1st & last, do no harm

double duty

2009-11-10T15:56:00.001+08:00

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

2009-11-08T23:37:00.001+08:00

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.

2009-11-01T00:01:00.002+08:00

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

2009-10-30T00:31:00.003+08:00

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

2009-10-27T11:11:00.001+08:00

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

2009-10-26T17:23:00.001+08:00

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

2009-10-24T23:48:00.001+08:00

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

2009-10-17T01:01:00.001+08:00

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?

2009-10-16T00:07:00.001+08:00

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

2009-10-13T11:14:00.007+08:00

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

2009-10-11T00:20:00.006+08:00

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)

2009-10-08T16:06:00.004+08:00

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

2009-10-06T23:50:00.002+08:00

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

2009-10-03T12:04:00.002+08:00

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

2009-10-01T23:57:00.001+08:00

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

2009-09-28T12:15:00.001+08:00

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

2009-09-25T01:40:00.006+08:00

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

2009-09-24T14:48:00.003+08:00

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

2009-09-21T22:17:00.004+08:00

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

2009-09-17T12:31:00.001+08:00

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?

2009-09-16T23:21:00.004+08:00

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

2009-09-14T20:43:00.007+08:00

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

2009-09-12T10:20:00.008+08:00

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?

2009-09-09T11:16:00.003+08:00

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

2009-09-08T23:58:00.005+08:00

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.