What Happens to The Hygiene In Singapore MacDonalds?

Recently, my friend sent me a shocking, if not life threatening email about her "interesting findings" of the food she bought from MacDonald in Singapore.

When I read her email, I find it very appalling. And rather listening to me complain, why not you hear about it from her yourself:

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I went to the outlet at Compasspoint on 3 Sep 08 at about 10pm. I ordered 2 Double Cheeseburger and a 9 Pcs Chicken Nuggets. After which I asked for Curry Sauce and Chilli Sauce to take away.

When i got home, which was a short 2 mins ride, TO MY HORROR, when i opened the packet of curry sauce, i was greeted with a "smell" and there were many tiny maggots crawling inside with a portion of the curry sauce which have turned black and harden and possibly rotting.

I wrote in to feedback to Macdonalds the same night, and this morning (4 Sep) i had a call from a Business Manager apologising for this encounter, the first thing she asked was if i had kept the packet of curry sauce! The maggots were crawling out, obviously i had it disposed as soon as i took the photos, and in our conversation she also mentioned that this is not isolated to the outlet at Compasspoint! It was island wide as it could be a supplier problem. I think it is ridiculous! She also told me there were a few complaints already.

Shouldn't they stop giving out curry sauce while pending investigation? It was "fortunate" for me that the rotting and maggots were visible. For those packets which have not turned black may have maggots swimming in the sauce which is not known to the consumer. I asked her if they do check the expiry date of the sauces, she mentioned that the turnover for curry sauce is very high thus unlikely it would hit past the expiry date. Then my question is, if it is not even past its expiry date and it is rotting with maggots, what's going on???

This just serves as a warning to fellow Macdonalds consumers to watch out before dipping your food into curry sauce, you may not know what is swimming and growing in there...

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By the way, the email was not something that was circulated around where even the sender is unknown. It was a real "tragedy" experience by my friend.

Along with the email came some pictures. Just click on the pictures of enlarge them.





Disgusting, isn't it?

And just as I was wondering what had happened to Singapore hygiene, there was another concerning news about rats falling from the ceilings of the MacDonald in Tampines. How coincidence!!

You can get the full story here at http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg

Now, will there be any "more interesting" events to come from our MacDonald here... Erm...

And if there are any of such events, please share it with me. (I'm running out of what to blog here. Lolx... just joking. There are always one thousand and one thing to blog about!)

Just comment here or send it to support[at]zachkong.com if you have any. Remember to replace the [at] with "@" without the quotes. To prevent spams!

I Just Hate Spam Mails!

Carrots, Eggs & Coffee

Below is one very inspiring story shared with me by my gf, Yessy. Like her, I am always looking for inspiring stories that serve to motivate, inspire and mature us all.

Take some time to read the story and get inspired by it.

And if you have any stories you want to share with us all, please feel free to post them in the comment section. If not, you can also email them to me at support[at]zachkong.com. Just replace the [at] with @.

Please remember to put down your name and/or website/blog link so that the readers of this blog will know who the contributor is and know who to thank for. ^^

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A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up; she was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see."

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hardboiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?

Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level?

How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches. Most importantly, know that you cannot change people, but you can change the way you handle adversity...which just might encourage others to strive for change.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

You might want to send this message to those people who mean something to you; to those who have touched your life in one way or an other; to those who make you smile when you really need it; to those who make you see the brighter side of things when you are really down; to those whose friendship you appreciate; to those who are so meaningful in your life.

May we all be COFFEE!!!
Author Unknown

Who Gives Meaning to Your Life?

An old man sat outside the walls of a great city. When travelers approached, they would ask the old man, "What kind of people live in this city?" The old man would answer, "What kind of people live in the place where you came from?" If the travelers answered, "Only bad people live in the place where we came from," the old man would reply, "Continue on; you will find only bad people here."

But if the travelers answered, "Good people live in the place where we came from," then the old man would say, "Enter, for here too, you will find only good people."

A Yiddish Folk Tale

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Every events, situations, people or incidents are as they are. They are neither positive or negative. It is us humans which give the things, events or situations around us their meaning.

Think about it, during a hot, scorching day, a gust of wind is often welcomed. However, during a cold day when you are shivering, a soft breeze prove to be very "fatal" to you.

And if you see it, a wind is a wind, nothing more than that.

It is you who gives life its meaning. Depending on your mood, belief, principles and values the meanings of events around you change accordingly.

What you perceived through your 5 senses are not the truth of the real world, though it may look real to you. And expanding on that, everyone will have within them the "truth" according to their:

• Past experiences
• Emotions at the moment
• Belief system which they build up since young
  
• Principles
• Values

The world which you looked at is not the real world which is out there. You are in fact looking at the world through a pair of tinted, invisible glasses. And due to the different pairs of glasses each and everyone has, we will arrive at different conclusion for the same, exact issue.

For example, when you wear a pair spectacle with yellow tinted lenses and I wear the same exact spectacle but with blue lenses, we will end up seeing the world with two different perspective.

A piece of white paper will appear to be of different colors due to the tinted lenses we had in front of our eyes. So, who is right and who is wrong? Neither of us are! Quite contrary, we are neither right or wrong.

Our past experiences, value and belief systems determine how we want to view the world around us. And until when we have the desire to want to view the world differently, we will always see the world as what we want them to be.

Remember, it is you who give life its meaning. Thus, in order to change the outcomes of the events, people or situations around you, you will have to change the meaning you give to them.

Just a simple alteration of the meaning you give to them, you will start to see life in a total new light.

A Personality Test For You

Alright, not much introduction needed here. Just a personality test for your leisure viewing. If you are curious about the kind of personality you have, you may want to check out this power point slides.

Just right click on this link and choose "Save Target As" or "Save Link As" according to the type of web browsers you use.

Requirement: You will need Microsoft Office PowerPoint or equivalent software to run the file.

Click Here To Download Your Personality Test For Now!

The Power Of Believing

During World War II, a US marine was separated from his unit on a Pacific island. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire he had lost touch with his comrades.

Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed. As he waited, he prayed, 'Lord, if it be your will, please protect me. Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you. Amen.'

After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close. He thought, 'Well, I guess the Lord isn't going to help me out of this one.' Then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his cave.

As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave. 'Hah, he thought, 'What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent me is a spider web. God does have a sense of humor.'

As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while.

'Lord, forgive me,' prayed the young man. 'I had forgotten that in you a spider's web is stronger than a brick wall.'

We all face times of great trouble. When we do, it is so easy to forget what God can work in our lives, sometimes in the most surprising ways. And remember with God, a mere spider's web becomes a brick wall of protection.

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Often we only want to see the things we want. However, if you look at life closely, it is not the things you want that will often be given to you. Instead, it is the things you need!

There is one such movie, Evan Almighty which really caught my attention. Not the story line nor the acting skills of the actors in the movie, rather, there was a very important lesson taught in the movie which stayed with me till now.

When you pray to God for something, do you really expect the things you pray to be given to you as it is? Most likely not.

More often than not, rather than the physical things, what is being presented to you are opportunities.

Opportunities for you to grow emotionally, mentally and in other areas of your life in order to prepare you for your gifts you prayed for. However, instead of viewing them as opportunities, many people have mistaken them as problems in their lives.

Instead of viewing them as opportunities to get or become what they want, they are often seen as problems to be detested or avoided.

Every situations or events are actually opportunities for you to learn, grow and mature. In fact, "problems" are just things you must overcome in order to reach your goals.

You get feedback when solving those "problems" and using the feedback, you change your strategies accordingly and try again.

If you have yet to know, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different results. Thus, in order to change your life and the lives of others to the better, you'll need to know how to do things the faster, better and easier way.

And that can only be achieved by preparing yourself to meet any challenges and opportunities that come your way.

Luck always favors the prepared and motivated ones. So, are you one of them?