Egg-o-logy

Kuala Lumpur 26 September 2007

Ketua balai polis Brickfields hari ini mengesahkan bahawa pihak beliau telah menerima aduan dari Pemuda UMNO bahagian Seputeh mengenai Wakil Rakyat Seputeh Teresa Kok, mengatakan bahawa dia (Kok) telah menghina Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) dan telur-telur seMalaysia.

Pemuda UMNO itu diwakili oleh Timbalan Ketua Bahagian Alawi Dahalin telah menuduh Theresa menghina telur apabila beliau mengatakan makanan yang disediakan kepadanya sepanjang penahanannya di Kem Kamunting sebagai 'hanya layak untuk makanan anjing'.

Pihak polis mengambil serius terhadap tuduhan ini dan akan menjalankan siasatan sepenuhnya. Setakat ini, pihak polis telah dilihat menahan reman ibu-ibu ayam, bapa-bapa ayam dan anak-anak ayam yang berkeliaran di Lorong Haji Taib untuk membantu siasatan.



Dari siasatan yang dijalankan, didapati telur-telur ayam bergred rendah telah dihantar ke pasaraya-pasaraya TESCO, Giant dan Carrefour manakala yang bergred tinggi telah dihantar ke Kem Kamunting untuk santapan seorang kerabat diraja yang sedang bermastautin selama 2 tahun di kem tersebut.

"Kami akan pastikan bahawa bekalan telur Gred tinggi di Kem Kamunting mencukupi untuk tempoh dua tahun untuk menghindarkan lagi penuduhan yang tidak berasas ini"

Laporan dari BERNAMA

Maxis oh maxis

I used to love being a Maxis phone user. When I started using Maxis in 1999 the customer care service was excellent. I used to call the 123 hotline if I had any problems with my number and the service was very prompt.

Well, they say things have to change and with Maxis Hotline it turned for the worse.

I sort of 'lost' my phone today. And being paranoid, i suspended my line. IT took me 4 phone calls to get through for my 1st encounter with the Hotline.

An hour after that, my medical officer came and returned my my phone. She saw it lying on my desk and fearing that someone may steal it (though I can't imagine anyone who wants to steal that less than RM100 Nokia phone) she took it for safe keeping.

That's when my nightmare began.

Using my love's phone (he has a hotlink number) I dialed 123. A lovely automated voice answered. Apparently, one cannot access the 123 hotline from a prepaid number and thus the voice instructed me to dial 1300820120

I complied and within two rings the phone was answered by a customer care consultant. I thought well, this is great! I am impressed! Very fast! The nice man heard my problems and nicely told me that the hotline is 'only for pre-paid customers' as he is from the Pre-Paid Department. So he advised me to call 1800821123.

Thinking, "yeah soon my woes would be over" I quickly dialled the said number. The Voive again answered "Thank you for calling Maxis.... if you wish me to talk in Bahasa Malaysia please press One....". Being a supporter of the Bahasa Kebangsaan I chose Option One. I was listening very hard for the subsequent options and after a while I got utterly confused. I kept coming to the end of the menu and there was no usual option of "talking to a customer care consultant". I thought that perhaps my Malay must really suck as i couldn't even decipher words that means "customer care consultant" in Malay and thus keep missing the option. Damn.

So I decided to switch to English.... and again the same thing. Double damn! I finally figured out that the Maxis Hotline must have a switchboard that automatically directs a prepaid number to the prepaid menu.

I was scratching my head. This was a huge problem. I am oncall tomorrow and I need my phone to be in working order. What to do? What to do? What to do?

I need to talk to a REAL person! Ah... try again lah the 1300 xxx xxx number, at least they have a LIVE REAL person. I again had to explain the bad luck that befell me and how i just couldn't get through their Maxis post paid counterpart. i must have sounded pathetic as he offered to call the other department and get them to call me back.

Ahhhhh...finally. And after missing two episodes of Teen Titans (dratts...) I managed to get my phone working again.Phew....

I MUST SAY, MAXIS CUSTOMER CARE HOTLINE SYSTEM SUCKS!!! The only consolation is they have pleasant and helpful customer care consultants. This is NOT the way to go Maxis!

Possessed

"Krrriiiingggggg" the sound shattered the silence in the bedroom. It was deafening. But my reflexes was slow, I was so tired. I stretched my legs and arms and dream that someone would just make the clock silent. Ah.....

Out of the sudden, my love jumped out of bed like a man possessed. He grabbed the clock, smashed it to the floor, and when back to bed without missing a beat.

He's sleepwalking again!

Ampang Wannabe : the shit continues

The writers and directors of Ampang Medikal just do not know their limits. They aim high but do not have the knowledge or even expertise to execute their objectives.


Episode 4 clearly exposes their weakness with blatant disregard for finesse.


The whole episode centered on a 10 year old child with leukaemia who supposedly was dying. And as her last wish she wanted to donate her organs to help others. Noble issues to highlight but execution was….. as my hubby said ‘reeks of rotten mango with a tinge of belacan’.


My first bone to pick was the choice of actress to portray the sick dying child. She did not doesn't even look as if she had underwent chemotherapy at all; and her hair was long and shiny; her cheeks pink and rosy and her skim smooth and radiant.She looked more like a normal HEALTHY bubbly girl. Hey producers, there is such things as special effects and make-up artiste.


Second, don’t the producers know that one of the excluding criteria of organ donation is active cancer?


Third, well this issue is an ongoing issue with this series. The show do not know the local medical environment and uses American terms in their dialogue. For example, Dr Wong was overheard saying “ saya perlu mengambil darah untuk ujian CBC’. CBC stands for complete blood count but in Malaysia we use the term FBC or Full Blood Count. It may be a small thing but it is clearly a lack of research on the writers part (As we know, they just plagiarize the whole thing from Grey’s Anatomy, thus the American term. I am sure they are too stingy to pay the local medical experts such as myself to run through the scripts and scenes)


Fourth, after the girl died, the camera was focusing on the child and her parents. Have some sense not to show the chest moving up and down with each silent breath she took. Oh us ever so stupid viewers might think that "It's a miracle, she's alive".


Lastly, again a recurrent issue. The set-up; I wonder, why in a critically ill patient, there was no vital signs monitoring, no sphygmomanometer, no cardiac monitoring, nothing. And the chest leads to monitor the heart activity again ended beneath the sheets. It must be a very state of the art hospital bed as all the wires appeared to be connected to the bed ;)


And that’s Episode Four for you. Crappy and unrealistic!

Spearfishing and diving

Recently, I read a post on the malaysianunderwater forum on an incident of spearfishing (click here) during one of the trips joined by some of its new members. I chuckled and smile. At least, the fella had enough sense to write it up.

Anyway, the idea of a forum was a good one. I met a few good friends through there and I also met numerous 'characters'. The most fun I had is listening to people who call themselves 'otai' or legends bragging about their diving quests.

Note: I think the word legend should never be mentioned unless the person is dead like Jacques Cousteau.

Back to the issue of spearfishing, hahaha... I must say it thrives within the community itself. Most comments relaying feelings of horror and aghast were genuine but some I feel were mocking the situation. I met a few people during one of the MUW famous 'teh-tarik' sessions and they were the ones very into the so-called sport. Shockingly (or perhaps not so shocking), according to them they usually go with others who were doing their fun-dives.

The trip organisers offer the sport as an itinerary to attract participants (plus I am sure they are the ones hard up to go for a hunt). However, it is so irresponsible when they also open the trip to other unwary divers just to get the numbers so that they can have have a cheaper trip. My personal opinion is that people spearfishing and diving should not be in the same boat or vicinity.

People may say I am just talking theoretically. Well, I have in person, seen a spear-gun bought by such person as he was happily showing his new toy to his fellow divers.

Hmmm... and people wonder why I never join such huge trips. I am not crazy!

Note: I respect that spearfishing is a sport and as any sport it is governed by rules to ensure the safety of the person, surrounding people and the environment. The problem with the sport in this country is that many disrespect the local laws and blatantly break break the rules

My new addiction

I must admit although Ampang Medikal is a disgrace I am hooked into watching it. My Thursday's night is never the same again. I will never see a Malaysian hospital in the same light again and to think I work in one everyday.

May god have mercy for my soul.

Anyway, the damned show is utterly confusing. Before I move on, let us get the cast right. This information is taken from the press release in the Star.

There are FOUR house-officers : Dr Siti Alesyha (aka Meridith Grey), Dr Melissa (query if she's a crossover between Meredith and - I guess we will find out later), Dr Wong Sui Chen (aka Izzie) and Dr Rajesh (??? George or Karev)

And there are the specialists, Dr Jeffrey the paediatrician; Dr Maznah the cardiologist ; Dr Idris the surgeon and Dr Amir Shah Stephen the neurologist. I reckon the producers are confused too and used cardiologist/ cardiothoracic surgeon and neurologist versus neurosurgeon interchangably.

The storylines are weak so I have decided to dedicate my Thursday evenings to rectify JUST the technical blunders.

Top three highlights for Episode Three:

No 3. Melissa and Dr Amir (the neurologist cum neurosurgeon) confronted Nasha who had just delivered..."daripada pemeriksaan yang kami lakukan terhadap bayi encik kami dapati tanda-tanda yang konsisten dengan pengambilan dadah semsa mengandung"... and then Amir said" bayi encik perlu menjalani pembedahan cardiopulmonary bypass bagi meletakkan jantung dan paru-paru artificial untuk perjalanan darah". No other explanation, nothing!

I was totally perplexed by this scene. Dr Amir is a neurosurgeon NOT an obstetrician NOR a paediatrician OR EVEN a cardiothoracic surgeon. Then the other matter, withdrawal syndrome in an infant is mainly supportive treatment i.e. support the child till the drugs are out of his system... not surgery. Hmmmm.......


No 2. Mr Fernandez was intubated but there is no ventilators nor any vital sign monitors in the room. The tube just ends under the pillow.....arrghhhh. And to think this was said in the Star when asked about the medical setup.

".......... Azhar’s involvement in Ampang Medikal has sparked a new venture in his life: he recently set up a production house offering quality mock hospital equipment after realising there is a dire need for it in the local film industry.

“It is not easy to get permission to shoot in hospitals (Ampang Medikal managed to shoot some scenes in Assunta Hospital in Petaling Jaya but could do so only on weekends) and I realised that there is a need for such facilities,” the canny actor explains.

The production house – called, appropriately enough, Emergency Room – in Plaza Damas in Sri Hartamas, KL, even has a realistic-looking emergency room!...."

Duh, realistic, oh puhlease!


No 1. The patient Mr Fernandez is wheeled into the 'ER'. Dr Wong puts a BP cuff on his arm( yeah, they got this right) and then applied the stethoscope to the chest while reading the BP. She yells out to Dr Rajesh "tekanan darah tidak stabil, start CPR". The fella started CPR and then immediately Dr Wong shocked him, not once but twice. And hooray, Mr Fernandez was revived!

Comment: Dang! Who is their bloody technical advisor? First of all, you DO NOT put the stets on the chest when you are reading the pressure. Second, start CPR when the sign is low BP? CPR is only commenced when there is no pulse; there is 101 things to do for a low BP. And again, you do not shock a patient with low BP!!! I am appalled! Who ever is their technical advisor should be shot (or in this case, shocked) to death.

So there it is. That's my top three blunders for this week. Stay tuned for next week's highlights!

Parking Woes

Sometimes the Government wonders why are medical specialists are leaving the service. Many speculate it is mainly because of money. That may be true in some cases but there are many who left that wereare disatissfied j with the way they are treated by the government, by the administrators.

Last week, was a reminder of how little is the value of a medical specialist in a government hospital. A day prior to the long Merdeka holidays a memo was sent to the HOD of all departments in my hospital stating that only TWO parking lots will be allocated for the Department. And then on 2nd September, when all of us came back to work we were shocked, our previously alotted parking lots had been taken away. There are at least THREE specialists in each department.

And just imagine, we are talking about government officers (Pegawai Kerajaan Kumpulan A - i.e. Professionals) who had been working in the government for at least 8-9 years. And these people had to spend another 4 years doing their Masters to improve themselves to become SPECIALISTS.

Come on, what other perks can we expect. Our basic pay is a pittance, it is only plumped up by the specialist allowance; working hours are unpredicatable; and even our overtime stands at only RM 3.33 to RM6 per hour (RM50/day to RM 90/day). Our MOs get better pay!!!!

It some hospital, we do not even get a room or a desk. Might as well not study hard and become a pegawai tadbir and then sit at YOUR desk all day long doing not nothing but just something. And you may even get a parking spot if you are nice to the CC.

So a parking lot is a big deal. At least you do not have to scramble for a lot in the mornings and if you have to go out to the bank, you know it will be waiting for you when you get back. It is just a little bit of respect and dignity that we are asking for.

So administrators, before you go pointing fingers and accusing doctors of being money minded just think, what have you done to make our life bearable!

Ampang Wannabe

Malaysian are always good at stealing. They are good in making pirate CDs, DVDs, fake Loius Vuitton hand bags, Levis Jeans just to name a few. The quality is as good at the original. But then, their abilities do not extend to the silver screen. The latest rip-off performed by the Malaysian 'film director' or 'drama-producer' (note the inverted commas- it is intentional) is Ampang Medikal.

So-called the Malaysian medical drama of the year is Ampang Medikal. The hype was huge but when I saw the teasers I laughed. And last week I had the unfortunate opportunity to view the 2nd episode. I know I am not the first Malaysian doctor to comment on the series as it is so appalling.

The screen-writers, the director and producer never did any background work on the medical profession in Malaysia. They totally copied Grey's Anatomy from the concept, the story lines, the characters.... total plagiarism! Just look at the photo-shoot of the cast. Doesn't that look exactly like Grey's Anatomy? Who the hell run around in blue scrubs in Malaysia? Blue scrubs are meant for use only in ICU and the operating theatre. Any doctor (in Malaysia) knows that if you frolic around in the wards in your scrubs you definitely will get a shelling from the Sister or Matron.

And the background set-up of the story, these newly passed out doctors whom in Malaysia we call House officers (never ever called residents, duh producers get your terminology right) are placed placed in a private hospital to do their 'internship'. The interns are placed directly under the specialist and run around like dungus not knowing what to do. Questions, question,questions?

1. Where are the medical officers?
2. Since when in Malaysia can house-officers do their internship in private hospital? And since when interns can choose what rotation they want to do (Dr Siti moved to KL to do her internship under Dr Maznah a renown cardiologist...) Fact: here house-officers have to do compulsory five four-month rotations of Medical, Surgery, O&G, Paediatric and Orthopedics before they can get their full registration as a doctor!
   
3. Since when does a specialist present during ward rounds to the interns, what does the intern do??? No one writes anything during rounds...uh...then how does anyone know what was ordered and what is the management of the patient. No wonder Dr Siti is so stupid, she doesn't even know her patient has stage 4 lung cancer and what that means.
4. How come interns are not allowed to access patients' medical records? The way I see it, in this show they looked more like medical students, having to resort to seducing the nurse to view the medical records.

Anyway, listening to the medical jargon and how these doctors came to a diagnosis was hilarious. In once scene, Dr Idris were presenting the case of Mr Wong to his interns...."Mr Wong mengalami kesukaran bernafas, batuk berlanjutan......blah, blah, blah.... jangkitan jaundice dimata..blah, blah, blah". Jangkitan jaundice di mata? Holly crap apa menda tuh?

FYI dear producers. Jaundice is a symptom that presents with yellow staining of the skin and sclerae (the whites of the eyes) by abnormally high blood levels of the bile pigment. It is not an infection of the eyes. So 'memalukan'!

Another scene, a patient post coronary by-pass presented with shortness of breath. The cardiac monitoring showed only tachycardia (means elevated heart rate of more than 100 beats per minute) but Dr Siti deduced that patient had myocardial ischemia, and out of the sudden she also deduced that he had cardiac tamponade. Ah go figure, from a bimbo suddenly she's a genius, NOT!

Conclusion: Ampang Medikal is a rip-off hoping to ride on the popularity of Grey's Anatomy. It is an insult to the medical profession in Malaysia and it is an insult to the intelligence of the Malaysian public.