BuzzLife

Yesterday, I received the following SMS from an ex-colleague who is a resident of USJ..

The message received on 29.08.2006 at 04:29pm as follows:

-Orginal Message-

Urgent! If you c car WFExxxx (I delete car registration number) wira aeroback green col pls cal2d police!A18yrs chi.gal jst kidnapped by5malays at parade rooftop carpark

My first reaction was, Is this authentic? Who can verify? Parade? Does that mean Subang Parade or Klang Parade? I was made to understand that recently USJ crime watch has activated the so-called SMS crime alert whereby residents have to subscribe to get the alert and residents are not supposed to forward the SMS. Is this SMS originated from the USJ crime alert team? I was wondering. (I do not subscribe the alert because I am not a resident of USJ/SJ).

At a glance, the quick spreading of this news via SMS is a great way to fight crimes, that is if the kidnapped girl’s life is endangered. However, what if the SMS is a crank alert, the life of the driver of the said vehicle will be endangered instead. As such, I did not forward this SMS to anybody, having no one to verify for me.

Today, I found out that the the SMS was indeed authentic and it was reported in theStar. However, as reported in the news, the abduction actually happened on Monday (28.8.2006), and the girl was released unharmed on the same day. The SMS came in a day late and the "parade" was actually Ipoh Parade. The State CID chief verified that. However, there was no verification on the vehicle registration number.

What amazed me was the way the news spread like wild fire, and I must laud the police (from almost all the states in the west coast) for not taking any chance and swing full force into action to the "rescue".

This "incident" is an eye opener to me and I shouldn’t take this kind of alert for granted. In future, if I receive such alert via SMS or email or any other media, I would just forward it to Rakan Cop Hotline at 32728.

Are we losing more brain cells as we grow older? Or is it because of some damaging habits that we have instilled unconsciously? Some tips on how to take care of our brain which I extracted from a Health Magazine. And remember to practice what you read ya..

1. Skipping Breakfast
People who do not take breakfast are going to have a lower blood sugar level. This leads to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration.

2. Overeating
It causes hardening of the brain arteries, leading to a decrease in mental power.

3. Smoking
It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.

4. High Sugar consumption
Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition and may interfere with brain development.

5. Air Pollution
The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our body. Inhaling polluted air decreases the supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a decrease in brain efficiency.

6. Sleep Deprivation
Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long term deprivation from sleep will accelerate the death of brain cells.

7. Head covered while sleeping
Sleeping with the head covered increases the concentration of carbon dioxide and decrease concentration of oxygen that may lead to brain damaging effects.

8. Working your brain during illness
Working hard or studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in effectiveness of the brain as well as damage the brain.

9. Lacking in stimulating thoughts
Thinking is the best way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation thoughts may cause brain shrinkage.

10. Talking Rarely
Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain