The Melamine Scare...

Now that petrol prices are more or less stabilizing and the government is slowly reducing petrol prices (1st: 15 sen; 2nd: 10 sen), here comes another outbreak from China (list- bird flu, HMD, dangerous dye-cast iron toy cars, JE, etc.), The Melamine Scare!!!!

I'm trying to come to terms with the fact that I've been literally fed melamine via the famous (now infamous) white rabbit candy:



But seriously, by only taking the example of white rabbit alone, I'm betting that's a lot of children and parents (*ahem* during their childhood) to have eaten these toxic candies. I wonder how much melamine is in our bodies now especially with the knowledge that a host of other products are also contaminated.


Now when the word melamine is heard, the first thing that comes to my mind is obviously plates and the likes. Only a few months back my grandma was making such a fuss about using melamine-ware for dining. She's been insisting that we serve food in ceramic or glass plates and bowls instead. Looks like she's more far-sighted than the rest of us. Though it's not like she bans the use of melamine-ware completely. Her main concern is when serving hot food in fear that the heat might result in a teeny bit of melamine to be mixed into the food. Now with all this bad publicity on melamine, her words bear more weight.


Thank goodness my Nestle Nesvita Non-Fat Milk is off the hook with the assurance from Nestle Malaysia:

As a precautionary measure, Malaysians or those visiting Malaysia can check on the list of milk-related products affected at the Ministry of Health website.


Now this begs the question, why China?!?!?! Apart from the fact that a whole lot of things are "Made in China" these days due to cheap labour there that is. I wonder if these Chinese perpetrators are cutting corners just to save costs and woo in investors. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to blame anyone or suggest anything here. But let's ponder the notion for a moment. Has anyone forgotten the case of the dye-cast iron toy cars?!?!? I mean c'mon. My little brothers play with those things (and not to mention a gazillion other kids). Younger children would even put those toys in their mouths and what not.


Worst still, even vegetable produce is affected by this adversity. How is it possible that with so much advancements in the field of technology, we're becoming more and more destructive to ourselves (and the world we live in)? It is to my understanding the the fundamental of pursuing these advancements is to alleviate our pains and ease our tasks. Or am I still in a primitive state of mind here?


The movie Wall.E is actually an amazing example of how technology really spoils us. In the movie, the human race can't even walk!! After tumbling down from the moving seats, the guy didn't even know how to get up! As lazy as I am, I do hope we never get to that stage though. But I loved the part where the captain of the ship got so obssessed with learning about the civilization and simple life the human race had left behind. Of course that part and the cute little romance thingy going on between Wall.E and Eva. Hehehe.


Back to the main topic here, let's all hope that China beefs up it's health guidelines and policies for the benefit of us all. By us I'm referring to the entire global population. Profits can only take you so far.