Monday, November 05, 2012

another reunion


besides the lunar new year reunion with the family, i have 2 other reunions which are both not held annually. one is with the 6th-formers which is held every 4 years on the same weekend as the football world cup final (read here); the other, with the varsity mates.

yesterday, we had varsity reunion 3.0 in KL.

35 turned up. most are from klang valley with 2 from penang & 1 from kota kinabalu.

we caught up on old times - shared jokes, traded barbs & revealed secrets long buried in the past. there were a few mates i've not met since graduation!

i learned 2 things :

(1) from personal accounts, UM med grads tend to tell it as it is, & non-alumni don't like that. most think we were over-meticulous & overbearing, sometimes bordering on arrogance. but that was the environment we were nurtured in, instilled by the icons of medical academia of old, to strive for perfection excellence. looking back, we were glad we went thru that because they pushed us to be the best we can be.

(2) one of my mates revealed he has found peace in, and with, himself. he's a paediatrician in private practice who's running an orphanage in addition to his clinic. this commitment runs from 9am till 12mn everyday - strenuous but it's something he enjoys doing, charging those who could afford & helping out & providing shelter to the disadvantaged.

in my opinion, that's a noble intention we all should aspire to. the wise man once said:
So I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for that is his heritage. (Eccles 3:22, NKJV)

6 comments:

Soo said...

I would trust a Chinese UM med grad doc (and probably all the grads from decades ago) . I knew of a former sch mate who used to be bottom in the science stream, got accepted into UM matrics (non Chinese obviously) and ended up doing med in UM. And I heard of UM med lecturers who would just simply give a "pass" to the totally hopeless, non performing students; told by a Malay UM med grad who married my husband's cousin. So, this "icon of medical academia" that u talked about, is definitely of "old", even in UM.

This noble friend of yours who works 9am-12mn everyday , he's probably not married!

doc said...

Soo,

those at the bottom of my class had to stay back & repeat the whole year. some eventually drop out completely. those given a pass weren't totally hopeless - they just need remedial classes.

in my class of 128, about 100 eventually graduated.

the icons included dhanaraj, florence wang, Loh TG, Lam KL, sinnathuray & Saw HS, amongst others. dhanaraj has since passed on but the others are still in active private practice.

my paeds colleague is happily married with kids. so who says you can't be happy in all aspects??

Soo said...

Damn terror ur friend. One in millions!

The thumb in every pie said...

I am pretty lansi in the sense that I usually check on a newly recommended doctor's credentials/ethnicity before I decide to see him/her. With all these med schools mushrooming everywhere, one can never be too sure. I rather be lansi than sorry. LOL

Re: your paed colleague. 9am-12 midnight, you say? Where does he find the time to run his private practice then?

doc said...

yes, Soo, very terror!!

doc said...

Andrea,

my paeds colleague bought 2 adjacent semi-Ds & converted them into the orphanage near to his clinic, so he spends his time between the two. he has helpers at the orphanage.

i can tell you're the "lansi" type, but yeah, better safe than sorry.