Malaysia's Unemployed

I was just reading the BBC this morning and found that the US unemployment rate is currently 6.1%, and I immediately thought, "Gee, that's really high". And then I felt guilty because, for all I know, Malaysia's unemployment rate could be in the teens (though I would have remembered that). 

So I made a quick trip to Google (the birthchild of which rocks my box - Google Chrome) and made my way to Malaysia's Department of Statistics, which had a really useful link straight to Key Indicators of the Labour Market 2001-2007.

Here's the breakdown in % of population as at 2007:

• Unemployment: 3.2%
• No. of persons who work less than 20 hours a week: 2.0%
• Youth unemployment: 10.9%
• Youth unemployment as a proportion of total unemployment: 64.9%
• Long-term unemployment: 0.2%
• Long-term unemployment as a proportion of total unemployment: 7.5%
• Percentage of unemployment by educational attainment:

1. No education: 2.2%
2. Primary school: 11.1%
3. Secondary school: 61.6%
4. Tertiary education: 25.1%

• Inactive rate (working age): 36.8%
• Inactive rate (youth): 58.4%
• Illiteracy rate of population aged 15-24: 1.5%
• Illiteracy rate of population aged 25 and over: 6.4%

That's actually not too bad. Our unemployment rate is (was) only 3.2%, though it's undoubtedly gone higher by now. Do I think this is understated? Probably, but the usual method of understatement is to count those who work just a couple of hours a week as employed, which they have. But they also gave the figure as just 2.0% of the labour force, which is miniscule.

What's interesting is that those who have no education at all and those who have just a primary school education are more employed than those who have a tertiary education. Though they probably just don't have career goals. 

And there it is - another Malaysian statistic that Malaysians should know. 

Toxic Hunger

Continuing on the trend of healthy eating and drinking, apparently there's such a thing as "Toxic Hunger" and that's what we all experience everyday instead of real hunger. From the DietBlog: Overcoming Toxic Hunger: A major cause of obesity:

Most people never experience the healthy sensation of feeling hungry. Most of us keep eating to avoid hunger! But actually, feeling hungry is healthy. It directs your body to consume the amount of calories it requires for optimal health and ideal bodyweight.

Hunger, in the true sense of the word, indicates to us that it is time to eat again.

Instead of TRUE hunger, people experience TOXIC hunger--detoxification or withdrawal symptoms that they mistakenly consider hunger.

What is Toxic Hunger?

Toxic hunger is the group of symptoms a person experiences as our body mobilizes toxic wastes for elimination.

When our diet is low in nutrients, we build up intra-cellular waste products. So when digestion stops, our body goes through a period of "cleaning." Meaning our tissues release toxic substances into circulation for removal. Our cells can harbor toxic products that will eventually make us sick.

These uncomfortable "detox symptoms" occur after a meal is digested and the digestive track is empty. We start to feel shaky, head-achy, weak, get abdominal cramps or spasms, which we believe are hunger symptoms because they are relieved by eating.

What is Real Hunger?

Consider that real hunger is not often experienced in our modern, overfed population. Most people no longer even remember or are aware what hunger even feels like. Most people are surprised to find that true hunger is felt in the throat and not in the head or stomach.

An Alternative to Hunger

Now, you do not want to go hungry and deny yourself food to achieve an ideal weight. However, there is another answer. When we eat a high nutrient diet, rich in colorful vegetables and fruits, you will better meet the nutrient needs of our body--thus reducing or eliminating the withdrawal symptoms, that I call toxic hunger.

These super foods eliminate toxic hunger and overeating:

• Berries: blackberries, strawberries, blueberries
• Seeds: flax, sesame, sunflower
• Green Leafy Vegetables: kale, bok choy, spinach
• Colorful Raw Foods: tomatoes, carrots, peppers
• Steamed Greens: broccoli, string beans, asparagus

High-nutrient eating enables us to deal better with all types of stress, but in the case of hunger. Eating more high-nutrient foods will enable you to avoid "stress hunger" and not have the cravings and drive to overeat.

And there you have it. I admit I've never felt hunger in my throat, even though I'm fasting. However, I do remember that towards the end of the fasting month, your stomach does get really hungry. Though I suppose 'toxic hunger' must be what you feel about 1-hour after eating Chinese food, though. Put that in your hat and sit on it.

The Water Miracle?

Good news for those who're fasting: it turns out that there's no actual scientific data to prove the "8 glasses of water a day" rule. As a matter of fact, according to the Wall Street Journal, there's apparently no real scientific data that proves that drinking water does any of the following:

• increases calorie-burning;
• reduces migraines;
• increases blood flow to the skin;
• improves the functions of various organs; or
• flushes out the toxins from your body.

But before you stop drinking water totally, though these haven't been proven, it doesn't mean that drinking water isn't any good. It still helps prevent cancer, strokes, and kidney stones and all kinds of other bad things. The main point is that if you're not susceptible to it, there's no necessity to force-feed yourself 8 glasses a day. Especially if you're fasting and try to do it within 4 hours.

There actually is such a thing as drinking too much water and people have died from it. The body can only absorb 1 quart of water per hour, after which your brain could start swelling. That should be your guide to how much to drink at night in the fasting month.

You what?

I've finally settled in and have sort of caught up on stuff so I now sort of have free time again. For starters, the 5 week expedition was really good. I mean, it had its ups and downs like everything else, and I won't lie - I was counting down the days from the beginning - but it really was good.

The breakdown:

• About 5 days in Likas doing team-building and preparation stuff.
• 3 weeks in Kg Tungou, Ranau building a water feed system and hanging with the truly awesome locals.
• 1 week Adventure Phase, which consisted of actual camping next to Sg Kiulu, 3 days of hardcore hiking with no water sources nearby, and white-water rafting down to TAC.
• 1 day at Traverse Adventure Centre (TAC) next to Sg Kiulu, which was a truly lovely place where we slept in hammocks that were already set up.
• 1 day at Borneo Paradise Hotel, which is a crappy little 0-star hotel but is a great place to be after over a week of no proper showering or clothes-washing.

I learned:

• German numbers, days, and head, shoulders, knees and toes.
• How to cook meals with tinned stuff.
• How to make goreng pisang.
• How to set up my own hammock and basher.
• That the Brits call it "porridge" while the Americans call it "oatmeal".
• That I can survive about a week in super smelly clothes.
• That kampung people are the loveliest people there are.
• "Type 2 Fun" - The kind of fun where you don't realise you're having fun while you're doing it. In fact, at the time, you may think it's not fun at all. The realisation only hits you later when it's over.

So now I'm back, and I've started at the department that I would like to confirm in (they've given me an actual office with windows, there's free parking, there's a game room complete with foosball table and Wii, and there's a small walled garden where we can hang out), and more importantly, I'm clean and can shower at least twice a day if I like.

It really was good, and I made loads of friends from England whom I miss already.

FYI, the blog for my expedition can be found at http://malaysia-summer08.blogspot.com. Read all about it.

The Return

I have returned from the midst of the Borneo jungles (Expedition 08G). Basically, I

1. arrived at my parents' place and found that they were asleep,
   
2. made a mad dash for food, munching on the drive back home,
   
3. dumped my skanky, manky, ridiculously smelly clothes in the washer,
   
4. munched on the way to the spa,
   
5. had a scrub to scrub away the dirt of not properly washing and wearing the same clothes for a week,
6. had a facial for much of the same reasons,
7. had my hair washed at the salon for much of the same reasons.

More to come.