... for appoving fake drugs. He was a former head of the State Food and Drug Administration, so nothing to sniff at either, quiet a tough sentance for someone who was so high up. [1]
As I expected, China is trying very hard to clean up its image with regards to all the food and drug fiasco that came into light recently.
Given the scares, imports of dodgey meats into America are highlighted in this Washington Post article.
All I can think of is the prawn paste made in HK, it's disgusting how it's made, dried in the sun, lots of things flying around it, but that is how it matures. Sure, take cheese, bacteria is used to mature it. What about meat in N. European countries, where they just bury it in the ice for storage and come back to it a year later, rotten but is eaten as a delicacy. So in one culture, how certain foods are prepared and eaten is different.
Back to the fake drugs, cosmetics and food stuff... Hong Kongers always have know there are fake stuff in HK from Mainland, it's sometimes hard to tell the difference. A bargain is always found in HK, so you never know which bargain is potentially a life-threatening one.
All I can say, I'm glad I am in the EU, it's not perfect, but it still eliminates all the scary imports. In my opinion, even US drugs are dangerous and untested, and not suited for the general market, and I am glad some are banned in the EU.
Well, China's not the only offender (but still needs alot of work to clean up their exports), here is an interesting look at what was refused by the FDA in the States: U.S. Food and Drug Administration Import Refusal Reports
[1] Read full article: Death penalty for China official
As you might suspect, newly found rich Chinese are obnoxious, especially if they have got the dough to go touring around the world. And this article from the NT Times point that out loud and clear.
They behave as they would at home — there is a lot of pushing and shoving. Very few speak languages other than Chinese.
You can see the Chinese behaviour when they first descended to HK from Mainland China. Flashing their cash, rolexes, pushing everyone out of the way. Just being rude. And with more and more travelling abroad, I'm afraid this would generalised all Chinese people.
A babies first six months doesn't seem much, but scientists have discovered that babies can distinguish between different languages based on the facial expressions as one speaks. The article from New Scientists has two videos with no sound, one in French and the other in English, so readers can see the changes in the face when the two languages are spoken. Interesting enough, bi-lingual babies can still pick out the native and foreign tongue, whereas mono-lingual babies stop at six months. I hope this does not start eager parents to start speaking in many different languages so their babies can be mutli-lingual.
For me, it's only natural to speak to your own baby. For me, I will speak to the baby in Cantonese and English. 
For us here in Ireland, it's the property bubble, but in China, another kind of bubble has appeared, the graveyard bubble. This means people buy plots of land in a graveyard, and depending on the location of the plots, they can be sold for lots of money. But some punters did not get any plots of land after handing over their life savings. This for profit attitude again has a cost on normal people who just want their loved ones last resting place to be good. But loved one who is laid to rest and then gets moved out after the "lease" has expired is a strange way to show how much they love them. It's strange how things work over there.
... and by text messages according to the Beeb report about supposed tainted bananas from China's Hainan Island. Word of mouth can really be dangerous, even if it's by text.
Ok, it's only a few stories, but enough to open your eyes if you decide to move to Dublin and work there. From the Indo online, I read experiences of different people who had to not only share a house, or a room, but a bed. Or rent a sofa?!? This might be the extreme, but with my friends commenting on rents going up all the time, I am not surprised that people who arrived for the first time in the city, and find it hard to find some decent accommodation.
Read full article: Rent? Astronomical. Deposit? Ridiculous. A room of your own? Priceless
It's getting in the news more and more, and it's hurting China's exports. Tainted food, medicine, and now, possibly tainted toothpaste. I for one am not surprised, it's so corrupt over there, and stamping out all the companies that only care for profit over people's health is a job not to be sniffed at. I just hope this clears up at some stage. More harm than good for Chinese trade if this keeps up.
...do as the Chinese do, so goes the headline in the indo about cultural awareness for Irish companies who are partnering more and more with Chinese companies.
And how old scientists think? Well, a couple thousand years older at that, they seem to think it dates back to 7000-8000 years! More on this from Xinhua news.
... in Tokyo, of course! The exhibition revives 40 sweets and looks back on the culture of Japanese confectionary such as:
boiled rice with tea, topped with a steamed bean-jam bun
Downside, you can only see, as there are no samples for tasting.
Article itself - Culture of strange Japanese sweets unveiled in Tokyo exhibition
This could set a precedent in HK now for folkd who like to use bittorrent. A man has been sentanced to jail for using bittorrent. He must be kicking himself though, he went to jail for bittorrenting "Daredevil", "Miss Congeniality" and "Red Planet". And with a username called "Big Crook", I think it was inevitable.
Japan has many strange things, but a media booth that allows one to surf the internet, watch tv, play games, read manga etc. You can even sleep overnight, the staff won't mind! And since there is enough food and drink to last for hours, people are immersed in a world of their own.
Sounds great, but if I was to go into one, I might get addicted. There is definate danger surrounding this one.
Came across this interview on RTE news online with Oliver Wang on Chinese in Ireland and their interest in the elections this year.
Is it me that as far as ethnic minorities are concerned, they would vote for Labour rather than Fianna Fáil? The general feeling from talking to my friends and work collegues, that they may hate FF, but in the end who do we vote for?
I will probably vote for Labour. Although, I have not recieved any mails about my change of registration on the Electoral Registry from Limerick to Dublin. Does not help that the online search only reflects those that are registered as of Feb 15th.
Discuss at IBC Forum.
Another example of how crazy it is to go to school in the Far East (in this case, China). Piano, study, study, cram, piano, maybe an hour to play! Ouch.
Read this article about lift going up by itself and crashed into the ceiling in Tokyo! Eep, that is scary. Given that high-rise buildings are the norm in the Far East, and lifts are very common, it's a bit scary reading this! Even in my current apartment block in Dublin, granted it's only 4/5 floors up, the lift sometimes acts a bit funny e.g., slow to close the doors and start moving!
