some people think they rule the world....

all resident doctors in the hospital have their personal car park slots, as do the doctors of most other public & private hospitals. this helps when we need to see patients in a hurry, eg. for emergencies.

even if they don't have a named parking slot, they will at least be alloted a specific common space for this purpose.

for most of us who are used to this privilege, it irritates us no end when we find someone else parked in our slots. most times, the culprits are visitors or patients themselves, esp during peak hours.

so, you know how i felt when this happened to me today. the car was an A-class mercs with a 3 digit plate number & an insignia that proclaimed it's owner social importance. so instead of scratching it & puncturing the tyres  i informed the security guard of my predicament but before he could clamp the wheels, the owner had appeared. i was parking at the visiting doctors' space so i did not witness the argument that took place between the offender & the guard.

apparently, as the guard later related, the owner was a doctor from another private hospital. when informed that the slot was for the hospital doctors only, she retorted that she is a doctor as well & has every right to park. it must be her 1st time because, had she bothered to ask, the guard would have shown her the visiting doctors' slots.

i guess with some goodwill on her part & an apology to boot, none of that aggravation would have taken place. as it is, it just reinforces the perception that people in high position just like to push their weight around.

pro bono

it's an unspoken law  rule understanding amongst doctors that we do not charge fees on our colleagues who come under our care.

this includes colleagues we don't even know personally, eg. those from private clinics or govt hospitals. however, if they have insurance cover for their hospitalisation, then we charge as we would for anyone else.

today, the lunar new year has come early for me. a colleague from the govt hospital who had a procedure done last week, returned with a little gift.

believe me, when i say it touched me right to the core. no doubt, it's a small token but it just showed that this colleague, a houseman, has put himself in my shoes - no surgical procedure comes without risks.

i've mentioned to other colleagues that we all in private practice ought to have our own medical insurance. no doubt the hospital provide an allowance as benefit-in-kind & we don't charge fees on each other, but i don't think it's fair to carry major surgery & see out a stormy recovery in the ICU, & not be adequately remunerated for the hard labour.

and, it's not that the insurance premiums are beyond our means.

it's all about giving & taking.

the staunch Man U supporter

i was teaching my son some general knowledge stuff this evening when he asked how come i knew so much. so i told him i had to read a lot from young to accumulate all these knowledge.

i encouraged him to read, too, and in a moment of personal triumph, i asked him if he wished he had a brain like mine.

he replied: maybe so, but i wished you were a Man U supporter instead!

sure-fire weight loss program (for guys)

someone sent this to me & it's too good not to share.....

A guy calls the company and orders their 5 day - 5kg weight loss program. The next day, there's a knock on the door and standing before him a voluptuous, athletic, 21 year old babe dressed in nothing but a G-string and a pair of Nike running shoes and a sign around her neck. The sign reads, 'If you can catch me, you can have me.' Without a second thought, he takes off after her. A few miles later, huffing and puffing, he finally gives up. The same girl shows up the next four days and the same thing happens. On the fifth day, he weighs himself and is delighted to find he has lost 5kgs as promised.

He calls the company and orders their 5day - 10kg program. The next day there's a knock at the door and standing before him is the most stunning, beautiful, sexy woman he has ever seen in his life. She is wearing nothing but Reebok running shoes , a G-string and a sign around her neck that reads, 'If you catch me, you ca...n have me'. Well, he's out the door after her like a shot. This girl is in excellent shape and despite his best efforts, but with no such luck. So for the next four days, the same routine happens with him gradually getting in better shape. Much to his delight, on the fifth day when he weighs himself, he discovers that he has lost another 10kgs, as promised.

He decides to go for broke and calls the company to order their 7 day - 25kg program. 'Are you sure?' asks the representative on the phone.. 'This is our most rigorous program.' 'Absolutely,' he replies, 'I haven't felt this good in years.' The next day there's a knock at the door and when he opens it he finds a huge muscular guy standing there wearing nothing but pink running shoes, a G-String and a sign around his neck that reads, 'If I catch you, you're mine.' He lost 31kgs that week.

thanks, YO, but i'll settle for just the 5kg program.

the beginning of the end

no, this is not about the incumbent's political future nor berating the country's mounting debt .

on the contrary, this is about the 1st day of school.

for some, it's the beginning of a long journey at primary 1. for most, it's just the start of another school year.

for my daughter, it's the beginning of her final year of a brief sojourn in the Little Red Dot. although the early years were trying, i guess eventually, it's a matter of getting used to the military-like regimented training schooling. i still remember the tears & angst of a teenager. some have actually given up & returned to the homeland.

but i've always upheld perseverance & hoped some part of this belief in oneself has rubbed off unto her.

so, i lauded her in an sms & this was her response....

is it just me, or was she being cynical?

monday blues

i dread mondays......

because i'm a weekend sort of guy.....

you know, lounge around.....stagnate......stay off work.....

so, for me, even the day after a midweek public holiday feels like a full-blown monday.

like today.

:(

too much coffee

you know you've had too much coffee when............

you wake up......

jump out of bed......

& get ready for a new day........

then you look at the clock & it's only 3.30am.

yesterday, when i sent in the car for the regular service, i had a cup of white coffee from the dispenser. pretty good coffee, i'd say.

then when i collected the car in the evening, i had another cup of the same.

and in between, i've also had my usual 2 cups at work.

so, to recap, coffee is good because it:
reduces the risk of Parkinsonism, cardiovascular disease, colonic cancer & gallstones.

but coffee is bad because it is:
associated with osteoporosis, reduced fertility in women & poor sleep patterns.

unlike smoking which has no good outcomes, coffee has both good & not-so-good effects. in such a case, i would, and should, practise moderation.

so, here's good health to all in the new year & beyond!

**source**

the future

we have no fear for the future unless we forget how God had led us in the past!

so, 2013.....

bring it on!

“This is what the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”        Isaiah 43:16, 18-19 NIV

penang in december

it wouldn't be penang if long queues weren't seen at the 2 penang road cendol stalls....

or, the roads weren't constantly clogged with traffic.......

or, if the food courts weren't packed amidst live stage entertainment....

and, it also wouldn't be the north-south expressway if an error of judgment on the part of a single motorist didn't cause a 10km crawl...

talk about getting away from the crowd......!!

big brother

received this on my handphone today...

let's not get started on whether they have fulfilled their promises. i can imagine how they got my number (arm-twist the telco?) but it baffled me why i was chosen to receive this message while my colleagues or friends did not?

did they know our voting preferences?

is big brother watching?

end of the world?

folks, it's Dec 21, 2012.....


something is going to happen today...... 


the birds will stop SINGING......  
 

the skies will turn BLACK......
 

the sun will disappear DISAPPEAR ......... 




it is called NIGHT TIME.



gotcha!!

i thought i was scammed....

tried to pump petrol using credit card today. the 1st two attempts did not go through, so i thought that the card payment device at that pump was faulty. drove to another pump (same station) & this time the payment went through.

shortly after that, i received this sms.....

i was shocked since i only pumped rm30 worth of petrol. thoughts of how unscrupulous people were waiting around that pump that was rigged & preying on ignorant innocent victims like me filled my mind. i could almost hear their evil laughter as they filled petrol into their motorbikes with impunity.

i immediately called up the bank to report the misuse of the card.

however, i was relieved to be told that it's standard procedure to bill an arbitrary sum for transactions that did not go through. i'm not sure why it's done this way, but just glad that i was not penalised for being careless. i was told to call again in a few days to check the actual amount billed.

i think next time, i should press the "cancel" button at the pump when the transaction is unsuccessful, just in case.

phew!

hercule poirot & dr obnoxious

somewhere along the trail of doctor-hopping, you'd have met dr obnoxious - the one grumpty, arrogant & condescending i'm-the-wise-doctor-you're-the-lowly-patient type.

have no fear. i have colleagues like that, too. the other day, someone threw one of dr obnoxious's personal belongings into the rubbish bin. needless to say, he was all worked up & started pointing fingers & making accusations. of course, without evidence, no one took him seriously.

another colleague joked privately that we'll need someone like hercule poirot, the famed detective from agatha christie's imagination to find the culprit. i remember watching Murder on the Orient Express in my student's days, & i won't be surprised if there were (at least)12 sets of finger prints on the discarded item.

such is the "popularity" of dr obnoxious.

new zealand in 7 days

my friend B8's wife, E, is all fired up to vacation in new zealand after the other wives came back with stories of the paradise on earth.

since we've not been to the south island, she asked us if we'd like to go with them next year. i thought it was a good idea, considering that taking turns to drive is probably the way to go if one plans to traverse the wide expanse of land & mountains.

but B8 wants to take only 7 days off, E confessed. you see, B8 is a busy physician in  private practice plus he's also a workaholic. so, i told her if we spend 2 days for the return flight & another to recover from the jet-lag, we'd only have 4 full days for the vacation.

it was a laughable plan, i thought. i told her, as a matter-of-factly, that it's really no point going for less than 12 days.

well, what goes around, comes around & i had my comeuppance yesterday - i did my own NZ in 7 days.

that's the same as spending ONLY 45 mins at the Big Bad Wolf sale. maybe worse.

but let me defend myself. between shuttling between PJ, Puchong & Damansara to run errands, & i'm not exactly familiar with klang valley, i only had about an hour & a half for the book sale. after looking for a parking space (saturday afternoon, mind you!!) & looking for the place (the big banner at Mines 2 was most deceiving!!), that's all the time i had before the next errand.

and again, in my defence, i only targetted the books i had in mind. they didn't have jeffrey archer's 11th commandment & michael g gill's starbucks saved my life, so my only haul was this....

can you believe me? the biggest book sale is in town & i only want 3 books!!!

1-generation

the generation gap is often blamed for the many arguments that arose between parents & their grown-up children. not only is the age difference telling, sometimes it's also the constrast in educational background & life experiences.

my daughter & i have our fair share of angst & aggravation between us. recently, i realised that, in the right circumstances, this difference in age & everything else can just melt away....

she bought me a novel at a sale, 3 weeks before my birthday. unknowingly, i bought the same book , the hard-cover version, shortly after at the discount section of a book-store. 2 events revealed how truly she is after my own heart - she knows exactly the book i want & she knows i like purchasing during sales.

goes without saying that i'm keeping both copies.

we watched the Jersey Boys two weekends ago - it was her idea actually & i'm a bit surprised because i thought Frankie Valli was a bit before her time. as we sang along, clapped hands & tapped our feet, the generation gap disappeared for those fleeting moments.

we were 1-generation & i look forward to doing that again.

flesh & blood

the front cover of a recent copy of MMA News says it all....

i know there's a myth going around that doctors sometimes play god, making & taking life-changing decisions for their patients. as i ponder upon this, i realise it's often not of the doctors' own doing. they provide their patients with various treatment options & commonly, in a moment of duress & uncertainty about their own conditions, the patients ask their doctors to do what they think is best. when the outcome is not what they expected or desired, accusations that doctors are playing god abound.

doctors bleed & they hurt, too. 2 of my colleagues have been delibitated - one with parkinsonism & the other with a brain tumour.

the recent case of the health ministry DG who was found guilty in a syariah court is another case in point. doctors are not immune to the lure of the flesh, in as much as they are vulnerable to greed.

george bernard shaw drove the point home when he wrote:

Make it compulsory for a doctor using a brass plate to have inscribed on it; in addition to the letters indicating his qualifications, the words "Remember that I too am mortal."

shift work

factories use shift work if they have to operate for extended hours. it works well only if the jobs are repetitive from one shift to another.

hospitals operate 24 hours a day & nurses go on shifts as well. however, the work here is not repetitive, so this system will not be as successful as in factories.

so, if a nurse fails to do a task in the morning, the probability is high that the afternoon shift nurse will overlook the task, & even if she discovers the shortfall, she may choose to disregard it, esp. if the pervading attitude is lackadaisical.

that's why i just gave the afternoon shift nurse a mouthful, because the patient's condition is critical & any shortcoming can be lethal.

now, imagine, the 1st line doctors in public hospitals, the housemen, are working shifts. if you extrapolate what happens in nursing, you can imagine the consequences.

shift work for doctors is stupid a regressive step, back to the dark ages.

ok, i confess, i don't know what it's really like in the dark ages but you get my drift.

a day in december in s'pore

they know how to celebrate christmas in style...

yet remain civic-minded...

self-proclaimed best laksa.....

 

A-level students unequivocally declare freedom at conclusion of exams.......

Frankie Valli & 4 Seasons sing-alikes are performing on stage...

guess who else is in town?

what's important to me is that the daughter is coming home....

why you must tell your doctor everything.

53-yr-old man due for minor hand surgery. smokes but denied any known medical problem. a manual worker in the plantatiuon.

a routine pre-operative ECG showed that he had a recent myocardial infarct, aka heart attack. when asked in detail if he had any chest pain recently, he thought for awhile & said he did have a gastric-like pain 2 weeks ago & was a bit breathless at that time. however, he felt better after that without seeing a doctor.

as we all know, a myocardial infarct sometimes presents with atypical symptoms (read here) which are often ignored. for doctors, these should trigger off the alarm bells.

a blood test confirmed the recent infarct. he was informed of his condition & advised that the surgery should be postponed till the cardiologist checked him up. he subsequently had an angiogram which showed that 3 arteries in his heart were significantly blocked. he is scheduled for cardiac bypass surgery in a few week's time.

if he had undergone the hand surgery, there's a 1-in-3 chance that he will have another heart attack, in which case, there is a 50% chance he will succumb to it. which means that, if we had proceeded with surgery, there's a 1-in-6 chance, ie. 16%, that he will die on the operating table.

grim statistics but a solemn reminder of our mortality.

so the next time your doctor asks you if you have any medical problems, think carefully before you answer.

it could well save your life!

peacemaker

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. matt 5:9

this may sound like the beginning of a sunday sermon but it's not. it's a confession actually.

today, i made peace with my mother.

happy birthday, mum!
 
"and i realised when you look at your mother, you are looking at the purest love you will ever know." mitch albom in For One More Day