Friday, July 27, 2012

a caring goverment

1st they dish out bantuan rakyat money for the needy...

then students get book vouchers & free laptops...

taxi owners get free tyres....

undergraduates get discount cards....

this week, civil servants & pensioners get bonuses....

and today.....doctors in private practice get to increase their fees by up to 14%!!

don't you love a government that has the rakyat's interest at heart??



Friday, July 20, 2012

glamour teams

that's the name given to nurses & paramedics who are part of subspecialty teams, eg. neurosurgery or cardiac surgery. it's perceived to be glamorous because they are personally handpicked by the respective specialist to assist in complicated surgeries.

they also get special time-off from work & opportunities to attend courses but they have to be present when duty calls, whether on weekends or public holidays.

or, any time. like tomorrow, the 1st day of the fasting month & a public holiday. i can see some of them pulling long faces already.

suddenly, it's not so glamorous, huh?

maybe it's like, following a whim or fancy, you choose a career in medicine. anticipating the glamour that is perceived to go with the profession, suddenly the realisation that the long hours of sleepless nights, demanding patients, mean nurses & overbearing superiors hits you. & just as you think the worse is over, you realise you can't quit to open your own clinic because wherever you had in mind to operate, there are already 10 others before you. & it takes ages to enter the post-grad masters program because, somehow, others are given preference over you.

no, it's not exactly what you REALLY had planned to do for the rest of your life, the honorific "doctor" notwithstanding.

now, was that a dream or nightmare?





Saturday, July 14, 2012

bonding with the neighbourhood kids

can i say that most of us don't know a lot of people in our neighbourhood?

if you're like me, we work all week & when the weekend comes, we spend it with the family. maybe visit or go out for a meal with some close friends.

the interaction with the neighbours is mostly a hi & bye type, except for the occasional open house or wake service.

the kids in our taman at least have a common interest. they play football at the field on sundays & some parents have begun to join in as well. not many but it's a start.
hopefully, with time, more will join in & we can have some semblance of the muhibbah spirit of days gone by.

Thursday, July 05, 2012

is it a good time to be a taxi driver?

taxi owners seemed to be getting a lot of goodies this year.

last week, they were promised a set of 4 new tyres a year. yesterday, they were offered rm100 a month for 12 months if they were courteous to their passengers. soon, they may even get socso benefits & group accident insurance coverage.

yeah, it's good to be a taxi owner in election year - only problem is that a permit may costs an arm & a leg.

soon, maybe doctors want to demand for a new pair of Nike Air (for running around the hospital) & extra rm100 a month for being courteous to the patients.

or, teachers may demand a new wardrobe & rm100 a month for being courteous to the students.

but, wait a minute here ....... aren't the taxi drivers, doctors & teachers supposed to be courteous anyway?

another can of worms opens.....

sushi king, anyone?

i only take japanese food once in a while & go to sushi king maybe just once a year. most times, i get the cheaper version at jusco when they sell the day's portion at 30% off after 8pm.

yesterday, my nurse assistant told me sushi king is offering rm2 a plate for all types of sushi. she loaned me her membership card & this was what happened when you go to sushi king only once a year.
this was possible only because i had missed lunch.

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Studying


i think this image aptly portrays what my dear daughter is going thru. the can of soda, bar of chocolate & iPod are all frighteningly familiar.

yeah, she's even mentioned the "D" word.