Know Your Medicine

Do u know your medicine?

As a consumer, we seldom realise what are our rights and responsibilities in buying our medicines. Understand more of our rights can actually help us make a better decision and we can get a better health outcome.

Recently, Msia government set up a health campaign called "Know Your Medicine"

It is a health campaign jointly organised by :
1) Ministry of Health (MOH)
2) Federation of Malaysian Consumer Association (FOMCA).

The campaign was just launch yesterday 29june2007 by the minister of health at melaka

This campaign aims are :
a) to let the public know and understand their medicines,
c) to educate them to use medicines rationally
d) to inform their right to information on medicines.

In conjunction with this campaign, they set up a website to let the public access.
http://www.knowyourmedicine.gov.my/

I find this website quite useful and interesting. As a pharmacist, educating consumer on rational/proper use of medication important and this webstite help to increase the awareness of the consumer which will in turn cause the pharmacists' job to be more easy.

However, when there is an increase in awareness, the consumer will tend to ask more questions. As a result, pharmacists must also equip themselves with the latest information to make sure that they fulfill the increase demand of the patients.

I think this time the government had done a good job by launching this campaign. Hope it can successfully sent the correct message to the public and the campaign also should not be just "3 minutes work" and each relevant sectors must also help in making the campaign a success.

P/S: This is also a good website: http://www.myhealth.gov.my

30 hour famine --- Hungry For Hope

To all my friends:

The 30 hour famine camp is coming!!!
Whoever wants to go to the camp please let me know latest by 2 july 2007 (monday)

We can go together.
Below are some of the details of the camp.
For further information please visit
http://famine.worldvision.com.my/2007/en/main.html

To get the form and donation card to participate:

http://famine.worldvision.com.my/2007/en/pdf/wv-map-to-office.pdf

What is the 30-Hour Famine?
The 30-Hour Famine is a global movement against hunger and poverty. It is a camp aimed at spreading awareness about global poverty, and raising funds to improve the lives of needy children and communities.

What is so special about 30-Hour Famine 2007?
This year marks the 10th Famine in Malaysia, coinciding with World Vision Malaysia’s 10th anniversary. To commemorate this milestone, the Famine will be bilingual (English and Mandarin) for the first time ever, and, they are throwing open the doors to 5,000 campers! The theme for the year is “hungry for hope”…

What are the activities in the camp?
During the 30-Hour Famine Camp participants are :
a) acquainted with the world-wide humanitarian work of World Vision
b) how emergency relief operations are managed
c) how poor communities are enabled to break the cycle of poverty
d) how ordinary well-wishers can help people in need

The programme is conducted through mini-talks, video presentation, and simulation games.( Talks are given by many well known people )


When and where will the Famine be held?
West Malaysia Date : 15 & 16 Sep 2007 (Saturday to Sunday)
Time : 12pm (Sat) – 6pm (Sun)
Venue : Stadium Putra, Bukit Jalil, KL

How do I participate in the Famine?
1.Campers are required to make a minimum donation of:
* RM100 for students/senior citizens (aged 55 years old and above)
* RM150 for non-students

2.The minimum donation could be:
* The camper’s personal contribution OR
* Raised via a donation card

How to Register?

For Academic Organisations
Distribution of Donation Cards: 15 Apr to 15 Jul 2007
Last Date for Return of Donation Cards : 31 Jul 2007

Where does the money go?
30-Hour Famine beneficiaries (West Malaysia) for 2007 are :

* Vietnam
* World Vision HOPE Fund
* World Vision Malaysia Children Development Fund

30-Hour Famine beneficiaries (East Malaysia) for 2007 are :

* Children Centre Lawas Project, Sarawak
* Good Shepherd Asia Pacific Leadership Programme, Sabah

A story about a friend

In respond to Shui yee recent blog,
I am also going to write something about my little GARFIELD friend here. hehe

Shui yee has a very beatiful chinese name, 淑仪.
But same with all the "banana" ( non-chinese speaking chinese), among the hundreds and thousands chinese words, they only know how to write their chinese name.

However, compare to other "banana", she is not really a banana as she can speak hokkien quite fluently and her mandarin is not bad. Her pronunciation is very clear and understandable. BUT she just don't want to speak to us in mandarin.

Shui yee is a soft-spoken girl. She always stay calm and cool and although she is having a small frame, she is strong and tough inside her heart.

Although she don't like to smile, but she can make great joke. Her joke can always make people laugh until rolling on the floor, and sometime I just don't know how come words come out from her mouth are so funny, and can make people laugh, but when I repeat the same thing, NO RESPOND FROM OTHERS AT ALL. hahahha.

I still remember the first day I met her in IMU, she wore black blouse and pants and asked me about the LRT route. I was very happy to find a friend to accompany me as during that time I had to take train myself, and I don't like to be alone all the time. Learn to know that having someone from the same class that will be going by LRT as me make me feel very relief.

My LRT gang(photo taken in semester 3): ks, jivan, me and Shui yee

Shui yee is a special person. I feel very happy to know her. During our 3 years friendship, you had changed my ways of thinking and gives me so much fun aside from the bored and dull lectures... hehehe.

Lastly, the same advice from me again laaaa.
smile more often!!!
wear dresses and high heel as well!!!
Hope you will be always happy and healthy.

Klang Bak Kut Teh

I am coming!!! Klang Bak kut teh!!!
My friends and I went to Klang to eat the famous bak kut teh on wednesday!!!
This is the Klang leng lui who bring us around. ahahaha.

We are so desperate to eat the bak kut teh and forget to take a proper group photo. Anyway, the one in white T shirt is minying. The one in blue T shirt is seng yeong and the last one in black T shirt is 'chi yuk mui' eelin.

So, let the picture tell u the story of pork.
This is wet bak kut teh. Inside there is nice herb soup, pork, vege, fried onion, ginger, mushroom, fried tou fu, tou fu skin. WAAAAAAA the soup is so delicious and we keep adding and adding. hehe so 'pai se'

Oh ya, almost forget the 3 layer pork --- eelin favorite.

This is dry bak kut teh. Dry bak kut teh has a tasty gravy with pork, dry chili, lady's fingers, dry squid, salted fish, fried onion and many nice spices.

Lastly, this is "You Zha Gui". Dipped inside the soup before we eat !!! super nice.
Actually malaysia has many good food in each states and town. These traditional nice dishes are relatively cheap compare to those expensive cafe and restaurants in KL, BUT the taste is special and extremely delicious. Just need to ask the local people to bring us around.

So, THANK YOU minying!!! thank you for bring us around. I will definitely come for klang bak kut teh again.

Happy dumpling festival

The dumpling festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.
hehe, actually it is fall on tuesday 19 june this year...
so this blog is a bit out dated. hahaha

The chinese rice dumpling = Zhong Zi = bak chang

A traditional dumpling usually has chestnuts, pork, black-eyed beans, mushrooms, salted egg yolk, small dry prawn and dry squid inside the glutinous rice.

hehe, the dumpling in the pic below taste super NICE. It is wrapped by my grandma.

So, the story of 'duan wu' festival or dumpling festival is like that...

Once upon a time in the Chu kingdom there live a scholar-poet called Qu yuan. This man is very patriotic and he jumped into the Miluo river after the Chinese emperor refused to listen to his advice which resulted to the fall of the Chu kingdom.

So, Qu yuan friends and the people in Chu kingdom went to search for his body but they could not trace it. Then, in order to lure the fishes and demon away from Qu yuan body, they made dumplings and threw them into the river to protect the body.

This is it!!! eat the dumpling and know the story. So that each time when other people asked we can answer them proudly that we chinese actually has a patriotic soul once upon a time.