All About Chow

SINCERITY MATTERS (BUT DON’T TAKE THINGS FOR GRANTED):

2016-11-02T05:56:00.001-07:00

Lately, some promoters of my store were used to complain about the drop in sales of their products. Some even pointed an accusing finger at the staffs for not working hard enough to push the sales when they were not around. I have to admit that the sale is dropping a lot now (if compared to a few years ago when this store was still within top 10 outlets in term of sales nationwide). However, they should understand that there are many other factors contributing to this, eg: economic downturn, is something beyond people’s control (Be grateful and appreciate what we are having now and hold onto our current jobs, the unemployement rate will go up when recession hits).

A scientist had once done a study to compare the monkeys’ physiological responses after they were given different quantity of apples. First group of monkeys was given an apple, they showed enormous excitement. Second group of monkeys was given 2 apples, they also displayed enormous excitement. The supply of apples to both groups was continued on a daily basis until one day, one change was made, that group of monkeys supplied with 2 apples had one taken away from them. They were very angry!!! We hate to feel like we are losing out on something especially when we are too used to it.

As a species, we may sometimes focus too much on and magnify people’s minor mistakes until neglecting of other major contributions or sacrifices made as a whole. We may, as well, encounter someone who become too habituated to people’s kindness and take things for granted. They are so accustomed to the good things happening around them everyday until one day that they do not see them as good things anymore. A good metaphor for this incident might be like watching the sun rise in every morning. It just takes the first appearance of light in the sky to wipe out the total darkness, even before the sun fully rises. (Or it just takes a small drop of black ink to contaminate/ blacken the whole pail of clear/clean water).

Personally, I feel that sincerity is a matter of the utmost concern here. As long as someone is sincerely putting a lot of effort into doing something (truly trying their very best) that is good enough. Combined with the favourable climatic, geographical and human conditions a.k.a (天时、地利、人和) all these, a good timing, connection etc factors; hopefully, a satisfactory result /outcome can be obtained. Instead of dwelling on the problems, we should do something about it. On the other hand, don’t take people for granted. No matter how much they love and care about you, people will get exhausted eventually. And we never know when it will be the last.

OPENING UP OUR HEARTS:

2016-10-16T07:32:00.002-07:00

Yesterday, I came in a bit late to work due to a minor traffic jam. I was completely stunned by the relentless blow of questions being thrown to me by an angry customer who was waiting impatiently somewhere near my pharmacy counter. He mumbled a few words, which sounded like “You do not follow up my case”. “Huh! What case wo?’’ I was thinking.

After reading the short note on my table (written by one of my staff), only I realised that it was related to the Omron digital body weight scale. I promptly clarified that I was having my off days previously and apologized for any inconvenience caused. I had tried to calm him down, but in vain. The customer claimed that he had tested it several times and insisted on an immediate refund for the “faulty” weighing scale he bought two weeks ago.

“Aiyo, this time really jialak lol. No matter what, I must make it first” I whispered. “We appreciate the business relationship we have with you, Mr Tan, we do not want to lose a loyal customer like you. We are making an immediate refund to you.” I told him. Surprisingly, Mr Tan replied, he understood that I was in a position to follow the company policy. Plus, he was willing to retest the body weight scale with my guidance. Wow! What a 180 degree of change!

Later, I only found out that Mr tan’s method was slightly inappropriate. He missed out one important step, he should have to tap the parts below the right and left sides of the scale platform to turn on the power. He assumed that all digital body weight scale was working the same conventional way. Following this, Mr Tan changed his mind and decided to keep it. Furthermore, he ended up buying 1 more Sebamed oily hair syampoo from my store. Judging from the long conversation with him, I felt that he is a salesman too.

Certain level of EQ is needed to deal with this type of customers in order to survive in business. Soft approach should be applied in this case. Whenever I am about to get angry, I will divert my attention to something else. Counting from 1 to 30 seconds or more and several deep breathings simultaneously is an effective way to keep my emotion under control. At least, to me, it works.

Besides, subconsciously, we tend to be judgmental about something or someone due to our past events and experiences. More often than not, we think that we are right and reluctant to accept a second opinion. At times, perhaps, we need to unlearn and relearn certain things in our life. We are only truly free until we are free from our judgement. That can only happen if we open up our heart to accept others’ views plus the people around us.

SURVIVAL:

2016-10-12T06:27:00.002-07:00

This morning, a honey bee accidentally flew into my house. In no time, my instinct prompted me to grab an electrical mosquito pat nearby in an attempt to chase it out from my house to avoid any ‘unfortunate’ bee stings. Luckily, I changed my mind, for I remember someone told me before that honey bee is a bringer of good luck and prosperity. I was instantly inspired with the important role of honey bees in our ecosystem.

In insect kingdom, honey bee is considered as one of the most hardworking insects on earth. This explains the reason why do people always say ‘as busy as a bee’. It moves from flower to flower to collect nectar. Besides, it also carries pollen from flower to flower which accounts for over 80% of all insect pollination. Our food chains and overall survival will be negatively impacted if the honey bee were to go extinct. Without the existence of honey bees, neither human nor any animals can survive for a longer term on earth, as there is no more pollination, leading to the shortage of plants and food.

Everything in life is interdependent. We rely on each other closely to ensure our survivals on earth. No one is indispensable on their own. Hence, it is important to invariably maintain a win-win situation to help each other to grow or more specifically in biological term (for animals), we call it as symbiosis. This ‘I support you, you support me’ virtue should be practised perpetually so that the relationship can last long. Personally, I strongly believe that by having more friends, zero enemy, more positive Qi, I will have a peaceful mind, eventually a healthier and happier life. On top of that, it is indeed a great sense of joy and fulfillment to see our comrades’ success together along the journey for a better tomorrow.

LETTING GO:

2016-10-09T06:10:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, my regional sales manager had briefed the staffs on effective communication with customers following a complaint made against a staff from other store for being too hard selling. After the store refit, my whole store team took the challenge to increase the sale at least 30% or more. Competitors, price slashing are everywhere. Wow! What a great challenge! Fortunately, I had just attended a workshop organized by the company, which gave my spirits a boost.

In all businesses, we have to put our customers as our first priority if we want the customers to come back and the relationship to last. Too hard selling until intruding upon people’s privacy and feeling will eventually lead to disaster/loss of sales. Hence, it should always be done within limits.

It is important to observe people’s body language to gauge their interests in our recommendation. Like flying a kite, we should know when is the right time to just hold on, when to let the kite dance across the sky by pulling in and letting out the line and so on. At times, we just have to let things go (provided we have tried our best). As the old saying goes , what is meant to be will always find its way.

LIFE VALUES:

2016-10-05T08:31:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, a customer came into my store to purchase some anti-depressant drugs. I turned her down as I do not sell any group B medicines (Doctor prescribed medicines).However, as a pharmacist, I was ready to be a good listener, or perhaps, a counselor.

From the conversation, I realized that she was once a complete workaholic who achieved great success in her career, but her demanding schedule had cut drastically into her personal life and obstructed her from spending any quality time with her husband and children.

Recently, she just divorced as her husband was found having an affair with other woman. Of course, that could be due to many reasons. From her story, I learned that her top 4 values in life turned out to be 1) family, love 2) health 3) Money 4) Accomplishment. She missed out on her life’s top desires, despite her success in third and fourth goals.

So often, people are too busy pursuing means values until they forget about their true desires or their ends values. Knowing our own hierarchy of values is important as our top values are those which are going to bring us the most happiness or fulfillment. Failing to do so, we will experience feeling of emptiness and even intense pain. All these magnetic pull of our values will greatly influence the direction of our lives.

Lastly, I recommended her to take some supplements to keep her relaxed. Moreover, I also shared with her some non-pharmacological methods which could help her to have a better sleep quality. Hopefully, all these help.

Pray for Japan

2011-03-12T07:21:00.000-08:00

It is not just an earthquake,but a mega-thrust earthquake, like the 2004 Indian Ocean quake. May god bless all who are in japan.and hope this disaster will not happen again~

Life is what our thoughts make it:

2011-02-15T08:18:00.000-08:00

Life is what our thoughts make it

We can choose to be happy or sad?

We can choose to open up our mind, or close it?

We can choose to plant good humour, or bitterness?

We can choose so many things in our life.

Since life is what our thoughts make it,

So, why dont' we choose all the positive ones and become a cheerful person?

THE EFFECTS OF AQUEOUS EXTRACTS OF Spirulina platensis ON THE GUINEA PIG TRACHEAL AND ILEAL SMOOTH MUSCLES

2011-01-09T08:22:00.000-08:00

Spirulina is a well-known dietary supplement that has been shown to have antiviral properties, anticancer properties and antioxidant effect. However, its use as a treatment for asthma is still controversial. There were reports which state that Spirulina can cause constipation and diarrhea too. To date, no study has been done on the effects of Spirulina extracts on the airway smooth muscles and gastrointestinal tract. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of Spirulina aqueous extracts on the isolated guinea pig tracheal and ileal smooth muscles.

The algae powder was soaked in water. The aqueous extract was dried in vacuo using a rotary evaporator. The dried extracts was redissolved in water and stored at – 20^oC before use for the testing. Male guinea pigs were killed by cervical dislocation. The trachea and the ileum will be removed and transferred to a dish containing Kreb’s solution. The organs were mounted in an organ bath perfused with Kreb’s solution. Various concentrations of algae extracts were added to the Kreb’s solution to determine the effect of the extract on the contractility of smooth muscle. The contractions or relaxations of the muscle induced by the extracts and drugs were recorded.

The results revealed that Spirulina aqueous extract had neither significant contractile nor relaxant effect on the guinea pig tracheal smooth muscles. However, it produced a sustained dose-dependent contractile effect on the guinea pig ileum. The contractions were not affected by histamine (H₁) receptor antagonist, mepyramine and muscarinic antagonist, atropine. This suggests that the contraction observed in the presence of Spirulina aqueous extract is not due to the activation of histaminergic or muscarinic receptors.

In conclusion, Spirulina aqueous extract causes no effect on guinea pig tracheal smooth muscles. However, it contracts the guinea pig ileum. The contraction caused by the Spirulina extracts is not due to the activation of muscarinic or histaminergic pathways. Thus this suggests that there are other possible mechanisms of action by which Spirulina aqueous extracts caused the contractile effect. The action of Spirulina on bronchioles needs to be investigated and long term effect of consumption of Spirulina on the airway reactivity should be studied.