Reading about the ongoing trial of Sanlu Group’s head honcho in China has got me thinking about the past, and worrying about the future.

I remember feeling horrified when White Rabbit candies were declared unsafe for consumption during last year’s melamine scare in China, which is blamed on Sanlu and other unscrupulous corporations.

Truth is, I was a big fan of the candies, THE comfort 
food of my childhood. To think that I’ve been eating 
tons of sweets laced with the dangerous chemical…

But I realised soon after that my fear is unfounded. I haven’t 
had any of the candies for the past year, and obviously, if the
 candies were laced with melamine for the past decade, news of it 
would have broken out years ago.

Unfortunately, for the 6 babies who have died and hundreds of thousands of others who are suffering from kidney problems as a result of this poisoning, news of the milk scandal broke out too late. Too many of them ended up suffering and with large hospital bills to come home to. According to 
the Los Angeles Times, the parents of affected babies were only 
offered “$300 for mild kidney stones and $4,400 for children who 
required hospitalisation” by the Chinese government, not
 enough to pay for their children’s potentially lifelong disease. Affected parents due to give a press conference on Friday to “publicise the 
plight of their children” to possibly pressure the government for a 
better deal, were detained for a day by the Chinese police.

To add insult to injury, the impersonal apology given via sms to the parents by Sanlu 
Group did nothing to soothe them. Personally, I’m appalled
 that they’ve apologised via sms. It’s tacky and insincere.

But finally now, after months of investigation and quality control, it 
seems justice is about to be served for the victims.

According to China Daily, former chairwoman of the company, Tian Wenhua, stood trial on the last day of 2008, with 5 other 
employees. This could be good news for parents, even if only to have 
someone responsible for this scandal receive some punishment. Tian is possibly facing execution for her role in Sanlu 
Group’s production of baby products contaminated by melamine.

You might, like me, have mixed feelings about Tian possibly facing the death penalty. Yes, 
it’s horrible that this crisis happened under her watch and ha s
resulted in the death of 6 babies. Yes, she might have known about the melamine contamination before news of it broke. But giving a 66-year-old woman the death penalty? Why not just let her live the rest of her life in the cell?

But maybe the point is to make an example out of her to prevent similar man-made disasters from happening again. And if you think about it, it’s quite likely there will 
be more similar cases in the future.

The reason melamine was added in watered-down milk was to make it appear to have a higher protein content. Now with the bleak economy we 
are facing, I suspect that more desperate individuals will produce lower quality products and pass them off for the real thing just to earn a decent profit.

Beyond what gets served on your table, just think of bridges that can collapse, lift cables that can snap, tunnels that can cave in, just because the building materials have been adulterated with something that looks stronger than it really is.

I think that prospect is scary. There’s only so much that the
 second largest economy in the world can do to monitor every single 
company, especially when the world increasingly gets its things made there.

How tragic to see human lives sacrificed so thoughtlessly where profits at any cost are worshipped in companies like these.