Secret Recipe : Halal or Not?

Salam..

It's certainly been a while. And I'm happy to say that I've already presented my paper at ICBioE'11 which takes place at Legend Hotel (directly in front of PWTC) and coincidentally my Form 5 dinner venue back in 2003.. Oh, how time flies.. And don't worry, pictures will be posted in the next update. For now, I wanted to share something as I've said in the title.

I know that this past few days a lot of people would have heard about this, especially Malaysian Muslims. There was a confusion on this matter due to the announcement made in Halal Malaysia Portal (www.halal.gov.my) regarding "PENEMUAN DNA BABI DALAM BAHAN RAMUAN SYARIKAT PURATOS MALAYSIA SDN BHD" (which translates to Discovery of Pig DNA in Ingredients Manufactured by Puratos Malaysia Sdn Bhd) and were picked up by a number of blogs linking it to Secret Recipe.

And this is why:

Puratos Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. also supplied baking ingredients, and the two that I've circled contains the phrase "Secret Recipe". This is not, in any way, means that this two were Secret Recipe (restaurant) cakes. It *is* not. If you could see from the website itself or from the image above, both Talento Brownies Concentrate Secret Recipe and Talento Cake Concentrate Secret Recipe were their own products, not Secret Recipe. And thanks to the efforts of a blogger, just yesterday Secret Recipe Cakes & Cafe Sdn. Bhd. had clarified this matter. You can read the full statement here :

http://fatihashuhaimy.blogspot.com/2011/05/update-maklumbalas-dari-secret-recipe.html

The gist of it is that the blogger had emailed her concerns on the halal dispute over Secret Recipe cakes, and a response came from Secret Recipe Cakes & Cafe Sdn. Bhd. explaining that they do not acquire any ingredients from Puratos Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. and all their ingredients and cakes were halal-certified by JAKIM.

So everyone, please spread the word.. Actually the reason I'm highlighting this is that it is a very serious matter. As a blogger, we have the flexibility of saying anything we want, true, but we also have a responsibility to make sure what we say is true. Although some might say that there is always two sides of a story, but it remains to be acknowledged that facts would always be more reliable than hearsay.

So please, before posting something up, especially when the subject of the matter involves sensitive things like this, make sure that your words are backed by facts, not only something that you conclude based on what is apparently there. It's understandable that sometimes we were overly excited when we noticed anything of this magnitude, hence the news can't wait. But would it hurt too much to take a breather and try to confirm it first?

You are the judge, readers. I've done my part. Hopefully the confusion will be settled over this. Thanks for reading!

=)

Peace of Mind.. =)

Salam..

There will always be problems in life, for some much much bigger than others. It might even involve things that are beyond others' expectation or comprehension. And there will be times when even the strongest will not prevail over the dark cloud that looms over their head.

But, when such times do come, one of the best things to do is to share that burden with someone. It might not actually solve the problem itself, but from my own experience, through sharing, things would finally become clearer and I could finally see the problem from a new perspective. Though sometimes the risk of the 'secret' part of the problem being exposed kept some people away from trying this approach.

What I can say is that it all comes down to one thing; trust.

Thank you for reading.

ps : “No soul is desolate as long as there is a human being for whom it can feel trust and reverence.” ~ T.S. Eliot.

p.ps : I'm praying for you dear.. Hope that everything will be okay and you'll come out of it stronger than before. Insya-Allah.

The Hill

Salam..

Just a brief update today I'm afraid.. To keep the resolution that I've made (updating at least once a week, which I've already missed once), hence this post. In actuality, I'm supposedly doing my slides now for the presentation at ICBioE'11 in two weeks time. But alas, a break is needed to keep the mind fresh, no? =)

My to-do list for now:

1. Completing the slides so that I could have at least a 10-days backup time for the rigorous polishing-up that my supervisors expected.
2. Adding another sub-topic to my paper for journal submission (this is really, really a loooong way to go, but I need to take the first steps lest I'll be swamped by other work-related stuffs this coming months).
3. Practice, practice and practice playing my guitar.. =)) Yep, I'm self-teaching myself for my personal goal achievement as required during YK's Personal Mastery training.. Alhamdulillah, it's getting better now compared to when I first started, which is, horror! ;p
4. Start with the bioreactor for my optimization study.. This one, no comment.. Anybody wants to offer some help? *wink*

Oh well, life goes on. All the best to y'all in everything you do. When there's a will, there's a way.
Thanks for stopping by!