I went fishing in Norway last week; at a fjord near Bergen, a city on the west coast of the country, to be exact. The weather was fine; a little chilly despite the temperature recorded at 20°C.
Between the 13 of us, including the captain of the boat, we not only caught five fishes, but also got ourselves a little bit of a tan being in the sun. Jon Erik Steenslid, the Norwegian Seafood Council regional director for South-east Asia, identified the fishes we caught, which were then released into the water after a brief photo taking for keepsake.
The Norwegian Seafood Council arranged for the media trip to enable us to learn more about the Norwegian fisheries industry, especially on two of their biggest exports, namely salmon and trout.
Contrary to popular belief, the salmon we eat at most Japanese restaurants here do not come from Japan but from Norway. In fact, salmon was never part of the Japanese sushi and sashimi menu until the 1980s after a Norwegian seafood delegation visited Japan and Project Japan — a Norwegian initiative to promote its seafood industry in the Land of the Rising Sun — was launched. Today, Norwegian salmon is the sushi fish of choice among the Japanese.
Here in Malaysia, local chefs have baked and fried salmon and trout, and cooked them in curries and asam pedas. I am not sure if anyone had tried cooking salmon and trout in masak lemak tempoyak, masak asam or masak lemak cili api yet as these pelagic fishes are as oily as the famous patin fish from Temerloh.
Malaysians are generally seafood eaters. A 2014 study by fishery products expert Infofish showed that Malaysians were among the world’s biggest consumers of fish, eating at least 56.5kg of fish per person each year.
This was way above the world average of below 20kg per capita and even slightly ahead of Japan. The major species consumed in Malaysia included mackerel, shrimp, squid, tilapia and catfish, but, we are increasingly buying imported and more expensive “high-value fishery products” such as cod, salmon, mussels, oysters and abalone.
The study also showed that a majority of Malaysians, 54 per cent of respondents, eat fish once to three times a week while 37 per cent eat fish and seafood on a daily basis.
In fact, Norwegian National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES) director of research Ingvild Eide Graff recommended that we take two to three seafood dinners a week. Seafood contains marine Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, iodine and selenium, which are nutrients that are not found in any great quantity in other types of food.
In addition, seafood contains easily digestible proteins. Omega-3 fatty acids are thought to provide a wide range of health benefits, including a lower risk of coronary heart disease and improvement in cholesterol levels. Vitamin D helps, among others, to regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body. Lack of iodine can contribute to mental retardation while selenium has antioxidants that protect cells from damage.
But, there are local myths relating to eating seafood, especially fish. A former prime minister does not eat fish (but takes dried salted fish or crispy fried tamban instead) because his mother told him that eating fish will not make him smart.
When we were growing up, my grandmother and my mother told us not to eat fish head for the same reason when, in fact, there are bountiful meat tucked in and around the collar of the fish, in the cheeks and the forehead. Most of all, there is flavour in the fish’s head.
I asked Graff if she was able to debunk another popular myth, if I can call it that, of seafood causing gout. It has been said that eating seafood would increase the uric acid levels, which would in turn result in gout, a kind of arthritis which causes swelling in a joint, usually at the feet.
She was unable to do so as she had not done any research on it. In fact, she said that it was her first time hearing about it. Her research, however, has shown emerging evidence of beneficial health effects from seafood.
Most interestingly, the Norwegian government has also introduced a programme called Fiskesprell, which literally means wriggling fish, in 2007. It is a national diet programme aimed at increasing seafood consumption among children undertaken by the Norwegian Health Ministry, the Trade, Industry and Fisheries Ministry and the Norwegian Seafood Council, which together with fish sales organisations are funding the programme.
Most kindergartens in Norway have introduced this programme where children are taught the importance of a healthy seafood diet. These children, with the assistance of their teachers, will prepare their own lunches using fish. They get to use real knives (not the plastic ones) to cut up the fish fillets into smaller pieces and chopped vegetables that go with it. Their teachers will cook these ingredients outdoors, on the campfire or grill. In primary and secondary schools, children are taught about health and food under the Fiskesprell programme.
Well, I guess eating fresh fish beats having to down a spoonful of the awful tasting fish liver oil like what I did when I was a child.
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Thursday, May 5, 2016
Heatwaves, one of the most underrated natural disasters
In kindergarten, I remember singing this English nursery rhyme asking for the rain to “go away, come again another day, little Johnny wants to play”. In the Malay nursery rhyme Bangau oh bangau, however, the frog calls for rain as a snake wants to eat it. With the heatwave that we are currently facing, we would be more likely to sing (or in this case, pray) for the rain to come.
The average temperature here is 27°C, but, in the past month or so, temperatures have soared into the upper 30s. One can check the Meteorological Department’s website, where there is a banner with information on temperatures in 15 or so locations. On Workers Day, for example, the highest temperature recorded was 37.9°C in Kuala Krai, Kelantan. The highest temperature ever recorded in Malaysia was 40.1°C in Perlis in 1998.
The Instaweather application on my iPhone tells me that the temperature may be, say, 33°C but it “feels like 42°C with 9kph winds and humidity of 66 per cent”. I daresay that the information given is correct.
My mother used to tell us, “let there be no electricity but not water”, but she now feels otherwise in this current heatwave. There was one night when my brother and his two children slept in the car with the air conditioning running as there was a blackout in their Putrajaya apartment. He had to resort to that as his son was sitting for an examination the next day.
I, too, had checked into a hotel late one night when a fault at the Tenaga Nasional substation caused the entire Pantai Hill Park condominium to be without electricity. My concern then was not only the sweltering heat, but also the need to charge the batteries of my phones. In case of an emergency, I can easily be reached.
As temperatures have yet to exceed 40°C for seven days or more, the National Disaster Management Agency has yet to declare a heatwave emergency, but when it does, it will also announce emergency measures which, to this day, have yet to be specified. However, schools in some states have closed as temperatures exceeded 37°C.
While we do not know what our own emergency measures are (it could include cloud seeding, although Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau had said it may not be the most effective solution to the problems brought on by the El Nino phenomenon), there are enough tips on the Internet on how to look after yourself and your loved ones in this hot weather.
The Australian Red Cross, for example, recommends staying indoors in the coolest rooms of your house or in the shade during the hottest part of the day; wearing a hat and light-coloured, loose-fitting clothes, preferably made of natural fibres; wearing sunglasses and applying sunscreen with a sun protection factor of 30 to exposed skin; reducing heat from sunlight coming through the windows by using external shades or light-coloured curtains; ensuring sufficient air circulation either from an air conditioner, fan or by leaving a secured window or door open; taking cool showers and splashing yourself several times a day with cold water, particularly your face and the back of your neck; and, drinking water regularly even if you don’t feel thirsty.
In Australia, the Red Cross said extreme heat events have killed more people than bushfires, cyclones or any other natural disaster. Heatwaves are one of the most underrated natural disasters. Of the top 10 Australian disasters of the past century, by the number of people killed, six of them were in heatwaves. It can be dangerous for anyone, especially older people, young children and people with medical conditions.
But, there are times where we prefer sunny days than heavy rain, such as for wedding receptions at home, where guests dine under tents in the open air. A rainy day will make it difficult for the host and guests. Furthermore, heavy rain can result in floods, which can lead to loss of properties and lives.
Malays have a ritual, not necessarily religious in nature, to stop the rain. I know of relatives who do one of these: sticking skewered shallots and chilies on a mound on the ground, or throwing the bride’s or groom’s clothes on the roof. Either those days were destined to be sunny and bright, or the rituals actually worked. Another is engaging the services of a bomoh hujan or rain medium, not necessarily to stop the rain, but to shift it elsewhere, especially for big outdoor events.
Now, I do not believe in this, but I have seen with my own eyes how the sky at the Sepang Circuit was bright and sunny during the Formula 1 Grand Prix one particular year, while dark clouds were looming outside the circuit itself. It rained cats and dogs just after the race ended. I remember someone making a remark on how efficient the bomoh hujan was that particular year.
It was in 2012 that the Malaysian Grand Prix was red-flagged because of heavy rain. The Meteorological Department says the hot weather is expected to return to normal beginning next month.
There has now been rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon. God willing, we can soon look forward to cooler evenings and nights.
The average temperature here is 27°C, but, in the past month or so, temperatures have soared into the upper 30s. One can check the Meteorological Department’s website, where there is a banner with information on temperatures in 15 or so locations. On Workers Day, for example, the highest temperature recorded was 37.9°C in Kuala Krai, Kelantan. The highest temperature ever recorded in Malaysia was 40.1°C in Perlis in 1998.
The Instaweather application on my iPhone tells me that the temperature may be, say, 33°C but it “feels like 42°C with 9kph winds and humidity of 66 per cent”. I daresay that the information given is correct.
My mother used to tell us, “let there be no electricity but not water”, but she now feels otherwise in this current heatwave. There was one night when my brother and his two children slept in the car with the air conditioning running as there was a blackout in their Putrajaya apartment. He had to resort to that as his son was sitting for an examination the next day.
I, too, had checked into a hotel late one night when a fault at the Tenaga Nasional substation caused the entire Pantai Hill Park condominium to be without electricity. My concern then was not only the sweltering heat, but also the need to charge the batteries of my phones. In case of an emergency, I can easily be reached.
As temperatures have yet to exceed 40°C for seven days or more, the National Disaster Management Agency has yet to declare a heatwave emergency, but when it does, it will also announce emergency measures which, to this day, have yet to be specified. However, schools in some states have closed as temperatures exceeded 37°C.
While we do not know what our own emergency measures are (it could include cloud seeding, although Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau had said it may not be the most effective solution to the problems brought on by the El Nino phenomenon), there are enough tips on the Internet on how to look after yourself and your loved ones in this hot weather.
The Australian Red Cross, for example, recommends staying indoors in the coolest rooms of your house or in the shade during the hottest part of the day; wearing a hat and light-coloured, loose-fitting clothes, preferably made of natural fibres; wearing sunglasses and applying sunscreen with a sun protection factor of 30 to exposed skin; reducing heat from sunlight coming through the windows by using external shades or light-coloured curtains; ensuring sufficient air circulation either from an air conditioner, fan or by leaving a secured window or door open; taking cool showers and splashing yourself several times a day with cold water, particularly your face and the back of your neck; and, drinking water regularly even if you don’t feel thirsty.
In Australia, the Red Cross said extreme heat events have killed more people than bushfires, cyclones or any other natural disaster. Heatwaves are one of the most underrated natural disasters. Of the top 10 Australian disasters of the past century, by the number of people killed, six of them were in heatwaves. It can be dangerous for anyone, especially older people, young children and people with medical conditions.
But, there are times where we prefer sunny days than heavy rain, such as for wedding receptions at home, where guests dine under tents in the open air. A rainy day will make it difficult for the host and guests. Furthermore, heavy rain can result in floods, which can lead to loss of properties and lives.
Malays have a ritual, not necessarily religious in nature, to stop the rain. I know of relatives who do one of these: sticking skewered shallots and chilies on a mound on the ground, or throwing the bride’s or groom’s clothes on the roof. Either those days were destined to be sunny and bright, or the rituals actually worked. Another is engaging the services of a bomoh hujan or rain medium, not necessarily to stop the rain, but to shift it elsewhere, especially for big outdoor events.
Now, I do not believe in this, but I have seen with my own eyes how the sky at the Sepang Circuit was bright and sunny during the Formula 1 Grand Prix one particular year, while dark clouds were looming outside the circuit itself. It rained cats and dogs just after the race ended. I remember someone making a remark on how efficient the bomoh hujan was that particular year.
It was in 2012 that the Malaysian Grand Prix was red-flagged because of heavy rain. The Meteorological Department says the hot weather is expected to return to normal beginning next month.
There has now been rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon. God willing, we can soon look forward to cooler evenings and nights.
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