Daily Lesson from Life 16 October 2008

"Recalled milk was re-sold

Dairy products were dumped at universities and sold to students at a discount. -Thu, Oct 16, 2008 AFP

SHANGHAI - DAIRY products that were recalled in southern China to be tested for the deadly chemical melamine were instead dumped at universities and sold to students at a discount, state media reported on Thursday.

The milk products were sold in supermarkets and student dormitories in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, the Xinhua news agency said, citing a local newspaper.

In one university supermarket, bulk boxes of Mengniu milk and Yili yogurt - both suspected brands - were sold for less than 20 yuan (S$4.30), or about half the original price, the report said.

The tainted milk scandal emerged when melamine, a chemical normally used to make plastics, was discovered in dairy products produced by dairy giant Sanlu.


The melamine was mixed into the milk to give it the appearance of higher protein levels."

This is truly revolting news! I simply could not comprehend how anyone with any conscience can do this to the universities students knowing full well that the products are suspect and potentially damaging to the health of the consumers! With such incidents you sometime cannot even try to protest against foreigners who said: TIC! This Is China!! There is simply no defense to such taunting or some ridiculing! Of course some will argue that the unverisities students will not suffer as badly as the infants!!

Lessons for me are:

1. to do the right thing when money is involved is doubly or triply difficult for people who do not have a strong fundamental ethical value! Leaders MUST act and act DECISIVELY anchored on ethical value! With such a value embedded in your mind, there is no hesitation when you need to act even when you may suffer temporary financial losses!;

2. if you want others to respect you or your organization or your race or your nation, you better demonstrate to others the proper behaviors others expected of you. This is especially true when the values of others are reasonable;

3. we need to expose such deeds and get the perpetrators to face the consequence of their actions. It will invite conflict and confrontation by the perpetrators as they do not see the issues from the ethical perspective. Sometimes, unfortunately, we cannot avoid confrontation! We need to be strong and keep to non-violence though.

May those who re-sell the suspected products in China be brought to justice and get their due 'rewards'!