During this time, you’ll see a lot of commercials, banners and posters to remind individual to drink responsibly. I believe that most people are responsible … at least all my friends drink responsibly. When they are drunk, they always make sure that someone else who is sober will be at the wheel. Probably next time, if you know that your friends are drunk or have been drinking a lot, you may also want to exercise a little social responsibility to stop him/her from driving.

Drunk driving is an offence in most countries around the world. Anyone who is convicted of injuring or killing someone while under the influence of alcohol can be heavily fined, in addition to being given a lengthy prison sentence. In Singapore, repeated offence of drunk driving can cause you to be fined up to $30,000 SGD and three years’ imprisonment. For an offender causing death or serious injuries can also be caned up to 6 strokes.

In a report from CNN, a man in LA was charged with three counts of murder when he ran a red light and struck a car, killing a Major League Baseball pitcher and two others while under the influence of alcohol. Just for that split seconds he had caused lost and miseries to three families.

According to the Office for National Statistics of UK, “There were 8,724 alcohol-related deaths in 2007, lower than 2006, but more than double the 4,144 recorded in 1991. The alcohol-related death rate was 13.3 per 100,000 population in 2007, compared with 6.9 per 100,000 population in 1991.”

In the US, in 2006, an estimated 17,602 people died in alcohol-related traffic crashes—an average of one every 30 minutes. These deaths constitute 41 percent of the 42,642 total traffic fatalities (from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

In Singapore, there was a significant rise in drink-driving arrests recording a 7% rise from 3,733 cases in 2006, to 4,009 cases in 2007. From a speech by Dr. Teo Ho Pin, dated 13 December 2006; he cited an accident which happened earlier in March that year. Two colleagues were on their way home together on a motorcycle and they crashed into the centre divider along Bukit Timah Expressway and their bodies were found lying along the road. It was found later that both men had a high concentration of alcohol in their blood. In that tragedy, two families lost not only their sole breadwinners but also their husbands and fathers. Indeed as what he mentioned, “The penalties of drink-driving are very high – with the ultimate penalty being death.”

Often time, you may think that you are still sober enough to drive after drinking but there are too many cases where drunk drivers caused death of their loved ones and innocent parties.

According to a report from AFP, “At least 73 people were killed and more than 330,000 others displaced after the heaviest rain in more than four decades plunged the Philippine capital into turmoil…

The nine-hour deluge across Manila on Saturday submerged houses, washed away shanties and turned roads into raging rivers, forcing terrified residents to seek refuge on top of homes or cars where they waited for more than 24 hours.”

It is the worst extensive flooding that he has seen, according to Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro. The rainfall sets a record high of 41.6 centimetres (16 inches), over the previous single-day record of 33.4 centimetres in July 1967.

Philippine Red Cross chairwoman Gwendolyn Pang said rescuers were struggling to reach many areas, with highways rendered impassable.

“This has never happened before. Almost 80 percent of metropolitan Manila is underwater,” Pang told AFP.

For those of you who are reading this and want to make a donation whether in term of money or relief goods, you can do it through:

1. Philippines National Red Cross, PNRC or through their online form: PNRC and choose ‘Typhoon Ondoy.’

2. And if you are in the Philippines, you can also access this list for all the locations where you can drop off relief goods for people affected by Ketsana (Ondoy).

3. If you are in Cebu: Victory Cebu at 3/F Dacay Building, 72 Escario St., Cebu City. Operation: 10am - 6pm, Monday - Sunday.

4. If you are in Bacolod: Victory Bacolod at 3/L Robinsons Place - Bacolod. They are accepting donations in cash and relief goods (bread, “mamon” brownies, cookies/biscuits, juice, energy drink, bottled water, medication, clothing, slippers, blankets,etc.). Contact no. 441-0703.

Update:

The Filipino Association in Singapore (FAS) also announced that it is accepting donations in kind for the victims of Typhoon Ondoy. Donations may be dropped off at:

A-Freight Cargo
304 Orchard Road
#03-19 Lucky Plaza
Singapore 238863
Contact Maureen Schepers: 6235-1011.

i-Remit Singapore announced that it will waive remittance charges for donations to the Philippine National Red Cross. Remittances to the Philippine National Red Cross may be sent through:

i-Remit Singapore
304 Orchard Road
#03-69 Lucky Plaza
Singapore 238863

LBC announced that it will waive remittance charges for donations made to the following organizations: ABS-CBN Foundation, GMA Foundation, Philippine National Red Cross, and the National Disaster Coordinating Center. Remittances to these organizations may be sent through:

LBC Singapore
304 Orchard Road
#04-77 Lucky Plaza
Singapore 238863

Wishing everyone a bless week ahead!

This is a happy weekend for most Americans as they celebrate United States of America’s 233 Independence Day on 4th July. Thus I want to wish them a Happy 233 Independence Day. From yesterday, I have been hesitating if I should make this post. Reading this now, you know the decision I have made.

4-years-old Charmaine Lim, the girl in the photo, loves singing, dancing and cuddling up to her mother. She is just like any other 4-years-old kids. Having a niece of age 5 and two nephews of age 3, Charmaine isn’t any different from them; especially on the part ‘cuddling up to her mother.’ My niece and nephews love that and they will even fight each other, just to sit on my sister’s lap. They are also learning a lesson, that they have to take turn and share or no one gets to sit on the lap. Do you notice any differences from your own 4-years-old there?

The only thing unlike most carefree 4-years-old, is that Charmaine has stage four cancer and is fighting for her life. She was diagnosed with stage four Neuroblastoma, high risk, a kind of cancer that occurs in infants and kids; high risk because the disease has spread to her bone marrow and bones.

Charmaine is undergoing treatment at the National University Hospital (NUH) of Singapore and she is undergoing the 5th rounds of chemotherapy. According to the newspaper report, “She no longer mixes freely with other kids in the playground or attends nursery school, because her lowered immunity puts her at high risk of falling ill.”

According to her medical report, “The current treatment will provide a survival chance of approximately 20%. However, as reported in a reference from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre (MSKCC), New York, with an addition of several doses of a drug 3F8 (on top of her current treatment) will provide a higher survival chance with report up to 40-50%.”

The only challenge is that an initial payment of USD $350,000 with additional payments needed prior to continuing on with treatments. How on Earth could a single mother ever hope to come up with that amount of money? Not to mention that she has to resign from her work this year to take care of Charmaine and to take care of Charmaine’s current bills.

She had thought about giving it up but being a mother, she mentioned, “should anything happen to Charmaine, I would never be able to forgive myself for not trying to fight for Charmaine when all she has to help her is me..” Should we be in her shoes, I strongly believe we would do anything to help Charmaine; as in the case of my father back in 2005-2006, we would do anything as long as it could help him fight against his cancer and improved his quality of life during that period.

Charmaine’s mother wrote in her site, “How do I convince anyone that Charmaine’s life is worth half a million dollars?” The answer is found in the question. Life itself is priceless; we cannot simply put a price tag to life.

There may be a fleeting thought in your mind right now, just as it had come into my mind, “how could we possibly hope to save everyone?” Remember the story of a boy picking starfishes and throwing them back to the sea? An old man ask the boy, “What can you do, there are so many starfishes stranded on the beach? What difference can you make?” The boy replied, “At least to this (referring to the one he holds in his hand), it makes a difference.” And the boy threw the starfish into the sea.

What we could do for Charmaine may not be a lot but it can definitely make a difference. For a 4-years-old girl, she is fighting bravely. From the newspaper, “Perhaps Charmaine’s fighting spirit is best seen when her mother talks about the ‘monster’ inside her. She always replies: ‘Yes, I will fight with the monster.‘”

If you want to make any donation and to send encouraging thoughts to Charmaine, you can go to: Our Feisty Princess. Thank you and wishing all be blessed with good health and happiness.

Frankly speaking, I am no expert or medical doctor and thus I cannot give you the answer to that. I guess no one can give you the definite answer too. According to a Yahoo! News by Associated Press, “… it’s too soon to tell.”

A prominent expert on global flu outbreaks, with the University of Minnesota, Michael Osterholm said, “What makes this so difficult is we may be somewhere between an important but yet still uneventful public health occurrence here — with something that could literally die out over the next couple of weeks and never show up again — or this could be the opening act of a full-fledged influenza pandemic.”

Yesterday, I was talking to a friend and the first thing she asked me is, “Have you read about the swine flu?” She is concerned and worried about how the swine flu can potentially kill a lot of people. Hopefully this will not go on to kill millions around the world, as pandemics did in 1918, 1957 and 1968.

Besides being concerned and worried about this, it is more important to take proactive measures to secure yourself and your family. Everyone has an important part to play to prevent the swine flu pandemic from happening.

Although flu shots have been offered in different nations, new types of flu viruses have remained a threat. So what can we do? The best bet will be to work on your immune system. With a stronger immune system, you body has a higher chance of winning battles against viruses.

How do we boost our immune systems? (These are not the only things you can do to boost your immune system. I am sure you can add more to this list. The important thing we should focus on is boosting our immune systems)

1. In a previous article, ‘C is the Alphabet to Healthy Life,’ which I posted, increasing your intake of Vitamin C could be a good start to boosting your immune system.

The good thing is Vitamin C is easily available in fruits and vegetables. The foods that are very rich in Vitamin C include green peppers, citrus fruits and juices, strawberries, tomatoes, broccoli, turnip greens and other leafy greens, sweet and white potatoes, and cantaloupe. I believe there are more foods which you can add to the list.

2. Drink plenty of water. How many times have you heard about the important of drinking water? And how many of us are doing it? The usual guideline is about 6-8 glasses of water everyday. My body has a way to let me know that it needs water - it protests by giving me headaches. Headaches and thirst are both signs of dehydration.

3. Get a full night’s sleep. Depending on individual, your body may need anywhere from 6 to 10 hours of sleep each night. According to an article on Vibe Health dated 27 February 2009, “Medical researchers are discovering that sleep may be the body’s way of recharging your immune system, explaining why poor sleepers are prone to infections and heart disease.”

4. Exercising. Exercise can make a noticeable difference to your health and happiness by releasing Endorphins. Moderate and consistent exercise help one to boost immune system and to sleep better. If you overdo it, it may do harm to your immune system instead.

5. Drinking Tea. Immunologists at Harvard University discovered that people who drank five cups of black tea a day for 2 weeks transformed their immune system T cells into “Hulk cells” that pumped out 10 times more cold and flu virus - fighting interferon — proteins that defend against infection — than did the immune systems of those who didn’t drink black tea. Green tea should work just as well.

While five cups a day may seem like a lot, Dr. Jack Bukowski of the Harvard Medical School thinks fewer cups may still offer some valuable protection. Moderation is important.

Besides following these points to boost immune system, we must also adopt good hygiene practices and be socially responsible:

1. Washing hands thoroughly and often especially if you have been out in the public.
2. People should avoid touching their mouth, nose or eyes with their hands unless they’ve washed their hands.
3. Using a serving spoon when sharing food.
4. Not spitting on the floor, covering nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and to throw it into garbage immediately.
5. Wearing masks when unwell.

Those who have flu-like symptoms are advised to seek medical help promptly, and inform the doctors of their travel history.

Although there is no way to control 100 percent on how the swine flu pandemic may evolve, we can do our parts to prevent it from affecting ourselves, our immediate families and friends. I hope these few points can inspire you to take proactive measures to boost your immune system. Wishing everyone great health!