had said that the world is full of nice people. This had proven to be true. And KC's quote that "Ask and you shall Receive" is also true. KC is the main MM trainer.

The MM mentorship lasts 2 years after the camp and I continue to learn many things and rediscover forgotten theories.

Best of all,I enjoy the friends I make and I feel the camaraderie is strong.

Yesterday, I met a few more nice people that I have to pen it down to remind me that indeed the world is full of nice people. One should not feel sad because if you reach out there is always someone willing to help. All you have to do is ask.

I went to MARDI (Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute) with an intention to get some statistics and research data on earthworms. It started with the kind lady in charge of the information counter. Even on short notice, I was allowed to meet up with a friendly researcher from the Centre of Research of Strategic Resources. Actually, he was the expert on organic fertiliser and an industry resource person. He happened to be a avid recycler and an organic composter as well. A true environmentalist being a microbial ecology specialist.This gentleman even downloaded some useful literature into my thumb drive which luckily, I had brought along in my handbag. He gave me some useful tips on writing a book and on my suggesting that there could be some business opportunities with MARDI in the future, he gave me the contact to the business department.

After the meeting, I asked a stranger the way to the MARDI book store and he offered to send me there. It was quite a distance to walk. I took the chance that he was not an opportunistic person and my first impression is normally right. At the book store, I met and chatted with the cashier and enquired on MARDI's publications and told her that I was researching for a book. The casual meeting ended up with the lady offering to sell my book when it is out and she also offered some tips on marketing the book.

My list of kind people outside my family and friends continues....

The top of the list would be KC See and Shum, my MM mentors. They will be the ones holding the torch and showing me the way to my destination of personal success.

Happy New Year,2009

The pundits predict 2009 to be a difficult year as the recession is supposed to hit rock bottom.If only we can skip this year and go straight to 2010 when everything is expected to be better. So, brace up folks!Time to save and scrimp. People dealing in DIY will prosper as folks will be doing more by themselves and restaurants, fine dining and overseas travel will experience a drop in sales.

For ordinary people like us, we have to learn to budget and prioritise our expenses.Now is the time to start to reuse, reduce and recycle. Recycling does not only save our resources but also provide a small income for the household.

When times are tough, only the tough gets going. Happy New Year and Good Luck!

Between Lavish and Famish

See the irony of the two articles below.

The rich waste what they have while the poor and less fortunate starve. Donating to the needy can be a problem due to

logistics, corruption and different political ideologies. It is indeed a sad state of affairs.

Overweight parents could be paid to walk their children to school as part of a Government campaign to fight the obesity epidemic.

By Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent

Only 11.5 per cent of parents whose children were overweight recognised that they had a problem Photo: Ian Jones

Under the scheme people who exercise would receive supermarket-style vouchers to spend on sports gear and healthy food.

Those attending keep-fit classes or weight loss clubs could be eligible for rewards, as well as those walking to bus or train stations.

Critics claim the rewards will be a form of bribery. It is thought machines would be placed in schools or stations so parents or commuters could swipe their cards to tot up points.

The proposal will be assessed during a pilot project in Manchester, one of nine areas designated as "healthy towns".

It will be announced today by Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, who will encourage every business to take action against obesity.

But the plans have caused controversy, with small business leaders warning that they were already too stretched and that the current economic climate was "not the right time" to ask them to do more.

Mr Johnson is expected to say that a massive effort is required to alert the nation, and especially parents, to the risks of obesity, as he outlines plans for a nationwide £325 million "revolution" on the problem.

Research for the Department of Health shows that almost nine out of ten parents fail to recognise that their children are overweight or obese.

Experts predict that half of adults could have weight problems by 2050, creating a health crisis expected to cost the NHS £50 billions.

More than 12,000 businesses, charities and local groups have signed up to help promote the Government's campaign.

But Mr Johnson has called for more to join their number.

He said: "I am today challenging every CEO of every company who can influence what we eat and how we exercise to come forward and tell us how they are going to help beat this national epidemic.

"Obesity affects us all so everyone must get involved."

But Stephen Alambritis, from the Federation of Small Businesses, said that it was "not the right time" to ask more of small employers.

He said: "If this message is targeted to the CEOs of the top FTSE companies that is understandable but at the moment many small employers are struggling to keep their staff on the payroll and it is not the right time to ask more of them."

Businesses which have signed up to the initiative include ITV, which is to run a series of programmes tracking viewers' attempts to live healthier lives, and Kellogg's, the cereal giant, which will support breakfast clubs in deprived areas.

The Department of Health said that it had also come to "unprecedented" arrangements with Tesco and Asda, the supermarkets, to offer discounts on healthy food.

"Ten million people visit their corner shops every day and 36 million shop at Asda and Tesco each week - the fact that grocers and supermarkets are on board means we can really influence what goes into our shopping trolleys," Mr Johnson said.

"It's unprecedented for supermarkets to join the Government and pledge to cut prices on healthy food. But this isn't an exclusive club. Anyone who promises to help families to be healthier can join."

Mr Johnson said that research had shown that the challenge of convincing parents to change their habits would be difficult.

He said: "The message that we received from parents was clear: we recognise that obesity is a big problem, but it's not our problem."

"The aim of Change4Life is to help parents understand that obesity is a problem for all of us and that it causes severe illnesses and premature death.

"Finger wagging and lecturing won't work, that's why Change4Life is designed to be supportive and helpful."

Research commissioned for the Department of Health shows that just 11.5 per cent of parents whose children were overweight or obese children recognised that they had a problem.

Children forced to eat insects as starvation and cholera grip Zimbabwe

Children near Murehwa, Zimbabwe, poke sticks into a termite mound to draw out insects to eat

Picture: AP

Cancer Risk in Diet Pills

The US government warned prospective dieters on Monday, 22nd December, 2008, as reported by the Star on Wednesday, to avoid close to 30 weight-loss products that contain unlisted and possibly dangerous ingredients.

The pills are advertised as " natural fat busters and have intriguing names like Imelda Perfect Slim and Zhen de Shou. Some are promoted as new versions of "ancient remedies" from Asia.

They promise an easy fix to weight problems, but the Federal Food & Drug Administration,(FDA), said that the concoctions contain unlisted ingredients, including high doses of a powerful anti-obesity drug, as well as suspected carcinogen.

When consumers buy these products online,FDA lawyer Michael Levy advises that ,"if it sounds too good to be true, it is likely too good to be true.

"The tainted products pose a risk to public health because they contain undeclared ingredients and in some cases prescription drugs in doses that greatly exceed their maximum dosages"
, says Dr Janet Woodcock, the Director of the FDA Drug Evaluation centre.

Most of the diet pills originate from China and sold mainly on the Internet.

Nearly all the pills contain sibutramine, a powerful appetite suppressant and is a cousin of amphetamines. It can cause heart attacks, strokes and heart palpitations, especially in people with high blood pressure and a history of heart problems.

Several of the pills also contain phenolphthalein, a chemical used as a laxative, but now withdrawn from the market due to its link to cancer risks.

The FDA is considering criminal charges against some of the companies because they have not responded to requests for recalls.

The products are: Fatloss Slimming, 2 Day Diet, 3X Slimmimg Power, 5X Imelda Perfect Slimming, 3 Day Diet Japan Lingzhi, 24 Hours Diet, 7 Day Diet/Night Formula, 7 Day Herbal Slim, 8 Factor Diet, 999 Fitness Essence, Extrim Plus and GMP.

Also included are: Imelda Perfect Slim, Lida DaiDaihua, Miaozi Slim Capsules, Perfect Slim, Perfect Slim 5X, Phyto Shape, ProSlim Plus, Royal Slimming Formula, Slim 3 in 1, Slim Express 360, Slimtech, Somotrin, Superslim, Tripleslim, Zhen de Shou, Venom Hperdrive 3.0.-AP

For those among us who intend to reduce weight- the safest way is still the old way as recommended by the doctors and health practitioners: ADOPT A HEALTHY DIET AND EXERCISE AS A ROUTINE.

For young people, remember what you imbibe now will only show the results when you are older. As old folks say, "disease takes time to take root and even takes longer time to heal."
Whatever eating habits you adopt now, coupled with the kind of environment you live in, has a direct impact on your future state of health.

HOW TAINTED PRODUCTS CAN KILL A BUSINESS

Chinese dairy in milk scandal faces $160M debt

The dairy at the center of China's tainted milk scandal has about $160 million in debt, state media reported Thursday, a day after the company confirmed it was bankrupt.

Xinhua News Agency said Sanlu Group Co. faces 1.1 billion yuan ($160 million) of net debt and that a branch of the Shijiazhuang City Commercial Bank was the creditor that applied to a court to have Sanlu declared bankrupt.

The Intermediate People's Court of Shijiazhuang, a city in Hebei province where Sanlu is based, accepted the filing, Xinhua said.

The report quoted Wang Jianguo, city spokesman, as saying that as of Oct. 31, the company's total assets were valued at 1.56 billion yuan ($227 million) while its total debts were 1.76 billion yuan ($256 million), the report said.

Xinhua said Sanlu also owes a creditor 902 million yuan ($132 million) in funds it borrowed earlier this month to pay for the medical treatment of children sickened after drinking the company's infant formula, and for compensation of the babies' families.

Calls to the spokesman's office of Shijiazhuang city government rang unanswered while a bank clerk who answered the phone at the Shijiazhuang City Commercial Bank said the bank's director was unavailable for comment. Sanlu's officials could not be reached.

Sanlu, like a number of major Chinese dairies, had been exempt from government inspections because it was deemed to have superior quality controls _ until high levels of the industrial chemical melamine were found in its baby formula and other products in September.

Several more dairies were also found to have doctored their goods in a scandal that was blamed for killing six babies and sickening 294,000 children.

The dairy scandal highlighted the widespread practice of adding melamine, often used in manufacturing plastics, to watered-down milk to fool protein tests.

Investigations also discovered it was being added to animal feed after finding melamine-spiked eggs.

Melamine poses little danger in small amounts but larger doses can cause kidney stones and renal failure-AP

Published: by The Star online on Friday December 26, 2008 MYT 7:29:00 AM

Toxins Lurking in Hospitals

I was shocked and scared to read an article in the December Time online magazine. "A doctor's principle code is, "First, do no harm," so it says.The irony is that the doctor's clinics or hospital may be making you more ill than when you first went in. The materials with which hospitals are made, like particleboard, PVC flooring and even conventional paint, that can leach poisonous substances. What's more, the chemicals used to clean hospitals — chlorine, laundry detergents and softeners, ammonia — contain toxic ingredients and can cause respiratory disease. In fact, studies suggest that nurses, who spend long hours at the hospital, have among the highest rates of environmentally induced asthma of any profession. Also, a patient staying too long in hospital does tend to get a hospital induced infection.

In is observed that in the typical hospital, while they are trying to treat or cure illness and disease...the staff and patients are exposed to irritants and carcinogens, and the treatments often contribute to the development of other diseases.

The international advocacy group Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) — whose 2006 study of 1,200 nurses suggested a link between the hospital environmental and health problems among the staff — has been a pioneer in the movement of creating green medicine- the effort to detoxify the healing environment and enhance patients and staff health while reducing costs.

It was HCWH, for example, that in the mid-1990s got U.S. hospitals to stop using thermometers containing mercury, a potent neurotoxin associated with health problems, such as respiratory, kidney and gastrointestinal disorders, as well as interruption of fetal development (which occurs when pregnant women consume too much mercury, usually through fish). Today most hospitals have swapped out their mercury-based measuring devices — including sphygmanometers, which are used to measure blood pressure and contain more mercury than thermometers — for safer alternatives.

Over the same time period, hospitals began eliminating their incinerators altogether, reducing one of the toxic byproducts of burning waste: dioxins. Says Gary Cohen: "In 1996 there were 4,200 medical incinerators in the country. Now there are 83."

Cohen says that the HCWH is now also urging hospitals to replace their PVC (vinyl) flooring with rubber floors. PVC can emit toxins such as dioxin and phthalates, particularly when wet, which studies suggest may affect reproductive health and fetal development, and may also trigger asthma. "Hospitals change to rubber flooring because of the toxic emissions," says Cohen, "As it turns out, switching to rubber actually cuts down on noise and reduces slips and falls, which are also a threat to patient and worker safety."

The investment in new flooring, says Cohen, also saves hospitals money, if one considers the costs over the entire life cycle of a product. Although PVC flooring is cheap to buy, it ends up costing more later; its tendency to become brittle requires frequent maintenance or replacement. The environmental costs are high as well. With PVC flooring, "the manufacturing process creates dioxin. In the end, it is burned, releasing additional dioxin. In between, there's the [emission] of phthalates," says Cohen, noting that PVC is found throughout the hospital, not only in flooring, but also in shower curtains, blood bags and intravenous tubing. "If you can have a safer IV system without exposing patients to toxic substances, especially pregnant women and babies in the neonatal intensive care unit, then hospitals have a responsibility to replace PVC with safer alternatives." Fortunately, safer alternatives exist and may cost as much or less as PVC products.

Hospitals have also managed to save money by greening their cleaning supplies. The Hackensack University Medical Center's pediatric oncology center in New Jersey swapped its toxic-chemical-laden cleaners for its own custom-made natural products, dropping cleaning costs by 15% — and, more important, minimizing employees' and young patients' exposure to irritants and harsh substances, such as ammonia.

The idea of greener — and cheaper — health is catching on fast among health-care CEOs. Some 150 registered health-care industry construction projects currently underway — involving about 30 million sq. ft. of new building space — have pledged to adopt the Green Guide for Health Care (GGHC), a sustainable design toolkit developed in part by HCWH, which helps the health-care sector construct healthier buildings from the start, according to Cohen. For example, the guide suggests ways to maintain indoor air quality, as indoor pollution can cause or aggravate many health conditions and threaten the well-being of patients with compromised immune systems.

But much can be done without building anew, and although support at the executive level is crucial, the impetus for change can come from any member of the staff. At the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula in Calif., for instance, Joy Colangelo, an occupational therapist, helped launch the "Green Team" about six months ago. The team's first task was to do a "waste audit" in order to tally unnecessary expenditures, says Colangelo. She found that the hospital's heart department was churning out 20 pages of patient-identification labels per patient, but using only six.

Beyond cutting down waste, says Colangelo, the hospital also attempts to wield the "power of aesthetics to heal," with musical performances, a koi pond filled with 70 koi in the atrium, a "healing garden" and a nursing floor that wraps around a waterfall and patio. All patient rooms also have large windows that provide views of nature and lots of natural light — which cuts electricity costs and is associated with high staff morale and better patient outcomes. "Our green efforts are done under the premise that we have two patients, the environment and the ill patient," says Colangelo, "and the ill patient can't get well without improving our environment."

I wonder whether the planners in Malaysia think "green" when they built our new hospitals. The Sultan Ismail hospital in Pandan, Johor is one example, whereby the operation theatres were contaminated even before full commissioning of the hospital could be carried out.

The Power of the Sun

An article on solar energy from an online newspaper was a real eye opener.It seems that even though the sun rays shines on everyone and everything-it does not fall equally on them. The development of solar power has been hindered due to this fact of reality. Depending on where exactly in the city you live — the same array of photovoltaic solar panels can produce enough electricity to power your house with watts to spare, or barely enough to reduce your electricity bill. It all boils down to the exact amount of sunlight that hits your roof.

An engineering company in San Francisco, CH2M Hill is now joining hands with the U.S. Department of Energy to provide Internet solar maps of 25 American cities, using Google Earth technology to chart the precise solar potential of neighborhoods, literally measuring the sun's rays from rooftop to rooftop. The company has just finished mapping all of San Francisco, allowing residents to enter their address and take the solar measure of their own home. "People in San Francisco think we don't have any solar potential,' says Gavin Newsom, the city's deep-green mayor. "But the map implies that a lot more sun energy can be tapped."

CH2M Hill has already labeled all 925 existing solar systems throughout San Francisco, including commercial sites, government sites and the handful of residential sites. But the most interesting part comes when you enter in an address — any address in San Francisco — into the website. The camera zooms in to your rooftop collecting data on the size of the roof, its estimated solar energy potential, the estimated electricity that could be produced and the utility bill savings, as well as the amount of carbon savings that can be gained by converting to solar energy panels. It will estimate the cost of conversion— with the federal, state and city incentives factored in — and you will be linked directly to a number of Bay Area-solar panel installers.

CH2M Hill is not the only company conducting such solar surveys, and others are even going global. Seattle-based 3Tier is steadily mapping the solar, wind and hydro power potential of the entire planet, with its REmapping the World initiative. Utilities and businesses can use the 3Tier website to prospect for the best locations for wind power projects, while ordinary citizens can check the rough solar potential of their home address. What kind of dividends this will pay in an energy hungry, globally warming world is hard to say, but if San Francisco is any indication, they could be big ones.

San Francisco already has about 6.5mW of solar power hardware installed in the city, most of it from a relatively small number of big commercial and municipal projects. The target aimed is for 31mW of solar by 2012, part of a bigger plan to provide 50mW of total renewable energy by the same year. Mayor Newsom's office is also identifying the 1,500 business that have the biggest solar potential in San Francisco — saving them equally big money — and is offering a special incentive to solar contractors who employ graduates of San Francisco's workforce training program, part of the mayor's push for green jobs. "Everyone's talking about green jobs, but to say is not to do,' he says. "We want to actually do this.'

The shift to renewable energy won't happen on its own — it needs smart government policies and smart technological innovations. Solar mapping is a good example of both.Incentives plus innovations go a long way to make solar power a reality.

To most of us, having solar power is still a long time from now. The high investment costs certainly put many people off. The government should lead the away by making compulsory for public buildings to be green and create a demand for photovoltaic cells. At the same time, offer good tax incentives or rebates for installing them. Only when there is a healthy demand can the solar panels be made and sold at affordable prices.