Piggy Birdie Homo Flu?

[UPDATED: 01 July 2009]
Well, it seems that the international medias (including AFP and Reuters) are against WHO's 2009 April, 30 "plea" (and a second repeated "plea") not to use the term Swine Flu. The pix was taken from CDC's H1N1 site. Does anyone know what is happening? It's like a big conspiracy where FAO/WHO/OIE/WTO/CDC and the Name Callers are wedging war for the "right of name/s"!

Oh, about the title, read the excerpt:

This virus was originally referred to as “swine flu” because laboratory testing showed that many of the genes in this new virus were very similar to influenza viruses that normally occur in pigs in North America. But further study has shown that this new virus is very different from what normally circulates in North American pigs. It has two genes from flu viruses that normally circulate in pigs in Europe and Asia and avian genes and human genes. Scientists call this a "quadruple reassortant" virus. [Source]

Perhaps the "tug of naming war" is related with [this] news piece?
Excerpts:

This outbreak (sometime in Jan 1976) affected 230 military personnel, killing one person, but it was successfully contained and was almost certainly caused by the direct transmission of swine flu from pigs. [Source]

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My Related Post: Piggy Flu

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Piggy Flu

Few days ago Art Minister asked the media to use the term swine flu (only?) to describe the "Mexican 2009 flu", the MoH responded by explaining why they stick to Influenza A(H1N1). The Art Minister then amended his suggestion to use BOTH swine flu AND A(H1N1) thus becoming Selsema Babi A(H1N1) (A(H1N1) swine flu).

I notice that RTM, TV3 and Astro Awani all take the Minister's suggestion. Haven't checked the Bernama TV yet but Bernama seems to stick with MoH. BTW, I checked all the "references" given by the Minister above and I notice their media too uses swine flu but not the health people. *shrug* Same here I think. *shrug* It's up to the media to take the suggestion or not.

Cheers! ;)

P/S: Rest in peace, Michael Jackson @ Mikail. I grew up listening to his song...

Father's Day...

High from the earth I heard a bird;
He trod upon the trees
As he esteemed them trifles,
And then he spied a breeze,
And situated softly
Upon a pile of wind
Which in a perturbation
Nature had left behind.
A joyous-going fellow
I gathered from his talk,
Which both of benediction
And badinage partook,
Without apparent burden,
I learned, in leafy wood
He was the faithful father
Of a dependent brood;
And this untoward transport
His remedy for care,—
A contrast to our respites.
How different we are!

- Emily Dickinson (1896) [Source]

The "Safest" and Mildest Pandemic Ever?

Yesterday (or is it today?), WHO raised the pandemic level of Influenza A(H1N1) to maximum level 6 (meaning full blown pandemic). [Source] With confirmed cases reach 29,669 including 145 deaths over 74 countries, the mortality rate is "still" less than 1%. [Source]

And the symptoms are "only" flu-like, including fever, cough, headache, muscle and joint pain, sore throat and runny nose, and sometimes vomiting and diarrhoea, mostly mild. [Source]

So, do we have the "safest" and "mildest" pandemic ever? Well, I don’t think so. Had the WHO not raised the pandemic level to level 5 in earlier date:

• many would have died because they were not managed (quarantine and/or hospitalised) properly and swiftly;
• and the spread would be too hard to control;
• and with more spreading, mutation from the "mild" influenza may become more rapidly developed and probably deadlier;
• besides, we do have mortality eventhough it is lesser than 1%, but death is still an unwelcomed result.

So, bravo to WHO for their fast action. But still, we always want to ask them to be faster than "most" fastest. :D

Primal-ry Fight?

Politic is not healthy for school especially for the primary school children.

According to Daily Express [sorry no link], two disputing
parties of a primary school management board were having discord over "power claim" causing havoc to school management and distress to school children and their parents.

Read the alternate site [news].

My thought is, sounds like two groups of primates fighting over “territorial control”. *shrug*

Wei! kasian lah (pity) those children and parents!

Stashed Cash Trashed!

Source: Reuters

Legal Illegals?

[Warning: Damn Long Post!]

Home Minister on Sunday (June 7) announced the registration of illegal immigrants (workers and their families?) in Sabah to be extended until October 31. Not only that, he also announced the foreign workers levy to be halved starting July 1, 2009. He added the employers MUST take this chance. [Source]

Yesterday, he said employers who failed to register their undocumented foreign workers would be named and shamed. [Source]

A brief anecdots (tuned to my taste):- :P

August to October 2008:
Immigration Department in Sabah received 312,837 applications from a total of 22,862 employers to register their “undocumented” foreign workers & their families. [Source]

April 2009 (Rumour but based on the then DPM – now PM – mini budget talk):
Foreign Workers Levy to be doubled effective May 1, 2009. [My related post]

April 31, 2009:
Human Resource Minister announced the Govt had postponed levy increase/double until the economy became okay. [Source]

May 2009:
Sabah State Secretary announced a total of 389,129 illegal immigrants were arrested between 1990 and 2008 (roughly 19 years, translated to 20,480 per year, or slightly more than 5,120 per three months, please compare the Aug to Oct 2008 number above.) and 80% or 315,752 were deported back to their countries of origin. [Source]

My thought:
1. Wow! The employers must be very happy for the second chance.
2. The existing and/or elusive illegals don’t need to hide anymore now that they have second chance to be “legalised”.
3. The (unscrupulous) employers/agents say, “Welcome, please enter illegally and en mass, we’ll legalised (all of) you (for a “small” fee).”
4. The criminal illegals also get a second chance (based on last year experience) now that they can change they identities. And I’m accusing the Consulate of DOESN’T-CARE-LESS attitude. Read their previous assertion [Click on the pix to know more] (DUH! Cakap tidak serupa bikin!).
5. The Job Agencies must be very happy for durian runtuh (fortune) of getting businesses from employers.
6. “Deported? No problem! Just come in (legally or illegally) (again), we’ll legalised you (with new identity if possible) (again).”
7. This means more “income” for certain (dodgy) enforcers/officers during their “impromptu” and (questionable) “routine” rounds.
8. Has mine ears heard (or eyes seen) wrong? Within 3 months we get 312,837 “LEGAL illegals” vs 389,129 “ILLEGAL illegals” over TWO DECADES.
9. What with the fluctuating levy???
10. What about our own (scarce) good quality local human resource (but underpaid, just because foreigners are cheaper labour)?
11. The papers failed to mention that employers are not only companies, factories, construction contractor etc., all that may have more than one top executives (few individuals as boss), but also individual bosses e.g. landowners (usually agricultural), housewives who hire maid/s. The point is, 22,862 employers who registered the illegals are ONLY a fraction of total number of all the employers in Sabah. Yes, only 22,862 employers registered their legal illegals during Aug to Oct 2008 “Amnesty” program in the WHOLE of Sabah!
12. Not only that, there are still MANY employers who employ illegal illegals (as opposed to legal illegals registered by the 22,862). Of course I don’t have the prove, yet. However, try to ask (discreetly please) the job agencies about last minute frantic employers trying to register their “unlegalisible” illegals (because registration date was closed). You’ll find MANY of them there are still employing those “poor souls” because they couldn’t register their workers. *shrug*
13. And now, the Home Minister wanted to name and shame them. Wah! Very kaya ah the Ministry?
14. Where to to put the names? Newspapers? Have to print very small lah, who wants to read small font and boring lists? TV? Impossible task and wastage of rakyat money! Well, perhaps some “object learnings” where you prosecute only a few of those employers, save money and instill fear (duh!)? But fair or not? You tell me!
15. Ah, I forgot about internet. Who give a damn about some lists in the internet? Well, except you also forward their names to the bank or IRB (loan blacklisting) or Immigration Department (travel ban) or perhaps the police can arrest them all and/or prosecute them (someone asked me, “Wah, so free ah the police? No crime to solve/prevent?”)??? Or... or...
16. Someone tell me, “Need to survive mah.” Yeah right!
17. Oh, I have almost forgotten about the NON-compulsory preliminary medical checkup for legal illegals like last year. So, to all those who have INFECTIOUS and NOTIFIABLE diseases, you don’t need to worry because:

1. The first year is exempted from checkups and the year after, you just need to find OTHER’s blood/body for checking (can use this for first years too);
2. The “qualified health officers/staffs” are “susceptible” to being “ignorant” or easily “deceived” by the “evasive” foreign patients’ “tricks” in supplying health information or simply “equivocal” about how the health procedures are supposed to be conducted in TRANSPARENT and ETHICAL manners.
3. Growarisan not yet (or won’t be?) exercising the new foreign workers quarantine procedures. Why? You go ask them!

Did someone just accuse me of lying about the claims above. I say, bring it on! And please, please be a RESPONSIBLE Malaysian and Blogger!

As much as I like to “vent” my thought, I think I must give constructive ideas as well. However, many people had voiced their proposals way better than what I would have given. So, I’ll just put few good links below: ;)
1. Set up Royal Commission on Inquiry [Related news]
2. Step up enforcement [Related news]

Disclaimer: No offense to the kind, incorruptible, hardworking and dedicated officers, enforcers, employers, job agencies and staffs, local civilians, tourists, and legal foreign immigrants (workers), and all their families. Oh, also to those innocent men, women, children and bystanders. :D

Cheers and have a nice and happy days. ;)

My Blogging Ritual

First, the definition of the word "ritual" from http://www.dictionary.net/ritual:

"Ritual \Rit"u*al\, n. [Cf. F. rituel.]

1. A prescribed form of performing divine service in a particular church or communion; as, the Jewish ritual.

2. Hence, the code of ceremonies observed by an organization; as, the ritual of the freemasons.

3. A book containing the rites to be observed.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)"

If you still don't know what is blog by now... *shrug* Blog is define as:

"We have not found any entries on our dictionary databases for the word you entered. Perhaps you are looking for one of the following instead?

log bog clog flog slog brog blob blot blow

Please check your spelling. If you believe the spelling you have used is correct and the word exists below is an extensive alphabetical list of other dictionary sites you could try... (followed by a list of online dictionaries)."

:D

Okay just playing but that was really the result from http://www.dictionary.net/blog. Blog is actually abbreviated word from Web-log.

According to [Wiki]:

A blog (a contraction of the term weblog) is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Back to my very brief topic. :) My blogging ritual is what I do every time I open my blog:
1. Check if I have got any comment in my post.
2. Check my chatbox.
3. Check my right-side (or active) blogroll.
4. Login.
5. Update my H1N1 pix.
6. Update my Vote Sipadan for New 7 Wonders of Nature.
7. Reply comments to my post/s.
8. Read new post from the blogroll list.
9. Make comment on blogroll list.
10. Post new entry/ies.
11. Reply chatbox.
12. Visit other blogroll (left-side/static) if got time.
13. Make comment on that blogroll.
14. Logout. ;)

You all have a nice day. ;)

(Un-)1(-ted-by-)University, People's (students & parents) Fists, Performance Blunder

Feeling rejected: Several of the 4,574 students who had applied to the apex-status Universiti Sains Malaysia holding up acceptance letters that were downloaded online at the university in Penang yesterday.



Unhappy lot: Some 200 irate parents and students gathering at the university’s registrar’s office to complain about the technical blunder.

Read the [news].

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reanaclaire said: such a big disappointment, i tell u,.. pity the students and the parents,... how can such thing happen.. if i were the parent, i surely feel sad for my kid...

KY replied: Me too. If I had a kid lah. ;)

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MariaFaizal said: So much for the 'world' class university.USM-Apex can't even handle the application level :(

KY replied: It was human error they said... If they could shortlist those student, it means they were good but not good enough, qualified but not not qualified enough, ...

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D.L Sumunie said: Kasian the parents and students...:<

KY relied: I wonder how the U would compensate their trouble getting there... The tambang, the duit minyak, the makan minum, the penat lelah, the hancur luluh (dashed) hopes...

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DeePo said something. :)

KY replied: Totally understood. ;) :D