A BETTER YEAR AHEAD

A BETTER YEAR AHEAD

As we are almost reaching the end of 2012, how many of us have wondered or pondered what will be the year ahead like? The answer depends very much on us and how we collectively make it. This is because our beliefs determine our actions.

We believe the worst is over and we are heading to a much better year ahead if we persistently take collectively conscious actions to press on to a new record height level. In fact, we can make good use of the multi-media and social media to spread the truths, despite the fact the truths are spreading relative slower than the bad news. However, these will not deter us as we can still turn these into wise moves by not only providing its warranted attention but also following up with actions that demand accountability and responsibility proportionately and accordingly to the rule of law throughout the globe. These will create true transparency, integrity and accountability on the substance and not form.

''How long you will go on killing innocent people...if one Malala will be killed, thousands will replace her. One Benazir was killed, thousands replaced her..'' Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the 24 year-old son of Benazir Bhutto and the heir to one of the most powerful, famous, and controversial political dynasties in the world, made his formal lethal world of Pakistani politics at an emotional rally in a small village which is his family's ancestral home in the south of the country. This is a good illustration between the "two powers" in his homeland, "those on the right path and those on the path of lies."

Today, the Indian news channel NDTV greeted news of the death of the gang-rape victim, on a bus that sickened India, in the early hours of Saturday in a Singapore hospital with the banner headline "RIP: India's Daughter", in  another reflection of how her plight had moved the nation. After spending her evening watching "Life of Pi" in a New Delhi mall, the 23-year-old student and her male companion were looking for a quick lift home when a bus with tinted windows pulled over.

The pair was then subjected to a catalogue of violence and sexual depravity which has evoked comparisons with Anthony Burgess's novel "A Clockwork Orange" and brought simmering anger over the plight of women to the boil across India. Hope this anger will ultimate transformed into consciousness and not hatred.

Ever since she was attacked on the night of December 16, the country's leaders have lined up to offer their prayers and condemn the attack as well as paying for her treatment in Singapore.

After getting into an argument with the woman's male companion, the group are then alleged to have lashed out at the pair before taking turns to rape the woman in the back of the bus while driving around Delhi for some 45 minutes.

They also sexually assaulted the woman with a rusting metal bar, leaving her with severe intestinal injuries, before hurling her out of the vehicle.

The bus would have had to cross numerous police checkpoints at that time of night but at no stage was the vehicle pulled over by officers.

After news of the attack emerged, small-scale protests quickly swelled and were then repeated across the country -- fuelled in part by anger at the police's use of tear gas and water cannon.

The Indian government has set up a commission of inquiry to investigate what mistakes were made on the night of the attack and in its aftermath.

But in an address to chief ministers from the country's states who gathered in New Delhi on Thursday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh acknowledged that it was far from an isolated event.

"We must reflect on this problem, which occurs in all states and regions. It requires greater attention by the central government and states," he said.

Gang-rapes happen on such a regular basis that they are rarely reported in the Indian press although the attack in Delhi has led papers to shine a rare spotlight on such attacks.

On Thursday night, it emerged that a 17-year-old girl had committed suicide after police allegedly tried to persuade her to drop a complaint of gang-rape and instead either accept a cash settlement or even marry one of her attackers.

After quoting from the infamous gang-rape scene in Burgess's novel, a columnist for The Hindu wrote this week that "few Indians will need a dictionary of the teenage slang Burgess invented to grasp the horror of this passage".

"For progress to be made, we must begin by acknowledging this one fact: the problem isn't the police, the courts or the government. The problem is us," wrote Praveen Swami.

Trust the above two incidents have  demonstrated the points that we must take accountabilities of our own actions and not to blame others. We need to make changes should we truly want to make progress. Change is the solution.

We can't expect progress should we stay status quo or follow the same approach we deal with the things like in the past.

Therefore, it is crystal clear as to how we determine the better year ahead is through changes. Then those lives of those kind and innocent ones being killed are not lost in vain.

Let us put the old chapter, of those innocent lives being killed, to an end and move forward to a happy, harmonious and healthy year ahead. So, let us embrace change and make the year ahead better.

  

James Oh

http://my.linkedin.com/pub/oh-james/12/a11/29b

http://www.facebook.com/people/James-Oh/706849667

http://www.facebook.com/people/James-Oh/706849667#!/pages/Lift-You-Up-Always-there-for-You/176685462397920

THE EFFECTIVE & HEALTHY MOSQUITO REPELLENT - CAMPHOR

DO HELP SPREAD THIS USE OF CAMPHOR TO AS MANY AS YOU CAN! THE ARTICLE - 
Camphor- The effective & healthy mosquito repellent. 
Malaria and Dengue are on a steep rise. We all must be using liquid or the old blue tablet type of mosquito repellents sold under various names. Despite their use, it is common to see mosquitoes hovering around with the best of repellents in action. Secondly, we cannot use these mosquito repellents whole day are they being of any brand. Thirdly, many people land up with allergies due to them. 
In the past, man would light diyas and burn camphor on a regular basis as a part of daily puja. These helped to purify the air and keep harmful bacteria, viruses, and mosquitoes away! We can definitely have a better and healthy environment with the use of camphor. 
Camphor or Kapur is a waxy, white, or transparent substance extracted from the wood of the Camphor Laurel tree found in Asia. Camphor has many known medicinal uses- 
It relieves nasal congestion and cough when rubbed on the chest as an oil. Camphor is used as an ingredient in throat lozenges and cough syrups and in Vicks. Camphor is also used in some anti-itch ointments, creams and cooling gels because it is can be absorbed through skin and is effective at treating pain locally. It has an analgesic effect which makes it a favorite oil to be used in pain relieving massage blends for sore muscles and arthritic pain. Camphor is known to improve the quality of air making it a better for our lungs and heart. 
Many people are not aware of the Mosquito repellent power of Camphor - a simple solution without side effects and very cost effective. CAMPHOR IS A NATURAL MOSQUITO REPELLENT With effect round the clock! You do not need to burn it for that. There are three easier ways to do it - 


1. Put 2 tablets of commercially available camphor on any warm surface- the device shown in the picture serves the purpose well. Plug it for an hour and see the results! You can do it twice a day- morning and in the night as well! 

2. Place 2 tablets of camphor on different corners of the room or at places where mosquitoes seem to love to stay! Leave them there and they will evaporate in a day or so keeping the air purer and mosquito free. 

3. Take a wide opened cup or plate with water. Drop 2 tablets of Camphor into the water. Keep the cup with water and camphor in your sleeping room. The quantity of water and camphor may differ from room size. Water evaporates at normal temperature. Camphor slowly started dissolving in water. The water evaporates with Camphor smell. Adding little bit hot water gives instant action. 

You will be amazed at the results! Do experience it and help spread these healthy tips!

 

WORLD TOP 10 HYDRATING FOOD

THE BEAUTY OF THE HARRY POTTER

USE IT AS OUR COMPASS FOR SUCCESS.

BLUE ECONOMY

TODAY, WE ARE LIVING IN THE WORLD THAT DEMAND HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS

LET US SPREAD HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS TO THE WORLD
INSIDE US,
FOLLOW BY AROUND US
AND EVENTUALLY THE WHOLE WORLD

SO AS TO HAVE A BETTER TOMORROW
WHAT COMES AROUND WILL GOES AROUND
HAVE FAITH

KEEP SOWING
AND YOU WILL NOT HAVE THE RESULT
YOU WILL REAP

HOMELESS BOY STEALS THE TALENT

BE THAT ONE TODAY.

THIS IS THE SEED WE SOW

AND HOPE THAT OUR BLOG

WILL BE THAT ONE TODAY.

HOW TO MAKE EFFECTIVE SELF IMPROVEMENT

 
Ladies and gentlemen,

Have you ever wondered why there is a relatively low success rate from the approaches of self improvement of any kind ? Not many of you do.

Here, I write to share my findings with you and I hope you will then have a  better picture and appropriate perspective.

From my observation in numerous training workshops, I have discovered that there is a GREAT tendency to presume that these workshops are mainly for fixing defective areas when approaching self improvement of any kind. It has become rather obvious that there are areas in our lives that need to be changed. Sadly to say that the mindset with which the most transformation approach often NEGATE any positive results they might have. 

You may wonder why? This is basically because of focusing on the PROBLEM they are trying to solve, rather than on their vision. In the end, they tend to attract more problems in line with the saying " if you focus on the problem, you get more problems."

This is how the  Law of Attraction works at all times, even if we are not aware of it. So, the Law of Attraction transcends that we will receive exactly, proportionally and equally to our response, ...our FEELINGS so to speak. Where is our attention and focus directed to ? The question here is whether there is any negative feeling associated with the problem or the feelings of no longer having the problem?

However, if you approach self improvement with the desire to "get rid of the problem" with all the negative feelings of frustration and anger this "problem" brings, then you will naturally attract more of those negative feelings...more of the circumstances that brought the problem to you in the first place according to the Universal Law. The Universe is simply responding directly to the "implied request" on the way of your feelings, even if you are unaware of your situation.

Should we approach our self improvement solutions with high positive feelings; associated with what our life WILL be...coupled with the visualisation of our success; followed by our program of choice on all sensory levels; particularly the level of our EMOTION, we will literally magnetically ATTRACT the success we are looking for! This alignment and harmonisation of our minds and spirits with the universe will produce miracles.

Naturally, the wealthiest and most successful people in the world using the Law of Attraction, knowingly or unknowingly, to effortlessly bring into their lives, their vision in the form of wealth, relationships, wisdom, peace of mind, and a sense of life purpose.

The truth is that everyone CAN have whatever he wants, regardless of how this may sound. What he needs to do is simply learn HOW to ask for what he truly wants and follow with positive and healthy response.

Despite what most of us may currently believe in or had been taught, it is never the intent of our lives to struggle with long hard work, or even to "figure things out". What we need to do is do what we truly love to do. Once we do that with full trust and become consciously aware, we will naturally attract our deepest desires working toward our ends.  Hence, we become powerful magnets, which virtually assures our success. 

Wishing you great success,

James Oh

http://my.linkedin.com/pub/oh-james/12/a11/29b

http://www.facebook.com/people/James-Oh/706849667

http://www.facebook.com/people/James-Oh/706849667#!/pages/Lift-You-Up-Always-there-for-You/176685462397920

MERRY CHRISTMAS

May you & your family have a

JOYFUL CHRISTMAS

(or holiday)

&

a FRUITFUL NEW YEAR !!!

SUCCESS TO US IS..

AS DEFINED IN THE ABOVE, WE ARE DESIRED TO KNOW HOW FAR OUR BLOG HAS INSPIRE YOU.
IF NOT, TELL US KNOW WE CAN DO IT BETTER

YOU MAY PROVIDE YOUR FEEDBACK THROUGH COMMENT SECTION
ALTERNATIVELY YOU MAY EMAIL US TO jamesoh2003@yahoo.co.uk

YOUR VOICE IS GREATLY APPRECIATED
BEAR IN MIND THAT THIS BLOG IN EXISTENCE

BECAUSE OF YOU
YOU DO MAKE IT HAPPENS



TO READ OTHER RELATED ARTICLE, PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW

TME WRITTEN SCRIPT

TME AT CIMA, 19-Dec 2012.

 

GREETINGS

 

Very good evening Fellow TM, Guests, L&G.

How are you feeling today? Awesome !

It is my pleasure to be your TME today, and my name is James Oh from AFC TM club.

 

On behalf CIMA TM club, I  would like extend a warm welcome to all the new members, old members and thank all the guests taking your precious time to attend this evening meeting.

 

My role is to cheer all of you up tonight and add zest to (stimulate) this evening’s meeting, I'm going to give you a simple task. When I say something and if you don't feel you agree with me, then you say I totally agree.

 

If I say something you don’t like then you say, yes I like it.... Can you guys do that?? I am just joking.. when I say how do you feel now " I feel good ohh yes..."

 

 

HISTORY

Let me give all of you a brief introduction of what is toastmasters international.

 

Toastmaster was formed in 1924 by a well respected missionary gentleman called DR.RALPH C. SMEDLEY, the founder of TI. From a humble beginning , he started the first Toastmaster meeting at the YMCA in Santa Ana, California United States.

 

Toastmasters International has grown to become a world leader in helping people become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. The non-profit organization now has nearly 280,000 members in over 13,500 clubs in 116 countries, offering a proven, pleasant – and enjoyable! – way to practise communication and leadership skills.

 

You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.

 

Toastmasters is the best place to learn, to build your confidence. So don't worry if you never speak on stage before. Laugh at yourself first before anyone can.  This is the platform to start your journey to become a good speaker.

 

How do you feel now?.

 

  

INTRODUCE PROG FLOW

 

I believe tonight is going to be a great night and you will enjoy  all the various exciting and enriching sessions specially designed for you.

 

1^st ,  the normal stimulating TT session in which we can learn how to listen, think and speak in an impromptu manner, will be replaced with the “12 Days of Christmas “ in view of forthcoming Christmas Day.

Then we have the prepared speech session where the speakers will deliver their speeches prepared in advance.

After that, we will be enlightened by a group of accomplished TMs who will evaluate all speakers, role players and the entire meeting, and give their invaluable constructive feedback for improvement.

Also, our meeting will not be able to proceed effectively/efficiently without the following other role players whom I will be most delighted to introduce now.

Grammarian

First in my list is the Grammarian. Please welcome Advance Competent Bronze CL Steven Yong to explain his role as a Grammarian and to introduce the Word Of Day.

 

AH Counter

Next, we have Ah-Counter. Please welcome TM Lim Chong Soon to explain his role as an Ah-Counter.

 

Thank you

 

Time Keeper

Next important role player is the Time Keeper. Please welcome CC, CL Jerusha (did I pronounce your name correctly?)  to explain his role as the Time Keeper.

Last but not least to the most important role player of tonight non other than our GE Alexandra Lau CC.

 

May I pass the control to Andy Ching, Advance C Bronze, CL? Let us put our hands to welcome Andy Ching, ACB. CL

Prepared Speeches

Now, we’ll move on to the 2^nd peak of the meeting, which is our prepared/project speech session.

 

Speaker No. 1: Tm Ryder title “When Stroke Happens”

To kick-start this session, we have the 1^st speaker Tm Ryder, he will be delivering a speech based on Project 5 from the Competent Communicator Manual Your Body Speaks

Since we have 2 speakers for project 5, I will now invite his evaluator, Desmond to read out the project objectives and timing devices to both the first and third speakers.

TQ

Evaluator Desmond Foo CC

TQ  ( 2 change accordingly) that’s indeed informative, educational and useful information that will help us prevent stroke. Prevention is better than cure.  

a brain-blowing, mind-boggling, thought-provoking, heart-searching and heart-warming life story.

 

Speaker No. 2: TM Vicky cc title : Dolphins

He will be delivering a speech based on Project 8 from the Competent Communicator Manual Get comfortable With Visual Aids

Evaluator Cheah Ai Ling ACB ALB

tq

Speaker no. 3 Jerusha CC CL cc title True Greatness

Evaluator Richard Yeow ACB ALB

 

Speaker no. 4  Leong Soo Qi CC cc title The First Encounter

Evaluator Andy Ching, ACB , CL

Speaker no. 5 Cheah Ai Ling ACB ALB cc title THE Moment of Truth

Evaluator

Break time

TQ, we will now go for a short happy break. Please Make sure that you come back here punctually at 8.55pm ……. Otherwise our SAA Leong Soo Qi may blow you up into pieces. Just joking. See you in then !

 

After break evaluation session

Welcome back and now I can see many faces, recharged and rejuvenated after all the necessary “releases” and the vital oxygen supply for people like Daniel Let’s resume the meeting. (Energizing, vitalizing, revivifying, rejuvenating, refreshing, invigorating).

We are now on the last Session which is the climax of our meeting that is Evaluation or Feedback session. We human beings have this flaw - we see what we want to see and we don’t see what we are not aware of. In scientific terms, we sometimes are too close to the forest to see the trees. So we need external candid, constructive and objective evaluation from others to tell us what’s our flaws, mistakes, shortcomings or weakness etc and how to overcome them. This is exactly what our panel of accomplished and supportive Evaluators will do for us and give their invaluable constructive feedback for us to improve.

And to spearhead the evaluation tonight, I would like to call upon our General Evaluator, (CC?) Alexandra Lau to take over. 

L&G, let us welcome her.

 

Final session

Thanks GE and all the evaluators for the rewarding, incisive/insightful/ perceptive and enlightening evaluation..

L&G, aren’t you energized, enlightened, entertained and enriched? I find it so inspiring until I am now perspiring.  Did all of us have a great time?

Yes, the grand moment of glory has arrived – who are the best Project Speaker and Evaluator ? The answer is in my hand. Can we have Acting President Desmond Foo to come to the stage to present the awards to the winners:

L&G, the best TT Speaker is ___________________

The best Project Speaker is ___________________

The best Speech Evaluator is _________________

I have come to the end of my role.  It has been an enriching and rewarding meeting for me and the passionate participation, contribution & cooperation from all of you, the members, guests, role players have not only made my job much easier but also made the meeting more colorful, meaningful and successful. My heartfelt thanks to all of you.

My special thanks also go to a few persons - my comrade, fellow member of FTMC Zaiton who is also our VPE; my mentor and sifu Daniel Teh who has already left.

Thank you once again. Now, I would like to hand over control to Acting President to do the closing for the meeting. 

I still have another 6 pages to speak on. But I know that we are running a bit late now – so I promise to stop if you start to applaud.  TQ and good night.

End is not the end

E  effort

N never

D dies

 

 

James Oh

http://my.linkedin.com/pub/oh-james/12/a11/29b

http://www.facebook.com/people/James-Oh/706849667

http://www.facebook.com/people/James-Oh/706849667#!/pages/Lift-You-Up-Always-there-for-You/176685462397920

MY IMPACT ON MY LOVED ONES

My late father had travelled across an ocean from China to marry my mother in Malaysia. She is a local lady.

As such, I am a product of a migrant from Main Land China and a local lady. Both are illiterate. Luckily, 4 out of my 6 siblings are university graduates, that made both our parents very proud.

Despite our early and tough struggle, we were given lots of freedom. Our parents never check our school homework but somehow we realised, recognised and valued the importance of an education.

My mother's famous quote is "born in beggar's faith, but possess emperor's heart", when I tried very hard to pursue further studies especially when I quit my job with late Professor, Yap Han Heng to do my Form 6 on self sustaining basis.

How will you feel when someone has been using the method you taught her many years ago ? The one person who has benefited for so many years from my advice, out of one unpleasant incident is my mother. Applause.

Look at the photo above, the date torn from a calendar that was glued to the gas cylinder may not trigger anything for you. However it reminded me of this sweet memorable event that as a young boy ,  who ran out of patience, told my mother this idea. 

It happened when I heard her voice vividly asking me repeatedly to buy one item after another from the sundry shop, a walking distance from our low cost flat, while she was preparing our meals.

At that time, I was in my last few hours preparing for my examination. I was summoned by her when she discovered that she ran out of cooking oil. She has to shout repeatedly because I concentrated on my study despite our flat is as big as pigeon hole. 

I had no other choice, but to set aside everything I was doing. I rushed to get the cooking oil back. However,  upon return and just about ready to begin my revision. 

She called me again and without much hesitation I immediate answered her. She told me to get onions for her as she just discovered that she ran out of stock.

I had to put everything aside and rush to the shop again to buy for her. 

After my second return but before I warm up my seat, I was  called again, this time she wanted me to get her another item. I was a bit annoyed, and told her to list down all items she need in a list, without any diplomatic tone. She replied with a strong reason that she couldn't do so because she is illiterate. 

Instantly, I brush aside her reason and counter attack her to either draw it down or paste the picture on a piece of paper so as to remind her.

After many years I left my house to pursue my higher studies in Selangor, I still see her practicing till today and the impact I left on my love ones.

What really made me happy was to see someone I love benefiting from my creative way of doing thing to improve her lifestyle despite she had always given excuses of being too old to learn. 

James Oh

http://my.linkedin.com/pub/oh-james/12/a11/29b

http://www.facebook.com/people/James-Oh/706849667

http://www.facebook.com/people/James-Oh/706849667#!/pages/Lift-You-Up-Always-there-for-You/176685462397920

LIFE IS FAR TOO SHORT

THEREFORE IT IS WISE TO STAY HAPPY

ENJOY EVERY MOMENT

TO FORGIVE

AND BE KIND

THIS IS THE WAY TO HAVE APPROPRIATE FRUITS

TO READ OTHER REALTED POST, PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW:- 

http://liftyouup.blogspot.com/2012/12/heart-is-powerful.html

GUIDANCE FOR NEW LIFE AFTER DEC 21, 2012

Since this is new world,after Dec 21, 2012, therefore it is more appropriate to have a new life principle for new world, which is more enriching, enlightening and entertaining. 

Please share should you agree to have a better, sweeter and healthier world. So, let us unite and make it happens.

Thanks and look forward to see it a reality.

James

3 C's IN LIFE

TO KNOW MORE ABOUT LIFE IS ABOUT CHOICE, PLEASE READ THE LINK BELOW:-

http://liftyouup.blogspot.com/2011/06/two-choices.html

LOVE LGIHTS MORE ...

WHAT LOVE IS?

THE GREATEST ENEMY OF KNOWLEDGE IS ..

From my understanding and experience, it is dangerous to treat anything as absolute right or wrong other than God and His words.

That's my interpretation of the above statement. What you have to say on it. Please share it in the comment column provided below.

INTERVIEW WITH GUEST AUTHOR - HENRY BUSHKIN

Author Henry Bushkin

Henry Bushkin is an experienced lawyer who practices in both California and New York. He currently lives in Los Angeles where his children also reside.

Q and A for Lift You Up

James: When did you begin to write?

Henry:  I began writing this book in 2008, after having first began writing a novel.  I was persuaded to write this book by a good friend, and ultimately I listened to him. 

James : What made you think of publishing a book to share with others? 

Henry: I felt the public was entitled to know more about the man represented the heartbeat of America for at least thirty years.  This book starts where all others have stopped.

James: So far what is your worst criticism/attack, and how have you overcome it?

Henry:  Some people say that the things I wrote about, that they’ve known already.  But my response to that is instead of a third or fourth party reporting as to what happened, I was THERE.  I saw it, I lived it, and I bring a unique perspective.

James: How did you come up with title of your books?

Henry: I’ve had about ten different titles for the book.  A friend came up with this one, and I think it resonates the best.  In actuality, he was an IMPOSSIBLE Act to Follow.

James: Is there anything else you would like your readers to pay special attention in regards to your book, which you have not mentioned above?

Henry:  Take some time in appreciating the cover art and the photographs.  Particular attention was spent picking the right artist, the right style of the art, as well as time-consuming effort selecting the right photos for the book.

James: Is there any other advice which you would like to share with our readers?

Henry: The old adage comes true, “time heals all wounds,” and writing the book after 30 years of distance and reflection was a very good thing.  It gave me an entirely new perspective and enabled me to create the rhythm that hopefully entertains and doesn’t lecture or preach. 

Thanks for having Henry here and wishing him all the best.

Look forward to hearing from him again.

THANKS FOR THE UNBROKEN HEART

LIFE IS COLOURFUL

 

TO READ OTHER RELATED ARTICLE,

PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW:-

 http://liftyouup.blogspot.com/2012/10/craft-great-story-of-your-life.html

HEART IS POWERFUL

HEART IS THE CENTRAL OF EVERY SOUL
IT IS NOT ONLY CAN SEE BETTER THAN EYES,

BUT CAN HEAR BETTER THAN EARS AND
ALSO SPEAK BETTER THAN MOUTH

BETTER STILL, IT CAN THINK BETTER THAN MIND

BE IT OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

WHY WOMEN IN CHINA DO NOT GET BREAST CANCER

WHY WOMEN IN CHINA DO NOT GET BREAST CANCER  
By Prof. Jane Plant, PhD, CBE

I had no alternative but to die or to try to find a cure for myself. I am a scientist - surely there was a rational explanation for this cruel illness that affects one in 12 women in the UK ?

I had suffered the loss of one breast, and undergone radiotherapy. I was now receiving painful chemotherapy, and had been seen by some of the country's most eminent specialists. But, deep down, I felt certain I was facing death. I had a loving husband, a beautiful home and two young children to care for. I desperately wanted to live.

Fortunately, this desire drove me to  unearth the facts, some of which were known only to a handful of scientists at the time.

Anyone who has come into contact with breast cancer will know that certain risk factors - such as increasing age, early onset of womanhood, late onset of menopause and a family history of breast cancer - are completely out of our control. But there are many risk factors, which we can control easily.

These "controllable" risk factors readily translate into  simple changes that we can all make in our day-to-day lives to help prevent or treat breast cancer. My message is that even advanced breast cancer can be overcome because I have done it.

The first clue to understanding what was promoting my breast  cancer came when my husband Peter, who was also a scientist, arrived back from working in China while I was being plugged in for a chemotherapy session.

He had brought with him cards and  letters, as well as some amazing herbal suppositories, sent by my friends and science colleagues in China .

The suppositories were sent to me as a cure for breast cancer. Despite the awfulness of the situation, we both had a good belly laugh, and I remember saying that this was the treatment for breast cancer in China , then it was little wonder that Chinese women avoided getting the disease.
Those words echoed in my mind.    Why didn't Chinese women in China get breast cancer?   I had collaborated once with Chinese colleagues on a study of links between soil chemistry and disease, and I remembered some of the statistics.
The disease was virtually non-existent throughout the whole country. Only one in 10,000 women in China will die from it, compared to that terrible figure of one in 12 in Britain and the even grimmer average of one in 10 across most Western countries.   It is not just a matter of China being a more rural country, with less urban pollution. In highly urbanized Hong Kong , the rate rises to 34 women in every 10,000 but still puts the West to shame.

The Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have similar rates. And remember, both cities were attacked with nuclear weapons, so in addition to the usual pollution-related cancers, one would also expect to find some radiation-related cases, too.

The conclusion we can draw from these statistics strikes you with some force. If a Western woman were to move to industrialized, irradiated Hiroshima , she would slash her risk of contracting breast cancer by half. Obviously this is absurd. It seemed obvious to me that some lifestyle factor not related to pollution, urbanization or the environment is seriously increasing the Western woman's chance of contracting breast cancer.

I then discovered that whatever causes the huge differences in breast cancer rates between oriental and Western countries, it isn't genetic.

Scientific research showed that when Chinese or Japanese people move to the West, within one or two generations their rates of breast cancer approach those of their host community.

The same thing happens when oriental people adopt a completely Western lifestyle in Hong Kong . In fact, the slang name for breast cancer in China translates as 'Rich Woman's Disease'. This is because, in China, only the better off can afford to eat what is termed ' Hong Kong food'.

The Chinese describe all Western food, including everything from ice cream and chocolate bars to spaghetti and feta cheese, as "Hong Kong food", because of its availability in the former British colony and its scarcity, in the past, in mainland China .

So it made perfect sense to me that whatever  was causing my breast cancer  and the shockingly high incidence in this country generally, it was almost certainly something to do with our better-off, middle-class, Western lifestyle.

There is an important point for men here, too. I have observed in my research that much of the data about prostate cancer leads to similar conclusions.

According to figures from the World Health Organization, the number of men contracting prostate cancer in rural China is negligible, only 0.5 men in every 100,000. In England, Scotland and Wales , however, this figure is 70 times higher. Like breast cancer, it is a middle-class disease that primarily attacks the wealthier and higher socio-economic groups, those that can afford to eat rich foods.

I remember saying to my husband, "Come on Peter, you have just come back  from China . What is it about the Chinese way of life that is so different?"

Why don't they get breast cancer?'
We decided to utilize our joint scientific backgrounds and approach it  logically.

We examined scientific data that pointed us in the general direction of fats in diets.
Researchers had discovered in the 1980s that only l4% of calories in the average Chinese diet were from fat, compared to almost 36% in the West.
But the diet I had been living on for years before I contracted breast cancer was very low in fat and high in fibre.
Besides, I knew as a scientist that fat intake in adults has not been shown to increase risk for breast cancer in most investigations that have followed large groups of women for up to a dozen years.
Then one day something rather special happened. Peter and I have worked together so closely over the years that I am not sure which one of us first said: "The Chinese don't eat dairy produce!" It is hard to explain to a non-scientist the sudden mental and emotional 'buzz' you get when you know you have had an important insight. It's as if you have had a lot of pieces of a jigsaw in your mind, and suddenly, in a few seconds, they all fall into place and the whole picture is clear.

Suddenly I recalled how many Chinese people were physically unable to  tolerate milk, how the Chinese people I had worked with had always said that milk was only for babies, and how one of my close friends, who is of Chinese origin, always politely turned down the cheese course at dinner parties.

I knew of no Chinese people who lived a traditional Chinese life who ever used cow or other dairy food to feed their babies. The tradition was to use a wet nurse but never, ever, dairy products.

Culturally, the Chinese find our Western preoccupation with milk and milk products very strange. I remember entertaining a large delegation of Chinese scientists shortly after the ending of the Cultural Revolution in the 1980s.

On advice from the Foreign Office, we had asked the caterer to provide a pudding that contained a lot of ice cream. After inquiring what the pudding consisted of, all of the Chinese, including their interpreter, politely but firmly refused to eat it, and they could not be persuaded to change their minds.

At the time we were all delighted and ate extra portions!
Milk, I discovered, is one of the most common causes of food allergies . Over 70% of the world's population are unable to digest the milk sugar, lactose, which has led nutritionists to believe that this is the normal condition for adults, not some sort of deficiency. Perhaps nature is trying to tell us that we are eating the wrong food.

Before I had breast cancer for the first time, I had eaten a lot of dairy produce, such as skimmed milk, low-fat cheese and yogurt. I had used it as my main source of protein. I also ate cheap but lean minced beef, which I now realized was probably often ground-up dairy cow.

In order to cope with the chemotherapy I received for my fifth case of cancer, I had been eating organic yogurts as a way of helping my digestive tract to recover and repopulate my gut with 'good' bacteria.

Recently, I discovered that way back in 1989 yogurt had been implicated in ovarian cancer. Dr Daniel Cramer of Harvard University studied hundreds of women with ovarian cancer, and had them record in detail what they normally ate. Wish I'd been made aware of his findings when he had first discovered them.

Following Peter's and my insight into the Chinese diet, I decided to give up not just yogurt but all dairy produce immediately. Cheese, butter, milk and yogurt and anything else that contained dairy produce - it went down the sink or in the rubbish.

It is surprising how many products, including commercial soups, biscuits and cakes, contain some form of dairy produce. Even many proprietary brands of margarine marketed as soya, sunflower or olive oil spreads can contain dairy produce
.
I therefore became an avid reader of the small print on food labels.

Up to this point, I had been steadfastly measuring the progress of my fifth cancerous lump with callipers and plotting the results. Despite all the encouraging comments and positive feedback from my doctors and nurses, my own precise observations told me the bitter truth.

My first chemotherapy sessions had produced no effect - the lump was still the same size. 
Then I eliminated dairy products. Within days, the lump started to shrink
.
About two weeks after my second chemotherapy session and one week after giving up dairy produce, the lump in my neck started to itch. Then it began to soften and to reduce in size. The line on the graph, which had shown no change, was now pointing downwards as the tumour got smaller and smaller.

And, very significantly, I noted that instead of declining exponentially (a graceful curve) as cancer is meant to do, the tumour's decrease in size was plotted on a straight line heading off the bottom of the graph, indicating a cure, not suppression (or remission) of the tumour.

One Saturday afternoon after about six weeks of excluding all dairy produce from my diet, I practised an hour of meditation then felt for what was left of the lump. I couldn't find it. Yet I was very experienced at detecting cancerous lumps - I had discovered all five cancers on my own. I went downstairs and asked my husband to feel my neck. He could not find any trace of the lump either.

On the following Thursday I was due to be seen by my cancer specialist at Charing Cross Hospital in London . He examined me thoroughly, especially my neck where the tumour had been. He was initially bemused and then delighted as he said, "I cannot find it." None of my doctors, it appeared, had expected someone with my type and stage of cancer (which had clearly spread to the lymph system) to survive, let alone be so hale and hearty.

My specialist was as overjoyed as I was. When I first discussed my ideas with him he was understandably sceptical. But I understand that he now uses maps showing cancer mortality in China in his lectures, and recommends a non-dairy diet to his cancer patients.
I now believe that the link between dairy produce and breast cancer is similar to the link between smoking and lung cancer. I believe that identifying the link between breast cancer and dairy produce, and then developing a diet specifically targeted at maintaining the health of my breast and hormone system, cured me.

It was difficult for me, as it may be for you, to accept that a substance as 'natural' as milk might have such ominous health implications. But I am a living proof that it works and, starting from tomorrow, I shall reveal the secrets of my revolutionary action plan.
Extracted from Your Life in Your Hands, by Professor Jane Plan