Traumatising

What could possibly ruin a perfectly wonderful and enjoyable 3 days spent at transition camp with the other medical students?

How about:
1. News that SMC refuses to recognise Monash Malaysia, choosing to adopt a wait-and-see approach until the first batch graduates, resulting in most of our Singaporean batchmates choosing to go back to Melbourne..

2. Some dodgy idiot coming up to you while you are having dinner at KFC Puduraya, interrogating you for your personal details, threatening you by saying he is one of Petaling Street's triad bosses and demanding that you sponsor his bus ticket to Singapore, and his gang members will leave you alone in peace (otherwise you won't guarantee your safety if they bump into you in Petaling Street)..?

Lost RM20 today just like that.. stupid bugger.. to report or not to report to police..

Begin the begin..

This is a community service message to the more than 10 or so Malaysian 1st year med students whom I mingled with briefly at the pre-departure briefing who will be starting their MBBS course soon in Clayton.

HAVE A BLESSED YEAR AHEAD AND ALL THE BEST!!

New Year, New Hope..

Happy Chinese New Year to everybody.. Will be away til semester starts in Sunway..

You just can't make everybody happy - Part 2

14th February - Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Time for people to share and express themselves to their closest loved ones. I remember back then in Taylor's when chocolates and flowers used to the trend. Guess they still are today. Yet, I can't help but wonder, behind the bouquet of roses and heart-shaped cards, what does the word 'love' actually mean to the people who give and receive them.. Does it just mean sharing your joys and blessings with people close to you, treating them well, while ignoring others who do not know you or still harbouring grudge against those who have wronged you. As mentioned before a lot of times, today the word 'love' has been used way too loosely.

On a separate note, one thing bothered me when I returned the other day from KL after helping out with the pre-departure briefing.

An old lady came up to me while I was waiting for my mum to pick me up from Kuantan bus station.
Old lady: Dik, baru balik ke? (Hi there young fellow, just came back?)
Me: Ya, baru sampai dari Kuala Lumpur. Tengah tunggu mak datang ambik. (Yup, just arrived back from KL. Waiting for my mum to pick me up)
Old lady: Oh, macam tu.. duduk mana? (Oh, I see.. where are you staying?)
Me: Kuantan Garden.
Old lady: Dik, mak cik datang jauh dari Pekan. Boleh tak kasi sedikit duit, lebih kurang lima ringgit.. mak cik nak beli beras.. (I came from a town which is quite far away. Can you give me some money, around RM5 to buy some rice?)
Me: *stared at her with a blank look* Err.. makcik, takde duit kecik lar.. (Err.. I got no small change lar..)
Old lady: Sepuluh ringgit tak ada ke? Semua duit besar? (What about RM10? All big denominations ar?)
Me: Maaf ya, makcik.. (I'm very sorry)
Old lady: *looks disappointed* Makcik tak kisah kaum apa.. makcik cuma tanya saja.. (It's ok then.. I don't judge people by their own race.. Just asking..) *walks away*

Digged into my pocket and found 6 RM1 notes.. To be honest, yes.. that old lady might have been trying to con people of money (you do see plenty of these in urban areas).. Sometimes it is essential for wisdom to come into play. Occasionally I do give a small sum to beggars (although I would prefer to give it as an offering and hope for works to be done in their lives) However, in this case, if I had taken out money, I might be conned or robbed (who knows if she has an apprentice). Although she is an old lady, looks can be deceiving though.. But she could also be in real need, and probably have been turned down by numerous individuals who didn't really care (and my paranoia probably didn't do her much good). A grandma; one who is to be loved and cared for..

Looking back at that scenario, sometimes I just can't help but think, apart from prayer, is there any other way in which one could have acted to make things better turn out better for both in such situations without putting ourselves in potential harm's way, or people thinking that we are selfish (ie a win-win situation).. Maybe I think too much..

Anyway, as we celebrate this coming season when love is supposedly in the air, let's not forget that there are others in the world today, from all walks of life, who have yet to come to know and experience what true love means.

Pleasant surprise

Last week I received something from Hong Kong which really made me laugh..


Thanks for that! :-)

Moving backwards

In a modern era when everybody is talking about practising evidence-based medicine, we, on the other hand seem to be taking a giant step backwards. Came across that news last week..

Ridiculous is an understatement.. not having adequate skills to evaluate these TCM practitioners from China but yet paying them such an exhorbitant amount of money to work here. And we were taught in uni that traditional and herbal medicine from China is largely unregulated and may contain large quantities of heavy metals.. How much is the starting salary of a doctor already ar? No need to study so hard to become doctor already lor like that, everybody can just go open a shop selling packs of herbal medicine.

Despite the widespread information available online in this tech-savvy era, there are many reasons why people turn to complementary meds. Bad experience at the doctor, side effects, reading some stuff on the internet, luck (ie it works due to placebo effect) or even family traditions. Not to say that I disagree that all complementary meds are useless.. But apart from acupuncture, which has proven benefits, I wonder how many more people have to suffer because of this nonsense.

Pathetic, and an insult to the medical profession.