Eating Choices Revisited

 I am not sure if public service hygiene inspectors anywhere cover dietary and nutrition aspects.

I do home cooking most of the time.  When eating out across greater Sydney, 

I do find I get more thirsty an hour or two after eating out.

Aussie society is caught up with the American obsession for fast food.

Unhealthy food in Aus is generally accessible, cheaper and made addictive.

Creative ways of making salads using fresh produce are available in my side of the woods at home and when eating out.

It was reported recently that the intake of fruits and veg has fallen amongst kids in Australia, despite the blessings in this continental island for produce from tropical to temperate climes.

Aus styled barista made coffee tastes better than coffee in other western societies.  As such, coffee drinking obsession is evident in the mornings anywhere across Australia.  

How healthy is drinking too much barista made coffee?  The jury is still out.  

What is definitely

unhealthy is the Aussie penchant for having bacon and other processed small goods in their daily intake.  Every society has a historical culinary addiction to preserved, pickled and processed meats like sausages, condiments and marinates.

When not taken in moderation, they can spell trouble for the human body, especially when consumed regularly over as many years.

Another main culprit is deep fried dishes, by whatever label they come to us - crispy, oil soaked or battered.  Southern Chinese Yum Cha has its fair share of deep frieds if one avoids the steamed versions.  Banana fritters, 

deep fried chicken bites, fish and chips in the Anglo tradition, Japanese tempura and supermarket snacks are just some examples. And yes, I got my KFC deep fried chicken wings yesterday.

The ever persistent danger is the sugar level in our constant diets.  Sugar is so cheaply available and can be said to be added in varying amounts in things we eat outside, whether they are, for example, in Thai dishes, French patisserie offerings, Taiwan  bubble tea drinks or in the obvious Krispy Kream doughnuts.

 Supermarkets are stacked aplenty with items "trying to balance" between sugar, salt and fat.

#yongkevthoughts

Immediate Response to SQ 321 22 May 2024

 

A 16 year old  Boeing 777 ER on flight at 37000 feet on 21 May 2024 over the Irrawaddy Delta in Myanmar experienced a sudden encounter with a clear air turbulence.  The aircraft tilted up and then fell dramatically for a very short time, causing spinal and head injuries to 53 passengers and one crew member who were not belted up.  A British subject unfortunately had a heart attack and died.

The injured were thrown up in dramatic fashion against overhead lockers or projected upwards while walking in the aisle or using the toilets.

The plane made an emergency landing in Bangkok.  SQ231 was flying from London enroute to Changi.   Breakfast was served on board when the plane encountered the severe turbulence on a route used by several airlines.

Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport rose to the occasion by offering interim triage to injured passengers on the tarmac once the affected plane landed.

All eyes are on SQ now as to how they handle the aftermath for passengers, crew, airline reputation, aircraft safety and more.

One of the five key pillars for the nation of Singapore is air travel and  SQ.

I reckon the others are the vibrancy of its financial hub,
shipping port, innovation and good governance.This incident can be described as s black swan in risk management speak.

Such a black swan is seen as an unlikely event but when it happens, creates a significant impact.

For passengers and crew, is it covered by air travel insurance? The CEO of SQ immediately offered
an apology on Facebook.

Both the President of the island Republic and its newly sworn in Prime Minister also provided clear unconditional apologies in public as well.

Effective and timely open communication is a hallmark of good businesses and governance.

The official Singapore response and tone from the top is immediately not to get into any blame game, not to push underlings to speak and not to keep quiet in the first critical hours after the incident.  SQ and the Government of the Red Dot moved fast to navigate a business like yet caring response.

The official communication given soon after this event was not just aimed at the passengers and crew aboard this flight, but also for the whole cohort of other existing and potential members of its world wide market.

A quarter of the passengers on the flight hold Australian passports, another almost quarter are Singaporean.  Many boarded SQ231 to ultimately head to Australia.

I noticed the efficient transfer by 22 May on charter flight of uninjured passengers from Bangkok to Changi.

Although there was some uncertainty from the incident, SQ worked on the facts, concentrated on taking care of passengers plus cabin crew and methodically mopped up.

No cabin crew or pilot, aboard the SQ 231 flight from London scheduled to Singapore, spoke or wrote on social media.

SQ ensured any speculation on public media was minimised.

As usual, so called air travel experts appeared on broadcasted media overseas chatting of the possible why and how.

SBS free to air in Australia mentioned that Singapore Airlines had a record of only 3 fatalities during operations  in the past 25 years.

#yongkevthoughts

To Re-Covid or Not

 

Looks like everyone has to be more mindful and cautious again.  Singapore is reportedly facing a spike in another variation of Covid infections

Face masking in close public crowds can reduce the risks, but brings into play cultural, political and emotional attitudes in many individuals I know

Many people I know have had varying concerns about significant and other lingering side effects of mRna Covid vaccinations.
We as lay
persons have been subject to varying confusion and uncertainty about Pfizer.
I tried to get Novavax and non mRna vaccinations
in 2021 and 2022 but they were not available in my side of the world.

Elderly people are always reminded of the higher chances of infection but usually they do not expose themselves to Covid risks everyday as much as the younger generations.

The cynic in me suggests that Big Pharma and its possible conspirators can be hyping up Covid risks with other less honourable aims in mind.  At the same time, governments and medical authorities in general have strangely kept mostly silent about Covid since late 2022.  The logic does not match.

The spike in international travel since 2023 has refreshed businesses, the economy and employment and we are happy for that.
What is missing is for institutions and official experts we would like to trust to make pronouncements on what is truly happening about Covid and continuing dangers.

Individuals have self managed in the cloud of uncertainty and non clarification, especially discouraging for those who have complied with authorities on Covid vaccinations and now facing  a potential situation that those vaccinations no longer provide future effective protection.

The Truth is out There - and needs to be told in this so called advanced civillisation of human societies.

#yongkevthoughts

Paradise Retained?

 This possibly remaining vestige of colonialism is hardly brought up by the mainstream media.

The recent riots in Noumea, blamed on the Melanesian Kanak independence movement, is part of a brewing dissatisfaction evident in New Caledonia in as many years.

The bright side - Even if the French territories in the South Pacific are so far away from Europe, their residents of whatever background amazingly are given full rights to vote in French  elections - something the British, Germans, Portuguese and Dutch never did in Africa or Asia.

Noumea is pretty scenic and is part of the romanticised chain of still French controlled part of South Pacific locations that include Tahiti and Bora Bora.

It is nearer for Aussies from the east coast to fly to New Caledonia than to fly to Singapore or Bangkok.

There is a direct flight from Changi Singapore to
Noumea on AirCalin.

The Down side - it can be very expensive to maintain political, military and supply logistic control  over a few isles on the other side of the world.

Still Paris can quickly send a thousand troops to New Caledonia quickly following the recent extensive riots in May this

year in Noumea.

Tiny New Caledonia is the world's fourth largest producer of Nickel,  after Indonesia, Phillippines and Russia.  Almost a quarter of people employed in New Caledonia work in the nickel production sector.

South east and East Asians migrated to New Caledonia in the past for this nickel mining rush.

There can be issues with environmental impact from nickel mining.

Pausing to Reflect on Our Contemporary Society

 Just like inside the proverbial witches pot, let us reflect on the contemporary world to muse on what has been brewing for some time now -  and can potentially cook more in this third decade of the 21st century. 

The past is not a sure guide for the future, but currently reading the key leaves hanging from the prediction tree is not a wasted exercise. Why wait until the typical and reactive hue and cry when the pot does boil over? 

In geopolitics, we have witnesed how endless banter and chat in halls of distinguished looking human beings do not do much in resolving matters of any severity.  Where there is no empathy in wilfulness - and where controlling mindsets are embedded in selfishness and divisiveness - problems get multiplied. 

Increasing control in the background by truly powerful interests around the world - whether in finance, politics, arnaments, technology or emotional articulation of self entitled beliefs - will impact on a world run on short termism, less supporting resources  and increasing manipulation of the way the masses think and react. 

There are events that can spring a

surprise, but there can be related causes that many of us have wilfully ignored or are in long denial, for whatever reasons, justified or not. 

1.  Continuing down trodding of and discrimatory treatment in practice of specific groups of people in an age of supposedly human enlightenment. 

2.   Blurring of facts, opinion and lies in matters of science, health and medical norms. 

3.   Significant breakdown in the regulatory environment where 

organisations and individuals who breach know they can mostly get away scot free. 

4. Dehumanisation of commercial, institutional and other human interaction transactions. 

5.    The loss of inner meaning for human beings despite experiencing improved physical facilitation, greater mobility and the growing availability of instant gratification. 

6.   The debasement of original meanings of specific phrases as they are publicly misused and quoted by parties with a negative intent. 

7.  Increasing distraction of humans with trivial and temporary matters by the powers that be with addictive methods, gadgets and overly processed consumption. 

8.  The increasing failure to develop and implement innovation in the way societies and economies are run, especially with larger populations who have higher expectations. 

9.   The pervasive and lingering preoccupation in media with rather negative matters rather than appreciating the positive ones to balance the full and overall picture. 

10.   The dire need to better manage the vast amount of accumulated and future data by individuals, governments, on line data banks and other parties. 

When you next get an opportunity to observe matters, do any one of the above ten dotpoints apply? 

And please do suggest another dot point on your mind to the list above, thank you.

#yongkevthoughts