x'mas has come early

got a package from UK today. guess what?


Lord Archer found time, in between correcting proofs for his latest novel & shuttling from conducting fund-raising auctions to attending theatrical plays (read here), to autograph for me a copy of the revised version of Shall We Tell The President?


you've made my day, your Lordship!

i'd also like to extend sincere appreciation to his PA, Ms Alison Prince, for sending the paperback across 8 time zones, & a special mention of Iml for 1st directing me to Jeffrey's blog.

blessed christmas, one & all!

the cosmonaut

Juliet said this at the balcony :

"What's in a name? that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet".

seriously, i've never read any of shakespeare's plays, not even the abridged versions, but i am suitably impressed with some of his more famous quotes. this particular excerpt is self-explanatory. the converse would mean that, if it were not a rose, calling it one would be meaningless as the sweet fragrance is decidedly absent.

the americans call them astronauts. the russians called theirs cosmonauts. if this report is true (read here) , then our erstwhile angkasawan Dr Sheikh is now a full-fledged trained cosmonaut.

sure, as a malaysian, i should be proud that one of ours has finally achieved this sought-after qualification awarded by the Russian National Space Agency, no less! (in chess parlance, the russians would called him Grandmaster).

sure, we as a nation have arrived in the guise of a space-exploring power & are pushing into the frontiers of the galaxies beyond.

i'm really not into the intricate financial & technology-transfer aspects of our space programme but.....err... before the red carpet is rolled out & ticker-tape parade starts, can i just ask one question?

if you were going to space, would you want cosmonaut Dr Sheikh to pilot your shuttle?

graduation day 2007

yeah, it's that time of the year again when the kindergartens have their graduation ceremonies, showcasing the achievements of the students to the parents in particular, & to the public at large. of course, this is also a neat piece of PR work to attract prospective parents to enrol their pre-schoolers.

my son's school is no different. next year, they will take up the Fungate franchise, which (supposedly) means superior teaching methods, more science & computer facilities & better trained teachers, therefore effectively preparing the 4-to-6-yr-olds for formal education. naturally, all these advantages come at a (steep) price - about 3 times the current fees.

well, let's not get too academic about the issue. kids should enjoy their childhood & here's the boy's few minutes claim to fame at center-stage :

biblical inpiration ?

it all started with the made-for-tv serial. starring sam neill & peter strauss - at that time both actors were largely unknown - how could one miss with a title like Kane & Abel, playing on the name of Adam & Eve's first-born?

what caught my fascination about this saga set in America during the great depression, was the bitter-sweet climax, as only Jeffrey Archer could conjure up. in this instance, it was Kane who anonymously provided financial backing for Abel's doomed hotel chain. a gracious act - uncommonly outstanding in a backdrop of national collapse & hostile manipulation of 1920s, & conspicuously rare these days. a total contrast from the tragic Cain & Abel story as recorded in the book of Genesis.

i've been hooked on the ex-MP's books since. sometimes i wonder if he occasionally derives inspiration from the bible. how else can he explain The Prodigal Daughter & The 11th Commandment? dare i imagine that Mark of The Beast & The Burning Bush be amongst his future titles?

in the meantime, his latest collection of short stories came in useful while waiting between patients.

jonah

it's probably terminal.

my GP friend was recently diagnosed to have inoperable cancer of the liver. the doctors managed to reduce its size by embolization & then proceeded to chemotherapy. (read here)

short of surgery, that's probably his best shot.

it was really ironic because we were having dinner with a few other medics earlier last month & he was asked whether he believed in God. he replied that there was no need to as he doesn't have a problem, conflict or crisis. he was being candid because life has been rosy for him - happily married with a young family, runs a successful clinic & financially independent.

and now, this.

but he is still outwardly jovial about his future. talking to him, i can sense that he has more or less prepared for the battle with big C. but more importantly he is also receptive to having God in his life. for that, i am happy for him.

is this God's timely test for him? does he have to go through the same desparate sinking experience as Jonah before he retraces his path back to The Way, The Truth & The Life?

it's probably terminal & chemo-embolization probably his best option. probably. in times of fear & doubt, isn't it reassuring that there are still promises we can hold on to :

Let everyone call urgently on God. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish." Jonah 3:8,9

**image source**

closure

this lady underwent surgery to remove a tumour from the spinal cord. everything went well until she was about to be wheeled out of the OT. without warning, the ECG went flat, ie. she didn't have a heart beat. resuscitation was immediately started but was unsuccessful. it was sudden & it's effect devastating for the family. as 1 of 3 doctors who took care of her, i was inwardly traumatised.

but it didn't just end there - there was still the issue of an unsettled bill running into thousands of ringgit. after the hospital had sent several letters of demand over a 2-year period, which all went unanswered, they unilaterally opted for legal redress.

i personally disagreed with that course of action. the credit control people should have put in more effort to personally seek out the family & have face-to-face negotiation (win-win, remember?). of course the family felt aggrieved - the patient walked into hospital but went out in a bag. who wouldn't be upset??

what was needed then was a little human touch....
some compassion...
& loads of common sense.....,
all of which are in short supply these days.

expectantly, the family proceeded with a countersuit - claiming damages from the hospital (& indirectly the doctors) for negligence, & they have on their side, a lawyer who harbours high political aspirations & more importantly, would take the case pro bono.

notwithstanding the recent high-profile Foo Fiona case & the subsequent Federal Court ruling, medical negligence is difficult to prove. to cut short a long story spanning over 5 years & several court hearing postponements, the family recently agreed to settle out-of-court, pledging to repay a fraction of the outstanding bill.

i think closure is crucial when there are unresolved issues; besides, i find loose ends unnerving. closure demonstrates maturity in accepting the outcome & its finality, & to be able to move on with life. this event is significant to me as it happened on the day my son celebrated his "full month" birthday on 2002. it's like a person had given up a life so that another could live.

wasn't there a precedent 2000 years ago??

reset

i am still NOT tech-savvy.

last week, i couldn't change channels with the astro remote control. i thought the remote was spoilt even though it was bought a few months ago - an original, mind you! so we all had to change channels manually till we could get another from the shop. even a new one couldn't change channels, so i feared the worst - that the decoder, having served faithfully since 1999, had developed a sensor problem & will have to end up in the store room.

so i called up astro customer service to enquire about a new decoder when, by chance, the guy asked me why i thought the sensor had malfunctioned. i replied it was a logical explanation since the new remote also couldn't change channels. that's when he asked if i've done a reset for the remote. huh, what reset? (so much for being logical!!)

that's when i 1st found out about the need to reset new equipment. the remote is working like a charm now, even with the 8-year-old decoder.

i just got the faulty PDA phone exchanged 2 days ago, & i found out to my horror that the touch-screen does not respond to the stylus. hmm....did the guy give me another defective set? i called sbanboy for his expert advice & guess what he suggested? do a reset.
(is this uncanny or are the astro guy & sbanboy in telepathic communication?)

the touch-screen works beautifully now.

now, wouldn't you like to have a remote that can reset your life, like in the movie click?
for me, i wished i had paid more attention in chinese language classes during primary school.

regrets.....er.......i mean, reset, anyone??

leap of faith

i'm not tech-savvy.

so, i surprised everyone when i got a PDA phone earlier this week. it may appear impulsive but actually i've been mulling about getting one for years - very much like the dSLR, LCD tv & that drive holiday in NZ.

i thought i got the PDA because it was the cheapest on that dream list, but actually, it was because of a chance conversation with sbanboy who sang praises about his recently-acquired Treo 680. with freebies like bluetooth earphone, extra battery, screen protector & car charger - it was going for a song at rm1688 (according to him).

so it was more a leap of faith for me. i met him the day i got a similar set & he downloaded some very good stuff for me.

unfortunately, 2 days later, the keypad failed. maybe this one slipped past quality control. in all fairness, the dealer agreed to give me a new set in exchange - no questions asked. how's that for after-sales service?

i anticipate a minor life-style change. now, i could blog & read the scriptures on-the-go. is that cool or what??

peanuts

friends have mentioned that the boy is deprived compared to his older sister. being the 2nd sibling, there is some truth there - the girl had more toys, travelled more widely & certainly had a larger share of our undivided attention then.

so, he was understandably thrilled when he finally got on a full-fare flight last week. he exhorted that he was treated to juices, milk, snacks & even a blanket. he must have felt that his previous experiences with no-frill travel were spartan by comparison.

but he did something remarkable on board - NO, he didn't make a pass at the stewardess. as i didn't get on the same flight, he actually kept his packet of peanuts for me. all the more surprising as he is normally possessive & territorial at home. so when i caught up with him a few days later, he proudly showed me his little bounty. it felt like a million bucks to me.

what had prompted this unexpected act of selflessness? i don't know but perhaps somewhere along the way, we as parents must have done something right.

Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.
prov 22:6

plans & purpose

we were making plans for the long holiday weekend ahead & this was the tentative arrangement :

saturday - visit our muslim friends in celebration of the Raya & to savour the festive culinary spread, my personal favourite being the lemang/nasi hempit with beef rendang;

sunday - attend church, then go back home to my parents whom we last visited more than 2 months ago, and;

monday - the kids would certainly enjoy a day out at the mall, esp the girl who has a few girlie items on her shopping list.

then, like a bolt from the sky, we were shocked with the unexpected passing of a family member on the wife's side. as i couldn't take leave on such short notice, the wife took the kids on the next available flight back to penang while i will drive there tomorrow.

there are a lot of events happening around me that defies logic. like rugby (for me at least!). like nurin. like this sudden demise. but i do know the Wise Man had elaborated before :

there is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven,
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace. eccles 3 :1,2,4,7

everything will occur at its own predestined moment - not earlier nor later, & according to The Grand Scheme of Things. what is obvious to me, is that had this occured last week, i would not have made it to the mission trip. however, what is NOT clear to me is, why the life of the youngest of siblings was taken away when there was still so much to live for? would it not be kinder had this taken place in later years or in a different manner?

i don't know the answers but my steadfast belief in divine intervention remains unshaken, despite this sudden turn of events. at the opportune moment, the secrets will be revealed & mysteries explained. for all i know now is this :

many are the plans in a man's heart,
but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails. prov 19:21

amen.

mission : malaysian style

folks, it's that time of the year again, for a group of people to take time-off from fri to sun & drive for hours to the fringe of forests & into oil palm estates. to do their bit for the orang aslis (OAs), like give them a medical check-up.......

....provide simple medication....

....deworm the kids &.....

......even extract dental caries!!

there were 11 of us - 4 medics, a med student, 4 helpers & 2 students (who are children of 2 of us). we set up "shop" wherever we could placed medicine & equipment....

....in an attap hut, which the OAs use for worship on sundays...

..or zinc-roofed hut....

....wood-&-brick community hall...


..or, just in open air.

because we didn't have a paediatrician, i volunteered to handle the kids, but it's obvious i'm not a very child-friendly person....

..as i was greeted by these fearful faces...

.....must remember to bring my son's mickey mouse cap next time!!

ah, the kids....they have a carefree life. not for them are the ipods or PS2s. they appeared just contented in their simple ways...

....like being pre-occupied with balloons...

..one was just plain shy, while the older ones....

.....would sing along ....or...

...just hung around. we were surprised one house even had this...

....seemed like ananda krishnan has made his presence felt here as well!!

we made it to 6 settlements in all. at each place, they were waiting for us ......

.....as they had been informed earlier of our visit...


for dinner on friday, we had this...

...steamed fish(very fresh!) & wild boar meat amongst others.

for lunch on saturday, it's alfresco dining at cafe de oil palm....

..for home-cooked food....


& for dinner.....

..more fresh fish, herbal chicken & stewed pork.

i can safely say we all came back home very satisfied with our joint effort to try improve the health status of the OAs, even if it's just a one-off annual event. last year this time, the govt announced more funds would be set aside for the OAs to enhance their standard of living. notwithstanding the lone astro dish, we didn't notice any difference. in a few hours' time, our nation will accomplish a mission of another sort, but i wonder which will impact on the lives of our indigenous brethren. or even ours for that matter :
or

malaysia boleh!!

eyes

the other day, while in a hurry to get to work, i forgot to put on my glasses (bottom pair in the picture). in fact, i only discovered it while driving, not because i couldn't see clearly, but rather i thought my head felt a bit bare. & the reason i could drive without knocking into someone or something, was because i'm not that short-sighted. the power on each lens is only 300 degrees, with a bit of astigmatism correction, which i thought was quite good considering that i've been using glasses for over 35 years.

i had kept the previous pair as spare (middle pair in the picture, used from 1999 onwards) in the car, but i could have easily gone through the whole day without it & without much disability. if anything, i actually could see near better without glasses compared to using the old pair. it also showed that my long-sightedness has gotten worse since changing in 2005. i managed to retrieve an even older pair (top) - "huge" lenses with no astig correction.

comparing the 3, it seemed i may have conformed to fashion/style changes through the years, but i have to admit that looking at pictures of myself with the different glasses, i may have appeared (dare i say?) younger with each change. or, are my eyes deceiving me?

be that as it may, while i still can see, i ask the Lord this...

Open my eyes that I may see
wonderful things in your law.
Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to your word. psalm 119:18, 37

an eventful week

my colleague went on leave for a whole week, so i stood-in for him during the absence. it was very busy, with a couple of near-mishaps, so in a way, i'm glad he'll be back tomorrow.

near-mishap #1:

cordarone - used to slow down the heart rate when it gets too fast, eg. atrial fibrillation. when the heart beats too rapidly, eg over 140 per minute, its pumping action becomes less effective. (note: so if someone told you that you make his/her heart race, you might not actually be doing this person a favour!!) this is potent stuff, so it has to be given as a slow infusion. this patient has amiodarone running in, but infusion set WASN'T labelled!! the nurse gave the excuse that she had been too busy, but seriously, it would have been catastrophic had the infusion rate been unintentionally stepped up. the patient's heart could have literally been stopped dead in its track. fortunately, the oversight was discovered on time.

near-mishap #2:

dormicum - used commonly for sedation & an overdose could render a person unconscious. i asked the nurse to prepare this as i explained to the patient's relatives what i had planned to do. in the midst of this, the nurse told me that the patient's blood pressure was dropping & he was getting drowsy. this nurse, recruited from a foreign country to fill in the vacancies arising from our local nurses seeking greener pastures elsewhere, had apparently misunderstood me & thought i instructed her to prepare AND administer dormicum to the patient, which she diligently did as i was explaining to the relatives.

after hurriedly excusing myself from the relatives, i had to immediately administer oxygen & assist the patient's breathing, & had the situation under control shortly after. but not before explicitly admonishing the errant nurse on the use of common sense - NEVER administer sedatives without preparing for the expected unconsciousness.

patient #3:

this was a cute 5-month-old child who fell off a sofa & had to undergo brain surgery. this is just me - i always have a soft spot for patients with biblical names, esp children, & i often wonder how the Lord will lead them. the surgery was a success, & i hope this child will claim the promise of his namesake:
The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. 1 sam 3:19

despite getting caught up in work, i'm glad i still managed to bond with the boy:

i went on a lantern-walk with him around the neighbourhood & ....

....he helped me wash the car.

looking back, it was a good week - eventful yet balanced.

the taxman also knocks twice

i had 2 visits from the taxman last month. by mail, actually.

1st, he wants to meet me for a "perbincangan"....

....& i was to bring the receipts from medical bills, life insurances, etc..etc, as proof of the deductions i had claimed.

2nd, as if to convince that he is all heart, that he doesn't just take our hard-earned cash unscrupulously....er...i mean, unfairly, he actually sent me a tax refund as well...

....that should cover the new laptop nicely, thank you very much!

so, i met him this morning - a meeting postponed from last week as i couldn't make it at a time he had initially planned. when i called him to inform that i couldn't make it then, he was really nice & said i could name the time & date at my convenience. i chose today. after photostating the receipts, he said he'll be in touch in a week or so. despite his smile & friendly demeanour, i have a feeling of helplessness about this.

after all, this is a tax audit & he is not about to waste his time scrutinising the near-fading receipts from the bookstore, without getting something (read: hard-earned cash) out of it. he has to, because his promotion partly depends on how much taxes he helped collect, or so i was reliably informed by an inside source. he has wide-ranging near-absolute powers & how he inteprets the tax guidelines may be at odds with how we perceive them to be. now, can you blame me for feeling helpless?

be that as it may, i'm comforted by a circulating email that if i can pay tax, then i must be gainly employed. more so, when Christ confidently replied to the question whether taxes should be paid to the emperor caesar :

Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's. matt 22:21

amen.

R.I.P

i haven't been posting because my dell inspiron has finally given up on me. it happened earlier this week - it just refused to start up.

i brought it to the IT guy at work & he said it could be one of few reasons - a virus, a faulty RAM card or it's just outlived it's lifespan. for a 2nd opinion, i brought it to a shop a friend recommended, & the guy, after testing out the RAM card & fiddling a bit here & there, came to the same conclusion - it's most probably time to change, because the repairs would not be cost-effective & there's no guarantee it'll last.

so, i'm sad to announce the passing of my trusty 5-year-old laptop. unless someone out there can "do a lazarus"?

R.I.P : the hard-disc was changed last year, & shortly after, the touch-pad failed, hence the attached mouse.

"When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face." john 11:43,44

awal ramadhan

this is the 1st day of fasting for muslims. more so for encik R who was admitted to hospital. he unfortunately swallowed something that didn't quite go down well with him during dinner the nite before. he felt a persistent pain in the neck & was seen by the ENT surgeon. using a scope to examine his throat, lo & behold, look what was retrieved from the deep recesses....

...a chunk of partially-chewed beef with some bones sticking out menacingly. because of the potential damage the bones might have inflicted on the throat, R would be kept completely fasted (ie. no food nor drinks round the clock) for the next few days to allow it to rest & heal.

by the same argument mentioned in a previous post, this could be the most expensive sup lembu in the world. but this wasn't just the event of the day......

1) the cardiac surgeon was shouting as the patient "crashed" on the operating table....

2) the neurosurgeon was extremely agitated because the scrub-nurse couldn't keep up with the surgery, & ...

3) the nursing sister & her deputy were openly at loggerheads with each other.

at the end of a long & explosive day, after the smoke had cleared, the cardiac patient survived the coronary bypass surgery, the tumour from brain of the neuro patient was successfully debulked, & the feuding nurses.......well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad, ok?

as for me, i lived through it all almost unscathed. "almost" because, in a lapse of concentration, i did administer a series of injections in the wrong sequence. fortunately, nothing untoward happened to the patient, reminding me yet again that i too am only human.

selamat berpuasa to R & all my muslim friends & colleagues.

A.R.K

i have a 91-yr-old patient whose name is See Ark. seriously.

he came for surgery last month which was complicated by 2 episodes of chest infection, & is currently nursed in ICU.

initially, i thought the name was a tad unusual, but it brought on a whole new meaning after i watched Evan Almighty. in the movie, God revealed that the Ark, the boat that evan was instructed to build, is also an acronym for Act of Random Kindness.

so, is God speaking to me through this patient? am i about to experience an epiphany; a life-changing moment like how Moses (burning bush) & Paul (blinding light) received their baptism of fire?

maybe, maybe not. however, as i examine See Ark daily, i sense that he is slowly slipping away, as a result of his illness. so, what can i do to fulfill the objective of ARK, that which will make the world a better place??

free samples of a medication that made SA comfortable during his stay in ICU were sourced without difficulty. then, in keeping with the unwritten (& noble??) tradition of the fraternity, part of the professional fees would be waived to help mitigate the rapidly escalating hospital bill. my version of Acts of Random Kindness.

"do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act." provs 3:27

IMHO, i'm sure God has spoken to me many times previously, but it's my personal tragedy that i've not been paying attention.