Friday, October 28, 2011

dangerous sports

you'd think motorsports is dangerous. after all, 2 people were killed separately in Las Vegas & here in Sepang just last week.

you'd think competitive rugby & football are dangerous, these being contact sports.

you think bungee-jumping is dangerous, since it is invariably listed as an exclusion in accident/travel insurance policies.

what about high-jump in school?


you'd never expect this to happen but it did. this 10 year-old boy jumped & landed on his outstretched hands. being right-handed, the impact was felt on this hand & it broke 2 bones. just goes to show that you don't need to participate in dangerous sports to be injured.

i should know. my son broke the same 2 bones playing goalkeeper in a football game with his friends earlier this year.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

it's time i took a break!

i suddenly woke up at 8.25am this morning. almost immediately, i jumped out of bed & called the hospital to inform i'd be late for the 8.30 start. as i was dialling the phone, i then realised it's sunday. feeling relieved, i went back to sleep again.

i reckon when it's your job you think about the 1st thing of the morning, it's time for a break. or, reappraise the priorities

as if to reinforce that notion, i inadvertently pumped RON 97 petrol at the gas station, which i've never done before.

i can't wait for the girl to return home next month for family vacation.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

so, you think you're safe at 33?

you'd never expect someone who's 33 years old to have a stroke, right?

wrong.

this technician was at an office meeting when he suddenly keeled over & starting talking gibberish. he was brought to hospital & a CT scan of the brain revealed a blood clot in his brain.
while preparing for surgery, a repeat scan revealed that the clot has expanded.

the clot was successfully evacuated. he is recovering in ICU & he woke up this morning from the sedation. it was noted that his blood pressure was excessively high before surgery & this was most likely the reason for the stroke. apparently, hypertension runs in his family.

if he doesn't take care of himself, he can expect to have another stroke or even a heart attack before he reaches 40.

gives new meaning to the term life is short, doesn't it?

Saturday, October 15, 2011

new breed of doctors?

my friend who lives in klang valley told me a branch of a well-known medical centre has just started in his neighbourhood. it specialises in neurosurgery, spine & cardiac surgery. so, all doctors of these disciplines have moved over from the main centre to the new site, leaving behind specialists who are brainless, spineless & heartless.

you have been forewarned.

Friday, October 14, 2011

end of the road?

this was taken from a FB page of The Alliance for an "Idiot-Free" America


i wonder if we, here in malaysia, will be in the same position when our oil wells run dry.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

out of one's league

i'm a bit part player in the stock market. that means, i occasionally dabble in it & only with blue chip stocks because i don't know or haven't learned the twists & turns of a wily stock investor.

that also means i won't get extremely rich from a bull run. more importantly, i won't be impoverished with the downturn.

i'm cautious mainly because i'm using my own hard-earned money.

unlike the GLCs who are spending money as if it grows on trees. take Proton for example. remember they bought the italian motorcycle company MV Augusta in 2005 for 70m euros, then sold it off a year later, without producing a single bike, for a token sum of 1 euro? yes, FIVE ringgit! the irony is that the company that bought it for 1 euro reportedly sold part of it to BMW for a reported 93m euros, & the remainder to Harley-Davidson for 109m euros.

& it was reported today that proton may sell part of the loss-making Lotus. seems like nothing Proton touches turns to gold. other than benefitting the manufacturers & the downliners, i don't think Proton did justice to the motoring public by mass-producing affordable cars. it's only affordable because the other cars were slapped with high import/excise/sales taxes.

perhaps car manufacturing is out of our league. or, we should only let competent people manage & turn the company around, like how they did for Air Asia & SP Setia.

Monday, October 10, 2011

most eligible bachelor

bachelor may not be the appropriate description because my colleague is recently divorced. his was supposed to be the happy-ending genre - 2 doctors who married & went on to specialist training. he qualified & went into private practice while she qualified & was sent overseas for further training. they were supposed to start a family when she returned.

but she didn't.

she found life away from home to her liking, so much so that after the supposed 1-year training, she found herself another job & just continued working. it's been over 2 years since she left, so after many (failed) attempts at reconciliation, he gave up & filed for divorce. the papers just came through.

word spread fast, not so much the doomed marriage as a 40-something medical specialist with a flourishing private practice now available for suitors of the romantic kind. he has the temperament & character that would make any propective in-laws sit up & take notice.

already i can see 2 families making moves to catch his attention. he may want a break after the trauma of the divorce but he's just too nice a guy to remain single - he needs someone to share his affection &...er...wealth.

but here's the catch. he attends church & if he adheres to church beliefs, he can't marry without being branded as an adulterer, no less.

"I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”  matt 19:9

i don't know how this will pan out as we all watch with anticipation.

Wednesday, October 05, 2011

exam fever....& why you can't give up!

yes, it's that dreadful time of the year again...for anxious students & their super-over-anxious parents.

i'd be lying if i say i'm not concerned for my daughter whose exams start in 2 weeks. having gone thru my fair share of tests & assessments from age 7 till 36 (!!), i think i may have figured out the twists & turns of exams.

1st, you're not competing against one another but rather against the system. as long as you achieve certain marks, you'll pass or score an A. yes, the examiners plot a curve & then decide on the cut-off points, but these points don't change much from year to year. if the exam is exceptionally difficult, as what my friend said about the PMR BM paper yesterday, most people will find it difficult, so the points will be lowered accordingly. i overheard my teacher friend said the standard of SPM Add Maths is so bad, the passing mark is 20%!!

so, it's actually in the students' interest that they have group studies/discussions & share with each other what topics they think are more important. that's called spotting questions & i believe this term still apply these days. my friends & i used to spot, in the sense that we've covered most exam topics & then we decide, based on previous years' questions, which are likely to be ask that particular year, so we can emphasise on those topics & hope to score should it be asked. but you have to have covered MOST topics, if not all. of course, when you haven't & are desparate, you'd also spot questions but i call this gambling with your future!

2nd, most students would have diligently prepared months before the exams & no one will ever admit they've completely covered the whole syllabus. even so, i'm quite obssessive about making sure the other preparations are in place, eg. full complement of pens, pencils, rulers & erasers, identity card, hankerchief (to wipe the sweat from forehead & palms) & watch/clock. after all, the revision is already in the head & there's not much more you can do about that, but you don't want to be rattled because of a oversight, eg. don't forget fresh calculator batteries!

3rd, don't forget to pray. doesn't matter which religion you embrace, you still need the confidence that a Supreme Being is on your side. especially when all else fail, when you're staring at a question & don't know how & where to begin, or when you're facing an essay question with no points in your blanked-out mind. when you're in dire straits & the sinking feeling is overwhelming, your last hope will be to call out, pray, exhort, chant or just mumble. you don't know Who's listening & Who's going to give you enlightenment. besides, you have nothing to lose.

fast-forward a few months, & when the results are announced, if you scored, then congratulations are in order. otherwise, don't fret that you didn't achieve your target. yeah, i know, your parents are disappointed & you're frustrated & the whole world seems to be against you. your friends have moved forward but you're sort of stuck in a rut.

who's to know what the divine plan is for you? is it for you to take a detour from your desired career path?or, should you start back at square #1 & start your journey all over again, hopefully be better equipped the next time?

after 30 years of sitting for exams, i've been thru it all - success, disappointment AND outright failure. the battle scars tell of the detour & square #1 tales. & more.

that's why i dare tell you - don't give up because it ain't over till the fat lady sings!