Curry spice can kill cancer

Found this interesting article - Curry spice can kill cancer.  Who knew that there are benefits to to be had by eating loads of curry.  Have you had your daily dose of curry?

 

Gruesome attack for the fetus

Read this news in today’s The Standard.  In the South China Post, it was mentioned that this woman suffers from mental illness.  Insanity is frequently used as a defence in murders.  This was shocking because of the effort taken to learn how to perform a cesarean and plan the attack and carry it out.  This is premeditated for sure, though not something a normal person would do.

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Fetus attack woman facing life in prison

A woman who faked a pregnancy to befriend an expectant mother and then sliced open her new friend’s stomach with a 20-centimeter knife is facing life in jail, a High Court judge said yesterday.

Nickkita Lau

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

A woman who faked a pregnancy to befriend an expectant mother and then sliced open her new friend’s stomach with a 20-centimeter knife is facing life in jail, a High Court judge said yesterday.

The mother survived but the infant died in March this year.

Leung Sin-ting, 27, admits to manslaughter and intent to cause grievous bodily harm. After her arrest she told police she cut open the woman so she could “see what an unborn infant looked like.”

Leung was due to be sentenced yesterday, but judge Darryl Saw said psychiatric reports from both the prosecution and the defense were inadequate. Although they diagnosed her mental illness, they did not specify its severity, the possibility of repeating the offense and how big a threat she could pose to society.

The judge asked for more reports so he could give an appropriate sentence and treatment for Leung. He adjourned sentencing to November 25.

But Saw said there is no doubt Leung will be facing a custodial sentence or even life in prison.

Leung claimed to have been pregnant but had a miscarriage when she met the 26-year-old victim surnamed Lee on the internet. Lee was eight months’ pregnant at the time.

On September 16, 2008, the women met in Fan Ling so Lee could pick up some baby items Leung had promised her. After they arrived at Leung’s home, Leung complained of a stomach ache and Lee tried to comfort her.

When Lee was not looking, Leung used a cable to strangle her until she lost consciousness.

Leung then made a single vertical incision below Lee’s navel with a fruit knife and opened up her abdomen.

When Leung’s husband Chau Man-choi returned home, she hid Lee in a kitchen cabinet but ended up confessing to him.

The baby boy was delivered by an emergency cesarean section but suffered from brain damage due to lack of oxygen.

Police discovered Leung had been looking up information on how to perform a cesarean section, how to make someone fall unconscious and the procedure to get a birth certificate.

 

 

Shangri-La Makati responsible for Guest Murder

I found this news interesting and wanted to share it.  With this decision, it sets the precedent for hotels to take all reasonable precautions to ensure the safety of their guest.  All this while, I thought that was expected.  I travel frequently and live half the time in hotels.  Safety within the hotel is something that I’ve taken for granted, expecting that I’d be safe.  Having said that, I always double-lock my doors and never let strangers into the room (except maybe the housekeeper).  The key is to not be paranoid, take care of your own safety and be sensible when visiting dodgy places. 

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MANILA – A Philippine court on Tuesday ordered one of the nation’s most luxurious hotels to pay more than one million dollars in damages over the murder of a Norwegian guest a decade ago.

The murder of Christian Harper could have been prevented if the Makati Shangri-La in Manila had provided adequate security, the Court of Appeals ruled as it upheld a lower court’s judgment against the hotel.

“Unfortunately, records failed to show that it was exercising reasonable care to protect its guests from harm and danger by providing sufficient security commensurate to it being one of the finest hotels in the country,” the appeals court ruling read.

The hotel was ordered to pay 52 million pesos (1.1 million dollars) in damages to the heirs of Harper, an executive of a European power company who was found dead after being bound, gagged and then robbed in his hotel room on November 6, 1999.

He was aged 30 at the time.

The Makati Shangri-La had asked the appellate court to overturn the lower court’s ruling, arguing Harper had been negligent in inviting the two suspected murderers, believed to be foreigners, into his hotel room.

Both suspects, a male and a female, were filmed by the hotel’s security cameras entering the victim’s room.

But the hotel’s security officer testified that the victim’s visitors did not pass through security checks, and that other guests had reporting losing valuables in their rooms, the ruling added.

The court was told one of the suspects later tried to use Harper’s credit card to buy a watch at a jewellery store, but left the shop hurriedly when the clerk tried to verify his identity.

The suspects have never been caught.

The Makati Shangri-La is located in the business district of Metro Manila. It is part of the Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts group.

A spokeswoman for the hotel said it was expected to release a comment on the court verdict later on Tuesday.

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Impact

A friend sent me this link -  to vote for CNN Hero of the year.  The catch line is “Ordinary People, Extraordinary Impact“, which is quite poignant.   One story touched me and I’ve shared it below.  If you can, visit the link and vote for your choice.  Here’s one way you can make an impact and help these heroes with their mission.

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Pilot moonlights as father to 47

• Story Highlights
• Budi Soehardi founded an orphanage to help children in Indonesia
• “Mr. Budi is like my own father,” one resident says
• Soehardi and his wife harvest their own rice to sustain the orphanage’s food supply
• Vote now for the CNN Hero of the Year at CNN.com/Heroes

KUPANG, Indonesia (CNN) – At Roslin Orphanage, children giggle through deep concentration as they try to master the “Chicken Dance.” It’s a far cry from the Indonesian orphans’ earlier months and years.

“They are cheerful-looking and photogenic, but close to all have a very sad story,” said Budi Soehardi, founder of the West Timor orphanage.

“Some of the babies come because a mother passes away right after delivery because of lack of nutrition. Others come from extreme poverty. Some come from families [that] just do not want the children and abandon them,” he said. Vote now for the CNN Hero of the Year

Soehardi, a 53-year-old Indonesian pilot living in Singapore, and his wife, Peggy, look after 47 children at the orphanage. They have a personal relationship with each one, and consider them part of their family. The couple named many of the children since they entered the orphanage as babies — some of them tiny victims and refugees from the conflict in East Timor.

Soehardi has three children of his own but says there is no difference between what he supplies for his biological children and those living at the orphanage. They all get clean living spaces, vaccinations, food, clothing and vitamins from the United States.

“Mr. Budi is like my own father,” said Gerson Mangi, 20, a resident at Roslin Orphanage. Mangi, who came to the orphanage when he was 12 years old, had no means to attend school after his parents died. Now, thanks to the educational training at Roslin and a private sponsor, he is in medical school.

Soehardi, whose father died when he was 9 years old, can relate to these young people’s hardships.

“Food was hard to come by and my school fee was very difficult,” Soehardi said. “The refugees just really strike me so badly and [I want] them to be better off.”

Young victims of a fight for independence

A 1999 news report on the situation in East Timor inspired the Soehardis to take action.

Soehardi was eating dinner and watching CNN with his wife and family at home in Singapore when he saw the plight of the refugees fleeing East Timor for West Timor, Indonesia. Families were living in cardboard boxes, children were wearing rags for clothes, and sanitation was nonexistent.

“It was devastating,” Soehardi said.

The poor conditions were a result of conflicts in East Timor that surfaced after the residents voted for independence from Indonesia. Following the election, militias — with support from Indonesian security forces — launched a campaign of violence throughout the region. Hundreds of East Timorese were killed, and as many as 250,000 were displaced from their homes, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The Soehardis had been planning on taking a vacation, but watching the news made them rethink their plans.

“[My wife and I] look at each other and we have a thought of our own. … ‘Hey, let’s do something else. Why don’t we visit the place … to make a different kind of holiday,’ ” Soehardi said.

He began coordinating financial donations, food, clothing and supplies. With help from friends and ground volunteers, the Soehardis navigated the conflict-ridden areas and delivered more than 40 tons of food, medical supplies and toiletries to East Timor refugee camps.

Soon the Soehardis determined West Timor could use a space for orphans.

“My wife was initially asking me to build three rooms. Then two hours later she [asked for] five rooms, and then later nine rooms and finally, the orphanage building.”

They completed their orphanage building in 11 months and named it Roslin Orphanage, after a pair of Timorese women whom Peggy looked up to as a girl.

In April 2002, the orphanage opened and provided a home for four children. Since then the residence has expanded to provide free education, clothing, housing and food for 47 children of all ages, newborns to university-age. About half of its residents are younger than 8 years old. Watch Soehardi teach the children the alphabet »

An unexpected harvest

The orphanage was built on donated land that the Soehardis initially thought bore barren soil. But today, the rice they feed the children comes solely from their own land.

“We dared to take the challenge,” said Soehardi of his foray into irrigation. He and Peggy, who are not trained in agriculture, used two pumps and a generator to get water for irrigation.

Then they began planting rice. “One hundred days later, we were having our first harvest and declared ourselves to be self-sufficient on rice for the orphanage children,” he said. Watch Soehardi explain how he made the land more fertile »

It’s a fortunate cost-cutting tactic, especially with Soehardi losing his piloting job in November because of the struggling economy.

Soehardi, whose pilot salary goes toward maintaining the orphanage and funding medical student Mangi’s education, is hopeful that the end of his contract will not affect the children’s well-being.

“To help these children is a privilege for me and my wife because it’s giving back to society … giving back what has been blessed to us.”

Want to get involved? Check out Roslin Orphanage and see how to help.

Hospital Blunders

In the past months, there have been many reports of blunders at hospitals.  Some of these blunders were at best, embarrassing for the hospitals and at worst, fatal.  Today’s Standard reported that an investigation was carried out to understand why these blunders occurred.  I’ve highlighted the interesting (but tragic) bits in blue.

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`Military’ nurses behind blunders

A “military” culture among nurses – making quick work of their duties without thinking – is behind a series of “disheartening blunders” that have rocked pulic hospitals.

Mary Ann Benitez

Friday, September 04, 2009

A “military” culture among nurses – making quick work of their duties without thinking – is behind a series of “disheartening blunders” that have rocked pulic hospitals.

The Hospital Authority’s top nursing executive Sylvia Fung Yuk-kuen yesterday blamed errors by experienced registered nurses on critical lapses in attention and described them as mistakes waiting to happen.  She went through three recent high-profile cases and offered explanations in each.

A breast cancer patient who was injected with oral morphine because a nurse thought the syringe containing the solution was to be injected.

The patient died but not due to the morphine injection, preliminary investigations showed.

The nurse was not told that the syringe was being used to give the morphine orally because the woman was too weak to swallow the painkiller. “It was a trap, a mistake waiting to happen. We are looking at buying foolproof oral syringes,” she said.

Expired BCG vaccines injected into five newborns by a nurse was down to the “goodwill” of another staffer who wanted to save money. They kept the unused portion of the prepackaged multidose vaccine in the fridge instead of discarding it within four hours.

A second nurse did not check the preparation dates of the vaccine before immunizing the newborns two days later.

Two newborns whose identity bracelets were switched and whose mothers ended up breast- feeding the wrong babies for five days. Fung says nurses checked the names of the new arrivals on their cribs but not the bracelets.

She said the incidents are still being investigated and any disciplinary action will depend on the individual circumstances involved.

“Nursing training is like military training so nurses tend to be very obedient,” said Fung. She took over as chief manager (nursing)/chief nursing executive nine months ago and manages the 19,559-strong public hospital nursing workforce.

“Now we would like to encourage frontline nurses to voice their opinions on how to make practices safer or whether they are dangerous under the existing guidelines.”  Fung said an overall review of the “whole work processes” is being conducted to improve the administration of drugs to and how patients are identified and avoid future blunders.

The special nursing clinical review will identify the “critical control points” in a bid to reduce errors.

Hong Kong is also looking to adopt overseas nursing practices for administering drugs. These adhere to the “five rights” – right drug, right patient, right timing, right dose, and right method of delivery.

Cheating the poor

Among the many news in The Standard, this one really tugged at me for obvious reasons. Incidentally, i’ve seen the scrap collectors “watering” their pile of scrap paper and initially didn’t understand the reason. That is until a friend explained that it was to increase the weight. 

When I first arrived in HK, I was sad to see elderly people, collecting scrap paper or rummaging through dustbins for tin cans.  And then I was amazed that at their old-er age, they were still healthy and able to carry / push this heavy trolley, laden with all kinds of odds and ends.   I’ve shared my observation with afew local friends and some are visibly embarrassed at this negative perception of HK.  While some were emphathetic that this is an unfortunate “by-product” of cosmopolitan HK, where its high cost of living has required that some elderly people would need to support themselves, through any means possible.   Don’t get me wrong, I don’t see anything wrong in collecting scraps… it’s an honest living.  What I am sad about, is that at their old-er age, these popos (Grandmas) and kungkung (Grandpas) should be spending their retirement, relaxing and not having many cares / worries. 

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Clampdown on scrap paper cheats

Unscrupulous scrap paper dealers are using faulty scales to cheat scavengers – mostly women and the elderly – out of the little money they make.

Beatrice SiuThursday, May 07, 2009

Unscrupulous scrap paper dealers are using faulty scales to cheat scavengers – mostly women and the elderly – out of the little money they make.  Customs officers, who uncovered the scam, have begun a clampdown on the cheats.  In recent weeks, six people have been fined sums ranging from HK$2,000 to HK$5,000, while 10 more cases are being processed.

The Society for Community Organization’s Sze Lai-shan accused the scrap dealers of being “heartless” as most of the scavengers were women or the elderly, trying hard make a little extra money to support their families or pay medical expenses.

From late 2008 to last month, officers of the Customs and Excise Department made surprise checks at scrap shops in Kwun Tong, Ngau Tau Kok, North Point and Kwai Chung and found several scales had been manipulated to under-weigh scrap paper by 10 to 38 percent, according to the department’s Consumer Protection Bureau deputy chief Wong Yiu-cheung.  Wong said the defective equipment had been seized after verification, in addition to the fines.  Customs received 168 complaints since 2007, with 14 cases successfully prosecuted.

A source familiar with the recycling sector said cheating is common, with at least 60 to 70 percent of the traders being involved in the practice.  One reason for this was the reduced demand for recycled paper, prompting traders to begin underweighing to make up the shortfall, the source said.  Some of the sellers were also to blame as they sprayed water on the scrap paper to increase the weight, the source added.  Wong reiterated that traders should not use fraudulent scales as it was against the law.  He suggested they could, instead, refuse to buy scrap paper from sellers they suspect were trying to cheat them. He said Customs had stepped up spot checks and would continue to take stringent enforcement action against errant traders.

Under the ordinance, any person who possesses, manufactures, supplies or uses false or defective weighing or measuring equipment for trade can be fined up to HK$20,000 and be imprisoned for six months.

Yeung Shun-kwai, 76, said she began trading in scrap paper after her husband died three years ago. She now earns about HK$20 a day compared with around HK$80 a day last year, since the price of scrap paper has fallen to just 50 cents a kilogram.

“Barfly mom gets two years after baby dies”

I read this in The Standard, this morning and it’s news like this that make me sad :

Nickkita Lau

Friday, March 13, 2009

A woman who a judge said treated her four daughters worse than pets was jailed for two years yesterday.  Her estranged husband, a sewage worker, was given one year and 10 months.

Man Ching-yee, 29, and Lin Ka-shing, 31, had pleaded guilty to four counts of ill-treatment and neglect after the youngest of their four daughters – aged just three months – died of infant death syndrome in 2007.

The court had been told that prior to the girl’s death, the children had been looked after by the oldest daughter, then aged eight.  She had to cook and feed her younger siblings. The four girls were often at home alone. Even when the couple was at home, they did not feed the infant, help the girls change or give them clean clothes to wear.   At the time of the youngest girl’s death, the mother was at a bar with friends while the father was asleep.

In passing sentence, District Court judge Joseph Yau Chi-lap said he could not accept the defense’s contention the mother had less than average intelligence.   “I don’t believe her intelligence could be lower than her eight-year-old daughter,” Yau said.   Yau said the couple was irresponsible for having four girls regardless of their economic situation or their abilities to take care of them.

He said he accepted the death of the infant was not the direct result of child abuse. Nevertheless, the care the infant received prior to her death must have been a very bad experience for her.   He said the greater responsibility in this case lay with the mother, hence the two-year term, compared with one year and 10 months for the father.  The couple filed for divorce after the death of the child.

Neighbors complained to social workers about the children being left alone at home as far back as 2006.

On one occasion a social worker found the diaper of one of the daughters, 10 months old at the time, to be completely soaked and no food nor clean water at home. The eldest and the second youngest daughters were then being looked after by relatives, but the eldest returned after Man gave birth to the fourth daughter.

The three girls are now under the care of their grandmother and an institution. 

Fake Eggs has reached Macau!

I must have talked about this fake egg business to many of you but never paid much attention because it was confined to China.  Well, it has reached Macau, according to last Friday’s local HK papers.   There were several complaints from residents on potentially fake egg.  The article was meant to be serious but this sentence tickled me “.. a local person bought some from a street vendor and found the yolks could bounce after being cooked.”   A couple of people have since come out to clarify that real eggs can bounce too… I wonder - why all the interest in whether eggs can bounce, is that the only way to judge whether it’s real?

Yikes, will it reach HK?  Do I have to stop eating eggs too?

Here’s the update from The Standard (today’s news):

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Bouncy eggs given the all-clear

Bonnie ChenTuesday, February 24, 2009

Macau food safety officials have spent time bouncing eggs and declared them the genuine article. 

Fake eggs have been in the news for about a week after a man in Fujian province found eggs he had bought in a market were bouncy after being cooked. The realistic-looking fakes do not contain protein and the “yolks” are dyed with tartrazine. The shells are made of calcium carbonate.

They also contained chemicals including alum. Long-term consumption of aluminum, an element in alum, is believed to cause mental retardation.

The fake eggs cost just 1 HK cents to 5 cents to make, compared with 25 cents to 30 cents for the real thing. A Macau food safety panel yesterday said laboratory tests found that 20 bouncing eggs from Hubei did not contain the chemicals present in the fakes found in the mainland.

It said the egg whites and yolks were normal and that the eggs were 15 percent protein. The panel believed the egg yolks expanded and became bouncy because of a physical change as they were stored at below-zero temperatures so that when shaken the egg whites would penetrate the yolks.

An official said that some of the eggs had gone bad while fake eggs made of inorganic matter would not.

The officials said that so far they have received no reports of anyone getting sick after eating the bouncing eggs.

Meanwhile, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department in Hong Kong said it is still following up four fake egg complaints.

The department said it could not confirm whether there are fake eggs on sale in Hong Kong.

Because of the fake eggs saga more stores have been selling eggs imported from further afield that are far more expensive than mainland eggs.

Book review: The Attitude of Leadership

I recently completed this book by Keith Harrell and found it an interesting read.  Mostly because it contained advice from real-life  business Leaders, who share their background and what they believe a Leader should have.  Each chapter profiles a Leader and each chapter is short and easy to read.  Here are some snippets that caught my eye:

• Leadership is contagious.  A commitment to be our best and to inspire others to be their best sets up a leadership legacy that motivates others to respond in kind.
• Hire good people because disciplining or firing employees can be a challenge
• We must be in a profession that matches our personality, style and skills or we won’t make it to the top
• If you want to contribute to society and make a difference, figure out your strengths, what you love to do and how you can purposely place yourself in a position to add the most value
• Avoid thinking negative thoughts that hold you back.  Cancel each negative thought with a positive one.
• As a leader who wants better results, it starts with good programming – the things you read, the things you watch on TV, the things you say and what others say to you.  This programming creates your belief and your belief creates your attitude.
• Good habits are hard to develop and easy to live with and bad habits are easy to develop but hard to live with.
• Leaders need to have positive self-esteem, because when you feel good about yourself, you want to enhance yourself.   When you’re confident, you seek to enrich your soul, heart and brain so you can do and be your best.
• Transformational Leadership means the lives we touch, people we grow and environment that we nurture. 
• Passion and Enthusiasm is contagious.
• Control what you can control.  Don’t sweat the small stuff. 
• We may not have control over many of the circumstances in our lives but we can control how we respond to them.  Attitude is a choice.
• A leader’s job is to get results through his or her people, if your staff members are working effectively, autonomously, then you know you’ve succeded as a Leader.
• Leadership is behaving in a way that engenders trust.  Others trust us when they perceive us acting with integrity.  Integrity is understanding that cutting corners is not an option.  Build trust by respecting others and giving others our Trust by allowing them to make things happen and by delivering on our commitment.
• True leadership is not about self-achievement, it’s about empowering and motivating others to achieve.
• The most important responsibility of a leader is to provide strategic direction to the enterprise
• Turn commands into Requests for Cooperation, turning “You Have to” to “Could you please?”
• People are motivated by the mission and purpose of the organisation.  And so it is extremely important for an organisation to have a well-defined mission and purpose.  3 excellent objections : (i) To honor GOD in all we do, (ii) To help people develop and (iii) To pursue excellence.
• PAT Principle of Success= Passion, Approachability, Thoughtfulness.
• Leaders can develop people skills but it starts with the heart and ends with the heart.  You have to care about people.  You can’t fake or learn that.
• Listen to those being led, being a servant-leader and not an authoritative leader.
• The power of love and how to exercise love in challenging situations.  Love finds the pause button, allowing you to gain control of your emotions when you’d rather lose your temper.  Love is coachable, teachable, doesn’t get offended at correction. Love cares more for others than for self.
• An attitude of Leadership is: A leader is patient, kind and walks in love, A leader is not jealous, conceited or proud, A leader is not illmannered, selfish or irritable, A leader does not keep a record of wrong things done to them, A leader is proactive, not reactive, A leader is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth, honest and integrity, A leader is steadfast, focused and committed to their vision, A leader is ever ready to believe the best of every person, and treats everyone with respect.

Mandela: His 8 Lessons of Leadership