top currency

the girl goes for her piano class on saturday mornings, & when i don't have much clinical work, i will pick her up from the teacher's house & we will go for an early lunch at a nearby shop selling indian food.

today, i had a short case to do in the morning & the nurses have organised a talk to be followed by breakfast in OT. it's lontong johor on the menu & i'm drooling just at the thought of it.

herein lies my dilemma. do i keep the appointment with my 1st-born, or do i give in to the seduction that is lontong johor?

actually, if the scenario is properly assessed, there is no dilemma. family should, on most occasions, take precedence. so over her roti cheese & my roti sardine, we talked about her upcoming birthday & what she wanted for a present, & how the Thomas Cup Finals next month will clash with her mid-term tests. & the teh tarik kurang manis never tasted sweeter.

often we parents make sacrifices for the kids without they realising it, but really it works both ways because in giving, we also receive. at the end of the day, in this materialistic world, where dollars & cents take control of our lives, we pray that the currency that matters to them is parental love.

the lontong johor will have to wait another day.

another milestone

we remembered fondly when the boy achieved his developmental milestones, like..

crawling on the bed....


eating on his own....


& today, he's excited that he's able to cycle unaided....

on his modified bicycle (after removing the 2 side-wheels). it's uncanny how kids pick up skills like cycling without being taught. one day, he needed all 4 wheels to keep balance & the next....voila!


now, if only he could write better....


but then again, i may be asking for too much.

the leader

just like the erstwhile opposition has brought a refreshing change to the newly-acquired state govts, JC has demonstrated a unique dynamicism to his leadership in church. he joined us just over a year ago & i 1st got to know him at a kiddie birthday do last year.

he came across as unassuming & down-to-earth, & he surprised many when, in his quiet way, he showed what a committed worker he is for the Lord. he gallantly took over the sunday school program, a responsibility much dreaded even to the most diligent & dedicated, & undertook to revamp its outlook & content. the lesson study will now be preceded by organised singing & story-telling, & sometime in june, we will, for the 1st time, witness a Family Sports Day, an event unheard of in our sunday school circle till now.

detractors (yes, sadly they do exist) may think it's a new broom that sweeps clean but i sensed he has allowed himself to be used by the Lord to give the church a new direction - leading a way out of the spiritual wilderness, so to speak.

dare i even say, a resurrection of the church's flagging fortunes perhaps?

& is it just a co-incidence that his initials match that of the Shepherd Himself?

Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve. 1Pet 5:2

**image** Moses leading Israelites out of Egypt by Jozsef Molnar, 1861

bird #3 - the one that flew away

peter & paul.

nope, not the beatles.

neither the apostles.

i remember reciting poetry in primary 1, which went something like this:

2 little dickie birds sitting on the wall,
one called peter, one called paul,
fly away peter, fly away paul,
come back peter, come back paul.

so, like peter & paul, bird #3 actually flew away...to the motherland.

to recap the morale of the story :
a bird in hand is worth 2 in the bush,
but 2 birds in hand is even better.

therein, concludes my own little trilogy.

bird #2 : queen

for malaysians, the queen is known as DYMM Raja Permaisuri Agung.

for the commonwealth countries, she is HRH Elizabeth II.

for the rest, queen is almost synonymous with....

the rock group formerly fronted by the freddie "bite the dust" mercury.

We Will Rock You is currently playing at the esplanade theatre, & as i happened to be in town

i took the girl along to see live this critically-acclaimed West End production featuring the hit songs of the now defunct rock icon of the 80s.

we were not disappointed - the talented international cast, stunning costumes, sets & lightning all combined to deliver a spectacular evening & made me go ga-ga! the male lead MiG Ayesa, a finalist from the reality show Rock Star : INXS, has a truly magnificent voice - load him with steroids & give him a moustache & he would pass for a credible Freddie impressionist.

at my age & inclination, this is probably the closest i will ever get to a pop concert. Bohemian Rhapsody truly rocks!! now that we're home, the girl is hunting high & low for my queen CD.

3 birds with 1 stone: bird#1 - the meeting

just got back from attending a medical meeting in s'pore. my ex-colleague organised it & i have to say he & his organising committee did a sterling job, considering it involved a bunch of speakers from the US & participants from several south-east asian countries.

besides the excellent series of talks/lectures, the other attraction has always been the trade exhibition.pharmaceutical firms & medical equipment manufacturers display their products & hopefully attract interested parties to purchase their wares. one of the gimmicks to entice prospective clients to their booths is to hand out gifts, like....

pens, sling-bags & (would you believe?) haagen-dazs....

note-pads, post-its & even oxygen-enriched water (anything but new water, thank you very much!)...


you'd think this is a toy blue-tooth but....

it's actually a hands-free torch-light!!

you've got to hand it to those guys for being innovative. what will they think of next?

april 1

this is what this day means to me....

50 years ago.....my dear parents married each other.

11 years ago....i commenced private practice.

today, i am a new car owner....err, what i meant is that i'm the new owner of a 7-yr- old car. it's true - all this time i've been using someone else's (no, not the wife's) car & today, the car is officially transferred to my name.

it can be quite a hassle - the transfer, i mean. 1st, have to get motor insurance, then the car has to be inspected by Puspakom to ensure that it is running condition & not a kereta potong. this process can take up the whole day & my worldly-wise mechanic recommended to me his regular "runner", who required only the car registration & keys, & he'll do the rest. after that, the runner will meet with the existing owner & prospective buyer (ie. yours truly) at the JPJ to sign the transfer forms in the presence of an officer & voila!.....i've got a set of wheels to my name.....woo-hoo!

never mind if it's just a....errr......

believe me, this is not an april fool's prank. i've even got the runner's bill to prove it.

peer pressure

it's that time of the year where there'll be a string of kiddie birthday parties, as a few of them were borned in the months of april & may. yesterday's was the 1st.

A, the birthday girl told my son this: if you don't bring 2 presents, i don't friend you!

she made this demand because her other best friend E would be bringing 2, but what A didn't realise was that E will be going with a sibling, hence 2 presents. naturally, the boy innocently asked the wife for 2 presents too, but he accepted the explanation why he'll only need bring 1.

kids sure experience peer pressure at a tender age!!

anyway, the bunch of them had a great time:

musical chairs...except for a boy who's not into activities;


getting wet after the water balloons have been thrown.

man in the mirror?

today he showed his true colours again.

he demonstrated his gung-ho antics, trying to execute a procedure he was not properly trained to do...when he should have solicited his subspecialty colleague for assistance;

he belittled his assistants when they brought him equipment he was not familiar with....when he knows deep inside him that without them, he could not proceed;

he started blaming the patient for presenting with a difficult problem....when he should realise that this patient (& many others) will contribute to his next overseas vacation;

would you like this person to be your doctor?

i hope...no, i pray that i was not staring into a mirror.

lipstick

i wore this clean shirt to church this morning & some time during the sermon, the wife noticed this strange lipstick mark at the back of the shirt - strange because she's certain it's not one of her colours. i frankly told her i didn't know how it got there & i was sure she will interrogate me after the service.

oddly, she didn't mention it again until we were home & having lunch. she said a middle-aged member had made it a point to tell her that earlier in the morning, she accidentally walked into me while she was in a hurry, & transferred some of her lipstick onto my shirt. i remembered that incident but didn't give much thought to it as i considered it trivial.

i wonder what would have happened if this lady didn't inform the wife about it?
(i also wonder how the wife can notice the lipstick mark when she's supposed to be listening to the sermon)

so, girls, ladies & wives, sometimes (& only sometimes) when your man can't explain the lipstick on their external clothing, give them the benefit of the doubt, ok?

the call

he's probably the chubbiest 5-mth-old i have seen - weighing in at a massive 10kg. unfortunately he has sustained a bleed in the brain - i know, you're thinking, "oh no! not another brain surgery post!", but bear with me for a bit.

the difference is that it's very unusual for a 5-mth-old to have a bleed in the brain when there is no evidence of trauma. he is the long-awaited 1st-born in the family & had been cared for by his own mother & granny. after 5 days of not feeding well, the parents were shocked to know their precious little boy has a brain clot.

the surgery was a success & the father decided to go to Bangalore in India to offer prayers, perhaps for thanksgiving or for a full recovery to health, to the deity of his faith. after hurriedly obtaining a visa, he took a flight just today. i wished him a safe trip.

i did wonder what i would do in his position. it's perfectly understandable that desparate people do desparate things. probably not for me are the visa & airline ticket. maybe just a call to Jer 33:3

'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'

the aftermath

it's exactly 1 week after the general election, & the aftermath had been variously called:

1) tsunami

2) whitewash

3) brave new world

but as a star wars fan, i'd like to call it A New Hope:


of course, as current events unfold, you can expect a backlash from the ruling party at the next general election, which appropriately should be labelled, in starwars-speak, as


may the force be with you.

the first stone

apparently, the 1st stone had been cast.

the pain i endured is only exceeded by the grief i feel for this person - sadly, a born-again believer who possesses many virtues, which unfortunately, do not include being charitable or magnanimous. i pray this person takes counsel from James:

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 1:22

i also received this sms:
"For one must not love sometime only but always. And let not men's sin dishearten you - love a man even in his sin for that love is a likeness of the divine kind & is the summit of love on earth"

the wife sent it.

fall from grace

history has rich examples of people who has gone down the slippery slope - from a position of respect & esteem, only to plunge into the pit of depravity. from perfection to sin.

we all know about adam & eve, & king saul from biblical times.

currently, it's the ex-health minister & the judiciary, & in the last decade, an democrat ex-US president & a string of japanese ex-prime ministers.

but, yesterday, I fell from grace.

and i'm encouraged that no one has yet casted the 1st stone.

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
psalm 51:1, 2

**image :Michelangelo's Temptation and Fall from the Sistine Chapel Ceiling**

gift of life

it's the 1st of 3 or 4 blood donation campaigns that the hospital organises annually in conjunction with the general hospital to boost up blood bank supplies. (note: private hospitals still get their stored blood from the govt hospitals)

i have been donating since i was a freshie at varsity & i consider this national service. in addition to fulfilling a social responsibility, there have been reports that blood donors may derive health benefits from this. (read here & here)

but recent stringent guidelines have prevented me (& many others) from giving since 2003 due to the fear of transmission of the so-called mad cow disease, a condition which gripped europe at its height in the 1990s. (read here & here).

unfortunately for me (& the wife & daughter) british beef is as juicy & tender as you can get anywhere. if i start writing crazy or bizarre, you'll know why.

but that shouldn't stop others from doing their bit for society. 60 pints of blood were collected today, so that's at least 60 people who'll benefit from this act of kindness - a gift of life.

PS. i forgot to mention that having donated 18 times, i now am entitled to FREE out-patient treatment & 2nd class ward admission for 2 whole years? ain't that grand or what??!!

an eye for an eye

as the nation welcomed The Rat, i know of 2 families who will not join in the festivities.

a 27-yr-old insurance agent was admitted in coma. apparently he had woken up that morning feeling faint, then had breakfast & suddenly lost consciousness. a brain scan revealed a massive blood clot, probably caused by a ruptured abnormal blood vessel, called an arterio-venous malformation, or AVM for short.

although surgery to remove the clot was successful, the initial damage caused by the clot had been substantial. he did not regain consciousness & was pronounced brain dead 10 days later.

in a surprising twist of event, his father consented for both his eyes to be donated for corneal transplant. that the deceased had an unquenchable thirst for life was undeniable - even after vital support had been withdrawn, his heart resiliently pumped on for a good 20 mins...

....before giving up.....

....as if defiantly declaring that his time should not have ended at his prime.

i pray that through his eyes, the two recipients will see that kindness, goodness & mercy still abound in this depraved world.

the other family will mourn the passing of their 21-yr-old daughter, involved in a head-on collision on new year's eve with another car allegedly driven a drunken driver. the latter died at the scene of the accident but the girl was admitted to hospital with severe head & abdominal injuries. she underwent emergency surgery but succumbed 4 days later.

2 tragedies,
2 young lives snatched away,
not of their own doing,
but yet others gamble frivolously with theirs.

why kids should help out at home

1st & foremost, they help lighten the load of their parents, esp if they don't have a live-in maid.

2nd, these chores, when done together, facilitate bonding between parents & the kids.

3rdly, the kids may just teach the parents a thing or two.

for instance, the boy was helping me wash the car today. while i'm using the sponge, he used a plastic watering can with a long spout.....for those hard-to-reach places.


i rest my case. (i hope the ABS still works!!).

Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.
psalm 127:3

to err is human

i must have said or done something to alienate a colleague at work. this i heard from a 3rd person, in whom this colleague had confided.

why would he bring his woes to another person when he could have easily clarified the issue with me? esp. when i am such an easy person (ahem!) to talk to? after all, there aren't many rifts a few rounds of beer can't heal.

to cut a week-long story short, i did what i thought was the (morally? diplomatically?) right thing, given the uneasy circumstances, & extended apologies to the "aggrieved" party.

the prominent advocate of peace & non-violence, mahatma gandhi, once remarked:
"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."

i hope my aggrieved colleague is also a believer of peace & non-violence.

moreover, to forgive is divine.

return to innocence

yesterday, i resigned from my current practice at a private hospital to rejoin what used to be called University Hospital but is now known by its upmarket honorific University Malaya Medical Centre.

when i turned up at my old department, it seemed like nothing has changed & the usual suspects were all there to welcome me home. yeah, i felt right at home here.

which should not be surprising because this is where it all started for me - 1st as a starry-eyed impressionable med student & then years later as a cynical med officer pursuing specialist training.

then i woke up.

it had been a dream alright, but could the scenario be more than just a subconscious & unspoken desire festering in the background?

perhaps, secretly petitioning for a return to innocence? only time will tell.....

Don't care what people say
Just follow your own way
Don't give up and use the chance
To return to innocence.

That's not the beginning of the end
That's the return to yourself
The return to innocence
(return to innocence by enigma)

growing old?

i like routine - because i generally dislike surprises. maybe i'm a control freak - i need to know what to expect & to take hold of the situation. that's why it's the same routine every lunar new year.

Eve : reunion dinner with parents, siblings & their families.

1st day : receive relatives in the morning & then visit friends in the afternoon.

2nd day : spend a day out with the family. last year it was at Berjaya Time Square - the kids just love the theme park. this year it was at the Animal Safari at A'Famosa. they've got quite a good program going.

besides the bird show...



and animal show..




the other top attractions are the safari ride around the zoo..






and the main cowboy show...








yes, it was a commendable local effort to entertain the masses & certainly worth a day out. the boy was riding high .....

on an elephant, that is....

& messing with the natives.

and then, suddenly i felt that the new year celebrations are over for me. is it that we are all getting on & these celebrations do not matter much anymore?

or, am i just missing out on something (big?) in this life??