Context: Uproar by some Malaysian Muslims on a discovery of trace elements of swine DNA in certain chocolate product.

I find it the reaction by these certain quarters quite comical. With threats of lawsuits and jihad against the company. I find it comical because all of them probably carry quite a bit more of “pig DNA” in their pockets and wallets already. I think it’s quite well documented how dirty physical money is.

Money, paper money. It is widely circulated and touched and handled by all members of society.

From criminals to religious scholars.
From butchers to bankers.
From prostitutes to librarians.
From drug addicts to doctors.
From church to mosques.

Humans, we love the smell of money. We keep them close to us, our prized profession, our Mount Everest. All these hands contribute to trace elements on money. Faeces, bodily fluids, food, oil etc. You handle it with your hands, you eat with your hands. Yet this elephant in your pocket never seem to cause you any discomfort as something smaller than a microscopic trace in an industrial scale. Humans, sometimes it’s surprising that we call ourselves intelligent.

Original story: Woman gets bitten in movie theatre, toe bloodied, The Star

Feedback from the public seem to point directly at GSC with patrons being shocked that rats have no place in modern and nice looking cinemas.

Unfortunately, most of the money spent on the upkeep (if there is effort to) is spent mainly on the fascia. This is very typical. People tend to judge the premise by how nice it looks on the outside (as well as how comfortable it makes them feel) and the management understands this to a T and uses these boundaries to save money on maintenance. If the air-condition works and there is no foul smell, this must be a clean place. Never judge a book by it’s cover. What you are probably experiencing is probably good air conditioning with good ventilation and filters.

Someone has to pay – this will push the accountability back to the authorities. Getting bitten by a rat is a small incident. Just wait till we start getting large cases of LEPTOSPIROSIS!!!

In this particular case, I wouldn’t even blame it completely on GSC – I think the hosting mall should be looked to for answers as well. Sanitation is managed at the mall level and also relates to the municipality. We’ve known about bad rat infestation in our drains for years and the root cause of the issue was never really addressed. It’s symptomatic and relates to bad enforcement. Sanitation is bad; we have organic and inorganic garbage thrown directly into the drains and this ends up with a source of nutrition for all things creepy and crawly that roams underneath our feet. The only way around this is to have un-corrupt-able enforcement.