Motivation : Garbage Collector With Heart of Gold

Li Yukun has long passed her retirement age of 50 in China.

But the 64-year-old sanitary worker and garbage collector begged to keep her job because she has more than 10 students to support.

Since 1998, Li helped 15 students from poor families.

Kang Yujing is among students helped by Li. She had been receiving 1,000 yuan (RM464) from the kind-hearted grandmother yearly over the past four years.

After finding out the identity of her "angel", the Year Four undergraduate of Qufu Normal University decided to visit her.

When she saw Li sweeping the Wendeng street, Kang ran towards her and held her tightly.

She burst into tears, as she had never imagined that the money given to her was from such hard work.

"I had always thought that the philanthropist was a rich man called 'Uncle Li'."

Li, whose colleagues call "Iron Feet Li", has always spent all her money helping the poor and the underprivileged.

She leads a very simple life and lives in a crude home with an old donated TV set as the only appliance.

Wendeng's construction bureau gave her 50,000 yuan (RM23,220) for living expenses, but she has donated all of the money.

Li had also decided to donate her organs after death.

Source: Xinhua Published Dec 27 2010

Three Important Parameters in Making Tempeh

The three important parameters in making tempeh are:

1. moist or water content
2. tempeh starter or inoculum tempeh
3. incubating temperatures

The moist or water content of substrate

Practically all seeds such as rice, beans, peas, oat, and others can be made tempeh. Each gives a different taste. Each takes a different period of time in boiling to get ready for inoculation.  Soybeans, the main and most common stuff for tempeh takes 45 to 60 minutes, but most peas take fifteen to twenty minutes. After dehulling, soybeans need five to ten minutes of second boiling before being drained and spread drying on towels.  Additional nuking and blowing are sometimes necessary.  The difficult task is to gauge the dryness of the substrate. Too dry means slow or no growth of mycelium; too wet, however, results in myceliolysis and rotting tempeh.  Fortunately, the margin of safety is wide enough.

Tempeh starter or Inoculum tempeh

Using too much and insufficient amount of starter result in myceliolysis or rotting tempeh. The safest way is just following the recommendation of the makers of the starter. Using home made starter needs lots patience in trial and error.  Please see

http://tech.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/TEMPEH/photos/browse/c0ea

and also open and read “Making tempeh starter” from

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/TEMPEH/files/

Luckily, the margin of safety is pretty wide.

Incubating temperatures

For the first ten hours, incubating at 31 to 33 C or 88 to 91 F is safe.  For the next six hours, temperatures around 28 C or 82 F are good.  As soon as the substrate starts generating its own heat (the temperature inside the incubator begins to rise) or some condensation starts, the heating source should be removed.  Rhizopus  keeps on growing at temperatures below 20 C or 64 F, but it grows at slower pace.

Generally, tempeh matures in 24 to 30 hours.

What Is HALAL

Halal is an Arabic word which means lawful or permissible by Islamic laws.

Definition of Halal in accordance to Trade Descriptions ( Use of expression "halal" ) 1975 is as follows:

When used in relation to food in any form whatsoever in the course of trade or business as or as part of, a trade description applied to the food, the expression "Halal" , "Di-Tanggung Halal" or "Makanan Halal" or any other expression indicating or likely to be understood as indicating that Muslims are permitted by their religion to consume such food such expression shall heve the following meaning, that is to say the food in relation to which such expression or expressions are used:

1. Neither is nor consist of or contains any part or matter of an animal that a Muslim is prohibited by Hukum Syarak to consume or that has not been slaughtered in accordance with Hukum Syarak.
2. Does not contain anything which is considered to be impure according to Hukum Syarak.
3. Has not been prepared, processed or manufactured using instrument that was not free from anything impure according to Hukum Syarak; and
4. Has not in the course of preparation, processing or storage been in contact with or close proximity to any food that fails to satisfy paragraph (1) (2) or (3) or anything that is considered to be impure according to Hukum Syarak.