A user of Facebook suggested that women lingerie should also be treated as controlled item too.

Extract from The Star, 20th August 2009

Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the prices approved by the Cabinet yesterday would ensure that there was no profiteering by the traders from the influenza A(H1N1) pandemic.

The ceiling price set for each single-ply surgical mask is at 7 sen, 20 sen for two-ply, 80 sen for triple-ply and RM6 for the cup-like N95 types.

Ismail said the prices were set after the Government had made a study on the production cost for masks and had decided that even with the ceiling prices, the retailers and wholesalers would still be able to make some “fair profits.”

Back in my home town, Saratok, it was reported that the tap have been dry since the last three or four days. Coastal villagers are in urgent need of fresh water supply.

With the current increase in the H1N1 cases, I am not sure if the hospital can cope up with diarrhea cases if the water supplies are not being looked into urgently.

Today, the local media is (again) highlighting the Dudong branch issue again!! When a student email to the opposition, our DCM jump off his seat! The people of Sarawak are interested to know what is being done (at least the latest) on cloud seedling, H1N1 – has the hospital been equipped accordingly, can we speed up the process of tendering and construction of what are required to counter the haze, the H1N1, etc.. before any other major outbreak appear e.g. diarrhea.

If anything like this to happen in Lubok Antu, I won’t be surprise because due to its small population, the gomen put the case 30 feet under the ground (plus its a Dayak area – takda apa nak buat cepat, lagi pun dia orang memang orang kita, apa apa pun dia tetap sokong kita).

The Barisan Nasional development policy is funny. If your area have small population, they would make it as low priority and hence, the overdue Klinik Desa expansion in Lubok Antu or relocation or whatever the government term it will only become a reality faster if the people of Batang Ai starts producing children to make it as populated as the Malay kampongs (and hence more development would come it FAST!) Ok ok.. tuan gomen, well that’s the real perception we have on you. So shut up and listen!

It seem that the size of our population is the keyword to bring in development to the people of Malaysia. Funny but its true.

Unlike Lubok Antu, the size of Miri population is not big enough to justify for a bigger (or at least own building) Mother and Child Health Clinic. Previously it rented the ground floor of the Family Planning building, then it moved to a two-lot ground flood shophouse a little distance from the nearest bus station. No one knows the reason for the move except the few top level gomen people (yalah yalah.. so much for the OSA things that you cannot explain to the rakyat).

Its crowded and well.. you can list all the not so good things tagged to it.

So much for 1Malaysia.. People first indeed! Why need the press to highlight to the whole world before you do something or react with the long list of perancangan and peruntukkan and “we will look into the matter soon” sort of responses. Aiyaa… gomen people, those are the few sentences that you need to memorise hard while taking oath. Sudah common la, even small kids knows how to say it nowadays.

Cut the crabs of telling the people – BELUM ADA PERUNTUKKAN LAGI.. when you have announce billions here and there and painting a good picture that money is available and we just need to be patient and wait for the perancangan etc etc… I would say its BILLIONSHITS for now.

Source: The Borneo Post Online

Intolerable overcrowding at Miri clinic

MIRI: The local Mother and Child Health Clinic is often so overcrowded that it is causing undue stress to patients, forcing some of them to get ‘heated up’ and become aggressive towards the innocent staff members.

The situation often becomes terrible enough for some patients or those who accompany them to get so worked up that they almost get physical with the staff who themselves are stressed out having to attend to a large number of patients in a narrow and cramped space.

When The Borneo Post checked the clinic out at 8am yesterday, some patients were seen in the midst of quarrelling and pointing fingers at the staff, blaming them for the small size of the clinic which is hardly enough to accommodate up to 50 patients at a time.

Some even vented their frustration on the plastic chairs that line the side of the pedestrian pathway outside.

The Borneo Post learnt that the clinic, which is actually two rented shops on the ground floor, serves a few hundred patients each day.

There are close to 400 children on Tuesdays and Thursdays and between 200 and 350 mothers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Yet there are only a handful of nurses (plus a Sister) and a doctor to serve them.

It was observed that behind the uniforms and impersonal official efficiency, they and their patients were clearly acutely stressed and tensed up despite the façade of civil behaviour that they strived to maintain.

While the staff are often busy having a hectic time trying to be fast, the patients on the other hand do their best to sit quietly, resigning themselves to their fate. But invariably, some eventually get restless, resentful that they have to wait for a very long time to be served. After all, time waits for no one.

Patients come as early as 6.30am to ensure that they can secure places on the limited plastic chairs so that they can go home early.

“I came early this morning, at seven o’clock, but the seats were all occupied by then. So I squatted on the five-foot-way outside with my baby,” a mother said.

The mother of four who requested anonymity was taking her three-month-old baby for a monthly check- up.

She was accompanied by her husband who was carrying their other child soaked in sweat under the sun.

The family is from Taman Tunku, about half an hour’s drive from the clinic during peak hours.

“To make matters worse, there is no waiting room or hall where patients can relax while waiting for their turn to see a doctor or nurse.

“As there are not enough chairs many of us simply stand around, while others just sit in the corridor. The rest have to make do outside,” lamented another mother surnamed Chong, who is in her late stage of pregnancy.

She was at the clinic with her two-year-old toddler daughter for her monthly check up.

With so many people confined to a small space, their body heat makes the clinic too warm for comfort. Toddlers and infants make their discomfort known by crying and making other sounds of protest.

It is understood the problem has been going on since September last year when the clinic moved from the Sarawak Family Planning Association premises in Jalan Merbau to the present place at Jalan Hokkien.

Divisional Health officer Dr Muhamad Rais Abdullah could not be contacted yesterday for comments.

I was in Labuan island for a day trip yesterday. After executing my task, which finishes at 1530 hours, I asked my colleague to bring me to a place where its cool, have beer and good food. So, Mohd Shalimie brought me to Tiara Labuan Hotel. Official photos and info of Tiara Labuan Hotel are available here.

Blue Bayu

So we headed straight to Blue Bayu for food and some beer, and of course for the free WiFi (to Facebooking). The place is equipped with a pool table (which will be the next target during my next overnight trip to Labuan).

The place offers a wide range of food – western and continental. I ordered Nasi Goreng Kampung (RM13.50 ++) and Shalimie ordered Fried Bee Hoon Seafood (RM11.50 ++).

After the late lunch, we have a bucket of beer and later some Long Island Tea (although it looks different, from those serve elsewhere, but the taste was alright). Priced at RM14.00++ without going through the shaker process LOL.. cocktail eh! Before we depart for the airport, I managed to get a bottle of corona beer + salt + lemon.. yeeaa that will get me a short nap while flying back to Miri.

Anyway, thank you for the warm hospitality from these two employees of Tiara Laban Hotel. They do not have a name tag and I didn’t bother ask their names too.. it was a hot afternoon and I need food and beer.. so the intro here and there is not the main priority. Nevertheless.. Thank You, guys!

Landed at Miri Airport, all visitors will need to fill the H1N1 Health Declaration Form. So, you need to remember the flight and your seat numbers. And, don’t forget to remember the faces around you while onboard the flight.

Cheers!