‘The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?’ (Jeremiah 17:9)
Recently a close friend sent me an e-mail with a news report that tonnes of herbal chrysanthemums contaminated by a banned toxic chemical have entered the market. The herbal flower is believed to have been dried with sulfur dioxide, a banned preservative that can cause sickness. Farmers using sulfur-drying methods can make more profit as they saved on electricity and coal. Sulfur-dried chrysanthemums sold well because it is difficult to detect. It is no wonder to me that from the survey forms which I helped to collate recently for a school project about Singaporeans’ opinion on Chinese brands, large number of respondents has reservation about the Chinese brands, especially food products. Many still remember milk was laced with melamine which affected over 300,000 children there with some deaths.
There are numerous scandals in recent years on China brands’ products such as contaminated pet food, counterfeit toothpaste, defective tires, and toxic toys. These opportunistic and aggressive entrepreneurs will resort to all kinds of ‘creative’ ways to maximize their profits, not just confining themselves to excessive use of additives and preservatives. They take advantage of the country's chronically weak enforcement of regulations, doing things like blend fake ingredients into the products; sign contracts agreeing to sell one thing only later switch the raw materials for something cheaper; and to doctor, adulterate or even colour foods to make them look fresher or more appetizing. Even in terms of accounting, many investors got their fingers burnt when the share prices of those Chinese companies found or rumoured to engage in accounting irregularities plunged. A well-known large US hedge fund recently sold its entire stake in a Chinese tree-plantation company for a loss of S$720 million, when the latter was accused of overstating its timber holdings.
As I ponder over the 90th years of communist rule in China, I can’t help but believe that the ideology of communism has not fundamentally change the sinful nature of those under such system of government. Without the power of divinity, it is ‘natural’ for the heart of a person to exhibit deceit, greed, evil desires etc, whenever he has the opportunity to exert his true ‘self’ which was formerly ‘artificially’ suppressed through human means.
Recently a close friend sent me an e-mail with a news report that tonnes of herbal chrysanthemums contaminated by a banned toxic chemical have entered the market. The herbal flower is believed to have been dried with sulfur dioxide, a banned preservative that can cause sickness. Farmers using sulfur-drying methods can make more profit as they saved on electricity and coal. Sulfur-dried chrysanthemums sold well because it is difficult to detect. It is no wonder to me that from the survey forms which I helped to collate recently for a school project about Singaporeans’ opinion on Chinese brands, large number of respondents has reservation about the Chinese brands, especially food products. Many still remember milk was laced with melamine which affected over 300,000 children there with some deaths.
There are numerous scandals in recent years on China brands’ products such as contaminated pet food, counterfeit toothpaste, defective tires, and toxic toys. These opportunistic and aggressive entrepreneurs will resort to all kinds of ‘creative’ ways to maximize their profits, not just confining themselves to excessive use of additives and preservatives. They take advantage of the country's chronically weak enforcement of regulations, doing things like blend fake ingredients into the products; sign contracts agreeing to sell one thing only later switch the raw materials for something cheaper; and to doctor, adulterate or even colour foods to make them look fresher or more appetizing. Even in terms of accounting, many investors got their fingers burnt when the share prices of those Chinese companies found or rumoured to engage in accounting irregularities plunged. A well-known large US hedge fund recently sold its entire stake in a Chinese tree-plantation company for a loss of S$720 million, when the latter was accused of overstating its timber holdings.
As I ponder over the 90th years of communist rule in China, I can’t help but believe that the ideology of communism has not fundamentally change the sinful nature of those under such system of government. Without the power of divinity, it is ‘natural’ for the heart of a person to exhibit deceit, greed, evil desires etc, whenever he has the opportunity to exert his true ‘self’ which was formerly ‘artificially’ suppressed through human means.
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