There was a public forum on 4/8/2012 (Saturday) at the Bar Council Auditorium to create more awareness about the TPPA- Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement. You can goggle about this Agreement eg www.tppwatch.org, currently being negotiated between the United States of America and some 8 to 10 Asian Countries including Malaysia. You can then see how this "trade" agreement is going to affect the people especially in the area of health and medicines.
The CEO of the Breast Cancer Welfare Awareness, Ms Ranjit Kaur gave the introduction. The Speakers for the forum included Dr. Illias Yee and Fifa Rahman, both from the Malaysia Aids Council and Encik Fauwas Abdul Aziz.
The testimonies of Dr. Illias were so touching when he spoke about the choice the patient had to made between the selling the house (for the family) and the price of medicines for oneself. He also explained the costs of using the generic medicines and the patented ones. Basically if the Agreement were to come in force, then we were prohibited from using generic medicine which is very much cheaper and had to rely on patented medicine usually from foreign countries as one of the term is for extension of the patent period. You cannot manufacture/sell the generic medicine until the expiry of the patented ones. (see The Sun 7/8/2012)
Cik Fifa Rahman clearly and briefly outline to us some of the important issues relating to the health/medicines with regards the Agreement. She hope that everyone should take an interest in these negotiations and as these so called "free trade" would infringe upon our Government policy and at the end of the day will affect the man on the street.
Encik Fauwaz Abdul Aziz spoke on the effects on the tobacco trade.
After hearing all these impending "bad" news, it was time to clear our minds and what is the best way to lift your mood- food of course.
We went to Oriental Bowl Restaurant near the Central Market for our lunch. This cafe is located on the first floor above the Chinese herbal medicine shop.
The ground floor - chinese herbal shop. So most of the herbal ingredients used upstairs comes from here. I was told that the owners sourced the herbal ingredients from China themselves, so quality is guaranteed.
The small dining space nicely decorated with antiques tables and chairs and screens.
Sarah ordered the Thai Fish Fillet with Double Boiled Scallop Soup Set Lunch.
Double boiled Dried Scallop, bamboo pith and dried bak choy soup. They have a variety of double boiled soups eg American Ginseng, Bird Nest, Pear etc and these are definitely worth your money.
The place is normally packed during lunchtime as they have reasonably priced set lunch menu during the weekdays.
However I know that they offer "Thunder Tea Rice" only on Saturday. I immediately ordered this item.
The staircase leading to the cafe on the 1st floor.
The 3rd level closed to public.
The cafe is celebrating their 20th anniversay and offering 20% off ala carte items for this month as well as set menus at RM20.00 each.
The set lunch:- brown rice, Thai Fried Fish fillet with steamed taufoo with meat sauce; pumpkin with eggs.
The place is normally packed during lunchtime as they have reasonably priced set lunch menu during the weekdays.
However I know that they offer "Thunder Tea Rice" only on Saturday. I immediately ordered this item.
My portion of Thunder Tea Rice set.
The soup/tea was thick and "green" and minty.
The condiments were prefect - fresh, nutty and thoroughly filling. I loved this and meal does not disappoint though could have been better is everything is served a bit hotter.
Just mix everything together, pour soup over and enjoy!
After the heavy lunch, we took a short walk around Central Market and its Annexe Gallery.
Putu Piring - they only had pandan flavour. I prefer the original flavour.
Chinese art
On the way back, we drove past the old street where I lived during my childhood. The whole row of pre-war houses had been bought over and have been renovated as a backpackers motel now.
1924 - Our family stayed upstairs till after the Rent Control Act was repealed. The rental back then was only around RM140 and after the Act was repealed, we have to give up the premises back to the owners as this place is right in the center of the city.
No. 32 -
The lawyer's office opposite our house has been vacated.
The gardens (yes each house had their own patch of land) has been turned into a alfresco sitting lounge with snooker tables too.
Inside House No. 32 - is this the staircase where we have trampled up and down numerous times? I cannot really believe the way the house has been renovated beyond recognition inside.
The only one wooden gate/door - remaining along the whole row of houses.
The tree in front of the house has been cut down- what a waste. It must be more than 50 years old!
All of the neighbours had already left this place. It is a pity that come of these houses had been torn down and some being renovated do gaudy and beyond recognition. Why can't they preserve this area as a heritage site eg like those in Penang or Singapore?
Still on a heritage trail, my school St Mary's is celebrating its Centennial Anniversary on 3/11/2012. The original St Mary's Secondary school in Jalan Tengah behind the Weld Supermarket has been demolished to make way for brand new condominium. What to do, it stands in the center of the golden triangle so it has to be sacrificed for progress.
Sometimes, I feel that the Government should do more to preserve old buildings and history rather than making Malaysia into a concrete jungle day by day.
We can only tell but have nothing to show our future generations of the historical past.
Anyway .....enjoy your weekend.
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