Do you know.........?

Categories: Do You Know?












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Image of the asteroid Itokawa with shadow of the Hayabusa probe on its surface (above). The spacecraft is on a mission to collect samples from the surface of the asteroid Itokawa and return them to Earth in the summer of 2007. [Source]

When will they learn?

Categories: Malaysia

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is planning to raise fairs as part of a strategy to turn the troubled national carrier around, it was reported yesterday. This is not the first time, MAS has ran into financial crises. Back in 2001, the Malaysian government bought the majority shares from Tajudin Ramli at the same high price that he 'purchased' previously. Since then, the price of MAS has dropped significantly as MAS had been in the red for the last four years. Then, it was promised that MAS would do better with a new team, but this does not seem so. I am surprised that in a country of with a population of about 23 million people, we do not have good and able people to run MAS. If we can produce people like Tun Daim, I am sure there are other people who are good enough to run the company. Increasing fares and selling assets are only short to medium term plan. Foreign ownership should be rejected as had been done by Dr Mahathir, the then prime minister back in 2001. After all this is the national carrier and should be Malaysian-owned.

Too lenient!

Categories: Singapore

The Straits Times reported today [The Straits Times, November 22, 2005] that an employer was fined S$15000 for pimping her maid. She was spared the jail sentence. One of the reasons cited for the 'lenient' sentence is that the maid was a voluntary partner. The maid is currently awaiting repatriation. The fine imposed for this crime is laughable! If you go to Geylang, and if a pimp is caught, why is then a jail sentence added? Aren't the girls under his 'charge' also willing parties?

There are many ways to make a person a willing party. Psycho the poor maid about her poverty, and how she had to earn enough to support her children and the family. Do this on a daily basis and the poor girl would have felt miserable enough to really believe that she needed to earn much more than what (is truly) pittance of pay she is getting working as a maid. Or she may be coerced when the employer put pressure by not giving her time to rest, shortened the sleep time, asking her to do household chores over and over again.......... After all, the maid is staying with the employer and is (always) at the mercy of the employer. There are many ways to coerce a person. With such mental and physical 'torture' how many would not have become a willing party?

I am heartened to hear that a police report was made by the maid agency. This is surely a departure from the what I had heard regarding maid agency as regards to maid treatment. Finally a maid agency had done the right thing - to protect the maid. If more maid agency can treat their maids better and with more respect, then I feel that there will be less maid abuse in Singapore.

Is it necessary?

Attended my daughter's prize presentation ceremony this morning. Was greeted by the vice-principal scolding the children in the hall. This despite having the parents all sitting at the back of the hall. The vice principal demanded absolute silence and no fridgiting from the student. She will continue to issue command until there was absolute silence and the children are sitting properly. After that there was a roll-call for the classes. All this while 3 classes were still making their way into the hall each being lead by a teacher. When the roll-call was over, 2 classes were apparently not present.This started her to say that the ceremony will start without them! With that she passed the mic to the MC who promptly said that the ceremony will not start yet and will wait for another ten minutes for the missing classes to file in. The ceremony finally got started when the remaining classes make their way into the hall and to their respective places. The ceremony started smoothly enough. However midway through the ceremony, it was briefly interrupted when the MC chided the children for making too much noise! This quieten down the children and the ceremony resumed. The "noise" level got progressively higher as the prize presentation got underway with some students actually "screaming" when their classmates' name were announced. This abruptly brought the ceremony to a halt with the MC again 'reminded' the student just to clap appropriately!

I wonder why this school is so straight-laced. I find it strange that the VP should reprimand the students when the parents are around. I would have thought that such reprimands and reminders should be done behind close doors and only the best 'appearance' should be seen by the guests - in this case, the parents. Granted this is technically a chinese school where discipline is paramount, but maybe some subtlety may be in order. The mood of the ceremony maybe marred by such situations.

It is natural for anyone who are happy and cheering their fellow students to sometimes be carried away with their cheers. Mutterings and exchange of happy chats regarding the prize winners is something natural. Imagine with children from 3 levels of primary schools, even whispers will be magnified. And what is wrong with some 'screaming' when this is done in appreciation and not in antagonism? Of course if there were catcalls, then the students should be reminded about such 'hoogalism' act. Friendly cheers should be encouraged! Even if the school does not condone such friendly 'screams', maybe the MC should have waited for the end of the ceremony to reprimand the students.

Don't take me wrong. I support the school although I may no entirely agree with some of the things they do. I think discipline is important and should be strictly enforced. However I feel that sometimes it should not be over-zealously enforced and only if the 'offence' is not too serious, maybe there is an appropriate time and appropriate place for its implementation.

The correct way....

Categories: Wormie Says

Jordan experienced a horrific terrorist attack yesterday when three bombs exploded in Amman. Two bombs struck in a wedding banquet killing many people - total of 42 Arabs, with the bulk of which are Jordanian - 33 in all. In contrast only four non-Arabs were killed. King Abdulla of Jordan quickly condemns the attack and vowed to track and brought the perpetrator to justice. The general public also expressed their disapproval by marching through Amman and condemned Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the alleged mastermind linked to this bombing. [Source] I feel that this is the way to show these terrorist that killing innocent people has no support with the general public in the Muslim world. Resorting to killing innocent people cannot be called Islam as Islam is a religion of peace. I sincerely hope that more Muslim leaders will condemned such acts so that these extremist will be alienated and the "moderates" will prevails!

Doubly sentenced

Categories: Singapore

The five blood donors who was found to have knowingly lied about sexual history and later found to have HIV was charged yesterday. What is sad about this case is not only that five individual was found to be inflicted with HIV but the fact that they were 'doubly' sentenced. First they were sentenced in court for knowingly lying in answering the legally-binding questionnaire which is a pre-requisite for blood donation. This is the consequence of their actions. What is unfortunate in my view is the fact that they were publicly named in the national newspaper. In normal circumstances, HIV carriers' identity is kept secret. Despite the change in the law recently, this is still the case as only the spouse is allowed to be told and therefore the doctor-patient confidentially breached. However for the five, their names had been splashed in the newspaper and their lives will forever be changed. They will tend to be ostracised, their job prospect will be affected and generally live in 'shame'. I feel that this is unfare to them because they are doubly charged - by the court of law and by the society.

Charge them!

Categories: Singapore

Five blood donors had been charged in court for donating AIDS-tainted blood. On the surface this looked draconian. Here we have a good hearted person trying to help a fellow human being by donating his blood only to be charged when the blood was found to be HIV-positive. Why would the health authorities risked scarring away blood donors by highlighting these cases. To answer this question, we need to look into the blood donation process. I had worked in the National Blood Bank previously and therefore quite familiar with the process.

For all potential donors, there are a few steps to be taken before they can donate blood, even for those who are frequent donors. This is necessary so that the blood donated will be as safe as possible to be used for those in need. After the usual weight taking and blood test for the level of hemoglobin, a potential donor is asked a series of questions.

The questionnaire is aimed at filtering out any potential high risk group for disease transmission. The questions covers mainly the sexual history, medical history and travel history. In sexual history, questions includes number of sexual partners and visits to prostitutes. A potential donor is rejected if he has multiple sexual partners or visits to prostitutes. This is because both these habits increases the risk of sexually transmitted disease. Therefore if anyone who had experience such sexual habits, then it is imperative that they tick yes to the questionnaire and the whole blood donation process will end. He will have excluded himself from the whole process. Even if he does not want to tick yes, he may chose to cite that he had changed his mind because he does not want to answer the questionnaire and he will not be allowed to donate blood. There is no question asked as to why he does not want to donate blood. After answering the questionnaire, he will have to sign the questionnaire which states that the answers given are truthful to the best of his knowledge and this make it a legally binding document. I will not explain the other processes that goes through in ensuring the safety of the blood as this is clearly spelled out in the newspaper report.

The catch phrase is truthful to the best of his knowledge. If you knowingly give a false response, then you are lying. However if you genuinely do not know then you are not liable. Therefore the misconception that you are charge for having HIV when you donate blood is a myth. If you genuinely do not know that you have HIV with no history of sexual indiscretion, then you will not be charged in court. A case that happened some years back which unfortunately not reported together with current case will illustrate the real situation.

There was this 19 years old girl who donated blood. After all the questionnaire had been answered, she donated her blood. However after the blood had gone through the mandatory test for HIV, Hepatitis B and C and other sexually transmitted disease, she was unfortunately found to have HIV. An investigation was conducted. She was interviewed to which she admitted that she had sexual relations before but only with one person (the questionnaire asked if more than one sexual partner). She had not other risk factor for sexually transmitted disease. Her boyfriend was brought in to help the investigation. During the course of questioning, it was found that her boyfriend had many sexual partners! So it was her boyfriend who passed the HIV to her. She was not charged because she did not lie in the questionnaire ("to the best of her knowledge").

Hopefully, my article will reassure the public that blood donors are not prosecuted if they are found to have HIV. They are only charged if they did not tell the truth during the questionnaire. Therefore if you are truthful to yourself, then there is no risk of being charged even if you are unfortunately found to have HIV in the process of blood donation.

Wrong values...

Categories: Wormie Says

More and more children are signing up for beauty and talent pageant [Sunday Times, Nov 6, 2005]. Some parents supported the idea because they says that it make the child to have more confidence. Some says that it is a good investment because they got one up against other kids for having learn something not so common along the way. Psychiatrist however says that putting such kids in competition at such an early age will make them too competitive and coupled with parents' expectations the agony of defeat may be too much for them to shoulder. Another psychiatrist says that such competition teach the child false values like exterior beauty being more important.

This report is timely because a few days ago the Straits Times reported on the 'New Poor' - people with rich assests but running a high debts as a consequence. Are these two phenomenon related? In my opinion yes.

If a child goes for beauty and talent pageant, one of the things they learned about is glamour. And glamour teaches the child to look good, dress well, behave and speak in a certain acceptable way, and therefore to be able to stand out from the crowd. On the surface these are good values. One must always strive to look good and dress well. If one does not dress appropriately, then it does not reflect well on oneself and may even looked out of place. Behave and speak in an acceptable way of course is good so as not to be seen as too loud and incongruous with the crowd. However such behaviour may be 'force' because beauty and talent pageant has certain set of criteria for one to be 'model' child. What this creates is a falsity in the personality which in the long run becomes pretentious. The child is not taught to be honest but to be politically correct. The child is not taught to spend within his own means, he has to look good and dress well; therefore branded things which are usually associated with such behaviour becomes a must whether you can afford or not.

Sad to say we do not need to look far for such pretentious behaviour. Years ago when I was doing medical cover for a performance by our local star, back stage their behaviour was not something to admire. They smoked like chimney, cold to the 'lesser' people and something rude. But when they are in the public eyes, the behave in a way you would expect a star to behave - obliging, smiling, cheerful. Some of those who are involved in charity drive, would show concern and care to the patient when in front of the camera but once the camera is shut off, they seemed to be another person - no longer friendly and sometimes downright rude. If this is not pretentious behaviour what is. Certainly this is not the value we want to teach our children.

If you grow up with the idea of wanting to have glamour, what would happen if you do not have the financial means of living it up? Well in Singapore there is a barage of credit cards that can be easily obtained. There is also no lack of unsecure loans to choose from. With all this 'easy money', it is easy to understand why there are so many so-called 'New Poor'. This is coupled with the fact that even in the University, students are already taking a loan! Well there is a student loan which helps students to pay for their school fees and this can make up to 50% of the course fee. In view of the relatively high school fees here in Singapore, the majority of University students here take up such loan. This loan is good in the sense that every body has an opportunity to study in University. But takes the usual agony and embarrassment that is usually associated with loan-taking. It make people immune to taking loan. Therefore when more and more loan are piling up, there is less intimidation associated with the debt than what it really should.

I do agree that such beauty and talent pageant helps to bring confidence but confidence can be nurtured in other ways. Moreover, nowadays there are so many tuition centres and other enrichment centres which have programs to inculcate confidence on the children. Not only such program cheaper, it also avoid the numerous disadvantages I described above.

Sometimes I wonder whether investing in the child in such a way is more for the parents or the child.....

The Chinese 'problem'

Categories: Wormie Says

Before I start my blog, I would like to clarify that I am a Chinese. The title is so named because the government usually address the Malay issue as the Malay 'problem'. Let me address this issue from the point of the majority. This blog was partly prompted by a letter to the Straits Times by a Mr Osman Sidek. [link]

Singapore has about 75% Chinese majority. What this translate to is that being a Chinese you can go about your daily life without having meaningful contact with the minority group. Let me illustrate.

Radio and TV here have very clear distinct segregation of the dialect channels. This means that if you were to listen to the Chinese channel, then you hardly see any minority group. Not much can be said about these channel as it is difficult to imagine a minority group to be conducting a show in Mandarin. However when it comes to the English channel, then the lack of the minority group is hard to understand given that English is the de facto national language. Therefore from TV and radio, there is hardly any 'contact' with the minority group.

Then comes the charity shows which is televised live on national TV. It is strange that the is a lack of artiste from Suria and Central. This make the charity program very skewed. Again no meaningful 'contact' with the minority.

If you go to work, we tend to meet people from the majority group. Granted that this is inevitable because just by the law of chance, there is a three-quarter chance of meeting a member of the majority group. Couple with the fact that people of the same race tends to congregate together, this further reduce the chance for a meningful 'contact'.

Therefore it is no surprise that the social worker quoted by Mr Sidek said 'Wah, today I am very happy. At last I can say I have one Malay friend and one Indian friend.'

Like Mr Sidek, I think it is easier for the majority to reach out to the minority and not for the minority to try to 'integrate' into the majority. But unlike him, I think there is more to education and upbringing that can bridge this 'great' divide. I think there should be a more mixture of artiste and language in the national TV so that artificially the people is 'forced' to learn about each others' culture. This will make for greater tolerance and respect through understanding.

I find it sad when some of my fellow majority race friend do not know about meaning of such simple things like 'haram' and Muslim fasting. Although we may not agree with what out northern neighbours are doing, maybe we should learn from their TV channels. Their TV channels were previously like ours - one for the National language (Malay) and one for the rest (Mandarin and Tamil). But times have change and now both channels have a mixture of all languages. There is no need for a full hour program but just a minute-long clips on cultures and practices may all that is needed for the majority to understand the minority.

What is wrong with Kashmiri militant?

Categories: Wormie Says

It is absolutely insane and unimaginable for the Kashmiri militant to carry out bombings in the last week against the Indian government. The first there was the car bomb which exploded when bus carrying soldiers of India's Border Security Force went by and then there were the three bomb blast in New Delhi in a market place on the 29th Oct just a few days before Deepavali. A search on Internet will undoubtably show up more such news since the Oct 8 earthquake. What an irony? The world including the Indian government is still trying to help the victims of the Oct 8 quake, of which victims are Kashmiri, and here crazy militants go about bombing other innocent people. Don't they have any conscious at all? Wouldn't it be more beneficial if they put down their arms, even if temporariry, and help out in the providing aid to the Kashmiri people? People they claimed to have represent and whose support they have. If they are going to represent the Kashmiri people, then I should think that Kashmiri should think twice before supporting them. If they can carry out such heinous crime during this tragedy where people are still dying due to lack of shelter, then what will they do to help their people when there is no tragedy? Shame on you, militants!

Xia Xue brand of 'freedom' of expressions....

Don't blame me for being highly critical of Xia Xue. I had posted a critical comments about her views regarding the use of toilet meant for handicapped in the comments column. And guess what? It was 'moderated'. My comments did not even contain four letter words or any words that you cannot find in children's read. Somehow my critical comments was just not acceptable to her and it got 'moderated' (aka censored). I am writing this not because she 'moderated' my comments but to show people that whatever comments you see about her blog must be highly skewed as majority of comments seen are in agreement with her. I find it hard to believe that there are so many people who would agree with her opinion and hence my own entry.

On comment left by Dennis says ".... IS JUST EXPRESSING HER VIEWPT, SO STOP CRITICISING HER...TO BE A SOME1 GREAT, U HAVE 2 POSSESS BRAINS, BUT GUTS IS SOMETING TAT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE..." which I'm only in half agreement. I am totally in agreement that she is just expressing her viewpoint and to be someone great, you have to possess brains but guts make the difference. However if she has a gut to write what she wrote, she must also have the guts to face the consequences. She cannot just gets feedback that she chooses to support her and not the rest. This is especially so after she wrote her take on students being suspended because of blogs critical of their teachers. And I quote, "...... Why, scared people find out the truth about your actions is it? Wanna fight back? You fucking fight like a man, and go set up your own blog and defend yourself. What is with this "suspending" and commanding people to close down their blogs? What gives you the rights to threaten people like that? It is clearly an abuse of the power you have. ...." I had left my comment on her blog then, and I was lucky. Only my IP was blacklisted, but my comments stayed. Not sure if it is still there though... Further she commented that "... I've gotten many mails from my teenage readers, telling me what their schools did to them when they wrote some stuff about school on their blogs...." One wonders if this is the whole truth as she showed signs of wielding the censorship whip. I wonder how many more comments that got censored off or should I say moderated in order to garner so many comments that is not critical of her.

I just wonder why she cannot write her comments without using four letter words, foul language and being just so arrogant!

Wendy Cheng aka Xiaxue in limelight again!

Xiaxue is in the limelight again! Again for the wrong reasons. Why is it I am not surprise that she had lost her sponsors? In fact what surprises me is why people want to sponsor her in the first place. Reading her blog, I find that she is foul mouthed, lack of respect for authority and downright arrogant at times. Maybe this is her way of generating traffic to her blogsite. That is fine with me because it reflects her opinion and her character. Why would respectable company wants to sponsor this type of blogsite - antiestablishment, use of four letter words, insensitive and now uncaring! Looking at the comments she gets, I noticed most of the people who supported her are teenages and that is worrisome. How much bad influence will she rub on to the rest? One day when she is a parent, I wonder whether she will let her children read her blogsite? Good luck to her!

Spying on the maid....

Categories: Wormie Says

It was reported that more and more maid employers are installing camera to monitor their maids in Singapore. [The Sunday Times, October 30 2005]. Employers interviewed felt that this is a form of safety measure as they can monitor to see if their had been any wrongdoing on the part of the maid when the employer is not at home. Apparently one of the maids was caught handling a child roughly and another was found to be wearing the the employers wife clothings. A social worker with the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, which promotes welfare of foreign workers, said such measure is wrong because it is telling the maid that the employer do not trust them.

It is very sad if the employer have to resort to such tactics to keep an eye on the maid. I can understand the need to keep the family safe, and like it or not, a maid is an 'outsider'. Therefore fear of abuse by the maid is 'real' and this is amply highlighted by the recent murder of the employer by maids. However here lies the irony. If you do not trust your maid, why not change a maid or forgo a maid all together? If you do not trust a person will you still invite him into the house? There are currently alternative arrangements which can be used to take care of the child. As for housework, there is always a part-time cleaner. Maybe a maid is just a luxury?

Even if due to circumstances beyond control and the maid is a must, if you are to install the security camera, is it right to install it without telling the maid? The maid has a right to her privacy when at 'home' although 'home' here is just a shelter in most cases. Imagine you have a tenant whom you think is up to no good, but you need make some side income. You install a security camera and spy on him. Is this right? Is his privacy being invaded? After all his 'home' is the space you rented to him. Similar situations but I am sure evoking different reactions. Maid, after all is hired by you and you are paying her, whereas a tenant is a fellow human being who is paying you. Therefore the former is 'justified' and the later not.

Granted security camera is here to stay and maids will be monitored. But if you really wants to install such a camera, I think it is only right for the maid to be informed. Because if you really wants to make sure that they 'behave', then the mere knowledge that her every steps is monitored is enough to make anyone toe the line.

I wonder what those employers who install the spy camera will say if their own bosses install similar cameras in the work place. Will they feel that the boss has every right to monitor them while they work or will they feel betrayed and let down because the boss do not trust them?

Maybe a good thing that may come out of this spy camera issue is the fact that maybe maids who had been abuse can use it to prove such abuses. Double edged sword.

And finally, few months ago when the police use stealth instead of speed camera with a warning signboard, to book speeding car, what happened? There was a great uproar with the police being called 'sneaky'. People felt that it is not fair for the police to book them without any warning. Sigh! Maybe they should retake their highway code, because somewhere in there is a signboard with a red circumference and big number in the centre. This signboard, to recapitulate, gives you the maximum speed limit! And what was the police response to the uproar? The start to publicise where they are going to monitor and book speed offenders on the police website! I just wonder whether maids here have such recourse?

Links #001

Categories: Do You Know?

<0> Used of metoclopramide had been linked with severe reaction in patients with history of phaeochromocytoma, a tumourous condition where excessive chemicals that support the body's blood pressure are secreted. In patient with such condition, its use is associated with sweatiness, severe hypertension, and sometimes death. Although rare, physicians had been adviced to use metoclopramide with care is patient with hypertension and those with labile blood pressure.

<0> Studies had shown that the humble ginger, Zingiber officinale, is useful in early pregnancy. It had been used as a form of alternative medicine. Ginger got its name from the Sanskrit word stringa-vera, which means “with a body like a horn”, as in antlers. Ginger is also a nickname given to a new invention by Dean Kamen. Kamen's vehicle mimics the human body's ability to maintain its balance. It has no brakes, no engine, no throttle, no gearshift and no steering wheel. And it can carry the average rider for a full day, nonstop, on only five cents' worth of electricity. The commercial name for this incredible vehicle is Segway.

<0> This was a treatment option in the late eighteen and early nineteen century. Together with blood-letting, intestinal purging, profuse sweating and blistering, these techniques were known as 'heroic medicine'. This techniques were rooted in the notion that the way to exorcise one set of afflictions from a patient’s body was to subject it to a considerably more violent set of afflictions. The heroics were entirely on the part of the patient: for even the mildest ailments, one could expect to be bled, leeched, cupped, blistered, amputated, sweated, trepanned, scourged, and purged and flayed to the fare-thee-well.

<0> This humour site is dedicated to this condition. To the uninitiated, this site might be downright revolting. There is a story section where the mechanics of this condition is described in detail. If you are not the imaginative type, maybe the photo section will make you join in the act. For those interested in descriptive words, there is a section on thesaurus for your much needed vocabulary. As for those who are keen to do research on this topic, there are numerous links to get you started. Oh, before I forget, this site is called The Vomitorium.

Todays links:
<0> metoclopramide is used to stop vomiting
<0> ginger, used in alternative medicine, had been known to reduce vomiting in pregnancy
<0> vomiting, together with purging had been used to clean the bowels in Heroic Medicine
<0> The Vomitorium as the name suggest is a website dedicated to all things associated with vomiting
.

History of the humble adhesive tape

Categories: Do You Know?

Richard G. Drew (1899-1980) invented masking tape and clear adhesive tape (also called cellophane tape or Scotch tape). Drew was an engineer for the 3M (Minnesota Mining) company.
Drew's first tape invention was a masking tape made for painters in 1923 (this tape was designed to help painters paint a straight border between two colors). This early masking tape was a wide paper tape with adhesive on only the edges of the tape - not in the middle. Drew made an improved tape called Scotch (TM) Brand Cellulose Tape in 1930. This tape was a clear, all-purpose adhesive tape that was soon adopted worldwide. The first tape dispenser with a built-in cutting edge was invented in 1932 by John A. Borden, another 3M employee.

My other ambition....

Always wanted to write, I guess blogging is the closest to writing seriously. Anyway this is not my first blogsite, the rest having died a natural death after only two to three blogs. Hopefully this site will see better times and is truely a journey of discovery for me as far as blogging is concerned. Always finding new 'add-on' and utilities for blogs.

How charity organisations may win back potential donors...

Categories: Singapore

Tonight's charity show for the Singapore Cancer Society is the first charity drive show to be shown on national TV after the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) saga. Every one will be interested to see whether the NKF fiasco has any effect on tonight's charity drive. Therefore I think it will be timely for us to reflect what charity organisations perhaps should address to gain back the confidence of the donating public.

Maybe the charity organisation which canvas for funds should publish in the newspaper about financial reports before their drive. This is especially so for those that hope to canvas for donations more than say S$1 million. This should be done as per any public listed company. This way potential donors will have a chance to gauge how much is spent and how the money was spent. This is important because unlike buying a product where the buyers can decide whether to patronise again by the product sold, charity organisations generally gain their donations based on goodwill. And how else can goodwill be earned?

Next the organisation's budget should be clearly projected as such and such amount and how it will be spent if possible. Budget in running the organisation, I feel, should not be based on the amount of donation gathered. This is because in a for profit company, any redundant income after deduction of expenses will be considered as profit and this is taxable. However in a charity organisation, there is no such thing as profit. Moreover the money gathered is tax-exempt. If there is not fixed budget, what is there to prevent the organisation for spending unnecessarily? Therefore I was shocked to see that the National Council of Social Service's budget is based on the amount of donation gathered.

It is never wrong to pay good salary to the CEO etc even if he is running a charity organisation. This is because if he can canvas and raise huge amount of donations, then I think he deserved the money. But given 'unrealistic' bonus is another matter. This is a gray area and if bonuses were to be given out, then I think they should be based on the government guidelines and not on the 'profit' from the donation drive. This brings back my previous point, if there is no fixed budget, extra money will usually be siphoned to somebody or somewhere which may be questionable as far as a charity organisation is concerned.

Only time will tell how tonight's charity drive will fare. I only hope that people will still donate generously and the money obtained will go to the people that needed them most. Maybe this will bring back faith in potential donors

'Zombie worms' found off Sweden

Categories: Do You Know?

A new species of marine worm that lives off whale bones on the sea floor has been described by scientists. The journal the new species has been named Osedax mucofloris, which literally means "bone-eating snot-flower". [BBC Online News World Edition]

Well done President Musharraf

Categories: Wormie Says

Well done President Musharraf! In spite of animosities, distrust and national pride, you have agreed to open up the Line of Control in Kashmir for the Indian authorities to bring aid to the earthquake striken areas. You clearly put your people before yourself, you showed that Pakistanis are more important than your own political career. By showing your preferrence for human life, I am sure your people will give you more support. You demonstrated what a good leader should be like. How many other leaders will do the same because of national pride? People usually suffers because of selfish political leaders and unjustified nationalisms.

President Mussharraf, I salute you.

Glacial melt in Peru

Categories: Do You Know?

Glaciers in the Peruvian Andes could disappear within a decade. Within the lifetime of local residents alive today, the effects of Global Warming have become a daily reality. Source