.UnderH2O Lover

My breastfeeding experience

2011-12-01T09:27:00.005+08:00

When I was pregnant with my boy there were two things that I decided I wanted to do. One is breastfeeding and the second was using cloth diapers. Breastfeeding was not even a choice; it was just the natural thing as I remembered my mom feeding my two younger siblings. We never had formula milk in the house (perhaps my elder brother did have but totally before my time). Anyway, I thought that breastfeeding is cheap, easy (no need to wake up and mix up the formula at night) and it comes naturally.

I was wrong on all counts. Perhaps it is relatively cheaper considering that baby Azry is fairly healthy with no major illness. But breastfeeding is hardwork. It is a commitment. It requires discipline.

Hardwork because I would need to pump to feed him when I am away. People who only need to pump only twice per day makes me envious. I need to pump at least four times to get the ounces that Azry needs. One early morning, twice at work and one at night. With that I had to be committed and disciplined.

And one major thing I realise after 7 months - no breastfeeding experience is the same. Mom's only problem with feeding us was soreness - and I was the number one culprit who likes biting the nipple. She has no issues with supply and my brother fed until he was nearly four. And so when I was fussing over my periods of low supply (as seen with the low volume I pump) my mom was saying I was being paranoid and as she did not take any supplements nor have any special diet to keep up the volume. Demand and supply- that is what she says.

But then, I realise. There was a major difference between me and my mom. I am working and mom was a housewife. I have 11 hours of separation and no sucking every day. That is minus one major stimulant to keeping up the supply. Sucking promotes prolactin release by the brain and this promotes milk formation.

Hence my search and research into milk production and galactogogues. By research I mean google and google scholar search and old wives tale. Clinically proven was metoclopromide or maxalon - a medication used to treat vomiting. The stimulating effect is actually a side effect of the drug which causes hyper prolactinaemia. I haven't tried that though as I am keeping it as a last resort effort.

Another remedy keeps popping up during my research : fenugreek or in Malay, halba. It is usually used in Indian cooking or in 'nasi dagang trengganu'. Apparently, fenugreek helps by stimulating the glands which is a modified sweat gland. It also lower blood sugar level and promotes good cholestrol in milk. Initially I bought a herbal tea remedy with fenugreek and other herbs thrown inside. It was damn expensive and the smell was bad. I smelt like a curry house- really! Anyway, I drank it twice but it gave me severe headache - whether is was due to the hypoglycaemia effect or smell I was not sure.

Then I went to my local pharmacy - fenugreek is available as supplements; I was so happy but my joy was shortlived. It is not available in this country because no one buys it. And then, my pharmacist gave me a good idea "Why don't I make my own fenugreek supplements". So in a Phineas and Ferb manner I instinctively knew what I was going to do that day. Make my own herbal supplements.

Anyway, I after about a month and a half I think it does help. I forgot to eat it for two days last week and my pumping session became a stressful event. Half an ounce to 1 1/2 oz only per session per breast. That was not enough for ever hungry baby Azry: he needs between 18 to 22 oz per day at the sitters. And when I resumed the supplements I managed to get 2 to 3 oz per breast per pumping session - this is after a day of re-starting.

So, I still do hope I can achieve my intermediate target in breastfeeding i.e. Fully breastfeed till 1 year of age (I hope I do not need to buy formula milk at all). It is already 7 1/2 months but I am taking it one day at a time.

Diving Log 2011

2011-12-01T09:08:00.003+08:00

For the past 1 year I haven't posted anything on my love of diving. The last diving trip I went was in July 2010 where my precious housing got flooded. Since then, no trips. It is plainly because I was pregnant and later delivered my first child in April this year. There were plans to dive in September when baby boy was about 5 months but was later scrapped as we realise that leaving him a whole day in the hotel with someone who does not look after him often is a bad idea. Bringing a infant to the island at a time when the weather changes and waves may be high was also not very ideal. Hence my abstinence from breathing compressed air in 2011.

Hopefully, I can resume my passion in this coming year. It is possible with some major adjustment.
1. Baby sitter needs to come too (in this case granny)
2. Looks like no backpackers unless they have good rooms and fairly good facilities (for baby and the sitter)
3. The area is fairly accesible with no major transport issues

So I am keeping my fingers crossed. 2012 here I come.

Random thoughts

2011-08-14T07:05:00.002+08:00

Remember the times when you were a kid many adults treat you as if you were invisible? The times when you line up at your favourite 'nasi ayam' stall and in the end a 'busy hurrying' adult cuts the line by saying she is in a rush and you ended waiting an extra 10 minutes because the so-called rushing adult had to have 10 packets of rice to go. Or the times when you asked someone whats going on and the answer is "you are a kid, you won't understand". Well, I sort of remembered the feeling when such a thing happened to me and hence I appreciate all those adults that makes me feel like an equal when such situation presented itself. One example of my favourite adult was the Hospital Kuala Lumpur rojak man (link).

Therefore, when my four-year old niece wanted to help out bathing my son and change his diaper I let her. She helped me with squirting the bath foam unto my hands, applying talcum powder all over baby Azry's body, helped to chose his outfit and also apply lotion on his limbs. She was grinning ear to ear when he was all ready and smelling so fresh and nice and proudly announced to everyone 'Kakak Aida tolong Azry mandi'.

Seeing her so happy makes me feel elated. Yes, kids have feelings too and by allowing her to help out makes her feel responsible and is part of the family.

Note: Not all is well as there was a bit of cleaning up to do after that; as although the talcum powder was meant to be on the baby loads ended up on the bed. That's the price I paid to get that cute grin and also cut a bit on the 'sibling-rivalry' (or should I say'cousin-rivalry) that she has been showing to the baby.

Modern Day Fountain of Youth?

2011-08-13T00:14:00.004+08:00

The fountain of youth was a legendary spring that supposedly restores the youth of anyone who drink its waters. So many aspiring immortals and explorers in history set out to discover the location of this spring. The idea of just drinking a miracle water to keep oneself healthy and young without doing anything else is just too hard to resist. In this modern day such idea is still capturing the minds of many but in a different form. Today, instead of exploring the thick jungle of the Amazon the so-called fountain of youth presents itself at your doorstep in a nice expensive packaging with terms like the 'ultimate anti-oxidants'; 'anti-cancer'; miracle drink etcetera.

Being healthy is not just looking good externally i.e. it is not just being thin- though that is the main aim of many who purchase these expensive dietary drinks or supplements. Being healthy to me is being able to climb five flight of stairs without even breaking a sweat. Being healthy is able to run after your kid in the house without huffing and puffing away. It is the cardiovascular health that is important; the health of the pump that helps to sustain our life from the 4th weeks of life as a foetus till the last beat of our death. No amount of 'miracle water' or supplement can keep the heart healthy if it does not get it fair amount of exercise.

The 20minutes of exercise three times a week is the minimal effort that is needed to keep your heart in top condition. However, the thought of spending your precious time for yourself is so daunting that people rather go in throngs to establishment that advertise "..no injections, no exercise needed...". To the doctor the standard answer to a suggestion of exercise is " No time la doctor". Uh...duh!

Another aspect of healthy living is eating well. Supplements are only needed if you do not get sufficient amounts from your diet. Knowing your food and its health content is essential aspect of keeping yourself healthy; and knowing your portions and the healthier way of cooking is essential in preventing obesity. All of this requires effort which many are not willing to undertake. Takeout counters are much easier than making your own sandwich.However, I must admit I too love the occasional McDonald drivethru excursions especially after a long day in the operating theatre... I am only human after all.

Lastly, no amount of rejuvenating anti-oxidant drinks could counter the ill effects of smoking and alcohol. So if you are thinking of purchasing the expensive bottles of some miracle berries to offset your nicotine and ethanol intake, don't. It is better to just stop smoking and drinking; and it is cheaper too, it doesn't cost you a cent.

So to those who are thinking of asking me how to keep oneself healthy and vibrant and expects a shortcut way, please don't. Just go and watch the Biggest Loser and exercise with Jillian Micheals/Bob Harper. As they say in the show there are no shortcuts.

(Note: this is written as a response to my non medical friends who keep bugging me for some secret to keep oneself thin and healthy; and then annoying me by not following my advice and then asking me about some miracle drinks or supplements that they spent hundreds purchasing)

Business as usual

2011-08-10T07:32:00.003+08:00

Next Monday I will be back at work after 4 months of leave (3 months maternity and one month of my accumulated leaves from last year). It is of mixed feelings going back but I actually miss working and operating. I will miss waking up late with my boy; I will miss the afternoon naps I have while feeding him; I will miss watching all the re-runs on the telly and so much more. It has been a good break after working for 12 years.

However, I am eager to get back into the OT. My fingers and hands have been itching to fix something or more accurately someone who is broken. It has been a long time since I truely operated as an orthopod. It has been a year. Ever since I got pregnant I have been on 'light duty' and I had to stay away from the usual trauma cases. This is because majority of the 'usual' orthopaedic surgeries requires image intensifier (II) which uses radiation, which may be detrimental to a developing foetus. In cases which I had to come in, it became a bit more lengthy as I had to leave the OR when it was time to use the II. And in other cases like hip and knee surgeries which required brute strength, my concerned boss would ask me to just assist as he is worried my gynae Mei Lin would scold him if the exertion causes premature contractions or worst case scenario an abortion. So for the past 1 year I end up supervising the MOs doing local cases; did most of the ward rounds and the paper work; and stayed more in the clinics.

So come Monday, it will be back to the usual business and oh boy... I would have loads of patients in the clinic - so many people have been waiting for me to come back and has been postponing their appointments since 4 months ago.Oh boy!

Aida and Ariff Cameron Adventure

2011-07-15T13:45:00.007+08:00

Cameron Highlands has long been a favourite holiday destination for my family. It was a huge treat for us kids ad my dad always dream of having a plot of land there. So last weekend most of the family headed uphill to enjoy the cool highland temperature. My dad was estatic as he had all his 3 grandchildren to accompany him. I am not sure if the two youngest realise the difference of environment as Azry is only 3 months old and Ariff just turned one. However, for Aida who will be four this is her third or 4th time in Cameron and she already had her 'plans' of what to see.

Aida's to do list for Cameron was:
See Strawberry farm(eating strawberries was not as she said they were too sour :)
Visit tea plantation and eat scones and jam (actually that is atuk's plan)
Go to see the bee farm (and see the bees buzzing around)
Feel the coldness
And see the flowers and insects

'having tea with atuk at Boh's tea house'

'Trigona bees at the Bee Farm'

'Having a closer look'

''Rock and cacti garden at Al Mashoor'

We stayed at the at Dr Ayob's house in Kampung Sedia homestay. It was a 3 bedroom kampung house with 1 bathroom, 1 toilet and a fully equipped kitchen. Surrounding the house are strawberry farms and vegetable plots. They were just planting cabbages when we arrive hence no photos of fully grown vege to show.

This time around we decided not to go to Brinchang which is higher up as the jam was ridiculous. We thought by coming non peak season there would be no jam but then according to the locals the jams were a normal occurance every weekend and it becomes massive during peak seasons.

Places visited this time

Ladang Boh Sg Cheding (Habu)

Bee Farm (Habu)

Strawberry PYO in Kg Sedia (Opah Strawberries and jams) which had really amazing strawberry muffins and also strawberry acar....and Al Mashoor

Ijan went to Bharat Tea - apparently they have the best scones ever!

Mom went up to the market and pasar malam (jam was over by 9pm)

Anyway, the find of the trip was the strawberry 'acar' (pickle). So sedap it really reminds me of Kak Nuzi's acar buah (It has been a year since she passed on)

"The gang"

Aida and her 'au-pair' at the Tea Plantation

Atuk , Ariff and Aida

Though Azry is still too small to appreciate the trip the rest of us enjoyed the cooling break from the chaos of KL. As it is, mom is already thinking of the next trip up... this time hopefully Marina and Ode will join us.

2011-06-20T10:02:00.000+08:00

Evolution [ ev-uh-loo-shuhn ]any process of formation or growth; development]:any process of formation or growth; development

This blog has been neglected for a while. Past 1 1/2 years I have been busy with work, 2 miscariages, one 'successful' delivery hence lack of trips especially diving trips to update. My last dive was July 2010 to Redang and well, it is nearly a year and my gills are definitely dry. Hopefully, my next trip will be in September after the fasting month (keeping my fingers crossed!!)

Anyway, as my life is currently evolving at a fairly fast rate with new experiences and relationships I thought that a new blog title is warranted. UnderH2O Lover was a tribute to my love of diving and the ocean ecosystem but to create a new blog and leave this one idle would be definitely sad. This blog has made me a few good friends and I think has helped to enhance my poor writing capabilities. Therefore, keeping the blog and changing its title would be more logical and I feel the most apt title would be 'Evolution of My Life'. I hope I would not bore people with everyday mundane things but I do hope to document some aspect of my new experience as a mom. Gosh, writing the word mom do sound a bit surreal but yup I am a mommy.

So, welcome to 'Evolution of My Life'

Life Goes On - Part One

2011-02-17T21:38:00.005+08:00

Life has its weird twists and turns when you least expect it. Three years ago when I was a happily 'confirmed bachelorette' suddenly someone pops into my life making me re-evaluate my state of happiness. A few months later I was undoubtedly hitched and a new chapter emerged.

Two was definitely better than one as not only I have a life partner, I had a travel and diving buddy all rolled into one. It wasn't without hitches I must say. After being single and free for a long time I was almost set in my ways. Having to think bout the other half and compromising was the difficult part (and I was a difficult person) but we have managed so far.

After a while, the honeymoon phase ended and the next phase started. Trying to conceive we thought should be the next step in our evolving relationship.

It was a difficult time for me. First, I wasn't sure at mid-thirties I would be able to get pregnant so easily. And with me having exposed to radiation at work makes me think it might be a uphill task. So I was set in my mind not to worry if it never happens. Then the inevitable happened, two magenta lines on a pregnancy strip test confirmed our suspicions. At that time, I was elated but at the same time apprehensive. Whoa... suddenly the reality of being responsible and less self centered hit me and I was overwhelmed. It may have been the hormones but I wasn't sure that it was entirely due to that. I remembered I kept reminding myself that a third of pregnancies do not get past the 1st trimester (just in case something unwanted happens) My merman was rock solid and surprisingly took every ounce of doubt I had and converted it into a wall of support.

However, the joyous feeling turned into state of uncertainty by the end of the 7th week. I had not much pregnancy symptoms apart form my missed period. But having gynecologists as friends ensured me to an early ultrasound scan at the 5th week and subsequently at 9th week. At that point, the fetal sac looked suspiciously unhealthy and they still had not detected the fetal heart. Since I was a fellow physician and friend no one wanted to be the bearer of bad news and they decided to give it a chance and wait another 2 weeks for re-scanning. At the 11th week it was confirmed that the fetus was non viable and I had a missed abortion.

I was immediately admitted for a 'evacuation of products of conception' (ERPOC) that was done the very next day. That was the first time I went for any surgery, what an experience being on the receiving end of the operating theatre. It went well without any complications and by the evening, I was back at home resting. To tell the truth, at that time I had no feelings at all - three weeks of uncertainty had certainly prepared me for the worst.

We went back to our normal routines and planned life ahead as usual. Three months later we were hopeful again. This time around, at five weeks a trans-vaginal ultrasound revealed what we never seen or heard before the fetal heart sound. This time around I was more 'careful': rested excessively, became a bit of a sloth by walking slowly and taking the lifts only, ate well and selectively and followed whatever people are telling us we shouldn't do.

However, we still went on a planned holiday to Kota Kinabalu as we thought that a very slow paced leisurely holidays should be alright. No trekking, snorkelling nor diving was planned, just sight seeing in a car in KK and Kundasang. However, both of us fell sick with stomach flu and high fever. Back in KL I had light brownish stains and immediately went to see my gynae. Another scan with doppler was done and we were assured that it was still viable as the blood flow to the placenta was abundant. However, I was put on progesterone, just in case and was ordered to strictly rest at home. At that point, i was still having symptoms of stomach upset and resting was a bit hard as I had to go to the loo often.

After a day of resting I suddenly had a severe stomach cramp and the staining turned into blood. Merman rushed me to the hospital and an immediate scan revealed that the foetus was no longer viable. Again, I was admitted for another ERPOC. At the ward, while changing clothes I suddenly felt a gush of fluid coming out with a huge lump falling into the toilet bowl. Although used to seeing blood I was shocked as it all came out of me.... It was a very dramatic moment.

A nurse came to assist and she took out the lump from the toilet bowl. It was the size of an orange. I saw the placenta with a bean-like shaped fetus attached to it. it was so surreal. A scan and vaginal examination revealed that the abortion was complete and I indeed do not need another surgery.

At that point we were both thinking of where we went wrong. This time it was sad. We saw signs of life and how it perished. I was more emotionally affected this time around. However, apart from my close circle of people I chose not to talk to or inform anyone else about it. Being a realist I find it overbearing when people give their words of hopes and support. They usually mean well, but my brain is just not wired to perceive it that way. It annoys and irritate me. I coped by allowing myself to grieve for a while and after that just decided to let things be and just go with the flow.

And indeed it is true, life does go on......

Kuala Lumpur's Best Rojak Buah

2010-09-18T17:55:00.003+08:00

The stall is located at the corner of Lorong Chow Kit 1 (In the background is the old A&W restaurant)

My favorite rojak man.. he makes each pack and eah kuah individually hence the long wait... but the taste
have never changed for the past 30 years. I guess that must be his secret

For months I have been craving for my favourite 'rojak buah'. The old man selling them used to set up his stall in front of the General Hospital Kuala Lumpur at Jalan Pahang, just before the Pekeliling roundabout. I have been his customer since I was 6... well, initially I was mom's errand girl, standing in line to buy the delicious rojak.

Apparently, since about a year he has changed his route, business hours and site... hence my failure to locate him the last 2 attempts. Anyway, someone told me to look near the old Federal cinema and to my delight there he is today. His stall is located at the corner of the old A&W (now a printing shop) at Lorong Chow Kit 1. As usual, the line was long and I booked my 7 packets of rojak before I went shopping.

What is so good about his rojak? I can't explain but the kuah (gravy) is so thick and tasty plus the fruits are freshly cut just before you buy them... and on top of it, he puts fried chakoi....Hmmm....

Another reason why I like the old man is he always give priority to those who come first. As a kid, I used to wait and wait for my turn and occasionally some adult who is in a rush would come and try to get him to serve them first instead of me. He would not argue but smile and continue to make my order first.... I guess the made even kids feel important!

Anyway, because of this I am happy.... by the way who ever wants to try the BEST rojak buah in KL should see him at Lorong Chow Kit 1 ( his business hours is from 1.30pm till about 4pm).. Just be prepared to wait in line.

Chiengmai - The Leisure aspect

2010-09-12T09:51:00.005+08:00

Although I was in Chiengmai during puasa I managed to squeeze a few recreational activities during our free time.

In a gist, Day One - we went to see some elephants (though if I was alone I might not want to spend 1200 Baht for the entrance fee). All of us felt cheesy but then the organiser did made an effort to keep us entertained. Later that evening, buka puasa was at the Night Market and after that the boys went berserk shopping.... who says boys don't know how to shop!

Day two, first day of course. At night was the Course Dinner at a seafood joint. Initially planned to go shopping again but I overate (Gluttony!!!) and thus went back to the hotel and slept. (sheesh)

Day three, workshop ended early. Initial plan was to go out at about 5pm and walk around. Came down to the lobby and none were around. The others apparently felt tired and wanted to laze by the pool and jacuzzi... Oh ya, did I mentioned we stayed at this very, very nice hotel - Kantari Hills Hotel and service apartments which has great facilities. I would not mind coming again here

And so, the hyper me went off walking from our hotel to the northern part of the ring road and later reach the Night Market just by the time nearing breaking fast. Actually I cheated a bit; after about 3/4 of the distance I was a wee bit tired and I hailed the red cab (that charges flat rate of 20 Baht). Anyway, found a muslim hawker and bought some food there.

Temple seen at the northern ring road - note the silver and gold tree at each side; reminds me of the times the Malacca government used to send 'duit emas' as protection money to the Siam empire

Later i went for a massage for 30mins of relaxing back and shoulder massage I paid 80Baht(CHEAP!!!!) ; by the way if only costs 120 Baht or 200 Baht for an hour or two respectively.

This paper shop in the Night Market have loads of handmade textured papers that is not so expensive. My favorite find of the day!

And then, I went on a shopping spree. Bought unique hand made stuff like hair clips, key holders, handphone charms. I must say, the market in Chiengmai have more unique stuff; loads of ideas that I enjoyed seeing. I must plan my next trip there soon... and this time it is only for a holiday!

The Cadaveric Workshop -Chiengmai

2010-09-11T09:00:00.001+08:00

The past few days I was in Chiengmai attending a cadaveric course on arthoplasty. This is my 2nd cadaveric course the first was the MIPO (Minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis) course in 2008 in University Malaya.

Outside the cadaveric Workshop (aka disecction hall)

This course was jointly organised by University Malaya Orthopaedic Department (Arthroplasty Unit) with University of Chiengmai. It had only 9 participants hence the hands on workshop was excellent with one on one guidance by the facilitators.

The participants and facilitators

Cadaveric disection workshop is an integral part of enhancing a surgeon's skills and Department of Orthopaedic Chiengmai University have been organising similar workshops since 4 years ago. It helps the surgeon to appreciate the anatomy with relation to the surgeries or procedures they are practising to perfect.

The bodies were donated by the people themselves for the purpose of helping doctors improve their skills. They were treated with great care and respect and it is no surprising that the cadavers were nickname 'grandmaster' by those who benefited from their use. At the end of the day, the bodies are given a royal burial with blessing from the King for contribution to the nation's future.

I assume this means 'Department of Orthopaedics'
Everything was in Thai. Thank god we had our 'tour guide'

As a sign of respect, we were asked to observe a moment of silence prior to the workshop session. It is such a great sacrifice by these people and one cannot help but feel humbled by the whole experience.

I was glad I went and kudos to the arthroplasty unit UMMC for the great leap forward.

Pale as Death

2010-07-13T01:13:00.010+08:00

Pale as death is used to describe sickly people who are not in their 'pink of health'. I always thought that it was pretty gruesome way to tell someone they are unhealthy and may be nearing 'death'.

For one, I never thought that phrase can be used elsewhere, well, until now.

Over the weekend I went to dive in Redang Island. Redang for me for me used to be synonym with the Gipsy Divers and that was where the love started. The love for Redang wonderful and diverse underwater realm. And so when the Gipsies left for greener pastures I was left with no place to hang out in the idyllic island.

And so, it has been one and a half year since I was in Redang. I returned this weekend to rekindle my love for the place. I stayed at the village in the local 'homestay' and dived with Berjaya Resort Dive Centre. I did a total of 5 dives; one on the first day and four on the 2nd (however, the last can be considered as almost a non-dive as it is at the depth of 3-5m only).

We went to Holysand, Stinger Reef, ,Pulau Lima and Carmello's Cave (near Berjaya). The underwater life is as usual wonderful; more nudibranches and critters were seen during the dives. However, the state of the corals was depressing. And that brings us to the mortality issue.

Our first dive we visited Holysand, a sandy dive site without any corals. There was a newly sunk wreck and that was heavenly.

Only the second day I realise that there are obvious 'changes' in underwater Redang. Everytime, as I descent into the water I was greeted with patches of whites - ivory white corals i.e. DEAD CORALS. Some although still alive are showing signs of dying; pale and lifeless.

WHITE CORALS EVERYWHERE!!!!!!

This table coral peripheries are white and 'bleached'. Is it dying?

Even the anemone were sickly looking. The bright red anemone was pale pink when compared to the bright colour of the tomato anemone fish. This is true for the other species, I have always loved taking photos of the anemone and its fishes and so I would know the difference.

The anemone is a very distinct pale yellow. I have never encountered this before and initially thought it was a different species.

I do not know what may be the cause but there are many possiblities that come into mind.

Can it be due to the global warming? During our dives the water temperature was 30-31 degrees higher 1-2 degrees when compared to 28-29 degrees 2 years back.

Or can it be due to the numerous resorts and development in the island? I can see some part of the island being cleared for 'development'; and this is despite the development BAN that was highlighted a year ago in the local news. For one,I saw a new 'posh' resort on Long Beach that can accommodate more than 300 people. And in the kampung there are so many 'homestays' that are sprouting to meet the local demands.

The newly opened Sari Pacifica

Or is it because the place is now so accessible that the number of people visiting and of course the amount of sewerage and rubbish have increased exponentially that the underwater ecosystem cannot adapt? Previously Redang is only accesible via jetty in Merang and visitors have to make prior bookings at resorts or home stays before they were allowed passage to the island. However, this changed in 2006 when the Syahbandar Jetty in Kuala Trengganu opened ferry services to the island during non monsoon season.

Whatever the reason I can only speculate but something need to be done. The recent government outburst on banning 'al-cheapo' visitors definitely is a joke. The huge and expensive resorts i.e Berjaya, Laguna and the new Sari Pacifica can at one time host about 1500 guests; still a huge quantity of people. And EXPENSIVE guests does not mean QUALITY guests; during one of my dives a diver staying in the Berjaya Resort (where a room would cost RM 900 per room per night according to their front desk) was seen ascending uncontrollably into the water destroying several corals in her path. It was such a tragedy!

Note: The dives for me were great and I had lovely photos of the 'living' underwater world. That will be put up in my next post.

Getting Wet Again!

2010-07-04T20:09:00.002+08:00

In 6 days time I will be underwater again. It has been 6 months since my last dive. And it will be my 36th birthday when I am there. Whether this is my 6th time there, I don't think so... I have been there more times (I think).

I can't wait. My gills are dried out!

Relay For Life - Cancer Never Sleeps

2010-05-25T16:32:00.002+08:00

My dearest friend is working for the National Cancer Society and has been part of the organising team for Relay for Life.

Last year we joined in the crowd in the activities organised. This year I thought I would do something different. I made some crafts for the association to sell. All proceeds goes to the Relay for Life fund.

I made tote bags, handphone pouches and handphone charms. I hope they sell (fingers crossed)

I hope people would attend the event as it shows our support and empathy to cancer patients, survivors and their families.

For more information on Relay for Life, visit the National Cancer Society website (here)

Note: Since this is such a big and important event I decided to post the same entry in both my craft and this blog.

KK Getaway

2010-05-12T22:46:00.009+08:00

It was almost a last minute planning for my Kota Kinabalu trip. Although the flight tickets were bought 8 months ahead initially it was for a diving trip. However, due to some unforeseen circumstances the trip had to be cancelled and I was left with the paid flights.

Although this is my 4th visit here I never had the chance to explore the area, land exploration especially. I have dived twice at the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park but then I have already decided this should be a land tour and so diving is definitely out!

Our first stop was the Tamu Jalan Gaya. It is situated right in town about 20m from the Tourist Center. There are a lot of wares peddled catering for both locals and tourists.

Animals on sale (different types of tortoises, dogs, fishes, cats etc)

Most popular stall - local ground coffee

On sale - natural loofah, local basket-ware, antiquities.

In summary it is a 'pasar malam' with a few unique finds.

Cukai 2009

2010-03-25T01:15:00.005+08:00

It is tax time again. LHDN has announced that 30th April 2010 is the last date to submit your tax forms. The bad thing of being a government servant is that you cannot lie about your income plus mine was cut monthly under the PCB. I have to do the tax filling carefully to ensure I am not charged more than needed. As usual I will do mine online.

This year search and research on tax at the LHDN site revealed several interesting super-saving facts:

Tax Exemption
Leave passage

Leave passage within Malaysia not exceeding three times in a year and one leave passage outside Malaysia not exceeding RM3000

Tax Relief

Purchase of books, journals and magazines 1,000 (Limited)
Purchase of personal computer 3,000 (Limited)
Purchase of sport equipment for sport activities 300 (Limited)
Subscription fees for broadband registered in the name of the individual 500 (Limited)

Ah, now I have to dig for receipts of my holidays and diving equipments.

Small change

2010-03-05T00:34:00.008+08:00

A businesswoman?

I am definitely not one. But surprisingly this week I actually sold some things I made. Yup, sold some of the craft I made.

It has been a long journey with my first ever craft book was one called 'Make and Do'. The book taught me how to become a hoarder as it uses everyday item to be converted into gift etc. Over the years my collection of craft books (stamping, origami, paper mache and others) have grown and so have my 'collection' of junks.

Lately I have gone crazy making handphone pouches for myself. And in between I was experimenting with making yo-yo embellishments for to go with them. And finally a wonderful balance was found and I had the perfect combination to make my wristlets look unique.

And since my R&D craft needed constructive critique I decided to bring them to the office. And that is how four wristlets got sold :). And thus my craft fund is finally off the ground.

Note: I have decided to put craft related posts on another blog (here)

Chicken Roosting

2010-02-17T19:15:00.002+08:00

Mini Project - baby toiletries basket

2010-02-14T17:09:00.002+08:00

Hafizah who is about 36 weeks' pregnant wanted to make a basket to put her baby bathing thingy(i.e powder, lotion, shampoo etc. She bought everything and then realise that she is too exhausted to complete the project. And so, she asked me if I am willing to help her out. She gave me the design and I TRIED to execute the photocopy (but it is not exactly as in the picture...oppps); however,I hope she likes it.

Note: The bears were supposed to be part of the design but I did not find a suitable way to incorporate it into the basket.

Mermaid in the making

2010-02-14T16:13:00.004+08:00

For a two year old she definitely have no fear. Oh yeah, the occasional 'takut' and 'hantu' but otherwise she is a fearless two year terror. And that scares the whole lot of us. About 5 months back she coolly stepped into her 'atuk's fish pond. And while the grandfather worriedly jumped in and fished her out she was just laughing happily. To my dad, it was deja vu of an incident 34 years prior when my eldest brother, then two decided to step into the deep end of a swimming pool at Primula Hotel in Trengganu.

And so dear aunty was assigned with the task of making darling Aida a water babe. Not that the aunty minded; aunty is always looking for avenues to spend time in the sun and 'surf'...haha... What a perfect reason!

Anyway, last Sunday merman and I decided to bring Aida to Sunway Lagoon. This would be her 2nd visit there and ever since the first 2 months back she has been pestering us to go 'wimming'. And as if she knew she was going to have a fun fun day, she slept soundly from 5pm the night before. Batteries fully charged!!!

Well, she had fun. It is the aunty and uncle who were struggling to keep up. And after she was tired from swimming she ran up and down along the 'beach' and kicking the artificial waves and splashing water at 'innocent' bystanders. The girl is surely lovable and a few people were smitten by her friendly demeanor (She was 'HI'ing everyone she met there).

The photos reveals more that what I can write and she is definitely on the way to be a mermaid.

Merman risking his life fighting a hippopotamus

Aida at the deep end paddling away

For more photos of fun in the sun go here

Colours of Mabul

2010-01-25T19:38:00.004+08:00

Sipadan Revisited

2010-01-22T22:57:00.008+08:00

Tickets were bought 8 months back. As usual it was the Airasia Zero fare promotion. Anyway, diving life is great when you have a live-in dive buddy. Plans are way easy and usually there are no cancellations.

And then about 6 months ago two friends decided to join us. That was great!!! And they are great company too. So as late as 2 weeks ago we had four in the group. And then surprise surprise.... Wanie my old buddy heard about the whole trip and wanted to follow; she had not dived for three years and during that time delivered 2 baby girls with the younger one 7 months back... Time to re-breathe compressed air,mommy!

This time around we decided to stick with Billabong Scuba. Last February trip was great though the food was a bit 'routine' and bland. That time we had cabbages daily and only cabbages for our requirement of fibre.So we came prepared, bags of tidbits and instant noodles. It has now been three days with two to go. Surprisingly dinner so far dinner has been good. Different dishes for dinner daily. I guess my complaining during our previous visit did not fall on deaf ears and the management did their best to improve the quality of the food. Looks like we are going to have the Maggi at home ;)

As for the diving it has been great. But then, when it comes to diving I never have complained as I have dived in conditions with only 3 feet visibility and still enjoy it; go figure!

Having said that, this time around Sipadan and Mabul have the worse visibility so far: 10 metres in Sipadan and about 5-6 metres in Mabul. And the water is damn chilly 26 to 27 degrees centigrade....brrrrr... I tried my best to contribute to the warming of the waters but it only work for a very brief period.

The water conditions may be attributed to the heavy rains that plagued the area just prior to our arrival. We brought sunny rays to the shores of Mabul and so far it has remained sunny.... I hope it stays that way. As for the sealife, as usual it is amazing. I will let the photos do the talking. But there are more to come.

For now I am signing off from Mabul.

Verdasco and I

2010-01-15T21:18:00.002+08:00

This was taken on November 2nd at the Proton Malaysian Tennis Open. I was lucky to catch the lucky ball and won a car. The best part is meeting Verdasco (who was so gorgeous in person)and getting kissed (on the cheeks of course) by him....

Two weeks in 2010

2010-01-14T15:15:00.006+08:00

It is two weeks into 2010... looks like time would fly this year. I don't tend to make resolutions (I think they are lame excuses to 'pretend' that you are doing something new and then say you failed miserably).

However, I have decided to be more organised - mainly in keeping the home manageable. Fingers crossed I have started with re-organising both my kitchen store and my craft room. I got more storage space by purchasing heavy duty DIY racks in Segambut (at RM100 per piece). I have put everything in clear containers or tag them clearly so that I know the contents without having to open the packaging.

I have also put rules (for myself) on how to do things at home:-
1. Immediate cleaning up of the mess that I make (either during cooking or crafting)
2. Put back everything to its original place!!!
3. Try to throw away thing I do not need (clutter, clutter, clutter)

As I am not a very disciplined person - I have my 'mandor' to supervise me... hopefully he doesn't go overboard.

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Saw this headline on Harian Metro today.

Terkulai cinta Internet

The frontpage article highlighted the plights of three women who were duped by men they met on the net in having casual sex and later was dumped when they got pregnant. The three young ladies in their early 20s met their 'love' from various social networking programmes like Facebook, Myspace and Friendster.

This is not anything new. It has been happening ever since the Net got huge. I recall being one of those chatting away on mIRC and Yahoo Messenger years ago. I met enough people (men) that I come to the conclusion that Internet relationships are 'surreal' and many people LIE!

Therefore, apart from having sex-education in schools we should also have Internet Education. And it is not just women being duped but men too. Sex and money. The accessibility of the Net and the huge masses it reaches makes it a ideal media for conning people. And since 'It would never happen to me' mentality is in a lot of us - MANY people are gullible.

Internet Education may not solve the problem but at least it makes people aware of their vulnerability.

Home Arrest (Part One)

2010-01-11T10:42:00.004+08:00

I never had so much time to myself ever since my wedding. Yup, that was 1 and 1/2 years ago. Anyway, I was given 2 weeks off and I have no plan or anywhere to go. Ah... HEAVEN. First on my agenda was organising. I am 'trying' to remove as much clutter in the house, people like me like to collect junk and are scared to throw anything away hence the 'clutter'. So far I have organised the kitchen and store and also my craft room aka my 2nd storage room.

In between I managed to squeeze in a few craft projects. So many free tutorials online that I would go cookoo looking just looking at them. But projects are easier when you have someone in mind to give them to. So walla.....

Baby boy blankie, made for a new addition to the family. My bro in law 2nd child born on 22 Dec.

The inner part I used a striped cotton material (that cost RM3.20 per meter at Nagoya

This is a project which is ongoing. My bag prototype made by copying the bag I bought from Siam Reap 2 years back. Still not happy with the lining I made and the stitching is a bit shoddy..... This is supposedly for my friend in Singapore but do not know when it will be ready :(

Christmas Holiday Projects

2010-01-05T23:22:00.003+08:00

The past week I have been busy utilising my sewing machine. It is not a new year resolution to sew more but I was inspired by the arrival of my friend's baby two days before Christmas.

I suck at buying gifts for newborns plus always thought that stuff I buy may become redundant (1001 uncles and aunties are sure to buy the same things). And as I browse through the Net for ideas I see loads of handmade baby presents.

And so, I made a blankie (hope they liked it as it is my first attempt) and a pair of booties (got the instructions and templated from here)

So these are the results:

I also made a hairband for my niece while I was at these projects

Sniff, cough and sneeze

2009-12-11T18:58:00.003+08:00

Isn't it funny how we assume other people would know the same things we know? Like how nice it is to eat sambal tumis ikan bilis with lempeng;). But then, maybe only I am the one who assume such things.

Anyway, when different people meet we discover the revelation that however familiar one thing is to us it may totally be foreign to others.

And this is worse when you meet a doctor. A sickly doctor that is. The doctor usually knows that when she is ill what is usually the problem. When she coughs badly she knows that it is worse because of her asthma and the only thing to do is take her inhaler and ensure that her room and environment is dust free.

And when she has back-ache is most probably due to her poor sleeping posture the night before and she just need to 'sleep it off'.

But then, to a person who is totally non-medical, the coughs, sneezes, moans and groans are pretty scary. It is totally foreign. Hey, it may be something sinister. And it is totally not reassuring when the other person tries to reassure you that it is something mild between her bouts of cough. It is sweet when you see how the other person is concerned and then you know how they really care.

On a different note, in a reverse situation the non-medical ill person may think that the doctor do not care or take it too lightly when they are sick. And the doctor have to consciously remind themselves to show compassion and share their reassuring thoughts.

So, in conclusion, it is a not an advantage to marry a doctor. Hahahahaha.

Sofia

2009-10-19T20:46:00.002+08:00

Took this when we had buka puasa with my old diving buddies. Sofia is Wanie's and Amir's first born. She was initially shy but the sight of jello turned her into a 'Jello Monster'

She is so adorable, I must say!

Despair

2009-09-25T19:48:00.004+08:00

Initially I was planning to write a joyous and happy post but the hast 30 minutes my feeling has undergone a major turn.

Have you ever wondered how a doctor can appear so calm and to an extent cold when breaking bad news? Many of us have seen it in ER, Grey's Anatomy and many other western medical dramas and we assume that it is an inherent part of being a doctor. It comes with the job, many would say. Well, it is true in some sense but many never realise that is the hardest part of the job. Holding the person's hand, so calm and collected when you tell them they have only a few months to live; or when you tell the family to learn to let go. Many of us would feel so bad inside after that, some may even cry. But then, we know, these people look at us for hope, into our souls they search for solace and it is part of the Hipocratic oath we undertook - to always comfort out patients.

Even then, when this happens to someone close we do not know how to handle the situation. The ideal doctor may know but then he is a myth. Majority of us are mere mortals who do not. We are lost. There is no Hutchinson textbook on menaging your fears for a loved ones. We go through the grief process as any other person.

But it is worse for the medical personnel. We know. We know the eventual outcome, we know the pain that the person will go through and we can forsee the suffering. So how can you seek solace and find hope if you know all this?

Words are cheap. Be strong for them. That is what I used to tell the family members. But finding my own strength when I am faced with this has proven to be very difficult. How can I tell my friend that everything is going to be allright when in my heart I am praying that she does not suffer when her time comes?

It is wierd. I would take a deep breath each time before I see her. Suck in all my fears, all my sadness. And she knows the truth, she may have a glimmer of hope in her soul but deep inside she knows. She is a strong lady but she have seen a lot in her career. She also used to give hope to others when she was a nurse looking after some of the oncology patients, and she have seen what the disease do to people.

But as sad as I may feel I have to do it. Not coming in terms with this and running away makes me a coward and a disloyal friend. I am filled with dispair but I just have to do my part. Keep her company. Support her through the bad days. Laugh with her through the good and try to be a pillar of her strength.

And yes, today is a bad day!

2009-09-07T13:07:00.002+08:00

I haven't been calling anyone lately but when I finally did I feel sad. My good friend who was diagnosed to have breast malignancy 2 years back and had a mastectomy done told me that she is now diagnosed with spinal metastases. That is Stage IV of the disease. She sounded so down and I do not know how to comfort.

I am guilt stricken. I should have called her earlier. And I am sad; I am so so sad.

Cuti-cuti Malaysia 2010

2009-08-11T13:41:00.004+08:00

The ongoing Airasia sales got me excited. RM98 return to Tawau is so cheap. Anyway, for those interested to plan their holidays, these are the dates for national public holidays in Malaysia; I have also included the Selangor and KL state holidays.

Date Holiday
1 Jan (Friday ) New Year
30 Jan (Saturday) Thaipusam

1 Feb (Monday ) Federal Territory Day
14&15 Feb (Sun/Mon/KIV Tue) Chinese New Year
26 Feb (Friday ) Prophet Muhammad's Birthday (Maulidur Rasul)

1 May (Saturday ) Labour Day
21 May (Monday ) Wesak Day

5 Jun (Saturday ) Agong's Birthday
27 Aug (Friday ) Nuzul Al-Quran Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Penang, Selangor & Terengganu only
31 Aug (Tuesday ) National Day
10/11 Sep (Fri/Sat) Hari Raya Puasa *

5 Nov (Fri ) Deepavali
17 Nov (Wednesday Hari Raya Haji *
7 Dec (Tuesday ) Awal Muharram (Maal Hijrah)
11 Dec (Saturday ) Sultan of Selangor's Birthday Selangor only
25 Dec (Saturday) Christmas

Taken from:One Stop Malaysia website

So guys go to airasia and book your flights.

p.s. the international flight promo is on next week.

Shoes Addict?

2009-07-04T15:18:00.004+08:00

I have never deen the typical minimum 10 pair-a-time kind of lady. Most of the time I am a one shoe woman. My shoes generally last me 2-3 years until it is time for them to enter the garbage can. However, that doesn't mean I don't splurge on my shoes. In fact, they are the only things I don't mind paying a lot for. Furthermore, I am in the business of foot aches and back pains and it is a fact that it is the shoes that make or break your back.

But this showed up in our letter box last week.

Hmmm...to go or not to go..... I hate the crowds of warehouse sales but then, SCHOLL my number one choice for working shoes. It doesn't matter if some people say they look kind of 'Ah Poh', my feet are not complaining. And my Scholl's do last.

And so this morning at 10 am I was at the venue. I thought I was early. Damn people are already leaving with 2-3 pairs. I manage to squeeze in between a few ladies to get some flats. Hooray. Not much choices left but then I am not that picky. However, I wasn't too lucky in the sandals section. I was aiming for the Gelativ range of shoes but by the time I got to the counter sizes 5 and 6 were sold out. Shucks.

All in all, I got 6 shoes for RM360. One shoe per year - means no shoe shopping for 6 years (opps 4 years, two of the loafers are for Marina and mom). And usually they costs between 130 to 210 per pair. It is so cheap.

I heard that this is an annual event. I wonder where do I sign up so I will get a tinker when they organise this again.

New Chicken Recipe

2009-07-01T19:54:00.003+08:00

I have always had friends who are great cooks and also love food like me. Out of these friendships I learn new wonderful (and easy) recipes. My favourites so far (which means I cook these recipes a lot) are Saliha's roast chicken and Spena's potato salad. And today I tried a new recipe - Teh's (my colleague) whatever chicken (named as such as I have no idea what to call it).

Teh came up with the recipe when he was 'babysitting' his wife when she was taking her part two exams in Newcastle. The recipe sounded so promising I had to try it out today.

Recipe
2 slices of chicken ham
2 deboned chicken breast
Red capsicum
Yellow Capsicum
Swiss Mushrooms
Onions
Celery
Garlic
Cheese (I used a combination of Parmesan, Mozarella and cheddar)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Chicken breast was flattened and the sliced vegetables and cheese were put at the centre. The chicken is then rolled with the ham on the outside. I used toothpicks to keep it in shape. The whole thing was then put over a bed of celery in a baking tray. Cooked in the oven for about 20 min at 250 celcius. Then turn the chicken to brown the other side

The finished product. It looked yummy

And it tasted yummy too. Got the seal of approval from merman.

Handmade Notebook

2009-06-23T18:56:00.003+08:00

Juliana, my friend and OT nurse was just offered a place to do her nursing degree in UM. It is a great development for her as she aspires to be a tutor nurse. It is sad for me as I have less kaki to gossip with in OT. Anyway, I have known her since she joined HKL A&E OT as a new nurse fresh from nursing college. She was initially timid and I was the fierce Ortho MO. We grew into good friends and we were reunited when I was transferred to Ampang last year.

Apparently she became a garang OT senior but is very righteous about her work. Nowadays, I am not allowed to reminiscence about her first few months working as I will spoil her image as the ever efficient nurse...hahahah

Cik Juliana

Anyway, I wanted to give something special as a farewell gift and I decided to make something useful - a notebook. It is my first attempt in a long time making handmade gifts (used to do it when I was younger). I was lucky I found a nice looking piece of cloth for my project at Nagoya - and it is cheap too. Other stuffs were already i my stash of odds and ends - it pays to hoard things:)

The cover - wanted to put her initials but don't have matching fabric

The inside : made it so that she can change the notebook once it is full. Can use with any similar sized book

Cracked my head on how to close the book and then found this unique bead amongst the stuff I bought at the bargains corner in Carrefour. The pattern matched. What luck!

I am going to give it to her this Friday. And I hope she will cry....*wink*

p.s. another friend Mei Lin is leaving too.... Another project?

Today's headache

2009-06-22T21:02:00.004+08:00

I simply love driving alone. It is my me time with no distractions and interruptions. I guess in this sense I am not a Green person as I would hate to car pool with anyone. My morning cruise to work is when I catch up with the latest music and news. And in the evening, it is usually the time I think. It is actually very weird as everyday, when I ply the route home I will be thinking of what I want to write in my blog. Nowadays, I analyse my thoughts as how I would portray it in my blog. Not to say everyone gets published but the feeling of getting it out of my chest is such a relief.

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Today, I am pretty miffed. I am upset with my house-officers. Out of four, only one is an outstanding doctor. The other three annoy me. Hmmm...25% that is definitely not good.

Back to why I am upset. Four months ago we received our first batch of HOs. To make sure we are objective in our expectations and assessment of the interns we decided to sit down and list what they need to do and know. Step by step. This is so that we do not unnecessarily penalise them. It is VERY clear. But today, after 8 days of tagging my HO has not done ANY of the prerequisite procedures needed for her to start her calls. Damn! What do they expect?

I was never an excellent HO, I did my work and enjoyed the experience thoroughly. I had my share of mistakes but it was not due to lack of trying. I still remember that on my first day of work I was so worried I'll make a blunder. Medical school never prepares you for housemanship. Less than 10% of my undergrad knowledge is usable in 'real' life. I had my medical officers to thank. They taught me a lot of what I needed to know as a doctor. Some of them even inspired my subsequent career choice. Thinking back, I did my first femur plating, femur k-nail, below knee amputation, and external fixator as a house-officer. Amazing! But the main thing is attitude, I was willing to learn and did not mind the hard work. As a doctor's daughter I knew exactly what I was getting into and thus, I was prepared and could not nor would not complain.

And the problem with MAJORITY of today's young doctors are that: ATTITUDE. They think being a doctor is all glamour and fun. Hello is is bloody hard work. AND is a person cannot take the stress then this career is clearly not suited. Other people's heart attack is a stress on my heart. Their uncontrolled blood pressure raises my BP. We have to do it right because it is a person's life. So, it is a stressful career, what's new? But today added stress comes from supervising the new doctors. Should a intern pass his housemanship because his parents paid so much for his education? Should I close an eye and let a doctor who is not competent pass? Or those who are not bothered or care about their patients pass?

It is difficult to figure out but the minimum standards should be adhered to. For me, it is a matter of making sure only SAFE doctors get their full registration. To the VIPs and politicians it is a purely a political issue - they want to get the ideal ratio of 1:400 doctor people ratio. To them the quality is not their problem; they have their personal physician treating them. It is us commoners who may get a myocardial infarct in some ulu place and the only doctor there may be the incompetent one that we let pass.... wouldn't that be ironic?
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Perhentian Revisited

2009-06-11T20:14:00.003+08:00

Spent the weekend in Perhentian. The last time I was there I was with Saliha and Salwa doing a 7 day Perhentian-Redang hop after my exams. Anyway, we left KL after the Federer semifinal French Open match. Reached Kuala Besut at about 8.30am. However, we only managed to board the speedboat at about 11am.

This time we stayed at Teluk Dalam,Perhentian Besar with Alu-alu Divers. The place is lovely and exceptionally clean. Anyway, this side of the island has always been excellent.

We did three dives in total. The first dive was at T3 and the visibility was about 3 feet and the last dive was at Vietnamese Wreck and this was worse, strong currents with poor viz. There goes my dream of taking wonderful photos with Kaz's wide-angle lense. But the 2nd dive was WONDERFUL. Tokong Laut with 8-10m visibility with NO CURRENTS. This is the first time I was able to make a full circle around the pinnacle.

Bamboo shark seen at 23m at Tokong Laut

Giant clams

Safety stop at Tokong Laut

Milo, the resident otter at Alu-alu. The poor creature has a limp and thus refuse to go back to the wild.

Overall, it was a nice short getaway. If I had any complaints it would be about the speedboat/sea transfer but that needs its own post.

Mind Your Language

2009-06-09T14:10:00.003+08:00

A few things are on my mind this week. One is English. The DPM was surprised that English is not a must-pass subject in SPM and wants to find out the people's reaction in making it a compulsory pass subject.

It is a lose-lose subject. For one the issue will be exploited by political individuals who have not the interest of the country in their hearts. Many would play on sentiments to oppose the idea.

As for me, I think it needs to be thoroughly studied. Before English is made into a must-pass subject other steps have to be put in place. It is not just a Cabinet decision on one Wednesday and then walla... next year every child has to make sure he or she pass for them to have a future.

We have to start at the beginning - primary school and even kindergarten. Our teachers have to be equipped to teach 'proper' English. Mind you, there are teachers who teach English but was unable to pronounce properly. How do you get students to enjoy and learn if the teachers themselves are struggling?

I was fairly lucky throughout my childhood. I had parents who speak excellent English and who encouraged us to read and converse in English. In primary school I had Mrs Siew and; in secondary school Mrs Ganehsan and Mrs Philomena. They enjoyed teaching and all had their special ways to make us USE English everyday. We sang songs from 'the King and I'; and do word puzzles and even produced a play. I enjoyed it thoroughly (perhaps my classmates did not share my sentiments) and at the end in Form Five my classmates spoke fairly reasonable English. And I must say, my school is mainly those people living in the high rise flats and slums of Kuala Lumpur, we were not from an elite school and many had no privileged background.

But then, by not addressing the English at an early level things will not change. Just look at the using English as a teaching medium in Mathematics and Science. For me, that was a knee jerk reaction decision. It is not going to make children more apt at speaking English nor will it make them understand Maths or Science better. The core issue is English. It is not Science or Maths. The application of English in daily activities is important. I had no problems with Science and Mathematics in university because I understood the language, minor problems of definition and meanings can be resolved by asking the right people or looking up the dictionary.

It is sad that a lot of people imply that by speaking English we are less of a Malay or a Malaysian. Being able to communicate effectively in a language that has huge 'followers' enable us to be more global, more marketable, more visible and more prominent. And this is not just in the academic and corporate world; for example, Malaysia now strives to a world tourist destination. We have the necessary attraction, our lovely beaches, islands, forests, our history and even our food. But a setback would be communication.

My latest trip to Perhentian is just the perfect example. In the speedboat with us from Kuala Besut were 4 Caucasians, and 8 Malaysians. The boatman was trying to get us so-called 'balance the boat' but became upset when no one understood him. Well, he was shouting 'belen, belen' and even we had a problem understanding what he wanted to say. Only when we heard 'belen de bok' we figured what he wanted and then only we manage to appease him and get the boat moving.

Therefore, to ensure our future society's competitiveness in the globalisation era the government, the political leaders, the academics and the society have to think hard and decide. It is not a one day decision, it cannot be a 'popularism' decision hence no SMS or EnglishUNDI kind of thing. A thorough study or research on the issue have to be made. We have to understand the basis of resistance towards the language and work around it. It may take a longer time but it should not be a rushed decision. We can't just decide and then after a few years another popularism poll that say we had made a mistake. This is our children's future we are talking about.

A noble human being

2009-05-27T05:30:00.006+08:00

A good friend of mine used to comment on how lucky I am to work as a doctor. He reckons that being a doctor makes it easier for me to do good deeds. As for him, since he is not one, he becomes obsessed in searching for good deeds to be done - joining a voluntary paramedic service.

I do not agree with his sentiment. Yes, we are in a position and place where helping people is a daily occurrence. But apart from the act of helping the important thing is our intentions. What is it that drive doctors in their daily work? I must say not many doctors are 'noble' as we are made to believe. There are many who are driven by other factors :wealth, position, status, politics, and even knowledge. The patient is secondary. It is a sad sad reality but that is the truth. It doesn't make the person a less good doctor but then definitely not noble.

As for me, I still have no idea what drives me. One thing for sure definitely not money or now I would have been in one of those money minting hospital. I know I enjoy doing what I do, I enjoy 'helping' and educating people but most of all I relish the opportunity to look at the strength of other people.

I may be digressing into another issue but then, the theme is the same :Nobility. Everyday we are pushed with stories of so-called noble people helping others in the papers. So many politicians would step forward to lend a hand when a unfortunate event occurs - giving money (which is not theirs anyway!), assistance etc. And the generally it ends with a handshake on the frontpage.

It is so ingrained in people's mind that only if things we do get reported then only it is a good deed. Anyway, being a doctor, I get the wonderful window of opportunity to see everyday wonderful 'normal' people coping and doing their best in life. Some do it out of love, some out of responsibility and some just don't see any other way of doing things but they are doing the right thing.

One of these wonderful persons is a seventy year old man comes diligently to the hospital to accompany his 45 year old son who is a schizophrenia. He is still working but in his daily routine he also makes sure his 'kid' takes his medicine. He have seen the worst of his son's illness and he just wants to make sure it never recurs. And when the son was admitted with a fracture, he was there all the time to be by his side. Curious as I am, I did ask how did ask how he copes over the years and for him it is mainly because he doesn't want his son to suffer. And in his heart, he hopes that if he dies, it happens after he his son's.

And then some days you see a bed bound 25 year old cerebral palsy patient in the ward. The mom sits by her side all the time, alert to her every single breath. 25 years earlier she might have thought that at this time she may be a proud mother attending her girl's graduation but alas a twist of fate leads her to the current day. But then not a sigh, not a complaint and always smiling. I am sure previously she would have gone through the motions of grief but then at the present day she is the solid rock that ensure the 'child' is comfortable, 'healthy' and happy.

Well, there are so many individuals like that. They are the true heroes and they usually make me think "If I am thrown into that situation, how would I fare? Would I be psychologically prepared and emotionally strong to take in life and fate unfairness? Or would I bolt and run?". I have no idea. But then looking at these noble people gives you hope against life's twist of fate. And it gives us hope that there really is a human soul.

Teamwork

2009-05-11T00:55:00.001+08:00

Took this today.

Muckking Around in Lembeh Straits

2009-05-09T19:25:00.005+08:00

It was a wonderful outing for me. Finally I am getting used to my heavy underwater setup and I manage to take a few reasonable shots. I won't say they are excellent as I have seen other people's photos plus I am just a 'point and shoot' person.

Lembeh Straits was true to its calling. A muck diving heaven. Visibility was not an issue as it didn't matter. By the way, the visibility was only 5-10 metres at its best. We had a very hard working dive guide Mickel who was busy finding for us things to see and photograph. Numerous nudibranches, shrimps and crabs can be seen at all the divesites. The group were ecstatic when we were shown frogfishes, pipefishes, octopuses and especially SEAHORSES. We got to see pygmy seahorse, common seahorse, thorny seahorse..... yippie.

The best site for us were (ah...2 'best' sites) were Teluk Kambahu which had numerous frogfishes of various colours and Nudibranch Retreat: which had so many species of nudibranches and the highlights were ghost pipefishes, winged pipefish, and pygmy seahorses.

As for the other aspects of the trip, the resort were great; staffs were friendly and courteous, rooms were clean and food was excellent. The kitchen staff made extra effort when we told them we were Muslims and thus can only consume seafood and vegetables. (Fyi, 90% of North Sulawesi population are Christians and thus not many places of halal food especially out of Manado town).

My only grouse is the heat. It was so hot in the evening and being in a fan room that is facing the strait didn't help. Wind came from the other side of the slope and we did not get any breeze. I regretted not asking for an air-conditioned room. Hahaha...now I know why Kaz always insists on having the 'A-C'.

As always, good things have to come to an end. I am not sure when I will be back but I hope soon.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: Airasia flies three times a week to Manado (every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday). With its recent schedule changes a worthwhile trip have to be a 6D5N trip as you will arrive in Manado at 8pm on Day One. While it is such an inconvenient schedule for the divers, I guess it have to be acceptable as it is quite cheap (Previously it used to cost Singapore Dollars 600 for flights to Manado via Singapore).

Also take note that Airasia may charge you an extra Rp125000 (RM40) for your diving equipment on the way back. This is on top of the exit visa that Indonesia charges. We were told by an 'insider' to say that there is no sporting equipment in our luggage if asked when checking in our bags. But alas, the information came in too late :(

Ever Efficient Air De-Laysia

2009-04-24T21:53:00.002+08:00

This was sent to us today via email. A week prior to departure. Ain't it convinient?

Dear Valued Guest,

AirAsia regrets to advise that our flight AK432 from KLIA(LCCT) to Manado on 01May09 is now canceled & moved to the next day(02May09) Kindly refer to the flight details as per below:

New Flight No. : AK 432
Sector : KLIA(LCCT) to Manado
New Departure Date: 02 MAY 09
New Departure Time: 3.50pm(1550hrs)
New Arrival Time : 7.40pm(1940hrs)

We appreciate your understanding of our position in this matter and hope your future flights with us will be pleasant and problem free and apologize for the inconvenience caused.

You’re sincerely,

AirAsia Bhd.
LCC Terminal,
Jalan KLIA S3,
Southern Support Zone,
Kuala Lumpur International Airport,
64000 Sepang, Selangor Darul Ehsan,

I have stated before what I feel about this. So disappointing Air Asia!

Air Delay-sia

2009-04-09T21:29:00.004+08:00

Yesterday I was just dreaming how it would be like diving in the Lembeh Straits. Macro Heaven. Muck diving mecca. Well, it was supposed to be another 21 days till I finally get to see Manado. I first heard of this wonderful diving heaven from Ben, my OWD instructor. He invited me to join them that year (2004) but alas the trip was during the fasting month. Plus the flight arrangements is not that straight forward. KL Singapore and then Manado... something like that. It would cost me about RM1K at least for the travelling alone.

Therefore, when Air Asia finally launch KL Mando I was absolutely elated. I booked my flights for this coming May (9 months in advance); booked my leave and informed my colleagues and then started dreaming of frogfishes, seahorses, nudibranches, pipefishes etc etc etc....

And then, this morning I got a frantic call from Yanni, our dive organiser. "Lynn, please check your flight details- apparently some people got bumped off the 1st May flight and only arriving in Manado late night on the 2nd".

Hmm... I thought. Airasia would usually send a text message or email if there any changes... I won't be affected. But then listening to Yanni's voice I decided to check. Surprise...surprise.... Changes...changes...changes....

Instead of flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays (and two flights on each day) they changed it to Tuesday and Saturday ONLY!!! Plus the flights arrive at night!

Then I went into my annoyed frenzy mode. Options: Stick with what they have given us means only two days of diving....and after 5 years of dreaming...DAMN YOU AIRASIA!!!
And not just that, the dates was chosen because of the long weekend, 1st is a public holiday (therefore I only need to take 2 days leave)

But then, going so far and only seeing it for 2 days is such a waste... Today, I may have used up my RM75 phone charges quota... teleconferencing, info seeking blah..blah..blah.... Finally, decided - extend stay and change return flight to the 7th. It was Merman and my plan... thank god we are also buddies ;). When everyone heard of our plan they decided to follow.

And then frenzy calls to Air Asia Call Centre. Merman got all done in a synch. He had a knowledgeable call centre staff that briefed him on the situation. And then changed our flights without any added cost. But our posse was not so lucky.

We managed to exposed the inadequacies of the AA call centre staffs with our repeated calls. Many of the staffs were not even briefed on the change of flights and thus blamed the customer for trying to make changes. Many did not know that AA only fly twice a week to Manado suggesting to us other unavailable dates. Some were obviously rude trying to push away the customer for making their job harder. Hello you are in the customer service department, that is your job!!! The faint hearted got bullied (Combat...so dissapointing, mana ke machoan of the personal trainer ni?) whereas others got mad and made the AAA personnel suffer.

In the end, the whole group is going back two days later...hahaha extra 3 dives ;)

As for Air Asia... MAJOR DISSAPOINTMENT!!!!!!!

Time: Where Can I Get More of it?

2009-03-18T11:21:00.003+08:00

It has been a long time since I wrote a post.

Few factors influenced this.

One: Maxis broadband connection sucked for the past 3 weeks. But walla, since 2 days back it improved more than 100%. I guess they must have had some mantainence work done. My complain is 'Why were the consumers not informed???'

Two: I had so many other things to do. Finally, I cleaned up all the jars I collected and started to decorate them for my kitchen. It was fun and it is still a work in progress. I haven't got yet the theme that i want and thus still toying around with some ideas: glass painting, decoupage etc to name a few.

Three: Another work in progress is my garden. I have decided that although it is a rented house I will still try and make it into my dream garden. I have been hustling around for plants (mom is my main victim) as plants are extremely expensive nowadays. I am also dabbling in the 'Edible Garden' concept as I love cooking food that I grew myself.

Four: Almost everyday I try new simple recipes. One or two failed (my spinach antipesto tasted yucks; and my brownies did not look as it should in the cookbook) but I had a few wonderful successes : Ayam pandan (used pandan leaves and lemongrass from my garden); Celery Roasted Chicken (recipe thanks to Teh my colleague); Tuna Pasta Salad (thanks to Mei Lin); my own creation 'Ayam Berlada ala Siam' (hahahah such a corny name)...

Thus I wish there is a 48 hour day. I have so many things to do but so little time.

Bukit Lanjan Fracas

2009-02-19T13:19:00.003+08:00

I am now paranoid. When I bathe at home I do it fully clothed, I scrub my body with soap underneath the clothings and try to rinse off the suds as much as I can (which is usually not that effective). And when I change, I try my best to use the old fashioned 'berkemban' way of removing the WET clothes, dry myself, wear my undies and only then discard the 'batik sarong' to put on my shirt and pants. Ah shit, what if I get photographed while in my grandma's panties and bra.... Damn, I may then have to resign as a civil servant.

This week I am truly amazed by the Malaysian politicians. I knew they were stupid but never in my mind this I think there are worse than 'eejits' (hahaha...Mike sorry if I insulted you by using this word).

A lady sleeps in her house scantily dressed (hey, it is her house) and an MORONIC then boyfriend took photos of her asleep (NO POSING, mind you, just the 'air liur terleleh' pose). Later, she dumps him because he is a MORON (this part I am doing some assumption). He gets pissed and since she's a VIP he post those photos on the net (I am assuming again) for some MONEY.

Then all hell breaks loose, she is called immoral and everybody starts questioning her ability as a politician.

" Selangor Opposition chief and former Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo has called for Pakatan Rakyat state executive councillor Elizabeth Wong to resign on moral grounds.

He said Malaysians were not ready to accept leaders who were embroiled in scandals."

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/2/17/nation/3284186&sec=nation

Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said Wong’s decision to resign was appropriate considering her standing in politics.

“Being photographed nude is something that Malaysians are unable to accept, in particular if it is a state exco member or assemblyman,” he told reporters after opening the 3rd Annual Conference of Asian Cities Against Drugs in Malacca yesterday.

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/2/18/nation/3291916&sec=nation

Hmmmm..... Barisan Nasional leaders have indeed shown why some of them should not be elected. And it is obvious, that just because she is a woman she is given so much crap. Hey, she did not pose for the photos. Damn, it is sad that in this country sexual discrimination is still so widespread. Yes, true the photos were taken by her boyfriend but then who are we to morally judge people?

If really people affected by so-called lack of 'moral' then why the hell did the Perak BN party accepted a man who 'terima sedekah' of sexual favors. And how many party members who have been suspended due to sexual offence...remember an ex-menteri besar who was proven to have sexual relationship with a minor??...and he is now back in the party fold.

I am not is not just in one party; there are good people there too but there way are too many bigots, idiots, morons running around creating havoc in this country.

As for Elizabeth Wong, she is just a normal person doing normal things and getting punished for it. Mind you, Khir Toyo may be the only person in this country who pee under the covers of his sarong cos if any peeping tom catches him in action at the loo he might also be accused of being immoral, a pervert and a exhibitionist.

Annoyance

2009-01-21T22:05:00.004+08:00

I always believe as doctors we should treat our patients as if they are our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters etc. When we do that, then we know we are not mistreating people based on their gender, race, wealth or position. In this country, many people only see status and treat people only based on that. Some people bend their backs to please some Datuk, Tan Sri or Tun BUT would not pay attention to the normal people on the street. Isn't that so sad?

This shouldn't happen in the health service, especially in government hospitals. Even if a person is a VIP he should get the same service as any other person. They should wait in line for their turn and not demand special attention just because of who they are. Mind you, for the 10 years I have been in government service I have met a lot of crappy so-called VIPs BUT I have met also so many Datuks, Datins and Tan Sris who are genuinely nice people and never demand anything special. They are ever so grateful even to us lowly house-officers. Demanding people should go to private doctors and not harp on how sub-standard the service when they only pay RM5 to see a specialist.

Anyway, sometime the fault lies at the service providers themselves. People are so awed at titles that they forget their duties and responsibilities. They go all out to please the VIPs. I was a medical officer in HKL when I was called to review an 'end-stage renal failure' patient who had infection of his great toe. The elderly gentleman was such a nice fella, I spoke to him with respect and addressed him as uncle. However, the ward sister was so distressed with this. She kept mentioning to me that this 'Uncle' was in fact a Datuk and should be addressed as such. She was not really bothered about the treatment. Well, being me, I told her to *&^% off.

After that I had a good relation with this uncle. I took care of him till his wounds were better and he was able to go home. About a year after that, his wife came around the clinic to look for me. The old man had passed away and she wanted me to know. Apparently, he used to tell his wife how well I treated him and how he thinks of me like a daughter. When I heard this I was so elated. That is the best compliment a person has ever given me.

Why am I rambling on about this? Well, it is because I am annoyed. I am annoyed because my friend's father-in-law was admitted to the hospital and in my personal view he was not given the best treatment. Mind you, my friend is also a specialist (in the same hospital and ward) and to avoid conflict of interest he decided to stay out of the way of the other doctors. However this resulted in sub-standard care given to this gentleman (would not elaborate further on this, but trust me it is). Gosh, if this is the way the doctors treat one of their own I wonder how they treat the Apak, pakcik, makcik, ah soh out there.

Or perhaps this is exactly how they treat their own family?

p.s. the government's doctor factory is now busy churning out doctors to meet their 1 doctor per 4000 people quota. I wonder what quality of doctors would that be. We need more people with compassion but lately many of the young doctor lack such quality. Alas, there is no entrance exams to gauge compassion.

The Government Slave

2009-01-17T01:40:00.003+08:00

It has been a month since I last blogged. Actually, I wrote a few entries but decided not to post it. These are matters (mainly complaints) that may offend other people so nah... I decided not to.

Anyway, a few things have been on my mind for the past month. The first is my youngest brother upcoming wedding at the end of the month. Loads of things to do and prepare. So little time.

The next is the Government's option for its employees to opt for the Pension scheme instead of KWSP. The dateline is next Monday, I have to make a decision.

I think I am almost 95% certain of my decision. After I signed for KWSP only I realise the implications of it. I remember at that time, the clerk in-charge was so happy to persuade us to sign for the KWSP option, and being naive I did so. Later did I found out that opting for the pension causes less paperwork for the clerk, duh. Anyway, at that time I was concerned with whether I would stay with the Government for life. I was actually worried if I was pushed around here and there at the whims and fancy of some clerks (really, KKM is run by clerks who have no sympathy for people) and also if I don't like the office politics. That may push me to resign and thus 'nil' savings if I was in the pension scheme.

What have changed since then? Nothing much really. The concerns are still there but I am looking at a different perspective. Right now I am more concerned about long term health care. At the age of 56 (when I retire) I would have no health benefits if I am still under the KWSP scheme. If I needed a bypass or and angiogram (touch wood) in IJN perhaps, I would need to raise RM20000 for the surgery. That is provided I do not have any other complications. If I do, I am sure that would cause a serious dent in my savings and I may not enough funds for my retirement plans.

This is not just me but my family too, my husband and our future children. Aging people have more degenerative problems and diseases, it is fine to say now 'I AM HEALTHY' but we definitely do not know what is in the future. An unhealthy person is not just a liability in terms of health costs, they are usually not productive and thus, the disruption of their employment plans and cash flow.

It is a fact that healthcare is an expensive affair and it will be more so in the future as this country goes into managed healthcare. No amount of insurance can cover you for every eventualities - every coverage has its limits.

Anyway, the monthly pension is not really a deciding factor. As doctors, working after the pensionable age is very feasible (provided I am not senile) and thus I am sure I can find a job so not that worrisome. And, would I leave government service now or in the future? I guess maybe not; I enjoy my work, I am too lazy to suck up to patients, I love the 35 days leave I have per year and I am not a businesswoman.

I guess I would not have these thoughts if I married a fellow government servant (with the appropriate retirement plans i.e pension scheme). Hmmmm, perhaps should advise people looking for a future spouse to ask the questions "Kerja Gomen ke????" and then if positive "Pencen ke, KWSP??". Only after that proceed with the courting...

Kuching Shopping Paradise

2008-12-14T07:09:00.004+08:00

Yesterday, we started our journey at about 10 am and drove to Kg Serikin at the border of Indonesia. By the time we arrived at the area is was packed. The presence of the many tour buses at the small village road caused a jam of about two kilometres and it took us about half an hour to find a place to park.

The place is wonderful to find cheap Indonesian crafts and some local ones too. Practically anything can be found there; clothes, shoes, cowboy hats, household daily items, furniture, carpets, antiquities, jeweleries and even chandeliers.

We bought a lot of rattan crafts ( which is a fraction of what it costs in Kuching) and spent nearly two hours there. Lunch was at a local shack run by Indonesian migrants.

On the way back we stopped by Kg Duyoh. Here, the traders are mainly the local Ibans and we did another round of shopping. Here, stuff sold are mainly vegetables, fruits and local handicrafts (quality are way better). We had some local Iban delicacy - pulut stuffed in pitcher plants and steamed with peanuts and dried shrimps and it was so delicious. The local traders here were so friendly and helpful and did not mind me asking 1001 questions, I did have a lot of stuff to ask.

We started our journey back at about half past three. We passed by Pekan Bau and its Blue Lake and then headed back to Kuching. On the way back we dropped by Satok Market, a huge weekend bazaar. Again, so many stuff to buy. It is a combination of a wet market, 'pasar tani' and craft's bazaar. Amazing!

After spending nearly RM400 we headed back with a huge problem. How to carry all these stuff back?

Nature at its best

2008-12-11T19:25:00.000+08:00

Photos taken in Kuching

Semenggoh Nature Reserve

2008-12-11T01:49:00.002+08:00

Seduku and child
Originally uploaded by zzz_junkie

Spent the afternoon at Semenggoh Nature Reserve. The area is reserved for Orang Utan rehabilitation and as part of the effort to protect this species the facility allows the public to view the primates during feeing time.

There are 26 primates in the surroundings (including three infants), and they are free to come and go as they like. Therefore, sightings during the feeding times are not guaranteed. However, we were very lucky. Seven primates came and awed the crowd. In the photo is Seduku and her yet-to-be named infant.

I admire the dedication of the rangers and staffs in protecting the primates. The place is well kept, and the orang utans appeared healthy and happy. I must say, the Sarawak Forestry have done an excellent job. And it is not just at this centre, I have been to Bukit Lambir and Miri National Park and the same amount of dedication and passion were shown by the staffs there. And tomorrow I will be in Bako, I expect to be further impressed.

p.s. photos of this trip will be uploaded as they come in to my flicker

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bakawali/sets/72157611009893596/

Gender reassignment

2008-11-29T19:59:00.002+08:00

I have always been at ease with speaking English. In fact, I think in English too and thus always have to translate my thoughts to Malay when I converse. Please don't get me wrong, my Malay is not bad, I can speak and relay my thoughts in Malay effectively, it is just that the nature of my flow of thoughts, it works better in English.

But my English is not perfect. Now and then my friends would tease me for my improper grammar; I have a lot of friends who do speak almost perfect English *sigh*. However, at work, I am Mr Brown (remember 'Mind Your Language'?). Being doctors, one have no choice but to speak in English. There are so many medical terms and jargons that are not 'translatable'. I must say that many doctors attempt their best in speaking English but sometimes we really do have to get to basics.

It is especially annoying when a person cannot differentiate between male and female. He or she. His or her. Boy or girl. Sometimes it feels like a lucky draw..."and today the lucky word that will be used is 'HE'!!!!". And if it is just during a conversation is not as bad (though my ears were cringing at each mistake).

The worse thing is even in the written notes these mistakes were made. Mind you, I work in an IT hospital, each time you open a patient's record, flashed at the top the patient's name, registration number, age and SEX. And they still can make such mistakes. I had fits of laughter a few times I did medical reports for patients. Either the patients were transvestites and thus confusing my medical officers or the doctors were blind and deaf (lets not state the obvious :))

Therefore beware, you may come to the hospital a full fledged hot blooded male, but due to a value added service offered by the ministry of health, you may come out a lady/lady boy.

Grounded

2008-11-27T15:21:00.003+08:00

A friend of mine used to say “it’s easy for you to do ‘amal jariah’, everyday you go to work part of it is amal jariah”. (Note: amal jariah is a malay term equivalent to charity). Anyway, I do not see it that way, to me, each of us has a role in the universe and if we do our job right that we are doing ‘amal jariah’ in our own way.

Anyway, what I love about being a doctor is the people I get to meet. I know previously I had bitched about irritating patients and families but that itself is an experience. I get to learn about a lot of things I normally would not be exposed to. I listen and get humbled by other peoples experiences. Some may be good and some may be bad. But in the end, I learn. “Yang baik dijadikan tauladan, yang buruk dijadikan sempadan”.

As a specialist, the opportunity to listen to a patient’s thoughts is quite limited. With the bigger responsibility of supervising and monitoring the daily on-goings in the wards and hospital I haven’t had the luxury of sitting down and chit-chatting with each patient. It is usually my medical officers who would alert me to any personal problems that the patient may have. Well, it was during my housemanship and MOship that I learnt the art of listening, I guess my time has passed.

However, today the rare opportunity presented itself. It was in the Operating theatre when I saw one of my ward patients waiting for a minor surgery in the waiting area. He is an elderly Malay man in his late 60s, white hair, an unkempt beard, and a pair of sad beady eyes. His pressure apparently went sky high as he entered the OT (it has that effect on many people, especially with its 16 degrees temperature). Anyway, he looked a bit distressed and so I decided to talk to him and ask how he is doing.

“ I am exhausted” he said. The polished English blew me away. He must be fairly educated, I thought.

I examined him quickly and then proceeded to talk to him. “That’s fairly normal Uncle. You have heart failure and thus you find it a bit difficult to breathe. The oxygen will help you”.

He said “Heart failure…hmmmm… that is how my wife died. She had heart failure, She left me 10 years ago”.

Me “I am so sorry uncle”

“That’s why I am here alone.” He paused for a while. Then he said “ I am so disappointed”.

Me: “Why uncle? Is anything wrong?”

“I have many children but all of them have to work. *sigh* You know, when you are ill, you hope there would always be someone beside you to cheer you up; to give you inspiration but now……”. He then kept quiet.

I was at loss of what to say. I just held his hand and told him that we are going to try and make him better. Deep down I know, physically he may be ok but deep inside he is a crushed man.

Well, it got me thinking. As a human being we need company. At the end of the day, having someone beside you in your time of need is the best feeling of all. It give a person the sense of security, that someone will be there to catch you when you fall.

And at this point of my life if I hope that all that I have done in the past and all that I will do in the future will not keep my family and friends away from me in my time of need.

Ah.... what deep thoughts have my brief 5 minutes conversation provoked. And this is what I like the most about my job, there are always subtle reminders surrounding us to keep us grounded and human. But only if we stop and listen!

Krabi - An Outdoor Person's Haven

2008-11-26T17:27:00.003+08:00

Four days in Krabi is definitely not sufficient to try all that Krabi has to offer. It is a wonderful place with a variety of outdoor activities mixed around the traditional things Thailand has to offer.

We stayed at the quiet (and cheaper) Krabi town, a port for those hoping to go the the nearby islands of Phi-Phi and Lanta. Accommodation can range from RM30 to RM 160 depending on what is expected. This is in comparison much cheaper than Aonang Beach and Railey Beach.

Caption: Traffic light at Krabi Town. Statue of a prehistoric man stands above the intersection holding the lights. Krabi is also an archaeological site dated from several eras.

Caption: The quiet river of Krabi Town

Krabi Town was very quiet and clean. A lot of relatively cheap food joint, but beware the drinks cost a bomb, RM 2 for iced tea....hmmmm more expensive than KL. When I said relative it is relative to Aonang, but when compared to other parts of Thailand the place may be a bit dear. Minimum price for a plate or bowl of noodle is 35 baht or about RM3.50. But then, my bench mark for the prices were from my trips to Phuket, Samui, Songkhla, Hatyai and even Krabi 4 years back. Prices may have increased everywhere.

And my favourite thing about eating in Krabi is forty percent of the locals are Muslims. That means I can eat a lot of things - the sweet kuihs were really delicious and my favorite 'kerabu betik' (can't seem to re-call the Thai name). Merman liked the beef spicy soup(plus whatever weird organs) especially after he discovered part of the testis inside it. Euwwwww..... but it tasted damn good, the soup I mean.

On day two, we went kayaking in the mangrove swamp at Bhor Tor.The swamp lies in between limestone caves and passages providing a real excitement. We paddled through darkened passages and emerge into a beautiful secret lagoon on the other side. I felt as if I was on Fantasy Island (hehehehe... that statement really reveals my age). After that we had lunch by the riverside, all you can eat. It was part of the package we took (whole morning of kayaking, lunch and an afternoon dip in one of the rivers) and as usual being me, I ended up eating as much as I can the tempura shrimp and the tomyam soup well till my tummy felt like bursting.

That evening we went for a free massage(courtesy of our trip organiser).

Day Three was spent by the beach in Aonang. It is not the most beautiful beach I have seen but is is OK. The Farangs seem to be enjoying the bloody hot sun (I suffered heatstroke, mind you)sunbathing, swimming, playing weird games by the beach. And there were so many open air massage huts at the beach.

Apart from walking together by the beach (so romantic...hahaha) we also went shopping. Everything is so bloody expensive but only here we get to shop for souvenirs. There were very few souvenir shop in Krabi Town.

Caption: Aonang Beach with Railey in the background

Anyway, our initial plan was to go to Railey Beach which is only accesible via Longtail Boats from Aonang but it was too hot when we arrived. And by the time it was a bit shady, we only had 45 min to catch the 15 minute ride, spend 10 minutes admiring the beach and another 15 minutes to get back. So in the end, scrapped that idea and we just stayed and lounged around Aonang.

There were so many things that we wanted to do but we didn't. We missed going diving but it was ridiculously expensive to dive in Krabi. 3400 baht for 2 dives. Way too expensive. And we missed island hopping, but once you are into diving it is absurd to just go snorkelling and halfway cursing ourselves on why we didn't dive :(.

We missed climbing the cliffs of Railey, a world renown area for rock-climbing. Out arms were aching from the previous day's kayaking and I don't think I can climb up even the easiest route. We missed exploring on our own the natural beauty Krabi district has to offer. Tried renting a Jeep but apparently that weekend all the Jeeps have been rented out. Wanted to see the Emerald waterfall, the numerous forest reserves but alas without a Jeep can't go off the beaten track. Well, renting a bike is cheaper (only 150 Bahts) but neither one of us can ride a bike; the last I rode a bike was in Form 6 - fifteen years ago! And plus the fact that the motorcycle accident rates in Thailand amongst tourist is so high.

But overall it was excellent. I had a good break and I had a wonderful time with my darling Merman. Next time we come we hope to bring an entourage so that we all have fun together. It is an exciting and beautiful place and I would love to come back soon.

Dreaming of tomorrow

2008-11-13T18:39:00.002+08:00

I can't work today. My mind is really not in the hospital, perhaps it is because we do not have surgeries today nor clinics. It is a free day except for some teaching and the weekly grand rounds. Time was passing by SO SLOWLY!!!

Anyway, tomorrow is a holi-holi-holiday for me. Yippie. We are going to Krabi.A nice place which I have passed through in one of my trips to Phi Phi many years ago. We have no idea where we are staying and what we are going to do. It is really go with the flow kind of trip.

Roughly, it is down to three activities; kayaking, rock climbing (oooh my aching legs) and diving. We will decide when we reach there.

Right now I have to pack and also get my 4 kids in the car. Sending them off to the babysitter.

Hasil pukul empat pagi

2008-11-07T14:43:00.002+08:00

Slept at four this morning making the above bouquet (aka sirih junjung). Marina's best friend's wedding today and she asked my darling sis to help out with these two items. The tropical garden theme is for the male side and the 2nd the girl's side.

What do I have to do with all this? Well, when my sis 'menyanggup' doing creative stuff she will call me up to back her (actually, I yang kena buat - she sort of by-proxy agrees...hmmmm). But then Ain (Marina's friend) is a nice girl and so I do not really mind.

But damn.... am I sleepy this morning!

Elevators and Escalators Breed Fatties

2008-11-05T16:48:00.006+08:00

If we calculate how much time we wait for the elevator we will be surprise at how much precious time is wasted. I am sure it will amount to a reasonable period of a person's life (provided the person stays or work in a building with an elevator). I am sure it would be a necessity if you stay or work at the 14th floor of a 16 storey building.

But waiting for the elevator to go just one floor up really irritates me. If the person is disabled, infirm, old, or simply frail looking I would not mind. This is what we call necessity. And if there is no staircase in sight what can we do, up the escalator we have to go. But then there are people who are generally health young adults and who are simply LAZY. The bloody staircase is just beside the lift. Hello, move that bum of yours and go up the stairs. Exercise!

And if the reason is 'tak larat' then why can't at least they go down the stairs. You do not need much energy for that. Physics taught us that, at a height we have potential energy which is is porpotional to our mass or weight. That will be converted into kinetic energyw as we go down the stairs, so duh, the heavier you are the easier for you to go down.

The Ministry of Health over the years has been campaigning for people to exercise and what better place to start then at the workplace. Yeah, bicycling is a good exercise but it is not feasible in our towns (looking at the horrendous traffic and psychotic road users), one would end up dead if they try to cycle to work.

So MOH should start slow and easy. Encourage the fatties (all those kerani(s) and pegawai tadbir(s)) to start using the stairs, all in all in a day's work they may only use it 2 times.....twice up and twice down (when they come for work, go and come back from lunch and yes, 'punch out' time). This is calculated for those righteous ones who don't take morning break and the 3pm tea. If they do, that then it is much better, more energy spent. Because by the end of the day they would have gone up and down the stairs FOUR times.

And to ensure that this 'Cara Hidup Sihat' is promoted, there should be a Lift Holiday enforced in government offices at least once a week. Perhaps we should have at least one lift operating for the people who REALLY need them, and only those with passes from doctors can use them.

And I am sure by the end of two months of the campaign we would have more healthier and dedicated government staffs. Healthier as they would have by then have a better working heart and leaner body. Dedicated as they would only want to go up and down their offices once a day.... and thus they would spend more time doing their work and not having break now and then.

Well, isn't this a good idea?

p.s. I thought of this when I was climbing 4 flight of stairs. This is my attempt to exorcise the demons that has possessed my thighs making them look bigger than they actually are.

At Work...

2008-11-02T00:51:00.002+08:00

At Work...
Originally uploaded by abdhakamabdah

Saw like his on one of my UM senior flickr. I wish I can take photos like this. I guess I must learn more about photography.

Nip and Tuck

2008-10-29T23:49:00.003+08:00

Would you die if you have a few inches of cellulite?

It may be an indication that you have more fat in your arteries and blood stream but I reckon you won't die of it. You'll die of a heart attack or a massive stroke but hell no, you won't die due to a few inches of cellulite.

But A recent death got me thinking. This lady (may her soul rest in peace) passed away after 10 months in a coma following plastic surgery that included liposuction. Hmmm... by definition that is death caused secondarily by cellulite. Quite sad, I assume she wanted to look good and hence the surgery. Everyone have their priorities and to some looking good is a priority. But then, at what expense?

I have no reason to condemn plastic surgeons, beauticians or even the lay people themselves regarding taking the short cut into looking good. But does it make them feel better about themselves? When I watch Nip and Tuck I realised that to some people plastic surgery is an addiction, a never ending story. It is the inside of the person that is ill, the person cannot see anything that is good in themselves and thus have to change their exterior in hopes that it would make them feel better. It is such a sad situation.

I don't know about other people but I love the imperfections in me. All of them have their stories. My crooked lips was due to a huge cut when I fell off my bike in Standard Two. My front teeth cut my lips into two and I had to have 4 stitches to repair it.My upper lip was swollen like a elephant's trunk for the following two weeks. My brother had a huge time teasing me and so did my aunt. Her friends kept telling me to go for plastic surgery to correct the deformity, they were very persistant and even tried to scare me saying that my first kiss would then not be perfect. They were right, my first kiss wasn't perfect.... it was indeed very 'sloshy' and wet..... but then it was never because of my lips. Today, they are still crooked but I love them, they make me unique.

And when I grow old I hope I would grow old gracefully. Wrinkles of laughter around my eyes, my lips and my forehead would remind me of a happy and wonderful life I have lived. And they would then complement my unique crooked lips.

p.s. not all plastic surgeons only do beauty enhancing surgeries. Many undertake good commendable work like soft tissue reconstruction for trauma, cleft lip and palate surgeries to enhance people quality of life.

2008-10-25T13:26:00.003+08:00

Found this cute budgie resting on our car the other day. It must have escaped from one of the nearby houses. I was able to approach near and it seemed unafraid hence the close-up photo. My brother said that people clip their wings to prevent them from flying far if they manage to escape (horrible, horrible people).

Later that evening it was no longer there. My guess is one of the stray cats had a lovely dinner...burp... The last words budgie said was " I tot I saw a puddy cat...i did..." burp.....

Shitty Kerajaan's Tasks (SKT)

2008-10-20T00:55:00.005+08:00

How truthful should I be when doing my medical officers annual appraisals?

I hoped that the answer would be as truthful as I can. My impression was that appraisals were done to inform people of their performance (or rather lack of it) so they will continue to improve in their work.

Anyway, this Government SKT (sasaran Kerja Tahunan - direct translation Annual Work Target??? that sounds wierd...) is actually a scam. It is useless and pointless. Those who are ass kissers usually do well..

Anyway, back to me. I have SEVEN appraisals to do. I started to be righteous and gave the MO what they deserved which majority is AVERAGE atau Sederhana. In this scoring system that would earn them 5-6 points in each section. In the end they will get a total of 62 points. Well, average points for average performance, I thought it was that simple.

But then, I was told the 2nd rule in this game. All MOs must get 85 points and above. WTF? Apparently the Health Ministry gave out a letter stating that unless a doctor gets 85 points and above for three consecutive years he will not be eligible to join any postgraduate studies. Shitheads!!!

85 points means I have to give an average of 9 points for each criteria. Crap crap crap.... 9-10 for Excellent work performance, 7-8 for Good work performance. Some of them do work hard and so I have no qualms in closing one eye and giving such a high score. But some (actually only ONE) do not at all deserve an 85. I shouldn't elaborate why but what I can say is I HATE GIVING 85 points to this person.

But then eventually... I succumbed to the pressures and gave what people expect me to give. Well, boss did ask me to be a bit lenient ( A BIT is an understatement.

So I did the next best thing. I told the person the marks he actually deserved and my excessive pity points. I told him he sucked in his work and my expectations of my MOs. And lastly I told him next year I will follow to the letter the scoring system.

I reckon since I have only been here for FOUR months only I do not have a right to judge them for the whole year. But next year watch out guys, I HAVE NO MERCY!!!

Egg-o-logy

2008-09-27T21:42:00.005+08:00

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

2008-09-24T20:23:00.002+08:00

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

2008-09-23T23:26:00.004+08:00

"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

2008-09-15T05:50:00.005+08:00

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

2008-09-13T17:48:00.005+08:00

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

2008-09-07T02:12:00.006+08:00

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

2008-09-06T02:30:00.004+08:00

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

2008-09-01T15:01:00.006+08:00

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?

Where are the medical officers?
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!
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.
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.

Lalang

2008-08-29T00:49:00.004+08:00

Politicians lie that is what they do. And they do it without blinking an eye. I have accepted this a part of the cycle of life especially in Malaysia. However, having a so-called leader making contradicting statements and actions is utterly ridiculous.

I was told that this is the ‘style’ of this leader i.e. announcing something in the press and the next day do something totally opposite to what he had just announced. Style? My foot, it just shows what a weakling, a wuss the person is. When you say something commit to it. It is such an embarrassment to the country who acts like a ‘lallang’.

The latest of his antics was the last weeks’ fuel price decrease. I am happy that the prices have gone down but Mr Leader was playing games with the nation the whole of last week. On last Thursday, the headlines read “No new fuel price announcements for now, says Abdullah”.

And then the following day, “ PM announces reduced fuel prices”

Uh, duh? What bullshit, do you mean he suddenly got a revelation in the middle of the night that he should drop fuel prices? If that is the way he leads this country just to his whim and fancy then oh…boy are we in trouble. Or perhaps this is already pre-planned, I am sure it is definitely related to the Permatang Pauh by-elections, “Surprise people…. Fuel prices are now down…Vote for BN”.

Whatever you want to do it is your bloody right as the ‘esteemed’ leader but please don’t say one thing and do another immediately after. Someone has to teach our esteemed leader the words ‘No comments’ when asked issues he does not want to answer or reveal at that point in time.

At the end of the day you are what you are, a liar would always be a liar. It doesn't matter whether you are a garbage collector or the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Surprise... surprise

2008-07-19T10:31:00.003+08:00

Yesterday, I sat for the IDMO final test. Prior to that, we had a session (final one) with Carl. He came to give out his best student prize which went to Azizan. The prize was his book and he gave it to the student who he thought did exceptionally well during the morning presentation (which was more like a torture session...hahaha). The presentations were in fact a way for him to make old dogs like us study. Anyone can be picked and hence the extra effort in studying at night. I did not do well in these sessions as I can't speak in front of crowds and I just cannot memorize and regugitate facts, that is a damn hard thing to do!

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Anyway, after that was the exams. 50 MCQ questions in 90 minutes. We had to answer 35 correct to pass. I was lucky as majority of the questions was easy for me as I have dived for a long time. The physiology and physics parts were a breeze, again, the memorizing facts part was a bit of a problem. I did what I knew best, guess! And surprise,surprise when the results were announced...ah ha... I got 96% (or only 2 wrong). And with that I got the top student for the IDMO series 2008. Such a sweet surprise.

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Yesterday afternoon we went to Sipadan. No, not diving but just a joyride. I went on the army boat the RHIB (?? don't know what it stands for) but it is an inflatable assault boat that can seat 12 passengers. There were 2 boats, the generals were on one and the lower ranking guys (plus us civillians) were on the other. Since no big shots were on our boat the army guys had a lot of fun showing off, and it was really like a rollercoaster ride.....I was holding so hard to the seats, afraid that I might just fly off and fall into the waters. The ride was about 45 minutes and we were in Sipadan by 3.30 pm. The army base there had a feast ready for us, and I had the most delicious 'cokodok sotong' ever. Some of the guys went swimming and snorkelling but I opted for walking round the island. Man, that was an opportunity I cannot resist. Since Sipadan was closed to the public on 1.1.2005 no one (except the army,of course) could roam around the island (the land part anyway). Only place divers could walk on was the 100 metres stretch at the Drop Off. And, I, a civillian was able to walk on the other areas (with the army escort, of course). Dream come true. Yeah, I realise that a beach is like any other beach but being able to walk freely on restricted areas was such a adrenaline rush (hehehe... I am exaggerating). But the view was really awesome.

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On the way back we stopped at Kapalai and that brings back lovely memories. I think that was the last trip the whole gang went diving together- December 2006. Saliha, Kaz, Wanie, Inda, Azrin and I had so much fun then. The place looked the same and how I wished I was able to dive.

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We finally got back to Semporna at about 6.40pm. Jean almost missed her ride to the airport and she sms'ed to say she reached Tawau with only 10 minutes to spare... hahaha... but I think the afternoon excursion was really worth it!

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The whole course (academically and socially) was wonderful. I made a lot of new friends in the army, and even Major General Mat Zin is now my friend... And the most important thing is, now I have friends who take care of the decompression chambers.... (well, you have to forgive me, this is diving doctor thinking).

For now, good bye Semporna. It has been a wonderful two weeks!

2008-07-17T18:29:00.002+08:00

Tomorrow is my IDMO test. 50 MCQs in 90 minutes. I hope I pass! Well, I am going back to mug in 30 minutes time.

On Saturday I will be in Tawau, change of scenery! My flight is on Monday and basically I have 2 free days to roam. I guess I will be exploring the town and also watch ASTRO then. :) I wish I can fly back earlier but it will cost me a bomb. Back earlier means I can go house hunting earlier. I am running out of time and it is making me stressed! I like to have things sorted so I can get on with work and other things. I need to move my stuff out of the apartment in Temerloh on the 2nd of August....

Nevermind, I should take a break and not worry about things.

Pulau Sebangkat

2008-07-15T12:58:00.003+08:00

Yesterday, I dived at Pulau Sebangkat about 20 minutes from Semporna. We gathered at 8.30am at the dive shop and left about 9am. On the way, we stopped at Singamata a fish farm and a floating hotel to pickup more equipment. We had total of 13 divers including out 2 DMs. Apart from Dr Lee, his wife and Jean Li; we were joined by Major Gen Mat Zin (not sure if the spelling is correct), Col Khairuddin, Major Azizan and 2 other IDMO secretariat. The other two were a couple from China.

Arrived at the island and started our dive at 10.20 am. Took a long time to get people organised plus the boat was wee too small for a party of 13. It was a lovely place. Viz was only about 10m but then that is expected with such a short distance from the town. WE SAW PYGMY SEAHORSES!!!! 12 on a Gargonian seafan (there was supposed to be 13 but our DM was pissed off cos one went missing). I was in seventh heaven. Anyway, apart from that it was true muck diving- so many small stuff, nudibranches, shrimps, pipefishes not to forget many species of reef fishes.

Surface interval was spent at the shore. It was low tide and it was pleasant to snorkel, which I did. The whole area was covered with seagrass and I went seahorse hunting...hahahah... I didn't find one but I wished I did. The village kids we following me around posing for photos for my camera. They even caught fishes with their bare hands to please me....:)

2nd dive was at the same island but further east. Same macro stuff, and I was very very elated. Jean Li and I were soon left by the whole group but I had an absolute lovely time.

After that we went back to the Singamata Floating Hotel/Dive Centre and Fish Farm. Food was lousy- RM 5 for 'mee kuning with kobis and kicap'.. Several things appalled me. First, the place was advertised in Semporna as RM30 per night. Apparently that price is only for foreigners and for locals it is RM150 per night (uh duh.... discrimination in your own backyard...well, they are owned by Singaporeans!!!!). 2nd they have huge confined areas where fishes were kept. In the largest enclosure, they have two Napolean wrasses, a leapard shark, some reef sharks and loads of reef fishes. I feel so sad for the sharks and the wrasses..... they should be free. By the way, is it legal to keep these wildlife in such enclosures????

Well, after from that we did a jetty dive to the outside perimeter of the fish farm. Viz was about 5 metres but then a heaven for muck diving again. Loads of interesting things including a Peacock mantis shrimp, some nudibranches, anemone shrimps, different type of anemones and lastly a Spanish Dancer. It was a good dive, not as good at the first two but then, I am always happy when I am diving. For the pictorial report, wait for me to come back next week and log on to my Flickr.

Sipadan ... Revisited

2008-07-13T21:06:00.007+08:00

Today I dived in Sipadan... yup, last night they told us the permits were available. After dinner I prepared my camera and housing for the trip. No macro lense. I wish I had wide angle for this dive.

Anyway, I was at the shop 7.50am. As usual, the Malaysian crowd was fashionably late, and I assume the dive shop is so used to that because seemed like no one bothered. We finally left for Sipadan at about 8.30 am.

The 1st dive was at Coral Gardens. In the group was Jean-Li, Lt Col Rtd Dr Lee, his wife Melanie, and her sister Helen and Dr Carl Edmonds... yup, the authority, the pioneer in diving medicine. He and Dr Lee are our lecturers for the IDMO course. Carl would say that he is 'reaching 70 from the wrong direction' when asked his age. ,.... well, I am digressing but I am so awed being able to meet such a legend. And man, he still dives! But true to his lectures he dives very moderately nowadays... he believes aging makes diving more dangerous and one is more prone to get DCS and other problems if diving 'excessively' . Maximum he does is 2 dives a day!

Anyway, Sipadan was as previous.... turtles, black tip reef sharks, and also a lot of small stuffs, nudibranches, shrimps etc, if you care to look for them.... The 1st timers were awed... yeah big stuff usually mesmerized the newbies. But the corals was disappointing.... From my previous visits (2005, 2006) I feel that more corals have been destroyed and in hindsight, there were even not as many turtles and sharks!

Jean-Li was my buddy and she became a cam whore underwater... Posing near every turtle she saw... pretending to vomit into a barrel sponge, she looked so horrifying that I quickly took her photos, I was scared the underwater life would be traumatised...hahaha.... Well, it was fun and it reminded me of how it was when Saliha, Marina and I reacted when we came to Sipadan for the first time.

Anyway, tomorrow were are going to go Pygmy Hunting (Seahorse la!). I am so excited, I am preparing my macro lense. Fingers crossed, hope the photos will turn out ok.

*apparently tomorrow we are diving with one of the generals (there are a total of 20 of them) of the medical corp. Hmmmm.....

Semporna.... The update

2008-07-12T12:38:00.002+08:00

Today is my birthday and I am in Semporna. Many of you would be thinking "what the heck is she doing writing her blog when she should be out there diving?" .. Exactly my sentiments but then I caught a cold yesterday... and now I am recuperating.

Hopefully, tomorrow I will be better can can join the gang to Mabul. Today's plan was Pulau Sibuan. I have never been there so it is quite a dissapointment!

I have been here since last week. Merman joined me for the trip here last Saturday and we went diving on Sunday... Mabul and Kapalai. Apparently the permits for Sipadan is all out! He left on Monday and I started my two week dive medice course. It is called 'International Dive Medical Officer' (IDMO) Course. It teaches doctors about the not so well known field of diving medicine, illnesses related to it and also how to determine if a person is certified to dive. It is definately an eye-opener. We were never taught this in medical school. And what the intructors, the Dive Industry tell the public is definately skewed!

I have known this (logically) but a lot of people argue that it is not true. DIVING IS A DENGEROUS SPORT!!!! It has a mortality of about 17 percent in 100 000 per year. It doesn't mean I will stop diving but generally it tells us that we have to take precautions when diving and to promote safe diving. Reckless behaviour is not acceptable! Hahaha.... half of the divers I know are idiots, gung-ho asses who if I tell them this would go into an arguement on how I am wrong.

Well, that is not my mission. I am attending this course because I dive a lot and the ones I love also dive a lot. Not a lot of doctors have the knowledge and I plan to equip myself to keep my family, friends and myself safe.

I hope I can dive tomorrow.... I am off to bed now (it is 1 pm and outside is so damn hot!)

p.s. I will post photos of Semporna when I get back. The pc is full of viruses!

Darjah Dua Hijau

2008-07-02T00:52:00.004+08:00

I was envious when Khamarul said he met up with his primary school friends a few weeks ago. I mean apart from Wee Aun and Normazura, I hardly met anyone lese since our last day in Standard Six. Of ya, Ros Azlin was with me and Normazura in Puteri Titiwangsa but I guess that is all.

Last week, someone 'found' me on Facebook. It helps that my name is unique...(c'mon guys, have you ever met another Lynn Azura??) and also the fact that I was the most comot girl (and still is) and a school bully despite my size..hehehe now you guys know why I am fierce..hahaha

Anyway, Wan Mohd Nizam aka Nizam Lope (have no idea why he calls himself that nowadays) was the one who 'found' me. I remembered him coz despite him being quiet, he stays in Setapak Garden plus his name reminds me of Terusan Wan Mohamad Saman... sejarah darjah 4 tuh....

After that I got renewed vigour to search for my old classmates. It was easy to find those who have unique names like me. In the end, I found Siew Jin Ee (daughter of Mrs Siew our English teacher in Standard 5), Yeoh Leng Sim, Chan Fatt Chian and Surinder Kaur. The Malay chaps and gals had so common names that any search reveals more than 500 hits...

Nizam scanned the photos above and I had a good laugh looking at my face. As usual I will be in a corner... I remembered at this time I had 'mangkuk' hair.... Mom cuts our hair by placing a huge bowl over our heads and follow the outline of the bowl...... Standard Two was a wonderful time... I was the head female bully.....(self appointed...), Normazura was my side-kick...well, we were best friends from kindergarten....I would whack anyone who tries to bully me and my friends... hey I may be small but I packed a few good punches and kicks and if all fails bite them!!!

The most memorable thing was playing Police and Thief every recess time.... the whole class would join in... day in day out..... the boys would be on one side and the girls the other.... I would be running up and down till the recess bell rings.... food was to us secondary. And with that amopunt of running and sweating, no wonder by the time I reach home I was so stinking mom would force me to have my bath immediately.

Ah those were the days.....

As for my friends, I am still searching for them. Hope we can meet up soon!

Movie buff...NOT!!!

2008-06-11T21:06:00.004+08:00

Some people have told me that I am hopeless. Hopeless because I do not remember lines from movies, because I cannot re-call story-lines and perhaps because I don't really like soapy movies.

But then, there are some movies that I have watched several times; top on the list would be:

Alladin (yup the cartoon- must have watched it 20-30 times - I have actually memorized half of the sound track and my favorite is when a dejected Alladin sang "Riff raff street rat, I don't buy that, if only they look closer.. would they see a poor boy no siree... they'll find out there's so much more to me" ... ah so sad.... and at times inspiring....

2nd would be Waterboy ("and she showed me her boobies...and I like them too")....hahahah... imagine if you told that to your mom :)

3rd Fright Night (Welcome to fright night....for real..." I have no excuses for this movie..it's nice..

But then, these are not soapy movies.... Hmmm.... Soapy movies... I do watch them very occasionally, but I have to admit I love 2 movies the most.The first is Ever After (as I clearly adore Drew Berrymore and plus the fact that during my houseman's days my roommie would put this on almost every other day...(we alternated between Alladdin, Waterboy and this)

And the 2nd is a teenage flick called 10 Things I Hate About You. I liked Julia Stiles and the late Heath Ledger. And two most memorable bits for me would be the part where Patrick (played by Ledger) sang "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" at the football stadium in order to get Kat's (played by Stiles) attention... that is the most romantic version of that song in my books and the other memorable scene is at the end when Kat read out this poem (with reference to who else but Patrick)

I hate the way you talk to me,
and the way you cut your hair.
I hate the way you drive my car,
I hate it when you stare.

I hate your big dumb combat boots
and the way you read my mind.
I hate you so much it makes me sick,
it even makes me rhyme.

I hate the way you’re always right,
I hate it when you lie.
I hate it when you make me laugh,
even worse when you make me cry.

I hate it when you’re not around,
and the fact that you didn’t call.
But mostly I hate the way I don’t hate you,
not even close…
not even a little bit…
not even at all.

So uh duh.... who says I don' know about movies... I just don't have enough grey matter to waste storing movie lines.... I'd rather watch them again and again....

The seventh month of the year

2008-06-06T23:26:00.004+08:00

July is going to be a busy month.

With my future uncertain, I may have to move to KL in July... when exactly I don't know, I hope end of the month.

I have a big thing lined up in July. Finally, after 3 years I am doing my Intenational Diving Medical Officer (IDMO) Course. Ever since I started diving I have been concerned and interested with diving medicine. People keep calling me for advice, plus with the amount of diving I do I need the in-depth knowledge of the field. After this, I will be qualified to certify a person fitness to dive, plus also handling of decompression chambers. Hahahaha.... double speciality - Ortho and diving (though this is only as a medical officer)

But that means 2 weeks in Semporna and which also means 2 weeks away from my Merman. And away from him during my birthday....*sad*

However, the plus thing is I may be able to squeeze in a few dives to Sipadan, Sibuan and Mantabuan ...yaaaayyyyy.... That means I have to get my strobe by the end of the month (therefore, I hope I get my backdated pay soon!!!!)

But then, the main thing is to complete the course!! *focus lynn....focus*

The Crystal Ball

2008-06-06T18:30:00.003+08:00

For the past one month I have heard numerous rumours about my future in KKM. I have been told that I am going to be transferred to Klang Valley. Hmmmm, and this was even before I submitted my transfer letter. For the past 2 weeks, the rumours have gotten stronger, so far, my name have been mentioned to fill up posts in Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Hospital Ampang and lately, Hospital Klang. And I have been told that I will be there by 1st July. That is less than a month away.

These 'stories' were relayed to me by people who are working in those hospital, and unless there are three Lynn Azura's I'd reckon at least two are false.

Anyway, I hope I do not get HKL. I have worked there for nearly 5 years before this and I certainly know that it is not a good place to be for a junior specialist (I still consider myself junior as I am still learning the ropes). The place is horrendoes as since there are many specialists. People like me will end up not doing anything except paperwork or clearing up the 'uninteresting' cases. And I know definitely I will get bullied. I am not at all keen for HKL.

As for Ampang, it will be good as there should be a total of 3 of us. That's a good number for a small hospital and when you have only a few people you tend to cover each other better. So far, in Temerloh, my working relationship with boss and Su have been great. The cons are; I have no house-officer to 'bully', my medical officers are very junior (thus mean more work) and the traffic is horrendous.

Klang, is another madhouse but I would love to work there. Semi-emergency OT daily means I can really hone my surgical skills, and plus I have my 2 closest friends there.

But we will wait and see. Until I get the official letter lets put it all as hearsay.

Scramble My Brain

2008-06-03T18:55:00.002+08:00

I used to be addicted to crossword puzzles. It just fasinates me. No... I am not those who enters competiton after competition... I just like to do it at my own pace. I get satisfaction by completing one.

I thought I have cured myself of that addiction. I have not done one in a year or two.... Perhaps it was because I was too busy studying for my finals that I do not have the extra grey matter to spare. Well, I thought I was cured!

But lately I have a new addiction.... WORD games... it started with Text Twirl, then Scrabulous and the latest, SCRAMBLE. So it seem, it is not the puzzle but it is the lure of words. Oh my god, I must be a nerd.

Everyday, after getting back from work, I would switch on my PC and immediately get on the Net and Facebook. Then I would play for hours the Live Games on Scramble. I do not have to eat, and I usually fall asleep at my PC. This is horrible. The level of addiction is unbelievable. I used to think I am strong but after each 3 minutes of game I would hang on to catch the next one. This game really has a strong pull.... I cannot resist.

Anyway, Merman is a wee bit upset (ah yes dear... I can hear it from your voice).. and so goodbye Scramble.... I am going to miss you.

p.s. this is my 1st attempt to break the addiction

My Gift To Merman - Underwater Love

2008-05-26T16:55:00.003+08:00

This is my first post after my wedding and honeymoon. I had a great time at both events as things went quite well. Merman and I had things the way we wanted it and that included my 'hantaran' (wedding gifts).

*Dear Mike and Matt, in a Malay wedding the bride and groom usually exchange gifts which we call hantaran. They are usually put on trays and exchanged between the families just before the wedding rites.

Anyway, since it was my wedding I had a free hand to decide what to do. I cracked my head over it ever since Merman proposed and I accepted. I have to thank my sis for putting it through my head I can do whatever I like and since I am a underwater freak I should do an "Underwater Theme". After that I lulled over the idea but never could come up with anything solid.... I had sketches of ships, shells, treasures, diving tanks but could not put it in motion.

Meanwhile, my buddies and families had to eat cockles and clams I wanted the shells (Thank you Amir & Wanie, and also you Merman for without you guys I would not have my supply of shells). I also had a basket full of seashells which I collected since I was very young. You see, no live seaslugs were hurt in the making of the collection.

The idea only formed the last few days. By then I had all the basic stuff I would need, just to put them together. It was really fun and in the end I think the results were amazing.

As my grandmother puts it "It's unique and beautiful".

For more photos, please visit my flickr

Safety First

2008-05-13T08:08:00.002+08:00

Photo courtesy Amazon.com

Every week I see kids landing up in the hospital. Some with minor injuries and some with severe fatal ones. Some times they are unavoidable like injuries at the playground or while playing football etc, some times it can be lessen by teaching or making them to use safety appliances like helmets when riding a bicycle or rollerskating or using a child seat in the car.

Last week, a 3 year old child was thrown out of a car when the car fell into a ravine. Mom all strapped up with the seat belt came out unscathed but the child had severe head injuries and a cervical spine fracture. These were massive injuries. He was lucky that the spine fracture did not severed his cord which would have been fatal.

Anyway, on the road you will see daily defiance of child road safety. People letting their child stand through the sunroof, putting their heads out of the windows, riding with 3-4 pillion riders on a motorcycle are among what we see daily. If parents do not have common sense to disallow or prevent this acts how are we going to teach kids road safety. Using car seats and child helmets? Tough luck. The problem is, people think that things won't happen to them. "Oh, it is just in the housing area so no accidents would happen". Don't they know that majority of RTA involving children occurs in the residential areas?

So how mush is a car seat? prices ranged from RM100 plus (carrefour) to thousands. So if you cannot affort the more expensive ones at least should buy the cheaper alternative. It at least keep the child strapped to the seat ( and not become a pinball in the car). If one can afford it what is a thousand bucks compared to the assurance of you child's safety?

I hope in the very near future we can change the mentality of Malaysians in terms of road safety especially when involving children. I really hate hearing a child scream in pain when they are injured. I makes me so sad the whole day. A child should have a happy childhood, not suffer in pain. It is the adults responsibility to ensure this!

Kiss me out of the bearded barley....

2008-05-03T19:17:00.003+08:00

I do not come from a kissy huggy family. We care a lot for each other but we do not have public displays of affection.

And that's why I feel awkward when people start hugging me. Hey, don't get me wrong, I like cute handsome hunks hugging me..... That I don't mind. What feels funny is when other people hug you such as when you meet your gal friends and it is time to say good bye. Apparently it's a fashion to hug and give three kisses...like muaahhh on the right...muahhhh on the left and lastly muahh on the right... It must be an Arabic thingy, Malays are so besotted with the Arab culture nowadays.

A major awkward moment happened today. I was there standing in the ward talking to this 17 year old who fractured his spine. He was damn lucky that his spinal cord was not compromised and thus he will be able to walk after receiving treatment. Anyway, the parents wanted to take him to another hospital (yippiee less work for me) as they are not from within the vicinity. I arranged everything for the transfer and was about to go off. Grandma who was sitting and observing all the time got up, came straight at me and gave me a huge hug and started showering kisses on my cheeks. She was sobbing while thanking me of all that I have done (which is not much actually!!!) Mann, she was a huge lady! I felt so uncomfortable but I thought it wouldn't be appropriate to pry myself away at that moment...(ahhh... doctors are supposed to be understanding and emphatic) What was I supposed to do???

So I let her hug and kiss me... and manage to whisper a few comforting words. When I had the chance I peeked left and right, I was imagining people looking and sniggering away. Hmmm... surprisingly, the coast was clear. No one seem to bother. Is this normal???

For now I am traumatised.

p.s. Must blame my parents (hehehe...not really lah... I am happy we are not so kissy and huggy people... Just imagine if Mom came to school and started showering me with kisses...So embarrasing!!!!)

Much ado about weddings

2008-04-30T19:53:00.003+08:00

What is it with women and weddings???

When it comes to weddings I think I am abnormal, atypical, weird woman...but then I am actually a mermaid so what else can be said ... . When acquaintances tell me they are tying the knot, I would just go "ah, congratulations" and then walk away happy that someone has met his or her 'true' love and is on the way of being blissfully happy ever after!

But then I would not goo goo gaa gaa and start asking 101 questions. This is my list of irritable questions I get when I tell friends when I am getting hitched.

Who is the lucky guy?
Hello.... if you guys know the groom I would have said X-man and I are getting married. Even if I mention who also no one would know...duh!!!

What does he work as; where is he from..blah...blah..blah??
Hmmm.... if I say he's a farmer from Ulu Tembeling (and you sort of think that he's not right for me are you going to ask me to consider ditching him????)

So what is your theme colour? Oooh.... how would your pelamin look like??? Have you made your baju???
Crap.... if you ask me these questions then I was wrong. You obviously are not my friend and thus do not know that I HATE WEDDINGS!!!!!! (and thus should not be invited to the event)

Eh...did you invite so-and-so?? Why not la... He used to be your boss.
Another crap... It is my business who I invite...I do not need to justify to anybody!

You must be stressed and worried about your big day
Do I look stressed and worried?? Man, you really do not know me. To me what is important is the end results... And whatever happens, I am sure that I will be married to that certain someone...so why worry??

You must be excited.
Uh duh...must be an understatement. Do you want me to go on and on like Cheryl Samad hosting a talk show??? I should have said " Yeah, I am excited to the possibility of endless supply of free sex!"

Well, I am sure there are more to add on to the list as THE DAY comes nearer... For now, "STOP BUGGING ME!!!!"

Merman or Neptune?

2008-04-29T21:54:00.003+08:00

I don't know if anyone noticed or even if anyone still reads my blog but I have put a countdown just below the title (yup, it's official, my big day is in less than three weeks' time). The mermaid has finally mesmerized a merman.

With so much going on (plus work is absolutely crazy) I had no time to update this blog of mine. Actually I have so many things to blog a.k.a. complain about ever since merman and I decided to tie the knot. So much crap in getting hitched, no wonder some people just have sex!

And thus, there will be no lovey dovey story here. This blog is a reflection of my true nature, my outlet and hence the endless complaints. And where to start????

Anyway, after Meet The Parents and after the Parents' Showdown (heheheh...it was a very cordial meeting) we had to decide on the Wedding itself. Both of us being very simple people decided to do away with all that was unnecessary and stick with what is required. Thank god both sets of parents were also very practical people and we had no resistance there. We laid out our game plan and everybody agreed.

So what's out?
No engagement
No kompang
No sanding
No 2nd reception (yup, both receptions will be at the same place and time)

And IN will be ....
The nikah or the wedding rites (how I wish we can do away with that)
The Reception (immediately after)
The Exchange of Gifts i.e. Hantaran in malay (my side will prepare 7 gifts and merman's five)

Next on the list was to decide on the colour. I love blue, that is my favorite colour but I realise that bright colours looks gorgeous during the day....and thus going with light yellow..or perhaps peach...or light orange or light green....gosh!!! Anyway, I sticked with yellow but in my mind, I don't mind if it turn up to be a myriad of colours... more cheery (it is a joyous occasion).

Mom and sis are arranging the bridal suite (as if I care how it turns out,but I am sure it will be wonderful), the catering and the venue preparation (which is in my parents' place). I meanwhile did the bunga telur (actually my colleague Su did it, I just helped), the bakul telur (did not want the ceramic stuff my sis got for her wedding) and my side's hantaran (still working on the concept till today :( ).

Paperwork sorted...man, getting married is such a tedious process (that itself deserves a post on its own).

As of today, all is under control (or I hope so..heheheh). And so what if it is not. The only way that it's going to be a bad day is if the merman decides to chicken out (yes dear?).... If the end result is what is expected then it's going to be a wonder wonder wonderful...or wonderfools day!

Jinxed (Part Two)

2008-04-20T23:40:00.002+08:00

Back to this week.

My calls usually are quiet. Quiet that I can sleep peacefully at night.

But on Friday The situation started to get out of hand by the evening. My phone was quiet (which is normal) but I had a really bad feeling. My two medical officers disappeared from my afternoon CME teaching, which is not usual. By the time I wanted to go back, I decided to take a peek at the Casulaty. OMG it was crazy, 3 victims in 3 different accidents, all in bad condition. One was attended by my team, another by the anaesthetist and the last one by the surgical and ENT teams. I joined in to stabilise Patient No One. Patient No Two was taken to ICU for stabilisation and was subsequently followed by Patient No Three. Anyway, all were stabilised but it was nearly 9pm. I was so tired, I went back and fell asleep almost immediately.

However I couldn't sleep well thinking that I will be called in for Patient No One once the anaesthetist deem him stable. Hmm... little that I know he would only stable after one day... Surgery only started after 7 pm last night... and finished at 11.... Dead tired!!!!!!

Today I thought...ah.. at least Patient One sorted... Little did I know that due to unforeseen complications, I had to go into OT at 5pm and came out at 7.30 pm... Ahhh... and before that I was all the time in the ICU reviewing the patient and talking to the family... it was such a mental stress that I had severe migraine.

All ended well, perhaps not that well but that is beyond my control. However, till now I still have the severe headche. Hopefully 2 Panadol would do the trick. And I am going to sleep now!

So Lesson For The Day: Do Not Ever Change Calls!! You will be CURSED!!!

Jinxed (Part One)

2008-04-20T23:14:00.003+08:00

Jinxed!

That is what this past few days have been. And I am sure the reason is clear. I broke the unwritten rule of no changing calls once the roster is printed.

I was supposed to be on-call last weekend but I swapped with Su as I wanted to attend to something in KL. I should have guessed by then. I had an unlucky weekend. I never believe in bad luck or jinx but that must have been a sign.

On the way back last week, as I passed through the Bentong stretch of the highway my car hit a huge steel block which immediately dented both rims over the right side and punctured my tyres. Two cars in front of me hit it at the side of the car (my guess, since they were able to continue with their journey after a brief stop) but I went smack unto it, the failing light didn't help as by the time I saw the shadow of the object I was too near.

Anyway, with two punctured tyres I was cursing. And also pissed. It was nearly 7.30 pm what luck would I have to get a workshop to change my tyres? Immediately the highway patrol came over (actually, they were there when the car hit the metal steel and according to them they noticed the metal bar but had not been able to extract it till I hit it.... hmmm, I do not know whether to believe them; my other hunch was that they were the ones who planted the object there... but then since I have no evidence I have to go with option ONE)... Anyway, the guys were kind enough to change my rear tyre and I requested them to tow my car to Genting Sempah (I was thinking of getting my mechanic to bring a spare there and change it for me). The guys were initially agreeable but later told me they found for me a tyre to borrow/rent.

And soon after, came a car full of guys with a spare 14 inch tyre. I was initially elated. But when I asked the head honcho what is the plan, he wanted me to drive to his workshop for him to 'repair' my rims and according to him my tyres may still be in good condition and after that I can continue with my journey... uh duh??? Looking at the impact and the effects on my rim I didn't think so... I managed to persuade him to lend me the tyre. Anyway, the guys looked sleazy and I am not that stupid to go with them. After exchanging numbers (Hmmm... they trusted me to come back with their tyre?) I headed back to KL....

The bad news didn't end there... (I had to spend RM 1K plus to change my rims...)

To be continued....

e-filing - mudah, tepat dan selamat

2008-04-11T01:15:00.005+08:00

Again for 7th consecutive years I do not have to pay any income tax. Yippie!!!

I must say the e-filing system of the Inland Revenue Board or LHDN resolves any headaches I used to get when doing my annual tax return. I have for the past 6 years been doin it for my family members and doing it last year was a breeze. So this year I embarked on the same mission.

I hit a minor glitch last week. Tried to log in. I was such in a haste that I failed to read the words "Login kali Pertama" and "Login e-Borang". Should have chose option number two since I have done it last year. Instead I chose option one and got flabbergasted when they ask for my digital certificate number. Ah, so I thought that I had to go to the LHDN office to do so. Which I did today! After getting my 16 digit digital login ID, I being a natural complainer went and complained (unofficially) about the hassle doing it year in year out. The LHDN fella then gave me a lecture on the need to remember my own password for future tax return. Then I realised, "aiyoh, I never got to that page of password la"

Anyway, back within the comforts of my home, I logged in at 1247am today. Tried the new digital certificate number they gave me. Hmmm, oh shit, the system said the number given does not match my income tax file number. Then I decided, why don't I try the "login e-Borang" option. Filled in my IC number and my possible password. You see, I have only 3 possible passwords, and I succeeded on the 2nd attempt.

I did not have any receipts with me so I thought let's just try it out just to see what I have to pay without putting any other deductions. I only remembered the amount I paid my insurance (maximal allowable cuts for KWSP and personal insurance is RM6000 total) and thus mine was max; and I paid zakat about RM600 per year.

What I love about the programme (e-filing) is that I can do away with the calculator. Just fill in the blanks and the programme does the rest. And this year, without even putting any amount for medical expenses(Max allowable cut= RM5000), books (RM1000), Education fees (RM5000) it tells me that I do not have to pay a single cent.

It was so simple, it took me less than 5 minutes.Kudos to the LHDN, e-filing is truly the way to go.

Overdued - the Lankayan Report

2008-04-11T00:00:00.000+08:00

-wrote this in January but did not seem to have published it,. So, better late then never-

The trip is one that I would not forget. First and foremost, it is one trip where I did not even see the sun, the skies were cloudy and grey all the time. Yeah I know, it is the monsoon season but then I have been in Sipadan and Kapalai in December and january where it drizzled on days but I did not expect no sun for 5 days straight. We did get a slight peek at the sun in the early hours of day four but then when it came for us to dive the sun did a peek-a-boo.

The surface were choppy all the time but it was good experience. I bobbed up and down, swallowed mouthfuls of salt water, and panicked for a few seconds on the surface. Visibility were alright as I have dived in 2 feet of poor viz before and here it was 5 to 8 metres.

But despite all that, I was amazed. If the viz and the weather had been better it would have turned out to be one of the best trips ever. I was amazed at the underwater treasures that greeted us. It was a macro heaven with numerous species of nudibranches, crabs, shrimps, seahorses and also full of pelagics. And to me unforgettable sights were watching the bottom during each descent, numerous blue spotted stingrays glide over the sandy bottom hurrying away afraid we might do a Steve Irwin on them, it looked like the runaway of the busiest airport in the world; and the highlight of the trip watching a leopard shark in action, swimming just above my head.

The sizes of the species were amazing, almost all of the nudibranches we saw were huge, and I mean huge, the size of a fist, I did not need to use my macro lense to see the details of their gills. Thehuge giant cuttlefishes were really huge and the lobsters size spanned about 2m from the tentacles to the tail.I guess the abundace of underwater life is a testament on how conservation work is successful. Lankayan is part of the Segud Islands Marine Conservation Area (SIMCA)with its research office in the resort itself.

Lastly, I made a few friends on this trip, our local divemasters and crew, fellow divers; Anne and Thomas, the honeymooners from Norway; Jans and Marie restaurant owners from Holland; Dita and Stephan from Indonesia/Switzerland.

Chaotic Day

2008-04-10T00:34:00.005+08:00

Today, there was a moment of chaos in the ward. Chaos has always been an integral part of Malaysian public hospitals and this is no exclusive event. But for those living in laidback Temerloh it is something!

A patient warded was caught trying to inject himself with some 'psychotropic' drug. It wasn't a drug acquired in the hospital but the bloke apparently had someone purchased the drug from a local clinic. Must give him the hats off for being resourceful. He's literally chained to the bed due to some fracture he has and my guess is, he's due for his regular shot.

This scenario is very common in most general hospital in Malaysia especially those in the big cities. I remembered in Penang during my housemanship there was a lady who would do her regular rounds to buy for bed bound patients food, cigarettes and drugs. Supplying a service where it is needed - certainly a welcomed Malaysia Boleh attitude!

Anyway, the drug scene is really still a huge problem in our society. It doesn't just affect individuals, it effects families, the community and the country. I wonder are we doing enough to eradicate this menace? And I wonder what progress will we make in this area in 20 years time?

A Redang Quickie

2008-04-08T00:04:00.007+08:00

Three dives only in a weekend was not my ideal idea for a weekend getaway. But then that was what I did this week. Drove from KL on Friday night (I had a 3 day long course) and reached Kuala Trengganu at 7 am. Breakfast and then, I hopped on the Sejahtera 1 ferry towards Redang. I must say, ever since the public ferry was started going to Redang have never been easier.

The ride wasn't smooth. The cabin was stuffy and had this wierd smell that made me felt sick. I did not have my Tiger Balm with me...damn!!! That is my miracle drug. Anyway, I decided to sit up at the open deck for some fresh air, hoping that would make me feel better. It did for a while, until the sky turned dark and rain pelted down to earth. Everyone else rushed downwards into the cabin, I decided to stay put, sitting on the centre of the deck crossed legged, dozing off to sleep.

The sky cleared as we reached Redang.

My water taxi was already waiting and whisked me towards Mozana... the hideout for the famous Redang SeaGipsies. As the boat reaches the dive centre, I could see 2 white men busily assembling their diving gears. That must be Mike and Paul.

Mike Durack, my email friend for the past 8 months. He is the reason for the trip. To finally put a face to a name! Mike knew Fazah, who in turn told him of my obsession with diving. And thus the friendship started. Mike wanted to visit Malaysia and do some sightseeing while he's here but both Faz and I managed to persuade him to try diving. So back to the past few days, the Irish lads were busy taking the Open Water Diver course in Redang. And they were joined by 4 doctors who heard about it and got equally excited in jumping in and dive. So in the end, I had 6 people interested in the OWD course.

Meanwhile, I was still tweaking with my new camera. It has been wonderful topside but underwater my photos have been disappointing. I know what I needed i.e. a strobe but I am cash strapped now to buy one... 2nd dive I managed to borrow Macha's DS 125.. and immediately I can see the difference...

Ah I must get one!

Back to diving, conditions were not consistent. During the first dive water was greenish with 5 m visibility, we did see a turtle though, and some jenkin's ray (they were huge) and loads of big fish. That was at Che Isa.
2nd dive we went to Sting ray city or more aptlu should be called abandoned Sting Ray City. No rays in sight but I was just enjoying the corals and my new (opps...borrowed) toy. Visibility slightly improved.

The 3rd dive was on Sunday morning. And on this dive, Macha and his students joined us to Terumbu Kili. Visibility was good, no currents and the group enjoyed themseves tremendously. I was swimming here and there taking shots of everything...ah wonderful!!!!

We left Redang onboard the 1pm ferry leaving Mike and Paul. They have fell in love with the place and wanted to extend their stay. It was a short but nice trip. And I MUST HAVE THE STROBE!!!!!

Heroes Marathon

2008-03-25T18:49:00.009+08:00

I was a certified TV addict. I would watch whatever is showing on the small screen even though it was a re-run and I have seen it so many times. The telly was my best friend and was more important then anything else. My life was scheduled around the TV guide. Even my boyfriend had a hard time getting my full attention when I am around Mr Telly.

And sometimes, I would get a phone call during those 'critical' moments.... such as when Luke just found out his girlfriend is cheating on him.... my eyes are glued intently on his every movement and suddenly....kringgggg.....'ah drats..damn it...who can it be?'

"Hello" .... "Oh sayang...." on the other end my darling was telling me about his dreadful day....and I on the other hand was phasing him out trying to concentrate on the on-screen drama. I am no multi-tasker. I am really envious of people who can do dozen of things at the same time and still remember every moment of it. I have a slow processor, my CPU is still 386K and my RAM...lets not mention about it.I get pissed when my PC goes slow and eventually kaput when i use so many applications at a time , but now I realise, it is just imitating its owner that goes into shutdown when too much info is presented to her.

Back to the boyfriend, usually before I got into shutdown or a meltdown (more likely as I would then miss a critical part of the drama and that is so not acceptable) my defense mechanism would kick in. Yes, THE WHITE LIE!

"Sayang, sorry....but I have to put down the phone. Emergency! Toilet! I need to goooooo". And I slam down the phone, position myself back in front of the TV and stare blissfully at the screen.

This was years ago and as expected the relationship did not work out. Me and telly have since then also gone our separate ways. Actually I had myself admitted into rehabilitation and also joined the TA (telly anonymous) a support group for television addicts. I have been sober for a few years now but occasionally I do get relapses. I am predicting a relapse this Sunday as there is going to be Heroes Season 2 Marathon. OMG A MARATHON?!! 10 episodes back to back, oh such temptation, I don't think I can resist.

My love affair

2008-03-16T23:42:00.005+08:00

I am so excited. Haven't dive for more than 2 months. In a few days time I will be in Tioman. Balik kampung! Yeah, Tioman is where it started. My love affair with the underwater world. It was in February 2004 (the first week when the island opened after the monsoon) Marina and I reached the shored of Salang. We were the 1st customer there and the first open water students for that season. And the only diving school opened was B&J and the only instructor that was there was Ben.

Our first venture underwater was during the confined water One (actually, it was in the sea at Salang Bay) and both of us couldn't concentrate on our lessons. We were too awed looking at the fishes that are swimming around us. Marina had a problem as she couldn't pee underwater but that skill came to me so naturally... and I love the feeling of warmth spreading under the wetsuit, one of the first pleasures of diving I learned.

Anyway, I must say, Fan Canyon was at that time wonderful with visibility of more than 20 metres. Huge colourful Gargonian sea fans everywhere. But since we were there as open water students and a few days later as fun divers we were not able to enjoy the scenery that much. Marina and I were too busy consciously breathing and controlling our buoyancy to notice everything else.

I have been back 5 times after that. Every time, we try to go for a dive in Fan Canyon. It is still beautiful but never have I been able to get that similar visibility and conditions. It is just luck, I am blessed to have seen it once under the perfect condition.

I am going back in four days, and I hope that everything will be perfect this time around. It is my heaven underwater.

Webtag

2008-03-13T10:56:00.000+08:00

I have been tagged by Ardy

The Linking Tag Rules

1. List out five favourite links - the links can be of business sites, affiliate links or whatever that suits the blogger.

2. Tag five more people to share their links, so hopefully, at the end of the tag, we would be able to share good links with each other.

3. The links MUST be clean. No X-rated sites.

4. List out only FIVE links.

5. You MUST tell the FIVE people you chose.

6. Provide the link back to the person who tagged you.

7. Obviously, it should be an active link.

Well then, my five links would be:

1. CIMBclicks - eversince CIMB/BCB expanded their internet transactions it has been wonderful for me. I do not have to go to the bank for anything except to withdraw money (for transactions I cannot do over the Net)

2. Facebook - I love this application as it allowed me to find my old friends that I have lost touch with.

3. Medscape -I usually go to this site to check out the latest in medicine and also keep up with CME's.

4. BigHugeLAbs - an application that allows me to play around with photos such as Mosaic Maker, Jigsaw, Movie Posters... It allows me to be creative and have fun

5. Lastly my all time favorite Google and its brainier cousin Google Scholar It was my life saver in masters. Used it a lot for my theses research and weekly presentation. Note: Question: "What research method did you employ in this presentation?" Answer: Well, I Googled it up...

Now let see, who should I tag?

1. Floweryskies
2. Lily
3. Najib
4. Hazyr
5. Spena

A recap - my 2008 Elections

2008-03-10T17:33:00.003+08:00

The dust have not yet settled but then I am already late. So many bloggers have posted and commented on the Elections and its rather surprising results. But,I still want to write something.

I went polling at the Wangsa Maju constituency. It was a family affair, all 6 of us went to cast out votes at SM Setapak Indah. And as usual, only once in 4-5 years we meet our old Taman Ibukota friends and neighbours.

By 8pm, the whole family plus our neighbours were glued to the TV - we opted for RTM1 and occasionally TV Awani on Astro as our main news provider. TV3 was absolutely biased and the opinions were lopsided (well, now I know BN controls TV3). The panel of experts on TV1 were excellent and gave more factual instead of sentiment driven opinions.

I was also outsourcing information from the net, mainly Malaysiakini and Bernama(though Bernama news were very slow, I guess they have to verify before publishing anything). It was strange when news only trickled in by 9pm. Not a common phenomenon - I usually kept the score sheet on elections for the past 5 elections and usually by 9-10pm 50% of the results would have been in.

The scenario reminds me so much of the 1999 Elections where recount after recount forced the results to be so much delayed.

Anyway, after 2 am when only a handful of Selangor and Perak state seats have been announced I made the assumption that BN had most probably lost both states. By then Penang and Kedah was already under the Opposition.

I guess the Election results was a shocker. A shocker to the BN staunch supporters (I am sure my late grandfather would have had a heart attack if was still alive); a shocker to the Rakyat and even a shocker to the Opposition. Who would expect to be running for a state seat and the next day you are the candidate earmarked as the next MB? My guess is Khalid Ibrahim did not.

Barisan Nasional won only 140 Parlimen seats compared to 199 seats in the 2004 Elections. That is a deficit of 59 seats. Who would have anticipated that? It is such a huge blow to the party leaders.

However, looking at this year's Barisan's campaign I assumed that someone in Barisan had a feeling this would happen. Barisan went all out in the pre-elections campaign. Never before the media coverage was so biased, the masses were shoved with visuals of BN every 5 minutes - it reached a point that I was so irritated that I would have just voted for anyone else. And never before BArisan advertised on Yahoo, yup, not only my telly was invaded by the Barisan adverts even my PC too. And lastly, never before have I seen a candidate plaster her face on a huge (and I mean huge) billboard beside one of the most busy highways in Klang Valley in hopes to garner support. To me, that was an indication of desperation, I may be wrong but that was the impression me, a lay person had!

And now, two days after, everywhere it is so quiet. None of the usual celebration. Every one is quiet. For Barisan, there is nothing to say, the people have spoken. Now it is time to reflect, the masses were unhappy and they have voiced their dissatisfaction. Yes, Barisan is still the ruling party, but it they do not address the grievances and dissatisfactions of the people they may not be in power in the future. Barisan only won in their stronghold, places where if one puts a monkey to contest under the barisan flag it would most probably win. These places usually have the aged voters (the Saluran Dua keatas voters). Sooner or later these voters will not be there to support Barisan anymore.

As for the Opposition, it is my sincerest wish that they do the best for the people. Sometimes, it's easier to criticize when you are from the outside looking in. But when in power they might fall in the same trap. Money and power can do the most 'wonderful' things to the best of people.

It will be another 5 years to the next Election. To all who have won, this is a chance to show people that they have made the right choice. Those who lost, do some soul searching and reflection. And for the party leaders, show some balls and take responsibility of what have happened (this I dedicate to the leaders of UMNO, MIC, MCA...well, hats off to Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon, that's a gentleman).

Quack-o-logy

2008-03-01T17:06:00.004+08:00

Found this while having lunch in Bandar Temerloh. It managed to put a smile on my face.

I guess the owner was trying to be savvy and relevant by jumping into the 'i' bandwagon. But combining both 'i' and 'tek' (which I assume is the Malaysian version of tech aka technology) it just don't work.

Running through my mind was who can use the computer centre? Is it only opened to Donald Duck, Daisy, Duckwing Duck, Count Duckula and Daffy Duck? But since it's mentioned as 'rakan i-tek' whether persons like Mickey, Minnie and Goofy are also welcomed?

And I also wonder what kind of computer language is used? Quack perhaps?

Elections, elections, elections

2008-03-01T16:54:00.003+08:00

Elections is just around the corner and everywhere you turn you will be reminded of it. Posters, flags, banners are placed haphazardly along roads, walls and trees. It happens only once in five years and thus the frenzy of activities. Many are cashing in on the chaos hoping to make a fast buck here and there.

I meanwhile am not a politically inclined. I will excise my voting rights when 8th March arrives but who I will vote will depend on whose manifesto irks me the most. But then, I love this 3 week period after the dissolution of Parliament.

This is the period where those politically challenged people come and serve the ‘rakyat’. Day in day out they are there showing why they are the people’s right choice. It doesn’t matter that for the past 4 years, and goodness how many months after the previous election that these people the ADUN’s and the MP’s may have not stepped into their respective electoral areas, but now they are back ‘home’. Back home with the common people, with the Rakyat.

It is a window of opportunity I cannot let go.

Pahang is a state where there are many not too affluent people. Unfortunate people who land at the hospital’s doorstep with illness or injuries. The doctors would do the best they can with what they have. But being a doctor doesn’t mean just treating an illness, we also have to figure out the rehabilitation and post hospital care.

For example, a paraplegic or bed-bound person needs close and careful aftercare at home, and it is a burden on the caregivers. A concerned doctor needs to make sure that the caregivers are educated on how to care for such patient and also ensure they have some facilities that could lessen their burden, such as wheelchairs for ambulation and ripple mattress to prevent bedsores. Usually, the family has to purchase these amenities which are not cheap for the common Malaysian – RM500 for a normal wheelchair and RM800 for a ripple mattress. Bearing that in mind, the doctors would usually refer the patient to the Welfare Department for financial and supportive assistance.

Being true to the nature of a government department, the Welfare services would take a minimum of two months to approve what ever assistance that is required. Yes, they give the needed financial help but the time frame is horrendous.

That brings us back to the elections. It is such a warm feeling knowing that some Malaysians become more generous during this three week period. It must be something in the air, these ‘wonderful’, ‘caring’ Malaysians would suddenly sprout out from no where and would not hesitate to assist a fellow unfortunate citizen. The horrendous bureaucracy in helping others usually would disappear. By a snap of the fingers, some of my patients were bestowed with the much needed sets of wheels – the elusive wheelchairs. It doesn’t matter to me if their wheelchair have a certain party logo at the back, I don’t mind them endorsing or promoting a candidate- as long as they are ambulating and out of the hospital I am happy.

And to keep count, so far, since the election fever started we have managed to get 5 wheelchairs, one spine orthoses for my patients. I am now waiting to replies for 2 ripple mattress and three more wheelchairs.

I wish helping people is as easy as this all the time.

My state of mind

2008-02-14T21:13:00.004+08:00

Sometimes I get confused. I get confused with myself.

I use to think I am an understanding person. I use to think I am selfless and do things for the right reasons. And when I do things that I feel compromise other peoples feelings I feel absolutely sick inside. Sick that I may have made the person sad, sick that I may have hurt the person's feeling, sick that I may have turned into a selfish self-centred jerk.

When I feel like this I feel down. Absolutely down. I can't explain why but when I feel like this I get chest pains, numbing headaches and I find it difficult to sleep. And this can go on for days.

Right now I am just hoping this feeling would go away.

Standing or sitting?

2008-02-11T22:10:00.000+08:00

I have always been baffled by 'toilet seat' battle of the sexes.

In the western movies it is such a huge deal if a man forgets to put the seats down after using the toilet. Nah, I am not on the men's side. I just cannot comprehend the issue. An issue (according to the numerous movies I see) is so huge that it can cause a crack in even the strongest relationship.

I would be more concerned if he did not raise the seat before peeing. I mean all of us know that men suck at hitting the target. Even with an area of 1 feet in diameter (and the aiming from distance of just half a feet away) many would fail thus the splash around the toilet rim or seat (if it's not up). What would irritate me is the inability of some species to just wash the seats/rim if that happens.

And what is the big deal in putting down the toilet seat? It only takes less than a second to do so. I mean if it's up put it down and if it's down just sit. It is not often that you'll go to the toilet in such urgency that you can't take that 0.5 second to put down the seat. And even if the seat is down, in such grave situation, I doubt you'll even have the time to remove your undies. Worse scenario, you will just pee a bit in your panties, and if a wet underwear grosses you out just remove it and walk around commando style. Such a liberating experience.

Lankayan Memories

2008-02-11T21:30:00.000+08:00

Imperial shrimp - found on the undersurface of a sea cucumber

Valen my ass

2008-02-09T11:57:00.000+08:00

In five more days couples are going to celebrate Valentine's Day. This is one event in the year where rose growers will triple their profit perhaps surpassing the whole year sale (maybe I am exaggerating here). But anyway, it is this time of the year where boyfriends scratch their heads and dig deep into their pockets to plan the perfect Valentine. In some relationship, the outcome of this day can break or make the relationship.

Personally, I am no believer in one day just to show your affection to your loved one. I believe one should cherish his or her loved ones every single day that they have together. What does one day mean if the whole year you do not show the affection and the love you feel in your heart?

Valentine's day is just a conspiracy to make people feel guilty for not 'caring' for their 'loved' ones. It is a way to make people part with their money in order to show their 'love'. It is the same concept with parents who shower their children with expensive gifts but refuse to spend any time with them.

But then, not many people especially women think like me. Many would lament on how the significant other did not spend enough or even forgot about this so called 'special' day. And some would gasp and stare in awe when their girlfriends or colleagues receive that beautiful bouquet of red roses or expensive box of chocolates and think "Ah...why is he not like that?"

With such disatisfaction in ones heart the auspicious day would then turn into emotional blood bath. I wonder if that is how St Valentine wanted to be remembered, the one who initiate lovers to part?

Monkey Business

2008-02-01T01:14:00.000+08:00