notwoxer (An RB Amero Blog)

The best thing about blogging is there is no such thing as "we'll go to print at 12 midnight", or, "the taped interview will be done in 3 hours including editing". It's instantaneous; and with GSK's Za Tahir being so responsive and helpful, it makes us bloggers' life a lot easier. God knows there too much stress going around already! Za has thanked me for getting the issue to my network, which I must say was just my kids and I, and maybee my fiancee Noraishah and a primary schoolmate Lisa Ashburn. But Jeff Ooi is a brudder to me, so when he found out I was following the case, he linked me. Thanks bro! Anyways, here is Za's response; she first apologises for the confusion: Please accept my apologies for any confusion that might have arose. I am pleased to clarify the miscommunication and would appreciate if you could amend as follows : " GSK confirm that Ribena products sold in Malaysia are certified halal by JAKIM (Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Mal...

GSK Malaysia's Za Tahir called me up yesterday afternoon, apologising that she was not able to reply to my email earlier. I had asked GSK's position on independent testing of the Vitamin C content of their local and imported Ribena packs, as well as several other issues. Za was stuck in Putrajaya (for a meeting I presume), and asked if she could "articulate a response" later in the evening. I agreed, and about 7:30pm I received her email. Excerpts: FYI, occasionally the Ministry of Health conduct post market surveillance on our products. Hence, we are open to an independent laboratory testing for Ribena. We confirm that Ribena Concentrate contain the stated levels of Vitamin C, as described on the product label It is heartening to know that they are not secretive of their products; it is a mark of a consumer driven company, although I speak only of the Malaysian operations. Truth is, no matter how you look at it, the case in New Zealand and Australia may prove to be ...

An anonymous comment left on my immediate previous post on this whole Vitamin C brou-ha-ha reminded me of my marketing school days; that USP that we look for can be so strong that people buy into the USP blindly, forgetting that the very USP we buy a product for may actually be available elsewhere. GSK positioned that blackcurrants contain more Vitamin C than oranges - this statement alone can be viewed and internalised from many angles. But only two fruits are in this equation; no problem there, and the claim is supported by a weigh-for-weight debate. But did you realise that Vitamin C is also obtained from your good old spinach, broccoli as well as red and green peppers (yummy!). A Harvard School of Public Health article I found says this: Excellent food sources of vitamin C are citrus fruits or citrus juices, berries, green and red peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, and spinach. Left: Harvard School of Public Health Longwood Campus (from Wikipedia) The article says about 200 to 300mg of...

I have decided to pursue this matter further with GSK, following valid comments from visitors to my site. I have asked GSK to state their stand on several issues, the key one being their openness in allowing an independent laboratory to conduct content tests on the locally and imported ready-to-drink Ribena variants available in Malaysia. Like you and I, I am sure GSK would like to put this issue to rest as soon as possible so that all parties can move along. I expect GSK to reply as promptly as they did the first query, for which I thanked them via email. Kudos to them. We wait... and to kill time, see the picture of the two girls that floored a multinational from a school lab in this story. Australian and New Zealand Vitamin C lack quality? Well, you might think so if you read the story in the link above; "the problem arose when Ribena in Australia and New Zealand was left on shop shelves for too long, causing the vitamin C to degrade". I was never that good in science, bu...

As promised, GSK Malaysia has made an official statement. The email is from Azariah Tahir, the statement is by her boss. Encik Amir, Thank you for your email and please find below as requested. GSK MALAYSIA GIVES ASSURANCE ON VITAMIN C LEVELS IN RIBENA As reported in the press, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare in New Zealand (GSK-CH) has accepted charges brought by the New Zealand Commerce Commission (NZCC) and has given undertakings to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) with regards to potentially misleading advertising statements and low levels of Vitamin C in some Ribena Ready-to-Drink products manufactured for the Australia and New Zealand markets. GSK Malaysia has conducted thorough laboratory testing of Vitamin C levels in Ribena. This testing has confirmed that Ribena in Malaysia contain the stated levels of Vitamin C, as described on product labels. GSK would like to reassure its consumers in Malaysia that the issues discussed with the ACCC and NZCC on...

Imagine my surprise when I opened screenshots this morning to find my favourite drink, Ribena - well, the manufacturers, really - being labeled a liar, much like us Malaysian bloggers. Sheesh... I thougt I had to investigate, as Aishah, Khadijah and I love the stuff! I even promo the stuff when people say I don't look my age, "It's the Ribena dude..." would be my immediate reply. From www.gsk.com.my: Ribena was first made in the 30s using blackcurrants and has since become one of the most popular drinks around today. During World War II, it was used as a dietary supplement for Vitamin C. Ribena now comes in a variety of flavours, but blackcurrant is without a doubt everyone’s favourite and contains four times as much vitamin C as oranges. It is a natural beverage containing no artificial flavour, colouring or sweeteners. In fact Ribena ToothKind, which was launched in 1998, is the only drink accredited by the British Dental Association and has been proven to help m...

Did you hear of the woman who attempted to drive her RM700k Mercedes SL500 into through a ford - a place where a river or other body of water is shallow enough to be crossed by wading - and ended up almost drowning herself? Well now you have! Sheepy Magna's location (centre left) In Leicester shire, England, a woman identified only as Hayley was driving using a satellite navigation system to a christening party, and passed through a farm. On a winding part of the journey, she missed a sign that said "UNSUITABLE FOR MOTOR VEHICLES". She was actually trusting her sat-nav which led her to the road, which was more suitable for 4x4s. Anyway, Hayley drove on, and reached a ford in Sheepy Magna (another duh!) village. Deciding that the sat-nav was the final word on directions, she drove into the ford. What the sat-nav failed to inform the driver was that it had been raining in good ol' Sheepy Magna for days, and the ford in the river aptly called Sense, was swollen. The love...

THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN FREESPACE IN THE SUN Wikipedia defines culture (partly) as patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. Acceptable I’d say, but in a pluralistic society like Malaysia, is there one single Malaysian culture? Quite unlikely. Each race in this country has its own set of cultures and beliefs, passed on from generation to generation. Some hold on steadfastly to the values, some apply them on occasion, and still some totally abstain. Strangely, as I see it anyway, while a modern person may not necessarily live the culture, he or she is likely to defend it to the death. A burger-gobbling, pop-drinking and fashionable Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan etc. may yet argue till blue in the face that his or her traditional values should not be impeded for any reason. Try telling the above-described Malaysian that he or she can no longer wear kebaya/cheongsam/saree for whatever reason, and the uproar will be louder than th...

One of my greatest memories of fatherhood is the moment you first hold your child after he or she is born. I remember my two experiences well, and up to this day, I can still feel the warmth of the baby, as well as the warmth of the moment. On May 3rd 1994, I became a first-time father, after my then-wife delivered Siti Aishah. If I am not mistaken it was about 7am when she finally decided to "appear", albeit through the c-section; her mom was already on the bed a good 36 hours earlier. AISHAH in 2004>>> When the nurse came out with the proverbial bundle of joy, I wept a tear of joy. As she handed the baby to me, I moved my arms to make the "cradle" that Romario made famous at the 1994 World Cup, and that was the moment.The moment when that warmth of a body that lay for nine months in a womb, floating and growing through the powers of Allah, connects with you. At that moment, I was overcome with joy, looking down towards this tiny being I held. Her name ...

Oh I weep, Drip, drip, drip... The world walks by, Oblivious as if I was a mere fly, Pesky and a nuisance, Despite knowledge that God made me... No I cry not for attention thee... I cry to speak to the soul. Speak to the soul through God they whisper? I know... But tears cleanses my soul, After which words I collate, For God to listen and contemplate. Far and wide I see the world, Though none offer me, I bid the time imposed, For as nature dictates, What is here will be nowhere in time. I listen well, To God; he speaks well. Of heaven and hell, Can't you tell, in which thy to dwell?

THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN FREESPACE IN THE SUN Right: The magnificent PETRONAS Twin Towers: Can our service levels reach high? My first piece on Freespace, back in the middle of 2006, talked about customer service, or the lack of it in Malaysia. It is now Visit Malaysia Year 2007, and I sure hope that people in the service industry have taken appropriate measures to up their service levels. But I’m not going to preach the importance of the service quality. Instead, I will detail two separate incidents; one that happened in front of me, and the other I overheard at a Starbucks near my place of work. In my piece True Towering Malaysians on Freespace last month, I told the story of the dinner honouring Malaysia’s best humanitarians. On that same night, I witnessed a waiter spilling coffee on a foreign guest, just one table away from the Prime Minister. I was at the rostrum, and from about 15 metres I watched how the offending waiter kept wiping the spilled coffee off the guest’s jack...