Melamine-laced Milk Scandal - Lessons For Malaysian PR practitioners in Crisis Management

The Sanlu Milk Scandal happened several thousand miles away in China and most of Malaysia's milk and milk-products manufacturers are not in the direct line-of-fire.

When the news broke some three weeks back, many were not even aware of the intensity of the fall-out - only to find themselves hit smack in the face when governments started withdrawing samples for testing and subsequently removing the suspect products off the shelves.

In Malaysia, the alarm bells rang only after Singapore had removed samples of milk and milk-related products for testing and the authorities started taking samples - 53 at first and 132 the next 24 hours - and testing them. Most of these products are household brand names. Only 7 test results were released the first 24 hours of the first sampling but the fact that these were safe and melamine free did not mean much. What about those that were tainted? Till today, the ministry did not reveal much except to say that some products are melamine-free and some questionably "within standards".

While the announcements of the testing and results were commendable, and the public relations section of the Ministry of Health must be congratulated for quickly setting up a web-based operations centre here, the usefulness of the portal was very much limited to learning which products are safe.

Consumers don't want to know which are safe. What they need to know is which are not, and if this is available, they can avoid them.

Not all products were released at specific intervals daily - for instance, there were no results released on Sept 29, two days before the main public holiday of Aidil Fitri. For two days subsequently, offices would be closed as people go on their national public holiday. Would the researchers continue working on the tests and release results daily? One wonders!

Since last week, however, the companies whose products have been taken for sampling have been kept extremely busy. While some were savvy enough to initiate crisis management countermeasures, others were still waiting for the crisis to blow over - which it would given enough time.

In the wake of the Singapore testing, one of the earliest to come up with press ads to declare their products safe was Kraft, which produced the highly popular Oreos. Dutch Lady launched its countermeasure one day earlier than the Oreos advertisement with a press conference but the news (which was carried by major news distributor Bernama) was more than a investor-relations move than building consumer confidence.

Dutch Lady Not Affected By Tainted Milk Scandal In
China

PETALING JAYA, Sept 23 (Bernama) --
Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, one of Malaysia's leading dairy companies, does not expect any negative impact on its earnings or dividends following the tainted milk scandal in China, said managing director Hans Laarakker Tuesday.
"We believe, with the strong brand that we have and also the measures being taken, there should be no negative impact on
sales or our market share," he told a media briefing here....
More here

Couple of days later, that week's Friday, this writer had the privilege of interacting with an almost frantic public relations consultant of a prominent brand of milk and milk products. This US-based company produces infant formula mostly.

The call came at about 11am asking if a press release on the company's stand on the whole milk contamination issue had been received by the office. It was sent by fax, I was told. When I said "No, we received nothing of that sort", she sounded exasperated with a noticeable tension in her voices that I could almost swear that the first thought that flashed through my mind was that she failed to send any material and were now making up for it.

I told her she should have checked the previous, when the fax she claimed was sent. Doing so hours before the newspaper was printed would have been a less stressful thing to do.

At 11am the following day, it would take at least another 19 hours before her client's statement could see light of day - if at all editorial space provided such an opportunity.

Why not set up the notice at the client's website? And how about taking up and advertisement to ensure that the statement was published? And thereon suggested various things she could, as a public relations consultant for a multinational, could do with some creativity.

The Sanlu Melamine Laced Milk Scandal, when the fallout had done its damage, could perhaps be best remembered as one event that has tested the capabilities of public relations practitioners in Malaysia in the face of a crisis.

The ignorance of public relations practitioners of the speed with which information (and misinformation) travels in cyberspace and the need for urgency for action in the age of media convergence, can clearly be seen by the lack of the use of web tools and other tools to reassure their publics.

I do not remember seeing a Google advertisement stating products were safe by any company. Social networking tools like YouTube (reinforcing the company's safety standards, perhaps?) or Facebook (company-moderated group to discuss concerns?) were not used at all to disseminate information about companies that were in some way affected by the bad publcity generated thousands of miles away.

Crises turn into disasters when companies and their public relations people do not know how to manage it. The public relations practitioner is dutybound to safeguard the company's corporate image and the goodwill it has earned over the years. Not knowing how to respond, to act rather than react, during a crisis, or worse, ignoring it altogether, is suicidal - to both the practitioner's career and the future of company he/she represents.

I identify two main reasons for the slow engagement time.

• One: the public relations person is ill-trained to handle crisis if he/she was roped in based on good English, some reporting experience and had not undergone a course in proper public relations.
• Two: The PR arm or personnel was placed in the backseats of the marketing function (as marketing communications) and was unable to react sufficiently fast enough because of corporate red-tape.

How much a company and its earnings will suffer (whether or not its products are contaminated) is yet to be seen. But for not doing anything if its products are milk or milk related, the company stands a good chance of ending up in the book of bad public relations case studies. For the public relations practitioner who did nothing, it is time to look for another job.

Is Phemie Dull A Possible Scammer?

I received this email offering to place ads on my site. Naturally, I was happy to oblige but the subject line piqued my curiosity. It was a FWD message and sure enough, when I tried replying, the address was from another person/being.
Below is a screenshot. (If you have received the same on your site, let's build reference links to each other by adding comments to this post).

I have googled for Phemie Dull and guess what appeared here. I have reported it to Godaddy and waiting their reply. Keep your eyes on this article for updates if you own a domain and have been approached by Dull.

What Companies Like Readers' Digest Can Do To Save The Trees

I wrote about how my letterbox has been inundated with junk mails from companies like Readers' Digest some time back. I have received some response from readers one of which was released at the post. The reader wants to know what can be done.

Well, if I am the Readers' Digest CEO, I will ask my marketing man to stop spamming mailboxes with junk mail. In this time and age, this simply does not work. If he fails to listen to me, I will then make him deliver the junk mails to all my subscribers in the Asia Pacific and let him realise how much paper have been wasted and how many trees had been cut down because of the junk promotional mails. If again he is undaunted, I will fire him and employ someone more in tune with this time and age - especially where global marketing had gone on the web.

For the readers, however, I think the best instance is to cancel your subscriptions to Readers' Digest for spamming your mailbox with physical junk mail. By not respecting your privacy, and intelligence, why should you keep it alive?

It is perplexing to know that despite the computers being used to link all front and back operations, Readers' Digest apparently did not bother to check its database to see if the intended recipient of its mailers was already a subscriber and therefor there is no need to bomb his mailbox with a Life-time Chance To Win $2,000,000 contest forms of various sizes. This persistent unsolicited mails more certainly do not speak highly of its marketing intelligence. Perhaps, you'd be better off reading National Geographic.

More Problems With Kaspersky Updates

I have never used an antivirus other than AVG and AVG. I had a brief love affair with Norton until it got too bulky and expensive.

So, recently, prompted more by hypes than vibes, I decided to test out Kaspersky. At below USD40 for an all-in Internet Security software, it cannot be bad. If it was easier on the pocket, so be it. Oil prices are rocketing sky high and any amount of relief financially was welcomed.

And so, out AVG goes and in Kaspersky.

And boy, was I impressed by the many alerts on how many of my Microsoft-wares had vulnerabilities and how informed I was now of these tiny loopholes that could compromise my system and web presence.

Nevermind if most of them could not be rectified because they were no longer supported - knowing more about my system vulnerability was in this case comforting in a weird sense because apparently this Russian software knew more than the Czechs' did.

I was happily using it, comfortable in the knowledge that I was somehow protected, until recently when the updates refused to download and emails to their support group went unanswered.

What could be the problem?

Impressions start to form. Marketing sense start ticking. Public relations database of poor service study-cases start cross referencing and I began to wonder.

Where is the customer service?

If I cant download updates, my system is just as good as gone - what's the point of Kaspersky Internet Security warning that my system is at risk and yet the updates failed to download?

To be fair, there was quite a bit on how to download from their server and the install. But hey, how many of their customers worldwide knew beyond right-clicks and left-clicks? Downloading files are daunting enough for some, let alone telling them to unpack this in that folder and create this directory here and unzip that file there but not here. This is not good for business, for Pete's sake. It is amazing how little stuff like this goes by unnoticed.

I am waiting for their responses - emails had been sent three days ago and all I got was a notifier that they received my email ticket and that the complaint was submitted to the tech department. I am giving it a few more days, if not .... I can almost hear that familiar Czech-ware calling ...

By the way, do you have problems with Kaspersky? Talk to me. I wanna hear from you..

Latest! Kaspersky still have not replied. It's been 48 hours and I am nearer to uninstalling this software for its Czech-originated counterpart AVG. Updates for build 8.0.0.454 are still not working. Don't waste time updating your Internet Security because I doubt they are downloading any update into your system. Otherwise the software wont be telling you that your software is at risk and you need to update no matter how many time you did.

Educational Excellence is Just Mind Over Matter

The University Sains Malaysia was conferred the APEX University status recently, acknowledging its superiority among the rest of public educational institutions in Malaysia. But where English is concerned, I would not hold my breath - as seen in the congratulatory chest-beating which ran in the local print media.

And if this advertisement is anything to measure its education excellence by, then the past products of the varsity should take a hard look at their slips. Afterall, educational excellence is purely mind over matter. If you dont mind, it doesnt matter. And if it was you alma mater, then you should correct the matter. Mater I mean - before you run another ad.

Have You Changed Your Maybankard Yet?

Old card (left) and new card.

If for some reason your Maybank ATM card is faulty, then by all means change that Maybankard. Otherwise, stick to the old one. I will tell you why.

Couple of months back, my five year old Maybankard began to show trouble. It was apparently so old that its own ATM didnt recognise it. And I cant withdraw money as I please. Sometimes it worked like a charm, sometimes I wish I owned another bank's card. So I changed it.

I went over to one of the many Maybank outlets in the city and the process was fast. Within minutes the new card was ready, the old cut snipped into two by a very sharp pair of shears, and I got a spanking clean card - with debit facilities, too. That means if I want to use it to buy things, and as long as the amount I spent equals the amount I have in my account, I just need to pass the card over to the counter girl to be swiped for payment. No questions will be asked.

Reason I changed to the new card was because the Maybank girl told me there was no more yellow-and-black cards. They had been discontinued. So, unwillingly, I changed. And now I am sorry I did.

I did not think much of it till I returned to the same outlet, accompanying a friend to change her card. Guess what: Another Maybank girl over the counter asked her which card she would like to have: old yellow-black Maybankard or the 'Cherry Faced' Maybank Debit Card. Either way she would have to pay RM12.00 for transaction fee. So, I asked what's the difference. The Maybank girl replied:

"You can use the new card for purchasing things. You can't with the old card.

"But if you lose your new card, someone finds it, he/she can spend up to RM500 and you can't do anything about it." Why? "Well, above RM500, the spender would have to key in the pin number."

Apparently, there is no special security measure like getting the spender to key in the pin number for any amount of spending below RM500. So, if you lose your card and I find it, I can spend up to that spending limit before you can get me - or if you report the loss first. Stupid, isn't it?

I suppose if you are young and naive, and stupid, you would want to have the card that may cause you to be RM500 poorer if Father Fate decide to pull a fast one on you.

But then, I suppose owning one debit card can be a bragging right for some people but to me, the old card, which requires Pin for transactions, is a much smarter alternative. If the bank cannot come up with tight security features, why bother coming up with the new card?

Blocked Sites Online Again As Malaysian Government Says It Will Not Block Blogs or Websites

Well, that has been some piece of good news. Yesterday the Malaysian Government has agreed not to block sites and blogs. Well and good. Someone up there must be thinking straight and saw the light.

Why resort to such futile exercise when you know that it is virtually (pun intended) impossible to actually block sites and even if the futile exercise was partially successful, the best it did was to make the blockers look like 'gobloks'?

The authorities should in fact put thinking people on its board, not some trigger happy clerk ready to shoot down all and sundry and throw the morality book at anyone without thinking of the fallout - or how their consequences would reveal their lack of knowledge, skill and expertise where cyberspace is concerned.

I am saying this because over the past few weeks, this writer has been alerted to the fact that someone representing the authorities has been sending out mails to site publishers asking them to explain why objectionable content was put on their site.

These objectionable content, mind you, are not porn. Nor are they text-link ads publicising some pyramid "Pak Man Telo" or "Labu Peram" schemes - which in my opinion would have made better and more logical target for showcauses.

The objectionable content are non other than alcoholic beverage ads. In case you have not noticed, there are some sites showing the objectional content - some brown bubbles blowing off the page and when clicked take you to the intended homepage and god help you if you are forbidden to click on such stuff.

I cannot write which alcoholic beverage company lest I myself commit the same sin of spelling out the objectionable content. And I won't tell you which publisher showed the ads, lest I embarrass them as well.

But I was told that any one who displayed the harp brand beverage advertisement now has to contend with replying to a showcause - the severity of which I have no knowledge except from what has been told to me. heck, I don't even know if it is true, but pray share if you have heard that it is.

Come to think of it, the powers that be have yet to really understand the meaning of globalisation and cyberspace.

Is there law against alcoholic beverage? Or is it merely that morality thing again which we often like to throw upon others?

I think there needs to be a rethink for all internet governing bodies in Malaysia.

Ban scams and other dubious ads but not ads like alcoholic beverages which have gained worldwide acceptance.

Ban cigarette ads if you must - and look stupid - but you can safely leave beer ads alone. At best it makes you look silly, yet again.

Watch Out For This 'Maybank' Scam

I have never trusted internet banking as much as some of you do. To me, it is very easy to intercept internet transactions and if you have no means of securing your transaction, and verify every cent that goes through your phone lines or wireless, I suggest you be careful.

Just received this scam today from a phishing site. The scammer apparently uses an email harvester to get my email and in so doing got itself trapped as content of this post.

Here is the gist of the letter sent from this email:

Maybank Group using a disguised email link(serviceverifyprove_at_maybank2u.com.my) :

Dear Valued Customer:
Your Maybank Account info needs to be verified to allow you have
access to online banking
So we have issued this warning message to you,
This message is sent from our secure server to verify your
Maybank Account info as there have been a multiple error logon
and Maybank failure.
Your access to online banking has been limited temporarily for
security reason's by Maybank2u Online Banking Service.
Verify your account now and enjoy the benefits of Maybank2u Internet Banking,
Follow the steps provided to your on this link below
http://may2u-banking.com/login.html
All information must be followed as been directed,

Just look at the highlighted link.


If you conduct online transactions ever so frequently, switch off your HTML displays in all your emails.

Most of these scammers use the link pointers to disguise their location. Click and you will be brought to another site from which the scammer will trick you into entering your username and password.

Meanwhile, you may visit Maybank's list of phishing sites which have been identified. I hope they add this one just mentioned.

Proton's Overpriced 'Original' Bumper Bummer

How much is an original Proton Iswara bumper?
Answer: RM470 if you purchase it at any of the Proton service centres - Proton Edar or EON.

But if you choose to have it fixed elsewhere, the price ranges anywhere from RM240 to RM270, depending on whether or not the person fixing it wants to charge you any more than he should. That's the price - excluding workmanship, which amounts to about RM50 to RM80.

Why I am writing about Proton's overpriced bumper is perhaps a way of rationalising why the company is not in the good books of consumers and why many prefer third party products.

I surprised by this since because of a personal experience. I was almost willing to pay RM470 (excluding duit pasang - installation fee) at a Proton Edar outlet recently when fate would have it that they did not have stock, on a Saturday evening. Instead, the mechanic fixing it decided to purchase one from a spare parts dealer and got me an original.

I wonder why the huge margin - a total of RM230 to be exact, and that's not even including installation fee. How much does it cost to order an original bumper from Proton and keep it in the godown anyway? RM230 more a piece? And you expect do business with the gullible? No wonder people say Proton parts are expensive!

When parent companies do not keep an eye on their dealers, or sanction unreasonable pricing, they lose their business in no time. And in the case of Proton, they should wisen up. They should find out what is reasonable pricing and what is cut-throat pricing. And if originals cost X amount of money, do not double it. This is bad marketing sense, and when your tricks are exposed, you you public realations image goes down the drain.