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People’s cooperation
vital to fight pandemic
THE Influenza A (H1N1) pandemic is
a classic example that illustrates the
complacent attitude of Malaysians in
general. Almost six thousand people
have been infected with the H1N1
virus, some are in serious condition,
and 68 deaths so far. This is definitely
an alarming situation. Unfortunately
many are still complacent and going
about their business as though noth-
ing is happening.
To control the outbreak in Mexico
in April, the Mexican government
closed down most of Mexico City’s
public and private offices and facili-
ties to help contain the spread. Those
who got the flu were advised to stay
home and avoid crowds to prevent
spreading the infection further. The
government’s stringent measures
and the people’s cooperation helped
to check the spread of the virus
within a short time and return the
country to normalcy.
When the Mexicans were attacked,
we did not pay much attention as we
were confident that we would not be
affected as we are far away from that
source. When it spread to the US we
were still not bothered to seriously
put in place screening procedures
and restrict travel to endemic areas.
We were confident the virus would
be stopped. We failed to realise the
virus is airborne and travels rapidly
due to the ease of global transport.
Now we have the virus on our shores
and it seems to be spreading faster than
expected. It has taken 68 lives to date
which is indeed a cause for alarm.
The Health Ministry may be spend-
ing millions to fight the pandemic but
there seems to be lot of confusion on
how to best handle the crisis. There is
gross under-reporting and attempts to
More musical variety, please
POP music is more of a cult culture
wrongly seen as music appreciation.
Pop music fans appreciate the artistes
and their looks more than the music.
This might help explain why the more
popular artistes in Malaysia are always
young, good-looking and have a short
commercial life.
Over-commercialisation of the
broadcasting industry has left little op-
portunity for non-pop music varieties
to be heard or seen. TV programmes
Enough antiviral drugs
I REFER to “Looking for antiviral drugs
(Letters, Aug 3).
The Health Ministry has distributed
stocks of Influenza A (H1N1) antiviral
to all government hospitals and health
clinics. The ministry has also agreed to
supply the antiviral to 22 private hospi-
If in doubt of foggers, check with health office
WE would like to thank MT of
Puchong for highlighting the issue
of illegal fogging through his letter
entitled “Ripped off by illegal foggers”
(July 1).
As stated by the writer, illegal
fogging has been happening for
some time. These con men come in
groups, carry out fogging, demand
SNAPAND WIN
TICKETS TO ANY DESTINATION
IN MALAYSIA!
MALAY
SIAN H
PH T
CONTE
Capture people, ffood,
d traditions,
t diti
cultures and anything else that best
showcases Malaysian Hospitality.
For more information, go to
www.sun2surf.com/mas.html
suppress the truth to calm the people
who do not seem to appreciate the
actual situation and risks.
Without the active cooperation of
the public all attempts to control the
disease are bound to fail. They must
be informed of the facts and the actual
situation on the ground as only a well
informed public will cooperate fully
to overcome the crisis. How can you
expect people to cooperate when they
are ignorant of what is going on?
of the past featured traditional music
regularly including non-Malay tradi-
tional music, jazz and classical music.
RTM can be credited for this but has
slackened in this area over the years.
A new generation of producers and
deejays has cropped up.
RTM still remains the best avenue
for promoting a better mix of musical
styles and origins. It is hoped that this
role will be revived by RTM which
now comes under the Information,
tals that meet the specified criteria.
The ministry has also allowed
private hospitals and clinics to buy
the antiviral from approved suppliers.
Latest updates and information on
H1N1 can be accessed via www.h1n1.
moh.gov.my. The Medication Leaflet
payment (sometime for future serv-
ices as well) and issue receipts with
false particulars. Once the payment
is pocketed they disappear and can-
not be traced.
The public must remember that
only the health authorities (both
the government and local councils)
and registered pest control operators
TELLING IT AS IT IS
Managing Editor: Chong Cheng Hai
Consultant Editor: Zainon Ahmad
Executive Editor: Lee Boon Siew
Deputy Editor: Patrick Choo (Production),
Editor: R. Nadeswaran (Special Reporting and Investiga-
tions)
Use of masks is encouraged
and antiviral agents like Tami-
flu may be necessary at times
but these may not be adequate to
significantly stop the spread of the
virus. The most important step is
self-imposed quarantine. Those
infected must be quarantined and
all those with influenza-like illness
must stay away from the public. In
general during a crisis like this
everyone, including those healthy,
must as far as possible stay away
from public functions and crowded
places.
It is disheartening to see people
OSPITA
LITY
moving around as usual oblivious
of the presence of a deadly flu
ST epidemic. We see supermarkets,
theatres, eateries and recreational
parks still crowded with people
and children, many among them
wearing masks. Why are they
visiting such places during an in-
fluenza outbreak? Even hospitals
are packed with visitors, including
healthy children, who are strongly
advised against such visits. Don-
ning a face mask but continuing
with the usual high risk activities
is not going to help stop the spread
of the infection.
It is time for the government to
take bold steps, like in Mexico, to
stop the spread of the disease. Shutting
down all non-emergency activities is
the only option we have now. It may af-
fect the economy in the short term but
if we do not take that risk now we may
be in for a bigger economic disaster as
a result of a full-blown uncontrolled
pandemic.
Dr Chris Anthony
Butterworth
Communication and Culture Ministry.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim
announced on June 28 that the culture
and arts of minority groups should be
brought to the fore, not merely through
news and documentaries. What can be
a more welcome assurance than that?
Music lovers have long waited for such
things to materialise.
Joe Chelliah
Seremban
for Patients – Antiviral for Influenza is
available at www.pharmacy.gov.my.
Eisah A. Rahman
Senior Director of
Pharmaceutical Services
Health Ministry
(PCO) are authorised to fog residen-
tial areas.
To become a PCO one needs to
pass an examination conducted by
the Pesticide Board under the Agri-
culture Ministry and be registered by
the board. This is to ensure that those
involved in the fogging activities are
well regulated besides ensuring that
General Manager, Advertising and Marketing: Charles Peters
Senior Manager, Production: Thomas Kang
Senior Manager, Distribution Channels: Joehari Abdul Jabbar
Where do we store
nuclear waste?
THE sun has been the main
energy source for all life on the
planet for billions of years. In
Malaysia, we are blessed with
sunlight. Yet, our government is
pushing for nuclear energy as if
it is a safe energy alternative to
save our planet from the perils
of climate change.
The government seems to
be brushing aside the hazards
related to nuclear power plants,
as if they were issues that didn’t
exist or could easily be remedied
in the near future.
Developed countries are hav-
ing serious difficulties with their
own nuclear programmes. In the
United States, there are massive
problems with how to dispose of
nuclear reactor waste.
In Finland, construction of
nuclear power plants has been
delayed by cost increases
resulting from shoddy work on
the concrete foundations. What
more of the situation in Malay-
sia, where we tend to have even
less oversight in commercial
dealings.
From what I have seen, there
is no detailed information avail-
able to the public on Malaysia’s
nuclear plans. Where will the
reactors be located? What type
of reactors will be used? Who
will be selling us the uranium
to run the reactors? How much
will it all cost and who will pay
for it?
What about the waste gener-
ated from the proposed nuclear
power plants? Where and how
will Malaysia dispose its nuclear
waste which remains radioac-
tive for thousands of years.
The world is suffering from
the effects of climate change
and global warming because
humans wanted the quick and
easy way to the most “conven-
ient” life.
We did not look at the long-
term consequences of burning
Every drop counts
I REFER to “Save you, save me”
(Free Space, Aug 20) on the role
of pop stars in the fight against
poverty.
I am not a huge fan of Bono
or Geldof. But is it wrong for
pop stars to use their popularity
and presence to get a message
across to the world? Is it wrong
for someone to use his place in
society to further a cause?
Having them there lends the
issue credence and creates a
following. It is an achievement
even if 0.00001% decide to do
something more than buy a
T-shirt or rubber arm band.
In dire situations, even a little
help, is help. The writer fails to
appreciate that at least someone
is doing something.
The writer quotes a Zambian
economist, Dambisa Moyo,
who is known to be anti-Bono.
they are trained for the job. So the
jurisdiction over any PCO is in the
hands of the ministry.
We sympathise with the public
who have been cheated by these
unscrupulous illegal foggers. On
their part, the public should check
to ensure that anyone who wants to
carry out fogging is authorised to do
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fossil fuels, perhaps, because in
the beginning we didn’t know
the consequences.
Our oceans and rivers are
now choking on plastic pollution,
because we needed cheap and
lightweight material for packag-
ing. No one realised the effects
such material would have on our
planet, in a mere 50 years from
the start of its mass production.
But we do know that nuclear
energy will produce highly radio-
active waste, even if it is in small
amounts, every day a nuclear
plant is running. We do know
that this highly radioactive waste
must be disposed of somewhere
on our finite planet. We do know
that we have no technology to
make this waste safe.
And as more countries build
nuclear power plants, more of
this waste is dumped into our
Earth, the planet that sustains
our lives.
It is unforgivable that we, as
governments and responsible
adults, knowingly create such
dangerous waste, so that we can
have “modern conveniences”
today, without a concern for
tomorrow.
We are already leaving our
children with our legacy of global
warming, and choking pollution.
And now we wish to leave this
massive mess of nuclear waste
and closed reactor sites to our
grandchildren, leaving them with
the burden of trying to figure out
how to solve the problem that
we ourselves had no idea how
to solve.
We are a nation that believes
in God. What must God think of
this mess we have made, in the
name of modern conveniences
and economic bottom-lines? I
know I’m afraid, very afraid.
Malaysian with Children
Via email
What do you expect from a
former employee of the World
Bank and Goldman Sachs? Of
course you would expect him
to be against Bono’s action for
the simple reason that it would
hit the World Bank the hard-
est since I assume the bank is
the largest creditor to African
countries.
Perhaps the writer should
ask Moyo, how many defence
and military clients of Gold-
man Sachs he introduced to the
Zambian government? Before
anointing Moyo as anti-Bono,
perhaps the writer could ask
when was the last time Moyo
visited the slums of Zambia and
what he has done to eradicate
poverty in his country?
Benedict Thomas
Via email
so. If in doubt they can always call
the nearest health office to check.
Finally don’t allow unauthorised
people to fog your premises, if they
use the wrong formulations it can
endanger your health.
Disease Control Division
Health Ministry