Travelling to Countries with Swine Flu Cases

With exams all over, I believe all of us have got plans to do some travelling in Europe soon…But many are worried about getting quarantined and not being able to meet several important dates…

I called NHS Direct @ 08454647 yesterday noon to enquire about travelling risk and below are what I was told:

1. There is currently no restriction from UK Government against travelling to any country. One of the reasons being swine flu is already a world-wide pandemic and there is no point imposing such restriction.

2. You are at risk of contracting swine flu from another person if you are at close contact with someone else with the virus. Close contact means you are either being exposed to a suspected / confirmed case for longer than 1 hour in the past 7 days within a distance of 1m or less. This puts travelling  in the same flight a risk.

3. UK NHS currently has enough anti-viral stockpile to treat half the country’s population should the need arise.

4. If SO HAPPEN someone in the same flight as you has confirmed swine flu, UK Heatlh Protection Agency (HPA) will contact everyone in the same flight (with details provided by air company i assume) and assess everybody’s condition. So far they are only quarantining people who show symptoms. If from over the phone, you appear symptomless, there wont be any quarantine. By quarantine means quarantine as required by law, i.e. it would be a criminal offence to disobey. There is no point of lying as you are putting own life and all lives around you at risk.

5. If there is a need, everyone in the same flight, regardless of symptoms will be asked to attend hospital / clinics for checks and offered anti-viral prophylaxis. Swine flu is best treated at early stage.

In conclusion, it is a matter of making INFORMED CHOICE and taking necessary precautions wherever you go, i.e. stay far from people who sneeze, sneeze into tissue and throw it away yourself, wash your hands frequently.

Disclaimer: This is just a piece of information from my conversation with the NHS Direct staff + my own rephrasing that I would like to share with everyone. It is NOT intended to replace any official health advice. It would be best if you could verify what I have written here by doing more research yourself.

For more details, visit these few websites:
1. Health Protection Agency
2. National Health Service Swine Flu Page
3. UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (can browse for travel advice for specific countries)

Impressed

Well, am really impressed with students here…UK students are really different from that in Malaysia…more proactive and outspoken…and of course, the university needs to be open-minded enough to allow this…

For your information,
there is an anti-war group in Strathclyde lobbying for the university to give up its tie with BAE system, an arms manufacturer that was alleged to supply weapons to various governments violating human rights, including the war in Palestin…

In the last Strathclyde Union AGM, they brought this up, and brought a large group of their members to form the majority of votes to pass the anti-war motion…e.g. for Strathclyde to end its contract with Eden Spring…an Israeli mineral water company allegedly obtained their water supply from Palestin…They won the motion…although some people said they did it through an un-democractic way…Previously similar motion were rejected by the SRC because it would place the university in a difficult position with its corporate funder…

Back to the point, it seems that BAE system invested alot in Strathclyde engineering research and development and employ most strathclyde engineering students…But with its alleged involvement in military activities and arms supply, some students think it is unethical for the university to continue its tie with this company…

As a follow-up from the AGM motion, a referendum will be held on Pegasus this coming Thursday on whether Strathclyde should end its relationship with BAE System. As a Strathclyde student, you have a say in this…log on PEGASUS next Thursday 30th April 9am until Friday 1st May 3pm…the party that will be affected the most is the engineering students of course….

On a side note, if this was a Malaysian university, I think all these students might have been reprimanded or expelled for challenging the university…LOL…or probably Malaysian students just dont care…

Studying here in this environment can really open up ur minds and ur eyes

The Beautiful Imperfection

Saw several friends posted in their blogs and facebook…

Would like to share it here  too…

It is the message behind the video

A video by Yasmin Ahmad,

commissioned by Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports of Singapore.

It’s been long…

……since I last update my blog.

Was previously swamped with work…

Then took a break in England…

Now preparing for the final exam…

Times flies…

Looking forward working life, but dont want student life to end so soon…hmm…

Two songs for all my friends,

Step by Step by Whitney Houston

When You Believe by Whitney Houston & Mariah Carey

P106 is going to rock this coming exam!!! 

Silence…

This song…I like

No More MV on Youtube…

Well…as you guys might have noticed…

Those from within the UK can no longer access music videos on youtube…ALL of them…Starting from 6pm yesterday (9 March), all professional MVs are being removed from British viewership…by phases..

Why?

All these while, Youtube is not allowed to broadcast vides online for free…the company pays for royalties…
In UK, they pay to a company called Performing Rights Society (PRS), which collect the money on behalf of record companies…Recently PRS came out with new agreement (which I assume is asking for more money), which Youtube could not agree on…Google, which bought over Youtube thinks that it is now too expensive to maintain those videos online…

News describe this as a row between PRS and Youtube…which is still unsolved…and currently a lose-lose situation for everyone….

Read the news HERE and HERE.

A good news for us who are doing assignments?
Bad news for juniors who will be coming over soon? =P

Probably everyone will be flocking MySpace for music videos after this…LOL

Beware of Identity Theft on Facebook

Many of us have got a facebook account and signed up for many applications…

Yet, are they really safe?

By setting up a simple third-party application and allowing users to add, BBC successfully retrieved user’s details without their consent. This showed that Facebook is not doing enough to protect the user’s identity.
Worse still, you dont need to add any applications to be a victim, you just need to be a friend to someone who does.
& if you do read those terms & conditions, you are already warned about the risk when you sign up for facebook and add applications.
Watch the report HERE.

There is also a recent case of identity theft.

The lesson…dont leave too much personal details / add too many applications on facebook

More about Glasgow Silent Rave

Hmm…read a news today…saying that Glasgow police is banning the Glasgow Central station silent rave due to safety reason…read HERE…didnt know it was organised without a permit…hmm…

& so i saw from facebook it’s moved from Central station to George Square…read HERE.

& Apparently…..it’s inspired by the “T-mobile dance” in London Liverpool Station…it was held earlier this year as part of T-mobile’s promotional gimmick…T-mobile spent 8 months to train 400 dancers for this…as a surprise for public communters that day…& as you can see…public enjoyed the surprise…LOL…wonder if this could happen in Malaysia…haha…will Maxis or Digi or Celcom do this?

Watch this…hehe…i think it’s rather cool…

Songs
#1 Lulu – Shout
#2 Yazz – The Only Way is Up
#3 Pussycat Dolls – Don’t Cha
#4 Viennese Waltz
#5 Kool & The Gang
#6 Rainbow – Since you’ve been gone
#7 Millie Small – My Boy Lollipop
# 8Contours – Do you love me