OMG!! WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!~~

This was the first reaction in my mind when i read about this article on Malaysiakini. Apparently, without even a hint to the media or the general public at large, 6000 genetically modified mosquitoes was released at an inhabited site in Pahang. This hallmark scientific trial is suppose to be an experiment to combat dengue fever.

Below are excerpt from the Malaysiakini article

The Institute of Medical Research (IMR), which was tasked with carrying out the trial, said the experiment was conducted on Dec 21 to "study the dispersal and longevity of these mosquitoes in the field".

"The experiment was successfully concluded on January 5, 2011," the institute said in a statement today, adding that no further releases are planned until the trial results are analysed.

The insects in the experiment have been engineered so that their offspring quickly die, curbing the growth of the population in a technique researchers hope could eventually eradicate the dengue mosquito altogether.

Females of the Aedes species are responsible for spreading dengue, a deadly disease which killed at least 134 people last year in Malaysia alone.

Seriously speaking, are the government out of their minds?? Did hair suddenly grow out of their balls one day that they did not even try to implicate the ecological disaster that may happen from such an uncontrolled environment? I can more or less understand if they did this experiment in a huge controlled greenhouse like environment but NO, the iron ball scientist thought it would be safe to release this genetically modified, potentially mutating "insects" in an inhabited site. HELLOOO!!! MOZZIES CAN FLY LAH!!~~

Maybe its just me seeing too much horror movie but for the mosquito mutate and creating even more resistant mosquito may be possible right?

Maybe later in the years we will hear people falling sick in Pahang due to some mystery fever or flu. But by then it may just be the beginning of the end............


P.S I may have exaggerated a bit but GM animals be it insect or not should be handled with care. There is no guarantee of what the consequence this action may do. Only time will tell.

Abused Dog Video on Facebook

I was gobsmacked and totally restless today after watching a video on facebook on a dog being abused. The video shows a man trying to teach the toy poodle how to stand on 2 legs and bashing him continuously for not doing it right. There were even instances in which the guy threw the dog across the room. The girl that was filming the whole thing did nothing to stop her boyfriend.

At the moment, there seem to be a witch hunt for the guy in the video. Many FB'er's are frantically trying to identify the abuser and it seems that they may have found the culprit based on clues from the video. For certain, the culprit is from Malaysia.

I hope the authorities finds out about this and do something.

However, i am doubtful if the authorities would do anything in regards to dog abuse.

You can see the video here

Please be warned that this are really disturbing scenes in my opinion.

Inspiration

I am sitting in my office right now inspired by a piece of article i read on Malaysiakini.

I am sure many of you like me are sick and tired reading political bigamy that is spewed out by mainstream as well as alternative media nowadays from both the political divide. There is just too much hate, all talk and no tangible work being done. However from time to time, we do see service being done above politics and this article is definitely one of them.

If every politician irregardless of their alignment are like this then we would all be living in a better country.

Below are a cut and paste of the article i just read.

A BN vote bank is aided by Pakatan

Terence Netto
Jan 22, 11
10:59am

The Temiar of Sungai Siput have long been a reliable vote bank for the BN, something like 9,000 of them domiciled on the banks of tributaries of the Sungai Perak that crisscross the constituency, giving the ruling coalition 99 percent of the vote in the general election of 1999, 96 percent in 2004, and 90 percent in 2008.

In all that time, the recipient of this largesse, MIC's S Samy Vellu, confined reciprocation to the giving out of presents to headmen while the Orang Asli Department (JHEOA) periodically supplemented the trickle with handouts.

Apparently, from whom a lot is given little is required.

A rather bleak situation, one might say, to a prospective MP trying to break the cycle of servitude in which the Temiar are immured.

But Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj of the Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), since 1999 a rival claimant to S Samy Vellu for the allegiance of Sungai Siput's voters, decided that even if naught is to be had for service to the Temiar by an opposition politician, service must still be rendered.

Thus when the 400 Temiar of some 50 households in Kampong Perje in Pos Legap needed money in 2009 to buy new cables to secure a rickety bridge over the Sungai Pelus, used by them to ferry the latex they tapped from rubber trees off the banks, they approached their newly elected MP.

“We decided that because their conditions were wretched, their needs overrode other considerations such as their solid support for the BN,” said Jeyakumar, who was elected in March 2008 on a wave for the opposition that year.

“Also, representatives of Kampong Perje continued to attend meetings we held to discuss Orang Asli needs even after the fall of the Pakatan state government in February 2009,” he said. “Reps from other Orang Asli villages kept away out of fear,” he added.

Popularly known as 'Dr Kumar', the PSM activist had made forays into Orang Asli villages deep in the interior of Sungai Siput even when he was not their elected MP prior to 2008, to see what could done for them.

“They are a terribly marginalised group and they needed all the help they can get,” he rationalized.

So when Pos Legap's Temiar wanted new cables for a dilapidated bridge, Dr Kumar and his crew of PSM stalwarts in Sungai Siput decided that it would be better to build a new bridge a kilometer away from the site of the old one.

“The old one was too rickety,” he said. “There was little point in shoring it up with new cables.”

But where to get the money for the new bridge, given that opposition MPs are deprived by the federal government of constituency allocations rendered to the tune of RM2 million a year to BN legislators?

PAS leader steps in to help

Dr Kumar, who was elected on a PKR ticket because PSM were no yet a registered political party in March 2008, asked help from his Pakatan Rakyat cohort in Sungai Siput.

The PAS leader in the constituency, Ahmad Mazlan Othman, a retired army engineer who had been a candidate for the Lintang state seat in the 1999 and 2004 elections, was instrumental in getting his party to contribute RM5,000 to the overall cost of the new bridge which was estimated at RM70,000.

The rest of the budget was raised from the MP allowances for Dr Kumar (RM35,000), from sundry friends of his (RM20,000) and from two Catholic groups (RM10,000).

In short, the money for the new bridge came out of a Pakatan-like collaborative effort by assorted groups. From whom much is deprived, not a little can be got.

Construction of the bridge, which was supervised at every stage by Ahmad Mazlan, began in August 2009.

A squad of PAS volunteers helped out at every stage of the construction. PSM activists M Sukumaran, M Augustine, S Nagentiran and Alexis Paulraj did turns helping out with the technical and other inputs.

Jointly and severally, this motley crew pooled their slender resources which Ahmad, with his professional expertise, ably marshaled to bring the bridge to near completion.

“There is only a little more work left to be finished,” said Dr Kumar, “which Ahmad says would be completed this weekend or over the next.”

There will be no opening ceremony for this bridge that a Pakatan-like 'gotong royong' has almost brought to pass for the Temiar of Pos Legap and no plaques to honour the selfless band involved in its conception and construction.

Whether the bridge would shift the Temiar's voting allegiance is a question of some irrelevance to Dr Kumar.

“The wretched must inherit the earth,” said Dr Kumar in typically socialistic, Franz Fanon-like, style.




(source : Malaysiakini)

Malaysia Today : Optometry Now

I have been asked many question about the eyecare industry and how it would shape up in Malaysia in the next 5-10 years.

Most common question by most aspiring eye care professionals would be :-

Should I study to become an Optometrist or an Optician??


If you are unsure what is an Optometrist compared to an Optician, read here

My answer would be take your Optometry course now and forget about the latter.


My reason is based mainly on a 3 factors :-

1) There is currently 6 (if i am still correct) Universities offering Optometry course in Malaysia. That means in the next 2-4 years, we would be churning out 200-300 optometrist per year. In the next 5-10 years numbers of Optometrist may well be at par with number of registered Opticians if not more.

2) As you know, the government are now discouraging the public to take up medicine that have been experiencing a glut in recent years. At the moment, the ratio of Houseman to Tutors are way off the charts resulting in the fear that the profession is suffering from a deterioration in quality. This will inevitably cause prospective student to look at other health related fields in Malaysia and Optometry is definitely up there. This may result in more universities offering Optometry courses and resulting in more Optometrist in the general market.

3) There is now a better awareness among the public between what is an Optometrist as compared with an Optician. This awareness will only increase as the years go by.

This 3 factors alone will propel Optometrist as the main eye care practitioner in the Optical Industry.

This in 7-10 years would result in the government to amend the Optical Act to make it compulsory for every optical outlet to have a registered Optometrist (like in Pharmacist to a Pharmacy). Many people are skeptic when i tell them this but i really beg to differ.

Furthermore, even before the act is amended, public awareness on the role of Optometrist as compared to an Optician is already on the rise. Not too long from now, i am sure most consumer may even insist that they have their eyes refracted by an Optometrist rather then an Optician.

This will also see the government tighten the already existing legislature on contact lens sales. At the moment all optical outlet are selling contact lens but the Optical Act states that only Optician with Pink Form and Registered Optometrist can dispense them to the general public. This may constitute to less then 50% (25% is my gut feeling if you include rural areas) of the optical outlets out there. An alarming figure indeed. As more Optometrist come out in the open market, pressure will be on the relevant department to enforce the already existing legislature.

For Opticians that have already been practicing in this industry, there will be challenging days ahead with the slowly but surely revolution of the industry. They will eventually have to work with Optometrist to ensure there is a more comprehensive approach in eye health care (if not also for their own livelihood). In UK, Optometrist are normally confined to their sight test room and sales are done by Opticians. This may be a good way forward.

One thing for sure, the change is coming and it is for the betterment of not just the industry which at the moment are degraded into somewhat a "pasar malam" culture but also to the consumer at large.