computer literate kids

I was having trouble with my computer so I called Richard, the 11 year old next door whose bedroom looks like Mission Control, and asked him to come over.

Richard clicked a couple of buttons and solved the problem.

As he was walking away, I called after him, 'So, what was wrong?'

He replied, 'It was an ID ten T error.'

I didn't want to appear stupid, but nonetheless inquired, 'An, ID ten T error? What's that? In case I need to fix it again.'

Richard grinned. 'Haven't you ever heard of an ID ten T error before?'

'No,' I replied.

'Write it down,' he said, 'and I think you'll figure it out.'

So I wrote down: I D 1 0 T

I used to like the little @#%&!! rascal!

**thanks, YO, for the email**

he pulled through!

you know the school year is ending because the SPM & STPM exams start this week. the UPSR results will also be announced on thursday.

for the rest, it's report book time.

when we made the decision to send the boy to a chinese-medium school, we recognised that as non-native mandarin speakers, we couldn't help him in the language except to send him for tuition classes. as the main objective for the enrollment is for him to learn to converse, read & write mandarin, we readily accept that he may not excel in school overall, & should he find it difficult to cope, we will re-enroll him into a national-type school.

however, we were pleasantly surprised that he handled the language much better than expected. no tantrums & certainly no i-hate-school tussles. now, he even reads & writes better than us, & we could get a decent conversation going.

oh yes, he was 12th in class in mid-year & improved 2 places for the end-year.


and he thinks he deserves a vacation!

2012

this must be the most anticipated disaster movie of the year.

let's face it - we are curious to foresee what the future holds, even calamities & events that will cause untold misery & perhaps destroy the world as we know it.

but the irony is that we do not heed the warning signs, least of all from an outdated mayan calendar. celebrated evangelist billy graham's daughter, anne, was interviewed on The Early Show some years back, & jane clayson asked her, how could God let something like hurricane katrina happen?

anne graham gave an extremely profound & insightful response. she said,"i believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are. but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, get out of our government & get out of our lives. & being the gentleman that He is, i believe He has calmly backed out. how can we expect God to give us His blessings & His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis & diseases all have left a trail of human suffering but no one knows for sure when the world will actually end.

certainly not Dec 21, 2012.

however, the apostle peter has cautioned us:

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives. 2 Pet 3:10-11

now, we HAVE been warned.

free private healthcare?

the operation theatres at the district hospital are undergoing repair works. so all emergency surgical cases seen at the hospital are sent to, & will be managed at, the private medical centre i'm attached to, under an agreement with the min of health.

that's why of late, we have had a sharp spike in the volume of surgeries - painful abdomens, broken bones, lacerated tissues, etc. the govt will foot the whole bill while the patients pay the usual govt hospital rates.

so, if you're in or around the segamat district & in need of urgent medical care, you now know how you could actually get (almost) free private healthcare.

but this is for a limited time only.

double duty

it had been a hectic time. my colleague had on leave with his family & i covered his duty for a whole week. naturally, it was good for the pocket but the stress level also went up a few notches.

he just came back from the gold coast. he flew by air asia X & found the 8-hr flight bearable despite the seats not being able to recline. he probably could bear it, given his small physical stature. however, a few of the taller passengers found the seats uncomfortable, also because of the narrow knee space.

yes, now everyone can fly but i wonder if flying air asia X to london would be torture??

Dec 20

out of the blue, the pastor asked me last week if i would like to give a message to the church on a sunday. i knew a day like this would arrive but it was just too sudden. he was going on leave with his family & preferred someone from within the church to speak. i felt like Moses when he was tasked to speak to the Israelites:

Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." ex 4:10

like Moses, i had a hundred excuses at the tip of my tongue but lest His anger burned against me, i deliberated on His reassurance:

"Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." v 12

at one fell swoop, He also inspired a message - the crossing of the red sea.

watch this space.

A+ is a G-grade idea.

hasn't it been said that if it ain't broke, don't fix it?

can anyone elaborate the advantage(s) of the move by the ministry of education to overhaul the grading for the SPM exams? read here

from next year, an A could be an A+, A or A-. why do we require an extra A-grade? why the need to attach merit points to the grades? what was wrong with 1A & 2A? or, during my time, A1 & A2?

if there are just too many straight As students, just increase the cut-off mark for the 1A grade, which was set at 87 & above when i sat for the MCE (predecessor of today's SPM). when my results were released, there were less than 10 students who achieved straight A1s. err, no, i wasn't one of them ;)

& you know what? in order to help students pass, a retired teacher friend who used to mark SPM papers revealed the pass mark was lowered to 20 for the maths paper. 20 MARKS!! now you know our current standard of education. so, isn't this regrading a G-grade (ie zero merit point) idea by the ministry of un-education?

unless there's an agenda we are all not aware of.

an apple a day

i did something uncharacteristic this week. i ventured out of my comfort zone & made an enquiry for teaching job at IMU.

i met a few members of the faculty & they seemed keen to take me on. except they can't understand why i would give up a better paying job to teach medical students.

actually, i thought maybe i'll just do it on a part-time basis, just so i can still keep in touch with recent changes & advances in medicine, & perhaps impart some useful knowledge along the way. after all, it's been said that:

"those who can, teach. those who can't, make bad teachers."

hmm....i wonder if my students would bring me apples.

and i also found it amusing that in Paul's hierachy of Christian workers, teachers outrank healers!!

And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 1 Cor 12:28

do teachers rock or what!!??

train up a child when he is young

i think the boy's going to be like me when i was younger - live football, sleep football.

recently, he started watching EPL matches with me on weekends. then he started checking the sport pages for fixtures, scores & tables. & now, i've taught him how to get into the ESPN website.

last saturday, we found out that ex-national player Wong Kou Foo conducts coaching sessions at the local field for youngsters of various ages.


although the session started with a pep talk, followed by basic skill exercises.....


it's obvious the kids were more excited about playing the actual game...




the boy's so happy, it's almost like he's found his football heaven....er...haven...

i know where we'll be spending many saturday evenings from now on.

junk food for your PC

some commercials strike a raw nerve, like yasmin ahmad's festival promos for petronas.

some commercials are funny, like P1 wimax's current "potong" blitz.

but i think this is one's really in bad taste (pun intended). it's Burger King's tie-up with Microsoft on the launch of windows 7 in Japan. read here & here.

7 pieces of beef patties at one sitting? doesn't that just make you want to puke??

no wonder gluttony is one of the 7 deadly sins.

how the budget affects me

i actually have 7 credit cards. not that i need a lot of credit or that i collect them as a hobby. some times i get cornered at the mall & the guy gives me a sob story like he's been on his feet for hours & still hasn't got anyone to sign up his bank's credit card - free for 1st year, he will emphasise. some times i relent. some times it's because an umbrella or a shoe bag is thrown into the deal.

anyway, i only use one card, mainly to get petrol rebate. one more, i keep in case the 1st one got rejected.

as the govt will levy a RM50 charge per card annually from 2010, it makes sense to cancel the other 5. i'm ok with that. i just feel sorry for those guys & girls at the malls trying to get people to sign up.

they will be on their feet a lot longer from now on.

mission weekend

it's the church's yearly pilgrimage to the orang asli settlements this weekend. it was originally planned for early october but i didn't want to commit then because my daughter was sitting for her PMR. it was subsequently changed to this weekend & i was hoping to bring her along so that she, born & bred with all amenities for a comfortable living, could have a peek at the other side of the socio-economic divide.

& perhaps be grateful for what she has.

but it was not to be. as it turned out 14 people volunteered for this year's trip - 4 docs, 1 dentist, 2 pastors & 7 helpers. it's an overwhelming response as we have been getting 9 - 11 people on previous occasions. i see a few issues here:

1st, in my opinion, we don't need that many people. some settlements have only 20-30 people, so 14 visitors would appear disproportionately crowded;

2nd, transport then becomes a logistic problem because we need to bring medical supplies as well;

3rd, our regular host, though very hospitable & accomodating, would be hard-pressed to squeeze us all into her house.

since, one of the aims of the mission is to encourage new volunteers, i, having been on 3 previous trips, withdrew with much reluctance. the big loss would be my daughter's - this would have been a great lesson on blessings & contentment.

Give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say,
'Who is the LORD ?'
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God. prov 30:8,9

bad doctor?

no, i'm not about to spill the beans about someone else. actually, it's about me.

more than 2 decades ago, when i started training to specialise, i exposed patients to unnecessary risks.

a few times.

in the 1st instance, i was dealing with a child who was the 1st case in the morning. i later left the care of the child to a nurse while i stepped out to read the papers. it was not the 1st time i did this but on this occasion, i was caught red-handed by a visiting consultant, who came weekly to provide clinical services & conduct teaching sessions. she gently reprimanded me & i appreciated her discretion for that. since that day, i've not touched the papers till all work had been done.

in the 2nd incident, i was involved in a nasty disagreement with another doctor about how a patient should be managed. out of annoyance, i stormed out of the room, again leaving...er...or more like abandoning the patient. the other doctor complained to my boss, now deceased, God rest his soul, & he gave me a mouthful. again, i appreciated that because since then, i've not disadvantaged a patient on the account of disagreement with another doctor.

here's the thing.....

the other day, i heard a doctor did just that - left the patient in the care of nurses when he should have been responsible himself. that brought back those memories i reminisced earlier. it reminded me of how i had neglected some of the patients that had been entrusted into my care. they served as a stark admonition for me - that when i was young, impulsive & with an atrocious attitude, i was not a doctor but a irresponsible & reckless person in a white coat. it also taught me, sometimes when i have delusions of grandeur about myself, i am actually an ordinary guy & there's nothing great about being ordinary.

i feel ordinary & i just want to rant.

breaking free

freedom has come early for thousands of students. 10am to be exact. those PMR candidates taking 7 subjects sat for their last paper today.

my daughter will be hanging out with her classmates at the mall, that's a certainty - a fast-food lunch, a movie & more girl-talk after that. but what's the long term plan, if any?

for the long vacation last year, she planned to learn the guitar, improve on her chess & practise the piano more regularly. unfortunately & rather expectedly, none of the intended endeavours got beyond 1st base.

i suspect this year will not be much different but not because of a lack of effort. her calendar is pretty much lined up with stuff till the end-december. she'll be going back to penang in mid-november, attending a youth leaders' camp end-november, helping out with vacation bible school early december, having our family vacation mid-december & before we know it, it's christmas & she'll really be literally flying the cage after that.

but i have a plan for her. well, actually, i hope to carry out God's plan. despite all that running around & activities that clogged up our lives, many times we fail to hear His voice beyond all that background noise.

because we do not remain still. always moving, always doing, always distracted. must encourage her to keep still - long enough to feel His presence & feed on His words. when she can do that on her own, without my prompting, i will have accomplish my holiday task.

never mind the guitar, chess or piano.

"Be still, and know that I am God;" psalm 46;10

perils of an obedient Christian

As I walked down the busy sidewalk, my eyes fell upon one of those unfortunate, homeless vagabonds that are found in every city these days.

Some people turned to stare. Others quickly looked away as if the sight would somehow contaminate them.

Recalling my old pastor who always admonished me to "care for the sick, feed the hungry & clothe the naked," I was moved by some powerful inner urge to reach out to this unfortunate person.

Wearing what can only be described as rags, carrying every worldly possession in 2 plastic bags, my heart was touched by this person's condition.

Yes, where some people saw only rags, I saw a true hidden beauty.

A small voice inside my head called out, "Reach out, reach out & touch this person!!"

So I did.....
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I won't be in church this week....
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**thanks, YO, for the email**

killer vaccine?? (updated)

one of the principles advocated by Hippocrates as code of conduct for doctors is, 1st do no harm. no one has any doubt that most doctors have their patients' interest at heart. sometimes, however, in our zealous attempt to heal, we overlook our own ignorance & limitations, & cause suffering instead. when pharmaceutical companies push their way past so-called stringent safety measures & quality control, that noble intention may be further blurred.

we remember the thalidomide disaster of the early 1960s (read here) & more recently the issues regarding certain painkillers (read here) & heart stents (read here).

recently, the government proposed to vaccinate all 13-year-old girls against cervical cancer from next year (read here). however, reports of adverse effects of the vaccination have since emerged, including brain damage & death, with the latest involving 2 teenaged girls (read here and here). in fact, as early as 2007, there were already reports of 3 deaths that occurred hours after vaccination (read here)

so, how did these drugs & devices get approval from FDA, only to result later in failure? it is not impossible nor unthinkable that the large pharmaceutical firms, in their haste to recoup research & development costs, may have withheld vital information which, had it been made known to the licensing bodies, would have resulted in their failure to be registered for use, therefore causing loss of billions of dollars.

is that amount of money worth a human life?

i am not saying it's good or not good to have the vaccination. what i am proposing is that we should search for all relevant information regarding the issue, & then make an wise & informed decision. don't just depend on reports from the mainstream media or the drug companies concerned.

surely our children's lives deserve that level of scrutiny & discernment.

**update : key researcher downplays cancer vaccine (read here)**

the circus comes to town

in this circus...

the clowns are the guys running the show & they drive everyone nuts. at 1st, it was in english, then BM, then english again & soon to be in BM all over again.

it's like, now you see it, now you don't.

can't really blame the ministry people - they're just following orders.


as a result, it sure feels like we, the parents, are walking on a tightrope...


the teachers can't make head or tail what's happening....


while the poor students are treated like spectator sports


actually, the circus already started last month; it's called UPSR & it continues tomorrow as PMR. it runs till the end of the year as SPM & STPM but it's not over till the fat lady sings...

because in a circus, you always get a few star performers thrown in.

(they're more famously called multiple straight As students)

have you got your tickets yet??

left behind

there must be many times when we become obssessively compulsive. like before we leave for a vacation. is the handphone charger packed? did we bring passports? are the gas stoves switched off? is everyone accounted for, ala Home Alone? all for good reasons, too. we want a really nice, smooth & trouble-free holiday.

surgeons have to be meticulous in this respect. it is well known in medical circles that all kinds of instruments have been left in patients after surgery (read here and here)

causing the doctors & hospitals to foot huge compensation payments & suffer poor reputation.

sometimes even the most minor things gets missed. like today, i was seeing this patient just as she was preparing to go home. she showed me this that was still attached to her chest......

....an ECG electrode to monitor the heart. there are usually 3 of them, so she promptly showed me the other two. apologetically, i removed them there & then, & reassured her that she could safely go home.

yes, we all in the hospital ought to be more cafeful in the things we do (& say). today, ECG electrodes, tomorrow it could be something less visible & life-threatening.

i can tell you no doctor will relish a day in court.

timing is everything

supertition dictates that the chinese traditionally don't (usually) marry, travel nor have their surgeries during the "ghost month", for fear that something unfortunate may happen.

i just found out that the british public have their own superstition - a taboo for junior doctors & apparently august is not a good month to be in a NHS hospital. (read here)

but timing IS everything, isn't it? how else could you have that chance meeting with a long lost friend? how did that freak accident occur? without fortuitous timing, a movie like Final Destination would not have been conceived.

many a time, i too wonder about the events that happened in my life, like how an encounter with a bunch of enthusiastic Christian workers eventually led me to med school. or, how a weekend magazine forged a meeting with a stranger i ended up marrying. i now know it as divine interventon.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
eccles 3:11

**image : Le Temps (Time). bronze sculpture by Charles van der Stappen**

79

my father would have been 79 last week. as a simple gesture of remembrance, we went to the beach to mark the occasion. holding a stalk of white crysanthemum, we each said a short prayer for him before tossing it to the sea.

it's uncanny. we each tossed the flower at different times & yet, as they float away with the waves, they seemed to come together. as if in support for each other.

like family.

the would-be vandal

according to dictionary.com, vandalise means "to destroy or deface (public or private property) willfully or maliciously."

i wasn't aware my car had been vandalised till last evening. as i was cleaning the car seats, i noticed ink marks on the back seat which would not come off with gentle cleaning.

only the boy could have done this. so i questioned him; guilt was written all over his face when he refused to maintain eye contact. but i gave him credit as he didn't deny it - or maybe it's because he knew he had been cornered. however, he claimed he could not remember when he did it, except that he did it because he couldn't find paper to write at that time. ha, ha, excuses, excuses!

after a stern warning & a smack on his thigh, i made him aware that writing on, or taking, other people's things without permission will not be tolerated. OK, OK, maybe i'm a little harsh with the punishment, & there was no obvious intent to destroy nor an element of malice in his act, but didn't Yoda once counsel in Star Wars:

"If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will" ?

i'd like to think i nipped it at the bud.

down but not out

everyone knows it's the economic downturn - jobs are lost, businesses fail, cars/houses get repossessed. & alongs thrive.

although we have our own share of unemployed new graduates, we often hear of their grouses that the govt isn't providing them with jobs, etc etc, which is so typical of crutch mentality that is so ingrained into our way of life.

which is why i'm so, so impressed with this young jobless Briton...

..who took to the streets of London to ...er.... solicit for a job.(read here)

we need to be stronger mentally, to be able to take failure in its stride & overcome it with hard work & commitment. unfortunately, when we hit the streets, it's either to perform reckless motorbike stunts or parade animal heads.

bowling nite

we had our annual bowling nite last weekend. although it had a competition format, most of us went & played for the fun & fellowship.
that was the 1st time this year that some of us bowled.the kids were certainly attracted to the prizes on display.....

..& even more thrilled when they win...

it always help that the whole family takes part.

Big Brother comes a-calling

as i previously mentioned, i don't like dealing with govt depts. so, you can understand my anxiety when i received a letter from Big Brother today.

all kinds of weird thoughts flooded my mind.

did i break any banking laws?

am i unwittingly laundering money?

am i in possession of counterfeit money?

when i changed into AUD earlier this year, was i speculating?

actually, all they wanted was to offer me a pre-approved financial loan. (phew!)


i share STP's sentiment (he commented here) about not being in debt. living within one's means seems like a good principal to adopt, esp. in these trying times.

yeah, i'm a chinaman though & through. i also get a tad jittery when the govt comes a-calling!

1 Crash?

1 Malaysia = great concept but dubious implementation

1Malaysia F1 team = bird-brained concept flying on low

pros:

only 1 : mike gascoyne (technical director, previously with jordan, toyota & renault)

cons:

1) no current F1 malaysian driver;

2) car to be designed & manufactured by engineers & designers recruited from local universities (where plagiarism is the norm);

3) engines to be designed & produced by Cosworlds, which has not supplied F1 engines since 2006;

4) chassis to be made by Lotus which folded from debts & have not been in F1 since 1994;

5) expense partly funded by govt (there goes our income tax & EPF returns!);

over the years, we've had BMF, MAS, Bakun, Perwaja & most recently, the PKFZ. hopefully this dream to be put 1 Malaysia on the world map does not end like this....
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unbelievably efficient

not a lot of people like to deal with govt departments, which are traditionally perceived to be inefficient & loaded with red-tape bureaucracy, as well as for the indifferent & lackadaisical attitude of their staff. what more during the fasting month!

unless, of course, you are giving them money.

i'm sure i'm not the only one singing praises for the passport section of the immigration dept. went over just after 3pm today to renew my passport.

filled the form, got a queue number, submitted the form & made payment, all within 15mins of reaching there.

then waited for about an hour & voila....a new passport!

BUT, i'd only be convinced that they're truly efficient when they are prompt in returning some of my money - like 2007's tax refund!

another bite at the Apple

just this week, i posted about the iPod which seemed to have created buying interest amongst some. well, don't place your orders yet because Apple have just launched the latest model (5th generation) in the US which comes with added video and FM radio functions. (read here)

the good news is that it retails at about rm529 for the 8G & rm635 for the 16G, which is considerably cheaper than the current models (without video function).

ah, wouldn't this make the perfect excuse to spend your year-end bonuses???

is it all just hype?

it's that time of the year again when people get all excited with dates like today's - 09.09.09. is it really an auspicious date (read here) or is it all hype?

haven't read the papers yet but i can safely assume there'll be some sort of a mass engagement/wedding held somewhere today. at the hospital, 3 couples found it fit to have their children delivered by caesarean section today. in fact, one was delivered at an almost unbelieveably well-timed moment:

at a neighbouring private hospital, there are 11 (yes, ELEVEN!!) planned deliveries, & some of these will surely make it to the tabloids tomorrow. something tells me we have missed the point altogether. giving birth is as natural as eating or breathing &, except for medical reasons, should be allowed to take its natural course. after all, the Wise Man did say:

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. eccles 3:11

can't live without music

sounds like a Village People hit song, doesn't it?

actually, my daughter made that statement when her iPod finally gave way. the cable of the headphones have become frayed & the battery hardly lasts a few hours after a full charge.

i gave her this iPod (2G, 2nd gen) after the UPSR & now she says it hard to study without it.

so, last week, we went around the mall looking for one. as it turned out, the most popular model is the one with 8G memory, retailing at rm599, which was sold out at all 3 dealers. i asked her if she'd settle for a 4G (rm499) but she (rightly) said it was not worth it. she then asked if i would consider the 16G (rm799) but i thought it was a tad expensive.

that night, we went online to source for the 8G model, & we were pleasantly surprised that we could order one from the Apple store.

today, it arrived & guess who's happy as a lark?

did i mention that it came with free engraving .....
& a gift message?


now, she's got no excuse for not doing well in the PMR.

prophetic power?

i just posted earlier this week about what the boy cheekily said, that he couldn't wait for the next funeral (to savour peanuts served at wakes).

and then......2 people passed on 2 days ago; a brother from the chinese church & a doctor colleague. suddenly, the cautionary remark that one should be careful what one wishes for because it may just come true, became very real.

that, i'm not really worried about but what is playing at the back of my mind now is the common belief that things or events invariably occur in threes. even shakespeare reflected on that sentiment when he wrote in hamlet:

when sorrows come,
they come not single spies,
but in battalions.

now, i wonder if there will be another demise to complete the triad?

she will miss him

i couldn't figure this out - how come they still have sibling rivalry despite being borned 8 years apart? the boy, i can understand because he is still a kid, but my daughter was already a teenager then. & ever so often, as parents, we had to mediate between the warring factions.

be that as it may, of late, the girl had noticeably mellowed down. sometimes, when they talked, i could see from the corner of my eyes that she has started hugging him & kissing him on the cheeks.

i think she has begun to miss him already. isn't it often that we don't realise what we have till they're out of sight?

child's innocence

we were enjoying ourselves, peeling off & eating the last peanuts left over from my father's wake. i jokingly told my son to thank gong-gong for the peanuts.

obediently, he remarked:

"thanks, gong-gong, for the peanuts. i can't wait for the next funeral!!"

the flesh is weak

we were at the mall when this guy tried to get me to apply for a credit card, which i declined. i was glad he didn't persist because we were already hungry & were going for dinner.

after dinner we passed by the same people promoting credit cards, but this time it was a girl who tried to convince me. as usual, i declined but she was more persistent than her male colleague, expounding the benefits of the card plus the free toy gift. as i walked off, she followed me, this time coming up with the sob story about having to work the whole day without a successful application.

that tugged at my heart strings, so i relented but with a condition. i said i'd agree only if my son liked the toy. as it turned out, the boy didn't. not to be outdone, & like a last gasp effort, she offered not one but 2 carrier bags as replacement, again reiterating that she's not had a "sale" all day. i finally caved in.

so now, i'm the proud owner of 2 new carrier bags & soon, another 2 credit cards from citibank.

the decision

signed....


sealed.....


& delivered.....

(well almost)

the devil & the deep blue sea

the road transport dept knows it, we know it, & studies have shown it - putting on seat-belts save lives.

however, seat-belts also cause injuries of their own when the vehicle is involved in a collision. the rapid deceleration from say, 100kmph to zero, results in the human body moving forward but restrained by the seat belt, can cause severe internal injuries. i blogged about this some time back but i think this important message warrants a repeat.

mdm S was a back seat passenger in a car that hit a tree. the driver & all passengers are alive but only mdm S sustained potentially life-threatening injuries as a result of the seat belt,eg .
...fractured breastbone


....fractured right ribs


......fractured left ribs


......lacerated left kidney....


and a cracked spine


she is recuperating in ICU & currently does not need surgery. if i had to choose between the devil & the deep blue sea, i'd still settle for the lesser of the two evils, aka seat-belt.

PS. the advances in medical imaging produced the crystal clear CT scan pictures that allow accurate diagnosis.

flying the nest

she did everything herself.

from obtaining the application form, to filling it up & photostating the various documents. my role was to post it off.

& to give her my full support.

yesterday, she went for the written tests & today, the interview. when they offered her a place, she cried. i thought they were tears of joy but no, she was overwhelmed with sadness.

because she realised she will be leaving home.

i can understand her position. i was already 19 when i left home for varsity. for all her maturity she has displayed at 15, she's still our little girl. when she makes her decision in the next few days & when the impact of the offer has finally sunk in, she knows she has come to the 1st of many crossroads in life.

ah, such a heavy responsibility on a young shoulder....

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. prov 16:9

dust to dust

at the crematorium, each of us bade our final farewell before the casket was put through the furnace. my son's brave assertion, in between sobs, said it all:

"bye bye, gong-gong. i love you."












".....for dust you are and to dust you will return." gen 3:19

PS. my late father's ashes will be brought back to JB to fulfill his final wish. his framed photo that was used for the funeral would be hung on the wall facing our front door, to fulfill my son's earnest wish - that he can say "goodbye" to gong-gong as he goes to school & "hello" when he comes home.

tears from heaven

the wake service was an eye-opener. having informed only the church, our relatives & closest colleagues & friends, & not placing an obituary notice in the papers, we were overwhelmed that a hundred people turned up at my humble abode, some having to stand barely within the canopy in the rain.

the pastor shared a message on life after death, following which my daughter & i delivered the eulogy. i've always dreamed of speaking to an audience with standing room only & that partly came true. i mentioned tongue-in-cheek that my father must have been pleased with what i had to say, equating the falling rain to tears from heaven.

overheard was a comment made by a taoist colleague, that he was suitably impressed that christian brothers & sisters often came in full support for each other & (such irony!) that none themselves have christian names.

wasn't it shakespeare who wrote that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet?

gone home.

he lived in malaya through japanese occupation, communist threat, may 19 & SARS;

he underwent 3 major & risky surgeries & escaped the jaws of death each time;

he suffered from parkinsonism for 7 years;

he survived life-threatening pneumonia (not H1N1) 2 months ago;

he stubbornly refused to give up the fight;

but today, he peacefully breathed his last.

father, may you find rest in the bosom of the Lord.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2Tim 4:7

GREAT news for men!

the guys will love this....



















so here's something to prolong your lives.....
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but the bad news is that.......
the survey was a fraud & no such study was ever published in the NEJM.

sorry, guys, you still need that gym membership.

have a GREAT (heh, heh) weekend!!

;)

early start

it's common knowledge that if you want to learn something, you should start young. somehow, young minds & limbs acquire skills with ease. hence, they start piano & language classes even at pre-school.

i learned to play chess when i was 6. my kids started piano lessons at 5. but when the boy asked me to teach him solve sudoku puzzles, i told him i'd do it when he's older. however, he was adamant that younger was better. so, i showed him the puzzle in today's Star papers & taught him the rules.

surprisingly, even to me, he seemed to have caught on rather quickly. with some pointers from me, he managed to go this far by bed time.....












not bad for a 1st timer, huh?

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. prov 22:6

why most medical reps are women.

the battle lines have been drawn.

company F has been selling its product to the hospital at rm37 each. big mean company B has entered the fray & introduced a similar product, under its own brand name, at a "bargain" of only rm31.50.

both products are just as good.
both companies provide good after sales service.
both companies are prepared to send staff for meetings/conferences to update themselves on new medical practices.

actually, i don't like B because by virtue of its size & extensive range of products, & having dealings with most government hospitals, they tend to be a little arrogant.

but i think they broke the rules for a fair fight by sending their reps dressed like this....









(did the air-con break down, or do i feel a little hot?)

;)

have we become a kiasu nation?

myth #1: taking flu vaccination or tamiflu tablets prevents one from getting H1N1 flu

fact: the current flu vaccine & tamiflu are effective against the common types of influenza A infection but NOT H1N1 (& certainly not against bird flu H5N1)

myth #2: when one has H1N1, taking tamiflu is the cure for it

fact : tamiflu has no beneficial effect on H1N1 (read here)

so, why are some people still taking tamiflu? the only benefit is that it will cure the common flu, so that if they have a flu & don't get better with tamiflu, then it is most likely H1N1. the downside is that with widespread & indiscriminate use, new resistant strains of the virus may emerge.

even the new H1N1-specific vaccine (read here) that is being tested now is only effective against the current strain of the H1N1 virus. by the time it becomes available in a few months, a new strain may have evolved, rendering the vaccine ineffective.

oh yes, closing schools also may not limit the spread of H1N1 during a pandemic. (read here)

what's really important are the back-to-basic concepts (which we all already know!) :
1) cultivate healthy lifestyle,eg. nutritious food, exercise & adequate rest
2) maintain personal hygiene, eg. wash hands frequently after contacts, cover nose/mouth when coughing/sneezing,
3) avoid, as far as possible, crowded enclosed spaces; otherwise, wear a mask.

by all means, take all the necessary precautions as detailed in the media & other sources of information, esp. with the sudden rise in fatalities, but let's not overdo it. a course of tamiflu treatment costs about RM150. think how much this will contribute to the coffers of its manufacturers Roche and Ranbaxy?

my 2 sen's worth.

maybe i should have titled this post : have we become a kiasi nation?
(kiasi = afraid to die)

laughter is good medicine

this pleasant middle-aged gentleman was in OT to have surgery on his amputated leg which had developed an abscess.

me : uncle, your father had a sense of humour when he named you

patient (with a smile) : yes, but what's the use? with 1 leg, i can't even walk, so, how to fly?

looks like a sense of humour runs in his family. his name?
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or, you could read it as SUPERMAN, I AM.

the spoon

A lesson on how consultants can make a difference in an organization (or, why we should let things be)

Last week, we took some friends to a new restaurant, 'Steve's Place,'
and noticed that the waiter who took our order carried a spoon in his shirt pocket. It seemed a little strange. When the busboy brought our water and utensils, I observed that he also had a spoon in his shirt pocket. Then I looked around and saw that all the staff had spoons in their pockets. When the waiter came back to serve our soup I inquired, 'Why the spoon?'

'Well, 'he explained, 'the restaurant's owner hired Andersen Consulting to revamp all of our processes. After several months of analysis, they concluded that the spoon was the most frequently dropped utensil. It represents a drop frequency of approximately 3 spoons per table per hour.

If our personnel are better prepared, we can reduce the number of trips back to the kitchen and save 15 man-hours per shift.' As luck would have it, I dropped my spoon and he replaced it with his spare. 'I'll get another spoon next time I go to the kitchen instead of making an extra trip to get it right now.' I was impressed. I also noticed that there was a string hanging out of the waiter's fly.

Looking around, I saw that all of the waiters had the same string hanging from their flies. So, before he walked off, I asked the waiter, 'Excuse me, but can you tell me why you have that string right there?'

'Oh, certainly!' Then he lowered his voice. 'Not everyone is so observant. That consulting firm I mentioned learned that we can save time in the restroom.

By tying this string to the tip of our you-know-what, we can pull it out
without touching it and eliminate the need to wash our hands, shortening the time spent in the restroom by 76.39%.

I asked quietly, 'After you get it out, how do you put it back?'

'Well,' he whispered, 'I don't know about the others, but I use the spoon .'

**thanks, YO, for the email**

blast away!

what do cyclops, capt kirk, & ultraman have in common?








yeah, they blasted their enemies with laser. when we were kids, it was a cool to possess such powers & these fictional characters were hero-worshipped week in & week out with our patronage in front of the TV.

well, lasers have come a long way since & their role these days are more beneficial than destructive. remember LASIK? now, it's even used to blast kidney stones & resect prostates. the flavour of the month seems to be green-light laser..

the machine generating the laser is on the left while the patient(all draped up) is on the right...

because of the intense brightness, special protective glasses need to be worn during its use....

...even for the patient.

the claimed advantage for laser in prostate surgery is less incidence of complications, eg.bleeding, urinary retention, impotence, & a shorter hospital stay. the cost, however, is a different matter altogether.

i wonder if kids will rate laser any less, now that it's mostly used to heal rather than destroy.

light at the end of the tunnel

life really boils down to just 2 questions:

1) should i get a dog?


or, 2) should i have children?

no matter how long & treacherous your journey may seem....

no matter what situations life throws at you....

remember, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel!
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adam & eve weren't chinese!

this is an after-thought about the story on face-saving. i can now think of 2 reasons why our 1st parents were not chinese.

1st, when adam & eve realised they were naked, they covered themselves (not the faces) with leaves (gen 3:7);

2nd, & most convincing, if they were chinese, they would have ignored the fruit & eaten the snake instead!

burp!

face saving

"face saving" or not losing one's dignity & honour is important in self-preservation, especially so in chinese culture. this story illustrates the point:

An American, a Japanese & a Chinese went for a hike one day. It was very hot. They were sweating and exhausted.

When they came upon a small lake, they took off all their clothes and jumped into the water, since it was fairly secluded. Feeling refreshed, the trio decided to pick a few berries while enjoying their freedom.

As they were crossing an open area, suddenly a group of ladies from town appeared. Unable to get to their clothes in time, the American and the Japanese quickly used their hands to cover their privates. But the Chinese covered his face while they ran for cover.

After the ladies had left and the men got their clothes back on, the American and the Japanese asked the Chinese why he covered his face rather than his private part.

The Chinese replied, "I don't know about you, but in my country, it's the face that people recognize."

the good, the bad & the ugly

the good.....

(the new wireless modem/router)

the bad....

(the old spoilt one)

& the UGLY...

perkhidmatan? what service when you can't give technical advice over the phone? the 1st time i called when the laptop couldn't log on, the streamyx guy said there was a "port upgrade" in my area but i got a bit suspicious when he couldn't tell me how long it will take before the line could be used.

after 2 days, i called again & this time the lady checked out the connection by asking me to type out a few things on the PC (ping ..something ..something) & telling her the responses on the screen, from which she concluded that the line was intact but she'll get a technician to make a house call anyway. the technician came the same day & promptly diagnosed that my modem was not functioning. if only i had spoken to the lady the 1st time, then i wouldn't have seen the ugly side of streamyx.

husband of the year

5th prize:



4th prize:



3rd prize:



runner-up:



AND, the champion husband of the year:

look, this guy is a true romantic - he's even holding her hand!

Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. 1 peter 3:7

1st impression

Ah Chong grew up in Kota Lama, a town located on the East Coast of Malaysia, and then moved away to Kuala Lumpur to do his law degree. After graduating, he decided to go back to Kota Lama, because he could be a big man there and he really wanted to impress everyone. So he returned and opened his new law office.

The first day, he saw a man coming up the sidewalk. He decided to make a big impression on this new client when he arrived. As the man came to the door Ah Chong picked up the phone. He motioned the man in, all the while talking.

"No. Absolutely no! You tell those clowns in Kuala Lumpur that I won't settle this case for less than one million ringgit. Yes. The Appeals Court has agreed to hear that case next week. I'll be handling the primary argument and the other members of my team will provide support. Okay, tell the State Prosecutor that I'll meet with him next week to discuss the details."

This sort of conversation went on for almost five minutes. All the while the man sat patiently as Ah Chong rattled instructions. Finally, he puts down the phone and turned to the man. "I'm sorry for the delay, but as you can see, I'm very busy. What can I do for you?"
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The man replied, "I'm from Telekom. I've come to connect your line"

do we see ourselves in the story above? the pastor once asked this of us: why do we buy things we don't need with money we don't have, to impress people we don't even like?

**thanks YO for the email**

99 club

once upon a time, there lived a king who, despite his wealth, was neither happy nor contented. one day, he came across a servant who was singing happily as he worked. this fascinated the king - why was he, the supreme ruler of the land, so unhappy & gloomy, while this lowly servant had so much joy in his heart?

so he asked the servant,"why are you so happy?", to which the servant replied,"your majesty,
although i am just a lowly servant, my family don't need too much - just a roof over our heads & food to fill our tummies."

later that day, the king sought the counsel of his most trusted advisor. after hearing the king's woes & the servant's story, he concluded,"your majesty, i believe the servant has not been made part of the 99 club." the king asked,"the 99 club? what exactly is that?" the advisor replied,"your majesty, to truly know what the 99 club is, just put 99 gold coins in a bag & leave it at the servant's doorstep."

when the servant saw the bag, he took it into the house. when he opened it, he shouted for joy - there were so many gold coins & he started to count them. after several counts, he was convinced that there were 99 coins. he wondered what could have happened to the last coin, for no one would have left just 99 coins. he looked everywhere but the last coin remained elusive. finally, exhausted, he decided that would have to work very hard to earn the 100th coin to complete his collection.

from that day on, the servant's life changed. he was overworked & grumpy, & criticised his family for not helping him get the last coin. he also stopped singing while he worked. witnessing this drastic transformation, the king was puzzled. the advisor then told him that the servant has finally joined the 99 club.

we can be happy with little in our lives, but the moment we are given something better or bigger, we want even more! we lose sleep, happiness, & we hurt people close to us. this is the price we pay for our growing greed & desires. that's what joining the 99 club is all about!

For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 1 Tim 6:7-9

**thanks, YO, for the email**

queue jumping

it's that time again....the govt has released another 1.6b units of ASM to the public. i still remember the last time the units were sold in april. i walked into the bank at about 10am & had to wait for about an hour before my turn came.

this time, i asked my wife to go around 9am when the bank opened & take a queue number. the crowd this time was bigger & apparently people had already queued up way before it opened. wife's number was #35 & when i went over to the bank at 10.30am, (#22 then attended to) i had to wait another hour before my turn came.

i noted a few things as i waited:
1) people who know people working for the bank get earlier numbers;
2) people will do anything to jump queue, including making friends with others ahead of them with the hope that they may also purchase at the earlier time;
3) as this was a cash transaction, courier bags became the new wallets for keeping wads of currency.

as i told a fellow brother who waited with me, whatever will be, will be, & there're always other opportunities to purchase the units.

2 vs 1

we had dinner at this newly-relocated posh-looking restaurant & when the bill came, i was surprised there was neither govt tax nor service charge imposed. because we really enjoyed the meal & the service was prompt, i casually removed a couple of ringgit notes from the wallet while the waiter was verifying my credit card at the counter.

the conversation that ensued went something like this:

daughter: papa, are you leaving tips?
me: yeah
d: why?
m: because there's no service charge in the bill & i think the waiters deserve something for their hard work
wife: how do you know they will get the money? anyway, the restaurant would have factored their salaries into the price of the meal.
m: it's customary to put all the tips into a common collection & at end of day it's to be divided amongst the workers. it's just a little extra for them, like how people tip hotel workers & taxi drivers for a job well done.
d: these are difficult times, so maybe you should just leave rm1
m: ha ha, ONE RINGGIT! might as well don't tip.
d & w: (almost in unison) that's what we're trying to tell you!

maybe they have a point, so i relented, but they've not met my ex-classmate simon who worked at a pub while waiting for the HSC results many years ago. he used to tell me how hard the work was, running around with the orders & drinks;however, he said something i never forgot,"....but the tips made it worthwhile!" incidentally, i'm happy that he, now a senior manager with a listed developer, doesn't need to depend on loose change.

so, simon, thanks for the tip! (pun definitely intended)

silver, part 2

16 July, 1984

starry-eyed & full of ideals,
looking forward to new life ahead,
i took the 1st steps, full of zeal,
& people say, i've got it made.

after 5 years toil, to some no big deal,
after countless tests, real & mock,
just to gain that licence to heal,
& the right to be addressed as Doc.

the moment of reckoning is here,
the test of the pie is in the eating,
1st posting, dealt with kids without fear,
but it's the mothers that send me reeling!

2nd posting, faced with diabetes & hypertension,
the 3rd with tummy aches & bowel obstruction,
end of housemanship met with trepidation,
still, it's time for that much-needed promotion.

years fly by & i wonder about my skill,,
hippocates meant it to be a calling to heal,
to the young nurses, it's a licence to thrill,
it could well be a ticket to the next meal.

i thank God for the chance to be,
compassionate, patient & a little wary,
though now a tad blurry-eyed, & quite weary,
but i must trudge on to live out my destiny.

So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. eccles 3:22

(ha ha, i chuckled at my own feeble attempt to write sentences that rhyme!)

silver

by current standards, 25 years is a long time to stay married, happily at that, too.

but not when you see (& feel) the love that binds the lives of SY & his wife SY (yes, they have the same initials, & all their 4 children also have been given the same SY initials!). they hosted a dinner to celebrate this occasion, during which they renewed the same marriage vows they recited to each other 25 years ago.

the one part that touched me the most was when the younger daughter stood up to speak of her parents - how much she & her siblings are loved & that when she eventually marries, she hoped she would have as much love as her parents have for each other.

to me, nothing speaks more strongly of a man & his wife's love than a glowing tribute from their own children. no one present last nite doubts that this God-loving couple would stay married till their golden anniversary & beyond. SY sang this song After All These Years in dedication to his wife:


"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." matt 19:5,6

do seat belts really save lives?

we've all been brainwashed into thinking that wearing seat belts when travelling in a motor vehicle saves lives, right? actually, that's only partly true.

remember when wearing crash helmets was made compulsory for motorcyclists? there may be less deaths on the road but some of those that survive end up with serious injuries that leave permanent damage & disability.

so, similarly, we now have an emerging group of patients who suffer seat belt injuries (read here)

mdm T was a front seat passenger in a car that was involved in a non-fatal accident 3 weeks ago. she developed abdominal pain & was admitted to hosptial for suspected intra-abdominal injury. a CT scan revealed a mesenteric tear, ie. damage to blood vessels supplying the bowel, & she underwent surgery to remove part of the small bowel that was injured.

2 weeks after that, she had to undergo another surgery & more damaged bowel was resected. she will not be able to eat normally for several weeks till the remaining bowel recover from the trauma.

i just have one question: since the government made it compulsory to wear seat belts, can we sue the govt if we sustain injuries as a result of compliance to the ruling?

in litigation-conscious USA, they actually have lawyers that deal specifically with seat belt injuries!!(read here & here)

great white shark

i was amused with this letter posted on malaysiatoday where the writer lamented his & his friends' experiences in dealing with lawyers; so distressed was he & his friends that he resorted to equate lawyers' behaviour to that of a marine predator.

he wrote, "I would reckon lawyers are a desperate lot as they want to be seen living in luxurious houses, driving around in expensive cars and dining in expensive hotels. This has been a trend set by the senior lawyers and therefore any junior lawyer develops the same character devoid of any decency or conduct."

actually, you could replace "lawyers" in the above paragraph with doctors/accountants/politicians & that statement would still hold true. for example, it is well-known in local circles that a private hospital in ipoh has been derisively nicknamed Great White Shark.

it is no urban legend that some doctors would do anything, & i mean ANYTHING, to make that fast buck from their distraught patients. in fact, they are also not averse to making a quick buck at the expense of their colleagues, too. (hmm, why do i suddenly feel like the masked man in Breaking the Magicians Code??)

the writer concluded with this impassioned plea, "Please don't live your life by charging excessive and unconscionable fees from the already distressed clients whose only purpose of seeking your services is to secure some justice from courts."

it is a timely reminder for everyone in every profession who sometimes has their clients/customers at their mercy. it is not against the law to want to prosper, accumulate wealth & possess much. perhaps the fault lies with the instruments/ways we use to achieve that objective. perhaps, it's also timely to recall of the words of the prophet, directed appropriately to the Jews still in exile in Babylon:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. "
Jer 29:11

favour from the Lord

i'm on-call this weekend, & although i dread weekend calls, it's part of the job. left for the hospital at 9am today & had to skip church service (as well as holy communion).

at 10.30am, the boy phoned to say that he's just outside the OT & he's got a surprise for me...

how nice - lunch!



...& the main (& only course) happens to be freshly-baked shepherd's pie...


which didn't last very long....(burp!)

i don't often blog about my wife but today, she deserves praise...
He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favour from the LORD. prov 18:22

even better is this....

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. prov 31:30

who are the real killers?

DOCTORS:
(1) the number of physicians in the US is 700,000

(2) accidental deaths caused by physicians per year is 120,000

(3) accidental deaths per physician is 0.171

**statistics courtesy of US dept of health & human services**

GUNS-OWNERS:
(1) the number of gun owners in the US is 80,000,000
(yes, that's 80 million!!)

(2) the number of accidental gun deaths per year, all age groups, is 1,500

(3) the number of accidental deaths per gun owner is 0.000188

**statistics courtesy of FBI**

so, statistically, doctors are about 900 times more dangerous than gun owners!!

so REMEMBER : guns don't kill people, doctors do!

FACT : not everyone has a gun but almost everyone has at least one doctor....

ACTION : we must ban doctors before this gets completely out of hand!!!

however, out of concern for the public at large, i withheld statistics on LAWYERS for fear that the shock would cause people to panic & seek medical attention!!


**disclaimer** i received this email from a colleague but can't verify its authenicity**

check out more statistics on gun violence here and medical errors here.

you reap what you sow, except.....

Bernie Madoff has just been sentenced to 150 years in prison for his ponzi fraud.

former south korean president Roh Moo Hyun committed suicide last month on allegations (ie. not proven) of corruption.

japanese prime ministers Shinzo Abe & Yasuo Fukuda resigned in 2007 & 2008 respectively for poor performance.

& yet, we are still waiting for someone to take responsibility for bank negara's RM30b forex losses, & scandals involving Perwaja, MAS, PKFZ,....the list goes on....

it's so cliche...but malaysia boleh la!

kampung folks in the Big City

when we go to the Big City, we try out things that our "village" doesn't offer, like....

(1) teppanyaki...

which we enjoyed very much....


(2) ice-cream from new zealand & watching ice skating...

(3) super-sized bookstores &......


(4) new fast-food restaurants....


yes, we don't have all these back home but at the same time, we also don't miss paying toll, searching for parking, & getting caught in grid-lock traffic.

life goes on...

my father is back at the nursing home. the caring .....


& the clowning continues....

sports injury

my brother recently had surgery on his foot called repair of the archilles tendon, as a result of a badminton-induced injury. he had to put on a foot cast for 6 weeks after that.

my colleague is having severe backache (hopefully not a slipped disc), probably from playing too much badminton (at least 3 time s a week). he hasn't come to work for 3 days. my other colleague, a self-proclaimed worldly-wise sage, attributed these injuries to not warming up enough before competing on the court as well as age catching up. he could be right on both counts.

i myself have stopped playing badminton years ago (for fear of archilles tendon injury) as well as jogging (knee injury). so i just go for brisk walks & the occasional aerobics session at the park. i think there are just a few things in life you can't fight & win - like, income tax, bosses & Father Time. the sooner we realise that, the easier we accept our inadequacies.

speaking of Father Time, it seems my father's time is not up yet - he's just been discharged after 3 weeks in hospital & is now recuperating at the nursing home. thanks again for the prayers & words of encouragement.

farewell lunch

5 nurses recruited from India will be going home next month & it's customary to give them a lunch treat as a gesture of appreciation.

much like foreign maids, they come to fill a huge gap left by our locals who are seeking their fortunes elsewhere. but the similarities with the maids doesn't end there. most that come to malaysia couldn't make the cut in s'pore, hongkong or the middle east, so they generally fall short of the standard that i've come to expect from expatriates.

having worked in a foreign country myself, i can identify with them. they uproot themselves from their loved ones & go through all the hassle/inconveniences of living amidst people of different cultures, ideologies & whims. some adapt so well, they exend their 2-year contracts, while for others, the heat (not the weather) is too unbearable, so they cut short their stay & contract.

anyway, these 5 nurses had stayed on the full 2 years. it seems that having worked in malaysia is somewhat a status symbol in india & that can only enhance their worth to prospective employers & spouses!! to these 5, we hope you had enjoyed your stay here & that, unlike your indonesian sisters, we didn't treat you too badly. i'm sure you savoured our food but i bet you liked the your salaries even more. (heh heh)

bon voyage, ladies!

fatherly advice

my daughter made this card for me. simple as it may be, i appreciate it was created from the heart. in return, for some reason i now thought baffling, i gave her this piece of advice :

"when you grow up, don't marry someone like me, if possible.
instead, marry someone like your brother,
who loves God, loves people, & who will love you endlessly."

she just smiled & gave me a hug.

the decision

after discussing with my family & then with Dr L, we all agree that father will not have a quality of life we would all like him to have - he will be bedridden, unable to care for himself & for most times, not know what's going on around him. just a couple of steps short of being vegetative.

since, being the eldest, i was given charge to make all decisions regarding father, i sought counsel from the prophets & they spoke to me thus :

This is what the LORD Almighty says:
'Administer true justice;
show mercy and compassion to one another.'
zech 7:9

He has showed you, O man, what is good
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God. micah 6:8

so i explained to the family that father will continue to have basic nursing care, including cleaning, feeding & his regular parkinson's medication. any other requirement will be assessed on its merits but there certainly will be no more invasive intervention, eg. resuscitation, ventilatory support.

as expected, they all agreed.

so, this is our decision : to act justly & to love mercy.

may God see us through.....

playing God

doctors are often accused of deciding which patients should have proper treatment for their medical problems while others are denied it, because of the lack of staff (usually doctors & nurses), hospital beds or medical equipment, esp if this decision was made without discussing the issues with the patient or the family.

this is often a dilemma in the ICU where adequate staffing is a perennial problem which subsequently affect the number of available beds.

today i played God but not based on the above reasons. my father has been on the ionotrope (heart-pumping medication, remember?) dopamine for 11 days & his blood pressure has been hovering around 110/60, which is lowish for him. after discussing with the attending physician Dr L, he concurred that my father should start having the dopamine gradually reduced & eventually stopped, irrespective of how the BP would react.

that was 5 hours ago & his BP has gone down to about 90/50. my sister arrived from KL this afternoon & my brother will be here tomorrow. maybe he's just waiting for my brother to turn up. after all, the last time we all got together was chinese new year 2008.

nevertheless, we all agreed he has suffered enough - 8 years with delibitating parkinson's disease, a broken hip & a serious chest infection.

yeah, the old man is running the home stretch. may he find Home soon....

education

as the debate on the use/importance of English in schools continues with no end in sight, many parents aren't taking any chances. hundreds thronged the Sunway Convention Centre last saturday waiting to pick up their kids while the latter sat for the Asean Scholarship selection test. it invites students to apply for entry into their Sec 1 & 3, & pre-U programs.

my daughter has an older school friend who applied last year & successfully entered Sec 3 this year. so she took it upon herself to follow the friend's footsteps - she applied online & prepared the required documents. my only role in the whole process was to send her to the post office to post the documents & fetched her back from the test centre. (she got a lift to Sunway from this same friend whose brother is applying for Sec 1). wife & i didn't give her our "overwhelming support", in the sense that, we weren't totally convinced she was ready to live out on her own in a foreign land. well, maybe for the pre-U....

it's obvious this isn't a 2-bit scholarship test that we are all too familiar with. it's a whole day session which tests on English (includes writing an impromptu essay), Maths & General Ability. if the student get past this, then there's still the final interview to contend with.

from the parents' perpective, the final objective is presumably to do pre-U & then at least gain entry into the Univ of Singapore (ranked #30 in the world in 2008, & for comparison, outranked ALL aussie varsities except Australian National Univ at #16, & Univ of Malaya is #230, read here)

the issue of patriotism doesn't arise at all here. this is our kids & the govt has messed about the education system far too often & for too long (& let's not get started on the quota system) NOT to give them an alternative.

seriously, is there a parent who is satisfied with the way public schools are currently managed & who wouldn't provide the kids the opportunity to do better?

not me. (or, is it not I?)


(test over)

thanks.

thanks to all who have sent messages of encouragement & interceded in prayer on behalf of my father. he is still in ICU & recovery has been slow. he does not need any respiratory assistance now but is still dependent on inotropic (literally, heart pumping) support.

every cloud has a silver lining, they say. of the many things i learned from this difficult period, the one that stood out is my son's care & concern for his grandpa. he wants to visit everyday & has lots of questions to ask at the bedside. at the end of each visit, he will offer a prayer for him, & for the other patients, doctors & nurses.

i ask for nothing more.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them. psalm 127:4,5

a setback

just when we thought my father's recovery from hip surgery was going smoothly, within a week our optimism grounded to a screeching halt.

1st, the hip screw which had held the hip fracture in place.....

loosened quite a bit....


he could have tried to stand up & put pressure on the hip before it recovered fully. because of this, it's back to square 1 & another 6 weeks of non-weight bearing, ie. not allowed to stand on the affected leg.

the carers at the nursing home then resorted to feeding him in bed for fear of aggravating the hip. last week, he apparently choked on his food. although he recovered, some food may have lodged in his right lung resulting in an infection....
(Friday)

(Sunday)

so currently he is in ICU on multiple medication & respiratory support. it's a strange feeling. after treating so many patients in ICU, i'm dealing now with someone i've known all my life. will it be easier? will my clinical decisions be biased because of this relationship? & will i make a decision which i wouldn't normally do for someone else?

i may have taken the easy way out. i asked my colleague, whose clinical acumen i have the highest respect for, to manage the treatment & reassured him i will not interfere with his decisions.

my brother in Christ, JL, sent me this verse when he heard the news:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. phil 4:6,7

amen.

spelling bee

just heard from the news that a 13-yr-old indian-american has won this year's US spelling bee competition. (read here)

the winning word? Laodicean.

which according to websters dictionary, refers to one indifferent to religion, caring little or nothing about the matter, like the Christians of that church, mentioned in the Book of Revelation.

To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (rev 3: 14 -16)

which, please reprimand me if i'm wrong, also aptly describes the general state of christian believers these days. myself included.

a spoonful of birthday cake

we celebrated the boy's birthday during our CG recently. amidst playing with his friends...


anticipation of the cake....


a Ben 10 one at that....


& posing with his friends.......


i think this spoonful meant the most.....


happy birthday, boy!

tourism India-style

this promotion says it all.....

Spell It Right

my daughter's school participated at the state-level competition today & i lent support by being there. this was sponsored by RHB bank & New Straits Times as part of their corporate social responsibility. RHB provided the financial backing, to the tune of RM 2m for the whole competition i was told, while NST organised the event & provided personnel & logistic support.

personally, i did not think that the overall standard of english the students exhibited was good - it was mediocre at best. even the quiz master wavered in the pronunciation of certain words!

as each student was given a different word to spell, a fairer assessment of the students' ability would be to give the same word to each group & allow them to write it down instead. after all, i did overhear some mothers mention,"how come my daughter got the difficult words one?"

anyway, all was not in vain as i learned a few words myself, eg. menhir, elegy & gossamer, none of which, by the way, was spelt correctly.

& as a delayed birthday treat, my daughter had an over-rated, over-priced cup of....

why cigarettes are bad.

mr H, a 61-year-old ex-rubber tapper used to work from sunrise till late afternoon tapping, collecting & selling latex in his smallholding business. he looked after his family well, so well that he has 2 - wives & respective families, that is. although no stranger to hard labour, his only vice seemed to be smoking 2 packs a day of them bad boys for the last 40 years. well, this has come back to haunt him. it's called chronic obstructive airway disease, or COAD for short.

13 years ago, he was admitted to hospital for breathing difficulty & the chest xray revealed...

...an infection in the right lung. the infective process compounded by damage due to years of smoking resulted in mr H suffering from recurrent chest ailments. each time he recovered with a course of antibiotics, bronchodilators & steroids but this recent attack 3 weeks back must have been the last straw.

although the chest xray actually looked better than previous ones, he didn't improve with the usual medications, & needed to be put on a ventilator...

- he was persistently out of breath, as if he had just completed long-distance running.

efforts to take him off the ventilator proved futile, so the next step was to create a little hole in his windpipe (tracheostomy)...

which helps him breathe easier & facilitate nursing care as well. with this, he took a whole week to improve & even then, it was with a little help from this BIPAP device...

...a compact piece of equipment that bridges the recovery process between total dependence on a ventilator & being able to breath without aid.

today, he's breathing on his own with the tracheostomy tube still in place. he will be transferred to a hospital-based nursing home where the tube will eventually be removed.

3 weeks in ICU with a barrage of tests, procedures & medication, i hope the bill doesn't trigger another attack....

a conspiracy theory?

we shared about the H1N1 flu at prayer meeting tonite. my worldly-wise colleague B8 proposed his conspiracy theory - that although there is a real epidemic going on, it's been played up beyond its true severity by......get this....the manufacturers of N95 masks & pharmaceutical companies that produce tamiflu & flu vaccines.

it's possible, isn't it? remember when SARS raged in 2003 & how bottles of vitamin C & N95 masks were rapidly bought off the shelves in pharmacies?

it may or may not be true but have a look at the stock price of 3M, one of the manufacturers of N95 masks....

**source**

..which is showing an uptrend starting May (& also note the rise in 2003 at the peak of SARS). the stock of Roche, the producer of tamiflu, however, behaves differently....


**source**

err...it's still at a 5-year low!! ok, never mind, but good try, B8!!

anyway, before you rush off to buy those N95 masks...

..costing RM100 per box of 20, check out this myth-busting report.

remember guys, back to basics & take care!

they're here....!!

now that the 1st cases of H1N1 flu has been reported, it's only a matter of time before more cases flood in. the ministry of health has already sent out circulars to advise the private hospitals how suspected cases are to be handled.

we started out with closing all entry/exit points except 2 - the main entrance & the emergency department, where staff were stationed to screen visitors & patients &......

several temporary counters were set up to advise those with doubts or queries.

personally, i feel that this is just a token effort. short of measuring everyone's temperature, like how they do it at airports, which itself is a logistic nightmare, a lot of people with a slight temperature are going to get pass. besides, those in the early stages of the flu may not have a fever but may be infectious.

so what should we do?

totally avoiding unknown infected persons is impossible, unless you lock yourself in till the storm blows over. i would stay away from enclosed spaces as much as possible, like elevators, cinemas & airplanes, but having to go to hospital at least 6 days a week would negate all that.

the jury on the effectiveness of immunisation with the H1N1 flu vaccine is still out as rapid mutation of the virus may make that particular vaccine useless. virus resistance to medication like tamiflu has rendered this treatment option doubtful at best.

so where does this leave us then?

i guess it's back to basics then, & that is to maintain a healthy lifestyle - eat balanced meals, drink plenty of fluids, exercise regularly & have enough rest.

and pray for divine intervention.

This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
psalms 91:2,3

angels & demons

bought the book last year at a warehouse sale & it's been collecting dust on the shelf since. now that the movie has just been released, in Rome no less, i literally spent the last few days glued to the book.

it has a mind-blowing plot with a vile twist, & i'm surprised there wasn't more opposition to the book/movie from the catholic church.

even after reading the book, i think i'll need to see the movie TWICE to fully grasp the essence of plot.

like i said, mind-blowing!

if only.....

3 year is a long time in medicine. this is the time period that lapsed since this 51-year-old lady last came to see the surgeon, who had then advised her to remove a lump in her breast. she came back this week for the surgery & this is her chest xray taken pre-operatively.

the multiple coin-shaped opacities seen in both lungs are typically called cannonball lesions. they are most likely a result of the spread from breast cancer. despite surgery to remove the affected breast, she will still need to go for either chemotherapy or radiation (depending on the nature of the cancer), & even then, things don't look promising. she may not see the end of the year.

if only she had agreed to the surgery 3 years earlier....

but, it not too late for most of us. besides maintaining a healthy lifestyle & going for regular medical check-ups, frequent breast self-examination (read here) can detect early abnormalities. further info on breast cancer awareness can be obtained here.

multiple salary scheme

years ago when i bumped into an ex-classmate, a teacher, he was dating another teacher. double salary scheme, he sheepishly told me. they eventually married & have 2 kids who are now in varsity.

tonite, as i passed the lady security guard at the entrance to the ICU, i asked her, "budak baru?", referring to a new recruit by her side. there's always a constant turnover in the security service as people search for better paying jobs. the new girl, in her 20s, turned out to be her daughter, who took this job on a part-time basis while on holiday break from her college. in the midst of our conversation, yet another new recruit joined us & she is another daughter, also on college vacation to earn some pocket money. in this instance, they work 12-hour shifts, 6 days a week & are paid RM700 a month.

double or triple salary schemes - these are decent jobs during difficult times. if only people are prepared to rough it out & make an honest day's work of their lives, we would be faced with fewer menaces in the form of snatch thieves, mat rempits & sms scams.

a caring heart

went to the nursing home to see how my father was getting on. he's been there for 2 weeks & seemed to have settled in nicely. the skin sutures have been removed & he moves around on a wheelchair now. the helpers normally feed him his meals, but when we are there, my mum would do that. however, we were pleasantly surprised by the boy's caring gesture....

before we left, i asked him to offer a prayer for kung-kung & he did that without hesitation. & as if to prove that wasn't a flash in the pan, he even volunteered this as well...

i have to say i'm totally overwhelmed by this display of concern & responsibility. & you know what? i couldn't have done better myself.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." ephesians 6:1-3

public holiday on friday

it felt like an optical illusion - today being friday & a labour day holiday.

woke up late, had tim sum breakfast with daughter, then went to hospital to see a patient in ICU. by the time i finished, it was already 4pm.

for some reason, it felt like a saturday. because i was looking forward to watching football tonite & preparing for Lord's supper tomorrow.

am i the only one who felt this way?

a step at a time

parents constantly warned their kids not to run, climb, fight, jump, etc. to avoid injury to themselves. most times, the kids disobey & most times, they get away with it.

except for this 9-yr-old boy, who ran up the staircase 3 steps at a time. a mis-step & a trip later....

.....resulted in this deformed forearm....
(note: the GP had impressively improvised a wooden splint, which immobilised the fracture & therefore, reduced pain)

.......while the xray confirmed 2 broken bones.


so remember, kids, God made parents for a reason! take care!

saving for the future?

since i was not busy this morning, i opted to try for some ASW2020 units at the local bank. a long queue had already formed even before the bank opened at 9.15am.

why would a doctor in private practice join a queue like this, you ask. hey, in these difficult times, every little bit counts! i even filled in the forms & wrote out the cheque last nite. maybe that's the reason, despite the long queue, i still managed to be 5th in line to purchase.

actually, this is my 1st foray into ASW2020. last week, i topped up some ASM units & was pleasantly surprised there was NO queue. thus, i was taken aback at the small crowd this morning. is there something i do not know about ASM & ASW2020?

i hope the kids appreciate what i'm doing for them!!

the best things

this sign is placed by the road leading to whiteman/caversham park in perth. as this message is often repeated elsewhere, there must be some truth in those words, although there is no indication what these "best things" are. however, i think this version by robert louis stevenson is more definitive...

The best things are nearest:
breath in your nostrils,
light in your eyes,
flowers at your feet,
duties at your hand,
the path of God just before you.

even so, are we prepared to take on that journey?

**thanks, Yan, for the message**

78

when i get to be 78, bogged down with a broken hip & dementia, i would not want to be a burden to my family & kids. so, if i get placed into a nursing home for rehabilitation, i guess i should not really complain. perhaps living with like-minded people, pun intended, may actually speed up recovery. kids, take note.

anyway, this is about my father. because he is bedridden & unable to take care for himself, i'm left with no choice but to get him into a nursing home, where he will be looked after for the next 2-3 months, by which time the fracture would have healed & he should be able to mobilise with a walking frame.

sorry, father, but it's the only viable option.

just 4 words this easter

break...


mend.....



immersion.....


salvation.....

an easter to remember!

things sometimes happen at a furious pace. like this weekend, for example.

1st, my father had a fall & broke his hip. the operation to fix the fracture today was successful, thanks to Dr L & his orthopaedic-trained team. because i had to stay with him, i couldn't drive my daughter to KL to do the mensa test. my wife took up the challenge to handle the task, even though she hasn't driven to KL by herself before.

they came back just in time to attend our church 10th anniversary & installation ceremony of the new pastor.

and, tomorrow, as if perfectly-timed with Christ's resurrection, my daughter will publicly declare her faith by baptism through immersion.


hmm..where did i read that all heaven rejoice when a soul is saved? like i said, it's an easter to remember....

killer bottle

it seems these days, you don't need firearms or sharp weapons to kill. apparently, a water bottle can do the job just as well.

yesterday, a 12 year old student was an innocent bystander who was hit with such a bottle accidentally thrown by his school mate. being made of plastic, it is normally light, but filled with water, a 1lit bottle actually weighs 1kg, & can impart considerable impact when forcefully thrown. the result was this life-threatening blood clot in the brain, as shown on this CT scan...

the surgery to remove it was successful but unexpectedly complicated at the end with the presence of fluid in the lungs (deja vu ala A Kugan??) causing the lungs
to look white on a chest xray.....


this was vigourously treated & his lung dramatically improved today....

now that all is well, i wonder if the parents would make a police report on this unfortunate incident, & whether this report would achieve anything, other than for insurance claims. as a concerned parent myself i realise there's no way my kids, or anyone else for that matter, can be guaranteed safe while they go about their daily activities. accidents can & do happen. i can only repeat the prayer of David :

Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from men of violence who plan to trip my feet. psalms 140:4

second chance

this is a true event which happened on 1 April.

41-year-old Mdm T underwent excision of a lump in the breast. just as surgery was to commence, she was in tears because 2 of her family members had cancer & she feared she could also suffer the same fate. during the procedure, the suspicious-looking lump was promptly sent for frozen section, in which the nature (or histology, in medic speak) of the tissue, whether cancerous or not, can be immediately determined.

if cancerous, the surgeon will proceed with a mastectomy, ie. complete removal of that breast, to be followed up with chemotherapy & an uncertain future.

if not, then Mdm T can look forward to another 41 fruitful years.

when told of the result after surgery, she cried again, this time with tears of joy.

on a day, when there were jokers aplenty, playing out pranks & making nuisance of themselves, life has graciously dealt Mdm T with an ace instead.

G'day, mate!

you know you're Down Under when you see this....
it was more an impulsive move rather than a well-thought out plan. when MAS offered some cheap flights in Oct last year (oil was about $100 per barrel), we couldn't believe that return tickets for Perth went for about RM1300 each, all in. having talked about vacationing in Australia for years but not doing anything about it, this was like an offer from Don Corleone.(the tickets have come down to under RM1k since)

after an uneventful flight, we touched down to a sweltering 35 degreesC, & this was supposed to be autumn already. my secondary school classs-mate CL picked us up at the airport & sent us to our apartment in Joondalup...
....a modern suburb about 25km north of Perth. after settling in, we went for a drive along the coast....

to the reknowned Hillary's Harbour, just in time to catch the sunset ....


...& for our 1st meal - a sea-food platter dinner....

a short visit to King's Park at nite was our last stop on the 1st day.

.

this is the city at nite as seen from the park & zooming in on the bright structure on the right, & hey, what do you know - they have their own version of the ferris wheel by Swan River....


the next morning, CL took us to a Car Rental & we decided on a Mitsubishi Lancer for $33 a day.....

now that we've got wheels, Perth is there for the taking. drove to Cottlesoe Beach where a local exhibition was on show.


some of the sculptures include giant polo mints....
extra long pencils....

...and an oversized scrabble set...


next post : swan river & the city

Down Under

the boy has never been on vacation with the family for more than 5 days - that was to bangkok last year. so, you can understand his excitement that he's going Down Under...for a whole week!

so excited he already marked it on his diary way back in january....

Obituary

"Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be
remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

Knowing when to come in or out of the rain;
Why the early bird gets the worm;
Life isn't always fair;
And maybe it was my fault

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Elastoplast to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you
still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing."

**thanks, YO, for the email**

those were the days, my friend...

so, march 12 will be D-day for thousands of SPM candidates.

this is where the students are spoilt for choice - some have already started A-levels, while others wait for 6th form & matriculation places, & a small minority hope & pray a windfall called a scholarship.

i remember clearly the day i went to school with my friends to collect our results. nope, no top-scorers amongst & certainly none of that calling-parents-on-the-handphone rigmarole but hooray, we all passed! we had lepak-ed for over 3 months since the exam & we still had another 2 months before school re-started. yes, for us, life was simple - pass SPM (called MCE then), lepak some more & then join 6th form.

we ate ice-cream as we took a leisurely stroll through the istana gardens to town to catch a bus home...

on the way, we reminisced those care-free lower secondary days while ruminating over a concept still alien to us then - the co-ed classes of 6th form. hmm....girls!

& we laughed wickedly in anticipation.

evacuation drill?

Next time, if there is an evacuation drill in your office, think before you rush out...

In a large multinational company..............

A fire alarm rang at 4 PM in a large office when almost all employees were in office (approx 5000). As usual the entire office was evacuated within 3 mins & all employees gathered outside the office in the designated area waiting for further announcement.

The Security Officer in charge made the following announcement: "Dear employees - with sincere regret I have been asked to announce that for many of you it will be your last evacuation drill. Due to the recession the company is laying off almost 50% of its employees. So when this announcement finishes, I ask all of you to move back into the building and if your swipe card does not work then it means you have been laid
off, in which case you will not be allowed inside and all your belongings will be couriered to you by tomorrow.

The Company has used this innovative approach as we didn't want to fill up the email box with lay-off mails and good-bye mails in thousands & also to avoid any fight inside the office and the consequent security issue for all staff. Hope you have had a rewarding career with us and all the best ahead. Please move back in & try your luck".

**thanks, WW, for the email**

black sheep

a post-mortem examination is usually performed by a pathologist (also called coroner in UK or medical examiner in US) to determined the cause of death when it is not obvious, or in medico-legal or suspicious circumstances, eg. road traffic accidents or suicide.

or, like when someone dies in police custody.

we all know about the Kugan case & now that the 2nd pathologist's is available online, it should make us medics wonder how is it possible that the 1st report is so vastly different from the 2nd?

obviously, someone has gone against the oath. the hippocratic oath. the part that upheld one to abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous.

i know some of us overcharge, while others are less than meticulous in treatment, but to lie in a high-profile police case?

i've since removed this from my side-bar...

the head bone & the heart bone

lynnxuan's post got me thinking again about why i applied to do medicine in the 1st place.

this is that time of the year, after the SPM/STPM/matriculation exams, when career paths take shape. some students are focussed enough to know what they want to do, while for others, their ambitions are molded by well-meaning parents.

it really doesn't matter what the reasons are for doing medicine. it's noble to desire to want to heal & relieve suffering, yet it's not a crime to want to make lots of money.

many years ago, a dear friend gave me a cutting from a magazine, Newsweek i think, about a speech directed at a graduating medical class. the speaker was Alan Alda, most famously revered for his role as US army surgeon Hawkeye Pierce in the long-running TV series M*A*S*H. he highlighted several pertinent points:

You're entering a special place in our society. People will be awed by your expertise. You'll be placed in a position of privilege. You'll live well, people will defer to you. call you by your title - and it may be hard to remember that the word "doctor" is not actually your first name.

Where does money come on your list? Will it be the sole standard against which you reckon your success? How much will it guide you in relating to your patients? Do patients in a clinic need less of your attention than private patients?

Where will your family come on your list? How many days and nights, weeks and months, will you separate yourself from them, buried in your work, before you realize that you've removed yourself from an important part of your life?

I congratulate you, and please let me thank you for taking on the enormous responsibility that you have — and for having the strength to have made it to this day. I don't know how you've managed to learn it all. But there is one more thing you can learn about the body that only a non-doctor would tell you — and I hope you'll always remember this:

The head bone is connected to the heart bone - and don't let them come apart.

here is the full text of a most inspiring message every prospective & new medical graduate should read, deliberate upon & keep in mind, as they embark on their brave journey.

bon voyage, doctors!

20 years

we've had our share of friendship blues, lovers tiffs & running battles as man & spouse.

be that as it may, 20 blissful years & 2 lovely kids later, i'm still married to the same person.

i think that's how God would want it.

He who finds a wife finds what is good
and receives favour from the LORD. prov 18:22

a good deal?

my insurance agent is like a friend. having known him for over 12 years, he still keeps me informed of what he thought to be good deals. like oil palm land for sale. or a property whose owner was deep in debts. the latest on offer is a BMW 325 sports - less than 2 years & only 7000km on the clock at a "giveaway" price of RM200k (RM305k when new). ha ha!

but like the land & property before this, the deal is dead right after he mentioned "BMW". in these difficult times, when terms like insolvency, slow-down & rescue package are everyday conversation pieces, i guess it's prudent to be frugal.

the pastor once expounded: why buy things you don't need with money you don't have, just to impress people you don't even like. yes, why indeed?

thanks, but my current car has gone over 7 years & 100k km with us & we're ok with this.