farewell

Gave a farewell dinner last week to one of the nurses who has left the department.

it's the usual occasion for best wishes to be exchanged, promises to keep in touch to be made and group photos taken.

so, i was most surprised when my colleagues & i each received a gift from the nurse concerned....

 

maybe we said, taught or did something or encouraged her in ways we didn't even realise. i remembered her from her student nursing days & have seen her pass thru the rite of passage from a blurry-eyed student to a confident staff nurse. even attended her wedding.

 

she will be missed much.

reminds me about the way our country is managed. there must be ongoing brain drain in every industry & the biggest beneficiary is the Little Red Dot down south.

 

but i digress.

fully booked

i expect cinema halls, concert shows, plane flights & hotels to be fully booked.

but also restaurants at the mall?

don't take me the wrong way but i'm glad that the fasting month has finally come to an end, & i doubt i am the only one who feels this way.

think : providers of emergency/critical services.

philipian

apparently, last week i had a patient from 1st century Greece.

 

Philippi was an ancient Macedonian city (of Alexander the Great fame, remember?) & one where the apostle Paul had helped set up church.

 

 

however, i wouldn't have gotten all excited if our education system had taught our "lost generations" proper geography - that the inhabitants of the Philippines are called Filipinos.

 

i just shook my head & shared a good laugh with some friends.

act of God

apparently i slept thru a thunderstorm (what?) last nite.

because this is what i saw going to work this morning....

a tree in the visitors' car park has toppled over.....

......causing a dent on the roof.

so, who should pay for the damage?

the hospital because it collects parking fees?

car insurance comprehensive insurance?

the hospital has made its stand that cars are parked at owners' own risk & car insurance policies generally do not cover  "acts of God."

guess the car was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

just like MH17?

deep sh*t

staff turn-over is a common event in many companies - people move for various reasons & these may be "pull" or "push" factors.

even in hospitals.

but when staff in their peak years move on to greener partures & the heads of department replace them by re-hiring retired staff with a poor previous working record, it doesn't speak well of employment process.

quantity instead of quality?

filling up the numbers?

or fixing sink holes with duct tape?

yup, we are in deep sh*t!!

age of decadence?

i am a regular guy.

i buy regular stuff (read: mostly when on offer) & i drive regular cars (read: B-class Japanese).

which is why i cannot fathom why people in not-yet-1st-world malaysia would pay this much for a meal....yes, just ONE meal!

not exactly exquisite continental cuisine but just a buffet dinner at a local hotel....so i imagine there must a quite a number of irregular guys out there!

30

i am 30 today......as a doctor.

on this day in 1984, i reported for duty as houseman in the paediatrics department. although medicine wasn't my 1st choice of career for most of school life, i had a change of heart when applying for varsity courses. although i initially struggled thru the initial stages of the course, it did take some time before i got used to it.

the rest is history & today, my classmates & i, of the class of 79/84, we celebrate our own special milestone.

 

*those days, i had a lot more hair & a lot less waist*

saman 2.0

the earlier court hearing was postponed because the court room had to make way for an "emergency hearing."

so my turn for the re-scheduled hearing will be held this afternoon. of course, it disrupts my schedule, in addition to causing some degree of anxiety & distress.

which makes me realise that each one of us will affect someone else's life, in the decisions we make everyday, whether good or bad. i have to attend this court hearing because of someone's lack of rational thinking, lapse in judgement or selfish ambition.

oh well....have to go now....off to the lions' den....