The elasticity of time and space.

It is a little known fact, that Malaysian taxis are, in fact, time machines. They are able to stretch and compress time and space, at will. All you have to do, to show this, is to book a cab...and then very strange journeys become possible.

The other day, I had the chance to test the time travelling properties of a Malaysian taxi. We made the same journey between the same two end points, in two different taxis, in two different circumstances. The results could not have been more different. On the outward journey, the meter was running. This journey took a LONG time. The total cost for the journey was 11 Ringgits.

Now, here is the interesting part. On the way back, I had to use a "government controlled" pre-paid taxi service. This is a curiously Malaysian inconvenience in which one has to pay for the taxi in advance. The most inconvenient part about this is that, invariably, the fares are much higher than they should be. Somewhere along the line I see "government tax" written all over this service. I was charged 14 Ringgits 50 cents for my pre-paid ticket. Now, imagine my surprise when the return journey took about ONE THIRD of the time of the outward bound journey. When the driver was not working on the meter, but was working for a prepaid amount, he took the shortest route back. That route happened to be three times shorter than the outward journey. However, note it was more expensive than the longer route, owing to the price gouging of the government controlled taxi service.

So, the lesson here is that, often, a Malaysian driver will only take the optimal route if he is on a fixed sum for the journey. If the journey is on a meter he will invent the longest route possible. We "enjoyed" one fine example of this phenomenon once, when we took a cab to a new place we had never been to before. The journey distance was about 17 and a half kilometres. We thought it rather far but had no idea how far it should be - so we duly paid the driver. On our way back, we had a different cab driver. Guess what the journey distance was? Just over four kilometres. We were appalled to see by how much we had been conned.

Malaysia is a beautiful country - but it suffers from poor transport infrastructure. One of the poorest aspects of that infrastructure, is the presence of dishonest drivers. There are just too many drivers willing to take a foreigner, like me, on a scenic tour of KL every time we want to pop down the road. Mind you, this is not a uniquely Malaysian problem since I was sometimes cheated in this way, in Singapore, too. Yet, not all drivers are dishonest. It is because of the honest ones that I get the chance to make route comparisons and come to realize when I have been conned...though usually too late to do anything about it.

So, if you are visiting Malaysia, just remember this: the cab you get into might just be a time machine, and the journey length could be anything up to four or five times the correct length. The best bet is to have checked a map first, so that you know where to go and how long it should take. Then make it clear to the driver that you know what's what: only then can you be sure of not being cheated in a Malaysian taxi. Happy travelling!

School food and allergy management

Like many children, Fintan, four, has his allergies - foods to which he responds negatively, in varying degrees. Prime among these allergenic foods are, unfortunately, cow's milk, soy and wheat. These are common foods found in a surprising range of products.

We told his school about the situation before he started there. As is the way of institutions promises were made, and assurances given - but were they kept? Has his school behaved responsibly on the issue of Fintan's allergies?

Well, any reasonable institution that respected the wishes of the parents and guarded the health of its charges would, of course, have done everything to ensure that Fintan was not exposed to the allergens that he has been shown to respond to. That, however, has not been our experience.

As regular readers will know, he came home from school one day, speaking of the "bread with sugar on it" and french fries that he had been given to eat. Now apart from being absolute junk food, the first of the two items is made of one of his prime allergens: wheat. This is not very reassuring.

Last week, he spoke of having eaten: "Hot dogs and cheese." Here we go again: dairy and wheat - plus a dollop of junk food.

I duly rang his school to complain about the food. What transpired was very interesting for what it said about the values of the Principal. She denied everything. She said that no such food had ever been served him. She said they were aware of his allergies.

I listened to this nonsense until she had quite finished and I then pointed out that the first occasion had been confirmed in person by one of her teachers.

She responded with a watchful silence.

I also pointed out that Fintan knows what particular foods are - and he doesn't lie. If he said that he had been given certain foods to eat, then sure enough he had.

She conceded this point with a grunt, finally admitting, in this reluctant way, the truth of what I had been told.

I then asked if he could be given fruit instead of nonsense.

She said: "We do have fruit."

Interesting, then, that Fintan has never mentioned it - and all he has ever mentioned is utter junk.

"Could we send him in with a packed lunch, then?" I asked, finally, seeking the only solution that would reassure me that all was well with his food intake.

"We don't have that policy.", she refused, firmly.

I see. It is not considered good policy to allow one's charges to be fed real food - and food free of allergens to which they respond.

Imagine. Just imagine, that this school was in charge of a child with a peanut allergy, (and, therefore subject to anaphylactic shock and risk of death). How would they explain to the parents that, through ignoring the wishes of the parents, on the issue of food, that their child had been killed by the food fed them, so carelessly?

Luckily for us, Fintan's reactions are generally restricted to rashes - but still, the principle applies: the parent's wishes regarding food for their child should NEVER be ignored. A parent would not trouble themselves to inform a school of something unless it were so.

I feel that this school doesn't take our request seriously. Well, they should. Persistent exposure to the allergen often worsens the response to it. The child gets sicker and sicker at each exposure. Basically, the school, in ignoring our wishes, is endangering Fintan's health.

In a more litigious society, like the US, I suppose that a school like Fintan's would soon be put out of business through being sued. That is not the way, here, however - partly because litigation is just so expensive.

The Principal, having been caught out in her untruth, has promised that Fintan's food will be watched carefully in future. I have no great confidence that this will be so, given their past performance.

In such a situation, there is only one option remaining: if the school continues to behave irresponsibly, move him elsewhere.

I confess we have thought about it, in response to their behaviour. The only issue that holds us back is that Fintan is settled there and has built up some friendships. It would be sad for him to move on, therefore.

We shall watch and wait.

(If you would like to read more of Fintan, four years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and eight months, or Tiarnan, eighteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, genetics, left-handedness, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)