I'm posting this article today and hope to comment on it later, it's very interesting! Anybody care to comment on it first...any doctors here?
By Matthew Moore
Monday October 19 2009
Searching the internet with Google can help slow and even reverse the onset of dementia, research has shown.
Older people can boost their brain activity by performing simple online searches, according to a study that suggests the web could be used in the fight against mental decline.
A team led by Professor Gary Small at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) found that internet searches were more effective than reading at improving brain function.
Researchers believe that "Googling" is particularly beneficial because it involves a number of simultaneous mental processes, including memory – of the original search term – and the comprehension and analysis of the results.
“Searching online may be a simple form of brain exercise that might be employed to enhance cognition in older adults,” said Teena Moody, a researcher at UCLA who coauthored the report with Professor Small.
As part of the study, 24 people between the ages of 55 and 78 were asked to carry out a series of online searches while having the flow of blood around their brains monitored by a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner.
They were subjected to the same test a fortnight later, having followed a regime of online searching at home.
The results showed that the function improvements detected in the initial scans – in the parts of the brain controlling language, reading, memory and vision – had spread to other areas of the brain responsible for memory and decision making.
The UCLA scientists believe that internet searching and other mental exercises slow dementia by stimulating cells and pathways within the brain.
The research will be presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago on Monday.
Could it be due to lost in translation or for want of a better word, that this Quentin Tarantino movie Inglourious Basterds starring Brad Pitt being translated as "Brad Pitt Yang Jahanam!" (notice the deliberated spelling with an added 'u' in Inglorious and the letter 'e' in Bastards).
For heaven's sake, why is Brad Pitt being vilified here? Is he such a bad actor to be called 'jahanam' just because he is the main cast. Mind you, he's just playing the movie's protagonist, 1st Lieutenant Aldo Raine, aka "Aldo the Apache":.
But if you say that you are using that particular translation because you meant that there is no other exact or suitable translation then you must be joking!
How about "Anak-anak Gampang Yang Keji!" or "Anak-anak Haram Jadah! or "Si Celaka!" or "Si Keparat!" Ha..ha...!I'm ROTFLOL!
When was the last time you were accused of laying back on your work or responsibilities (but you believed you did not) and you couldn't control your anger and resorted to verbally abuse your attacker either directly on indirectly?
Hmmm... sounds like most of us do have that tendency to some extent - especially when the accuser resorts to brickbat us with derogatory words or insults!
So, what do you expect? give them back a piece of their own medicine!
But how can we defend ourselves without being defensive? Do you think we can defend ourselves for what ever matter, without resorting to hitting back at the accusation or appellant?
Morey Stettner thinks so and wrote a very interesting piece: Defend Yourself Without Sounding Defensive: Responding To Verbal Attacks With Authority And Grace.
Stettner wrote: Still, for most of us, it's tough to resist the urge. Getting defensive is instinctive. What to do? It's not only possible to defend yourself without sounding defensive, it's imperative with Corporate America's current focus on teamwork. Instead of instantly asserting your innocence or contradicting what you hear, it's better to try communicating in a less antagonistic way. The trick is to listen, ask questions and control your emotions.
Stettner also quoted Beverly Potter, author of From Conflict to Cooperation, How to Mediate a Dispute. She wrote: "The more you defend yourself, the more attacks you'll invite. A vicious cycle sets in because the attacker thinks you aren't listening. And it's true. The very act of defending involves telling others that they're wrong and you're right."
From my own personal experience this is what I want to say - I'd rather kick the moron's butt then hear him/her rant and rave pointlessly and finally nail him/her with this question: "Do you want to finish our time finding fault or do you want to solve the problem, isn't it what we are here for in the first place?" And usually it ended well, with everyone agreeing to reconcile and patch things up rather than waste our precious time in a wild-goose chase pointing fingers.
But before you start meddling with the idea to kick someone's butt by sniping your accuser with the mantra, look first whose butt you're kicking..he..he.. or you'll end up as a dish-washer machine for the rest of your life!
Wallah..!
Well, I would like to end this message with the expression - its best or better if you stand for something for if you don't you'll fall for anything. It carries a powerful message that drives home the point of having convictions and the integrity and strength of character to stick by them and then stand up for them.
Somebody, somewhere said Abe Lincoln (or was it Mark Twain) wrote that, and to me it has all the gist and essence for building one's own will and courage to excel in life rather than wait for someone else make the decision for us.
This expression is meant for USM and its Vice Chancellor (VC), Prof Tan Sri Dzulkifli Abdul Razak.
Well, being praised and congratulated by well wishers may be an ordinary occasion for the VC and the university, but what gives the soft spoken and mild mannered academic when bombarded with brickbats and nasty comments? And these are what were in store for him with regard to the latest THE-QS ranking on the university which obviously is not in favour of the university.
The THE-QS World Univeristy Ranking 2009 - top universities can be found here.
This write-up is not about to rub in more salt into the open wound, but just a simple analysis on the VC’s latest defensive stance on the matter as published in yesterdays Utusan Malaysia “Bencana Penarafan Universiti?”. A poorly translated English version can also be found here.
If being defensive by matching one’s predicament with something not at all analogous to the matter and then shifting the blame on to others is anything to go by then this article can be one good example. No offense intended, but this is what I view the article to be.
VC’s reference to the bombardment of emails as ‘bencana’: (emails came non-stop confirming the "disaster" which hit Malaysia) which he received with regard to the ranking and comparing it (or putting it in the same parallel) with the disasters in Indonesia, the Philippines, Samoa and Japan is to my appreciation a bit off tangent, to say the least.
The VC wrote “Although only a few IPTA are affected, the implication is disturbing.” I would say it is disturbing to him and a few other academics in USM, but you can’t bundle up a few disturbed people in USM and generalize that the THE-QS ranking has disturbed every academic and universities in this country? Hey, cool down a bit!
In the next paragraph he wrote – “only those listed are questioned, while others which are not in the list (including private institutions of higher learning - IPTS - which is advertised in the media as being global) seem to be safe from the disaster, giving the impression that that it is better not to be listed at all. Naturally, if you are not in the game, why should you be questioned?
In the next paragraph the VC then attacked and questioned the validity of the organizer of the THE-QS : This alone is confusing enough as to what exactly is expected, let alone by the organiser of THES-QS when it adamantly claimed that the rankings are accurate, free and reliable. Although there are (sic) evidence which proves otherwise, we just nod our heads.
My opinion - if there is evidence, then we should adhere to it - why should we nod our heads in agreement to everything at face value? Does this statement imply that USM are also complying with the THE-QS organizer’s whims and decisions?
After beating a few more rounds about Giessen and its university – the Justus Liebig Universitat Giessen, he wrote: The rankings, especially by a commercial organisation, is totally ignored. They are also not apologetic – infact (sic), if there is any lesso(n) to be learned from the ranking activities, it is regarded as not suitable to be used as the bench mark for education institutions.
For this I agree in full. However, from this writing, they (the ranking activities) are not ignored. The writing reflects that the VC is upset about its result, not their activities.
Further the VC went on to analogously compare the rankings with: It is not like a beauty contest, which ranks its winners based on the main formula 36-24-36 as the ideal one. Is it apt that two people are being compared based on their looks alone human beings and not for their humanity (?) Likewise, the institution known as a university - more so, when the measurement used is likened to a factory product or for a beauty contest.
This analogy is very lame – obviously, you can’t compare the methods used by an organization to gauge university rankings (however weak their methodology is) with the methods used in a beauty contest. Using this as an analogy is a bit digressed, don’t you think? If an official from the THE-QS might have read this, he/she would have concluded that this write-up must been done by an undergraduate of a lowly rated university in their rankings.
The VC goes on to: (I) assume the conference would be boisterous with debates on the ranking, when looked at from an international perspective. I agree, anyone would not have assumed otherwise.
But he went on: Obviously, I was wrong. For the next two days, the isu (sic) on ranking was never mentioned, whether by the speakers or the participants. When attempts were made to get their views, the feedback was lukewarm, like “what about it?”…. they look very cynical, like saying "Who are they to make our university like a puppet"(?)
This clearly reflects that the VC was himself expecting that the ‘disaster’ would also strike elsewhere like it did in Malaysia, but much to his disappointment, it did not.
And then he went on to use the dreaded beauty contest analogy again: The conclusion is, in ranking, we have to follow orders. For example, a beauty queen, she has to have good grooming and dressed well, even in a bikini, to walk well and smile to win the heart of the judges. Otherwise, it is difficult to win. What more, in such a contest, the participant from a host country will often be a winner, although not the first place. This is also becoming common in raking activities where elements of sponsorship and bribery are beginning to spread.
Come on, give them a break! How can we say that the universities ranked at the top in the THE-QS ranking like HARVARD University, University of CAMBRIDGE, YALE University, UCL (University College London) and the IMPERIAL College London are commonly gauged by their sponsorship or bribed by the judges like in a beauty queen contest? This is a bit far-fetched!
In the third last paragraph (of the English version) the VC wrote: Hence, there was a time when universities are recommended to advertise their names and logo in the websites of sponsors, with a certain fee, so that they are more "customer-friendly". Unfortunately, there are some who are lured by this, like a participant of a beautry (sic) queen going to bed with a judge of the pageant with the hope of winning the contest.
In my opinion, a small fee to advertise our name and logo in a common website won’t do any harm to show that we exist in this world. But comparing that small sum with a beauty contest participant bribing the judge by going to bed with him is a bit rotten to be called an analogy at all.
This critical review is quite harsh if you consider who wrote it, but it is well meant. Apex ego aside, this write-up is a fair comment and a well balanced view from some one who thinks, as the Vice-Chancellor of a university chosen to carry the APEX standard of universities in Malaysia, should have laid down a better argument to challenge or rebut the THE-QS ranking in a manner well accepted by both the layperson and the academics.
I sincerely hope the VC is magnanimous enough to take this analysis as it is and not kill the message by killing the messenger.
p/s One might wonder if the VC would sing the UM tune if the THE-QS results were in favour of USM?
The past Hari Raya Aidil Fitri would be the first raya that we celebrated until we got bored to tears, at least on my part.... must be to my husband too, because of all the driving that he did. Yet he never complained... what a darling!
Before that, it was also a raya which was full of mishaps. Like for example, would you expect that getting to Ipoh from Kuala Lumpur would cost one RM55 by bus? Yes, it did cost me that. How? During my long hours waiting for the bus to Penang, which was the normal occassion for me on Friday afternoons at Puduraya bus station, I bought a ticket to Ipoh, not on Friday as planned, but instead on Saturday, so obviously overlooked. It was a non-returnable, no refund ticket (apparently that normally happened during hari raya period). So the first RM17.40 wasted.
Then I asked my maid to purchase another ticket KL-Ipoh, this time buying the Transnasional ticket which was more expensive, RM20.50. With this ticket armed in my wallet, I went to Puduraya Station that morning. I went to Transnasional counter and on the big screen I saw the bus was scheduled on time. Feeling very satisfied and after noting the platform number, I went to buy myself The Star. I was engrossed in my reading, it was a very interesting piece on mix-marriages, and it featured the lovely celeb couple, Nash and Nur Shearney Iman Lee. At exactly 10.15 am I rose from the bench and headed towards Platform no 10 where I boarded an almost empty bus.
The bus journeyed to Hentian Duta where more passengers came on board. An Indian student couple was giving me the side looks and appeared dissatisfied about something. I was again reading more materials given for free by Karangkraf for all bus passengers. The girls then approached me and asked me to sit somewhere else, as they claimed I was actually sitting on their seats. I argued steadfastly that the seat was rightfully mine. Disgruntled, they went down to the counter and came back with a Transnasional official who insisted that I showed my ticket.
"Kak, ini tiket pergi Ipoh!" Ha! only then I realised iIve made the stupidest mistake... because of my regular trips back to Penang, my brain has somehow conditioned itself, but what a timing.... Shame-facedly I alighted from the bus. The Transnasional staff then advised me to get another ticket from another company since it would useless for me to get back to Puduraya. RM20.50 went the drain...
So with another RM17.50 and one and half hours later I reached Ipoh, much to the mirch of laughter of everyone....
My husband and the kids and my maid had already arrived in Ipoh by bus earlier (no glitches thanks to my husband). We broke our fast with Mak Nun and Pak Nif, who are my husband's uncle and auntie. Mak Nun cooked a ver tasty fish head curry, this is her specialty.
The kids having a blast with PS2 in Ipoh
The next morning was the beginning of another new experience for my children, taking the train to KL Sentral. We boarded at the old train station in Ipoh. I had my first visit to KTMB public toilets forever spoilt. The toilet was dirty and 'my nature's call' just refused to be answered, I had to turn back. Then feeling quite resourceful, I entered the toilet meant for the handicapped, thinking that in that pressing condition, I was quite handicapped to many things. Ahh... much better, unfortunately after having a most released time, I found the flush was not working. so there I was, standing for almost 10 minutes, manually flushing my waste using the hose.
Now after boarding the train, we were settled comfortably and the children were behaving so nicely with a cool blast of the air conditioning..... unfortunately, this just triggered the bladder to be active! My huisband and the kids looked for the toilets near the coach. What do you expect? Only 2 toilets out of six on the coach were opened for use and in there, every single flush was not working.... again? Luckily I had the sanitary wipes (armed for the H1N1 pandemic), so they were put to good use.
Thankfully we reached KL Sentral in one piece, amidst the hundreds of passengers and the trains that were delayed again and again, back to Bandar Tun Razak. After a much needed rest, my husband showed to me a write up in Utusan Malaysia (my father never read anything else, a.k.a. "Suara Keadilan diharamkan di rumah aku..."), where the top managerial team was feeling buffed for the KTMB's enormous Raya ticket sales and claimed it was due to customers' satisfaction of their good service. LOL... Malaysians have this illness, where they always think the best of themselves, a real "masuk bakul angkat sendiri" mentality. In my opinion, KTMB is the worst public transport provider in Malaysia, just look at the KTM Komuter... what a sorry state of unreliable service!
We spent 3 days in KL and the fourth day drove to Ipoh to celebrate with my husband's family and relatives. On the way we stopped at Tanjung Malim and visited Syed Osman and his wife Nanie at Taman Prima. In Ipoh, we visited Zalea's house and welcomed her back from Newcastle. Lea had just completed her MSc in Finance at Newcastle University. We also visited Tun Kamsiah and Hadhrami, my classmates from Medic school who are working at PUSRAWI and arRidzwan in Ipoh, respectively. Tun Kamsiah is a GP and Hadhrami specialized in Paediatric Endocrinology, which is a branch of medicine dealing with children with hormonal problems i.e diabetes, thyroid, etc. I had a great time!
In Ipoh we were getting so choked up with emotions and food, that our stomaches just cried being fulled to the brim with food galore. My husband and I were depending on Daphne Iking's Cleanz Tea and Kinohimitsu, and to an extent on Herbal Lipo, to get rid of the 'mass'. Thank God, we did not suffer much from indigestion or diarrhoea or even constipation for the lack of vegetable and fibre, imagine all those high fat diet, accumulating in your intestines...
I would feel this raya write up incomplete if I hadn't mentioned the "Ketum happy Hour", so aptly named for the big bottle of air ketum that we 'tapau' from Pak Bab, my husband's uncle in Jelapang. OK, before I go further please dismiss from your mind the image of a group of highly stoned people at the table, in front of tall glasses. That did not happen. Ketum leaves have been studied for its excellent medicinal purposes, even in Imperial College London, by a Toxicologist friend of mine. Because the poor ketum leaves have been given a bad name by the drug addicts, I had to explain to everyone that we were not drug abusers. However..... my maid drank a cup and she was high for 2 full days, she did not sleep a wink and she was in a manic state all the way... so don't look down on Ketum, ever!
After 2 days in Ipoh, we decided to head east to Kota Bharu, much to the delight of everyone. I must say the children were missing Kota Bharu. My husband has not been back for almost 1 year and I wouldn't mind eating my favourite nasi kerabu again! So we were driving along the east-west highway and joined the bandwagon of people at the peak of banjaran Titiwangsa and enjoyed a breath of fresh air. The vendors and the toilet business were also fruitful (30 cents for toilet use). My husband? You can run your imagination wild there....
At the peak of Banjaran Titiwangsa
Back in Kota Bharu we booked into Min's Homestay and my children enjoyed visiting the monkeys again. The next day we searched high and low for our favourite breakfast items i.e nasi kerabu ayam bakar, nasi tumpang, nasi dagang ikan aya, kuih akak... to no avail. Of course, the vendors usually take a long Raya holidays and will only be back at business after a week or two.
Second from left is kak Yah, owner of Min Homestay, Kubang Kerian
We had our first taste of so many one-way streets in KB, new shopping places and demolition of many old places. The roads and the streets were bare and furthermore, confusing. New buildings were being erected, the Syariah Court Complex, the new bus station in Tunjong and KB Trade Centre. Tunjong, where we used to live has turned to another satellite town, the paddy fields were being destroyed for the new buildings.
Kubang Kerian has a new face with more shops mushrooming... I wonder with so many new shops, "sapa yang beli?". We had dinner at Hayaki Cafe, which was our favourite lepak kopi tiam place in front of Renaissance Hotel. It was still cosy, Wi Fi still there, but the food was still bad...
Meeting with Black and Ustaz at Hayaki Cafe
Upon arriving in KB earlier, I had sent a text to my old friend, Siti at USM asking whether she was at home, intending to drop by her house which was near to the homestay. She just answered "Kerja". Although a bit disappointed, I thought to call back later. My friend Shatriah had ealier responded that she was in Putra Jaya. Another text from Kak Zu said she was busy with urusan meminang that day. So I was left with no close friends to visit that day.
The next day, feeling freshed after breathing KB air, I text Kak Zu again, thinking she might give me a more positive response, another disappointment, "saya ke pasir mas...." another engagement/wedding. We made the necessary rounds to my husbands's friends' houses and we visited A.P Dr Wan's house at Jalan Bayam, he was my ex-boss.
At Dr Wan's house
At our favourite mamak restaurant in Grik, on the way back to Penang
Showing here how Aiza was crazy about the tandoori chicken
In the afternoon I called Siti again, this time she apologized that I couldn't come to her house, instead she invited me to come on the next day, because she was having an open house. I was heavily disappointed, again. What is the significance of raya visits, is the trend of making an appointment, the trend to stay? Are open houses the only time you meet with old friends? Where is the "openness" in Hari Raya, where you don't need to be formally invited?
For me, what matters most was seeing each other and catching up... not even a glass of your precious water or sugar, or kuih raya!
My husband was very sympathetic and shared the gloom on my face, said softly... OK, let's not come back to KB again, not for another few years! Clearly the current KB was a place so far from our fond memories of a place that was...
This news report has been on the BBC News Online: UK: Wales since Thursday, 14 June, 2001, 19:36 GMT 20:36
School's smoking policy attacked
Anti-smoking campaigners have hit out at a south Wales special school which allows pupils to smoke during breaks.
Children at Greenhill Special School in Cardiff have been allowed to smoke if they have parental consent.
The school, in Rhiwbina, which caters for children aged 11 to 16 years with emotional and behavioural problems, introduced the policy in a bid to maintain discipline.
But on Thursday anti-smoking pressure group ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) said the plan contradicted government anti-smoking efforts.
They said: "We are absolutely shocked and cannot see the rationale behind this.
"We are surprised that a school would condone such behaviour.
"The decision is one the school could regret. It flies in the face of all government efforts to discourage smoking."
It is illegal for anyone to sell cigarettes to under-16s, but children can smoke without breaking the law.
Cardiff County Council defended the school, saying Greenhill was a unique case. A no-smoking policy operates in all the city's other school.
Council officials let the school introduce supervised smoking in the playground to avoid breaches of discipline by the children, who have severe behavioural problems.
The Department of Health conceded the policy was "very unusual."
The department said: "We encourage all parents to give up if they are smokers and pass on information about the damage smoking does to their children.
"We expect schools to pursue health education, but, at the very last resort, it's up to the schools."
On 4 October 2009, in a related breadth, Malaysia's Kosmo! portrayed a similar news about another school in Headlands, Penarth in Cardiff, that allowed its student to smoke in a special room at class intervals!
Amazingly true, but the Kosmo! news did not mention whether it is a special school for students with behavioural problems.
Yes, it's a special school alright. The high school, run by the charity Action for Children, caters mainly for residential – and some day pupils – who have behavioural and learning difficulties.
I checked the Oct. 2 walesonline.co.uk/news and it is true the school considers providing shelter for its student to smoke. You can read them here.
For many health care providers and health promoters in Malaysia, this news may have freaked them out!
But wait till you hear some facts about a few speakers (and lecturers in Malaysia) who likes to lecture to their subjects about how healthy they are even after smoking for so many years! and how they rubbish those facts about the dangers of smoking...! and that they are preaching this in class to their students - year in, year out!
My counter advice - keep your puffing advice to yourself and don't encourage others to choose a lifestyle you have idiotically lived by.
If you think the smoke is not going to kill you, something else would. Just wait for the time to come. It would knock you out without you ever realizing it coming in to your head!
Ubat gegat (mothballs) di mana kandungan aktifnya ialah naphthalene dikatakan boleh menjimatkan penggunaan petrol (baca di sini).
Persoalannya sejauh manakah benarnya kenyataan ini? Dikatakan semenjak sebelum Perang Dunia ke II lagi penggunaan ubat gegat untuk penjimatan petrol sudah digunakan secara meluas. Naphthalene, kandungan aktif dalam ubat gegat ini dikatakan dapat memberi suntikan octane yang tinggi kepada pembakaran petrol dan ini secara langsung menjimatkan penggunaan petrol.
Sudah banyak diperkatakan mengenainya di internet, tetapi yang hairannya jika benar ubat gegat ini boleh digunakan sebagai petrol booster kenapa tiada syarikat petrol menggunakannya di dalam kandungan petrol mereka sebagai additive?
Sebuah artikel dalam website kereta.info menyatakan penggunaan ubat gegat ini ada satu kekangan — disebabkan kesan kecairan yang tinggi, apabila kecairan petrol itu berlaku, naphthalene akan meluap dan mengeluarkan kesan mendak dan seterusnya menyumbat sistem pancutan (jets) dan filter.
Sebab itu ada pendapat (komen pembaca) yang mengatakan penggunaan ubat gegat ini lebih (atau hanya) berkesan terhadap kereta berenjin karburetor dan tidak bagi kenderaan yang jenis fuel injection. Sebabnya, lebihan ubat gegat yang tidak hancur akan menyebabkan lubang injection yang sangat kecil itu tersumbat. Ini berbeza dengan kereta yang menggunakan karburetor.
Ada juga pendapat mengatakan pembakaran ubat gegat dengan petrol ini akan menambahkan kesan terhadap pencemaran alam. Disebabkan bahan napthalene ini toksid, apabila ia digunakan sebagai bahan bakar bersama dengan petrol, maka asap yang dikeluarkan boleh mencemarkan alam sekitar.
Mungkin sebab itu artikel yang pertama tadi (Lubuk Petua Warisan) memberi petuanya begini: # Bila tangki sudah penuh dengan petrol, anda terus memasukkan 2 biji ubat gegat yang berbentuk pil tadi kedalam tangki minyak dan tutup dengan ketat secepat mungkin… tujuannya nak kurangkan tidakbalas dengan gas dalam udara.
Satu pendapat yang lebih profesional dalam website Ask Dr. Science mengatakan:
Mothballs work by sublimating from a solid directly to a gas and the gas is toxic to moths. To humans as well, incidentally, so it's a bad idea to hang around breathing them in. There are two types out there. One where the active ingredient is naphthalene and the other is made from paradichlorobenzene.
And how do those boost octane?
Short answer? They don't. But they do both burn. Paradichlorobenzene, however, tends to leave hydrocholoric acid as a waste product. Not a good idea to put that in your gas tank. Naphthalene, though, you can grind up and drop in your tank and it will burn okay. Not terribly clean, but okay.
So putting in mothballs does what?
Answer: Pretty much it just gives your engine something else to burn.
Secara ringkasnya ubat gegat memang boleh memberikan booster kepada enjin kereta anda. Tetapi hati-hati, jika anda ingin menggunakannya cari ubat gegat yang mengandungi bahan aktif napthalene dan bukannya paradichlorobenzene.
Apabila ubat gegat diisi dalam tangki, tutup penutupnya dengan serta merta agar kesan kecairannya tidak meresap keluar ke udara kerana khuatir anda atau sesiapa yang berhampiran akan menyedut udara toksid tersebut.
Tentang berapa banyak yang harus atau boleh digunakan, anda carilah sendiri dalam artikel-artikel tersebut.
Hari ni saya nak bercerita pasal sotong kering dan khasiat (atau keburukkan) makanan ini. Dah jenuh menulis dalam Bahasa Inggeris, hari ni nak santai sikit guna Bahasa Malaysia, bahasa ibunda-la pulak!
Sotong kering ni boleh buat bermacam-macam jenis masakan yang lazat-lazat seperti Sambal Sotong Kering, Nasi kerabu tabur dengan sotong kering atau diratah begitu saja dengan sos atau tanpa sos.
Tetapi tahukah anda bahawa sotong kering ini amat berbahaya untuk kesihatan kerana ia mengandungi logam toksik jenis kadmium, bahan yang sama digunakan untuk membuat bateri, plastik dan baja fosfat?
The Star pada 29 September melaporkan berita Dried cuttlefish contaminated with cadmium: CAP yang mendedahkan kenyataan Presiden Persatuan Pengguna Pulau Pinang (CAP), S.M. Mohamed Idris mengenai hasil kajian yang dilakukan oleh CAP.
Idris berkata CAP dapat membuktikan perkara ini melalui ujian rawak yang dilakukannya ke atas enam sampel sotong kering di mana lima daripadanya mengandungi kadmium sementara tiga daripadanya mempunyai kandungan kadmium secara berlebihan.
Kesan pengambilan kadmium menurut CAP, mendedahkan seseorang terhadap kanser payu dara dan prostat serta penyakit buah pinggang.
Berita Kosmo! 30 September melaporkan perkara yang sama Berita Harian (30 September) juga melaporkan perkara yang sama: CAP dakwa sotong kering beracun.
Namun demikian dalam satu laporan yang dikeluarkan oleh Bernama: Sotong kering masih selamat dimakan, mengambil pendapat Pengarah Bahagian Keselamatan dan Kualiti Makanan Kementerian Kesihatan, Noraini Mohd Othman yang menyatakan kandungan kadmium dalam sotong kering masih pada paras selamat untuk dimakan.
"Setakat ini kita mendapati produk makanan laut masih selamat. Berdasarkan hasil pemantauan melalui sampel yang diuji, kurang daripada satu peratus produk makanan laut positif kadmium," Noraini berkata.
Katanya lagi, hasil pemantauan dari Januari hingga Jun tahun ini mendapati sebanyak 12 atau (0.86 peratus) daripada 1,372 sampel yang diambil dikesan positif untuk kadmium iaitu kandungan antara 1.1 hingga 10.75 ppm.
Antara sampel yang diuji termasuk udang harimau (2 sampel), sotong kering (2 sampel), ikan bilis (3 sampel), ikan tuna (1 sampel), ikan hake (1 sampel), rumpai laut berperisa (2 sampel) dan kepala sotong kering (1 sampel).
"Tahun lalu pula daripada 1,205 sampel makanan laut yang diuji cuma lima sampel (0.57 peratus) iaitu rumpai laut kering yang mengandungi antara 1.58 hingga 1.82 ppm kadmium iaitu melebihi paras yang dibenarkan," katanya.
Jadi yang mana satu pendapat yang ingin kita pakai, terserah kepada budi bicara, penilaian dan kebijaksanaan kita masing-masing.
Untuk mengetahui lebih lanjut bahaya dan kesan kadmium ke atas manusia baca disini
