do seat belts really save lives?

we've all been brainwashed into thinking that wearing seat belts when travelling in a motor vehicle saves lives, right? actually, that's only partly true.

remember when wearing crash helmets was made compulsory for motorcyclists? there may be less deaths on the road but some of those that survive end up with serious injuries that leave permanent damage & disability.

so, similarly, we now have an emerging group of patients who suffer seat belt injuries (read here)

mdm T was a front seat passenger in a car that was involved in a non-fatal accident 3 weeks ago. she developed abdominal pain & was admitted to hosptial for suspected intra-abdominal injury. a CT scan revealed a mesenteric tear, ie. damage to blood vessels supplying the bowel, & she underwent surgery to remove part of the small bowel that was injured.

2 weeks after that, she had to undergo another surgery & more damaged bowel was resected. she will not be able to eat normally for several weeks till the remaining bowel recover from the trauma.

i just have one question: since the government made it compulsory to wear seat belts, can we sue the govt if we sustain injuries as a result of compliance to the ruling?

in litigation-conscious USA, they actually have lawyers that deal specifically with seat belt injuries!!(read here & here)

great white shark

i was amused with this letter posted on malaysiatoday where the writer lamented his & his friends' experiences in dealing with lawyers; so distressed was he & his friends that he resorted to equate lawyers' behaviour to that of a marine predator.

he wrote, "I would reckon lawyers are a desperate lot as they want to be seen living in luxurious houses, driving around in expensive cars and dining in expensive hotels. This has been a trend set by the senior lawyers and therefore any junior lawyer develops the same character devoid of any decency or conduct."

actually, you could replace "lawyers" in the above paragraph with doctors/accountants/politicians & that statement would still hold true. for example, it is well-known in local circles that a private hospital in ipoh has been derisively nicknamed Great White Shark.

it is no urban legend that some doctors would do anything, & i mean ANYTHING, to make that fast buck from their distraught patients. in fact, they are also not averse to making a quick buck at the expense of their colleagues, too. (hmm, why do i suddenly feel like the masked man in Breaking the Magicians Code??)

the writer concluded with this impassioned plea, "Please don't live your life by charging excessive and unconscionable fees from the already distressed clients whose only purpose of seeking your services is to secure some justice from courts."

it is a timely reminder for everyone in every profession who sometimes has their clients/customers at their mercy. it is not against the law to want to prosper, accumulate wealth & possess much. perhaps the fault lies with the instruments/ways we use to achieve that objective. perhaps, it's also timely to recall of the words of the prophet, directed appropriately to the Jews still in exile in Babylon:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. "
Jer 29:11

favour from the Lord

i'm on-call this weekend, & although i dread weekend calls, it's part of the job. left for the hospital at 9am today & had to skip church service (as well as holy communion).

at 10.30am, the boy phoned to say that he's just outside the OT & he's got a surprise for me...

how nice - lunch!



...& the main (& only course) happens to be freshly-baked shepherd's pie...


which didn't last very long....(burp!)

i don't often blog about my wife but today, she deserves praise...
He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favour from the LORD. prov 18:22

even better is this....

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. prov 31:30

who are the real killers?

DOCTORS:
(1) the number of physicians in the US is 700,000

(2) accidental deaths caused by physicians per year is 120,000

(3) accidental deaths per physician is 0.171

**statistics courtesy of US dept of health & human services**

GUNS-OWNERS:
(1) the number of gun owners in the US is 80,000,000
(yes, that's 80 million!!)

(2) the number of accidental gun deaths per year, all age groups, is 1,500

(3) the number of accidental deaths per gun owner is 0.000188

**statistics courtesy of FBI**

so, statistically, doctors are about 900 times more dangerous than gun owners!!

so REMEMBER : guns don't kill people, doctors do!

FACT : not everyone has a gun but almost everyone has at least one doctor....

ACTION : we must ban doctors before this gets completely out of hand!!!

however, out of concern for the public at large, i withheld statistics on LAWYERS for fear that the shock would cause people to panic & seek medical attention!!


**disclaimer** i received this email from a colleague but can't verify its authenicity**

check out more statistics on gun violence here and medical errors here.

you reap what you sow, except.....

Bernie Madoff has just been sentenced to 150 years in prison for his ponzi fraud.

former south korean president Roh Moo Hyun committed suicide last month on allegations (ie. not proven) of corruption.

japanese prime ministers Shinzo Abe & Yasuo Fukuda resigned in 2007 & 2008 respectively for poor performance.

& yet, we are still waiting for someone to take responsibility for bank negara's RM30b forex losses, & scandals involving Perwaja, MAS, PKFZ,....the list goes on....

it's so cliche...but malaysia boleh la!

kampung folks in the Big City

when we go to the Big City, we try out things that our "village" doesn't offer, like....

(1) teppanyaki...

which we enjoyed very much....


(2) ice-cream from new zealand & watching ice skating...

(3) super-sized bookstores &......


(4) new fast-food restaurants....


yes, we don't have all these back home but at the same time, we also don't miss paying toll, searching for parking, & getting caught in grid-lock traffic.

life goes on...

my father is back at the nursing home. the caring .....


& the clowning continues....

sports injury

my brother recently had surgery on his foot called repair of the archilles tendon, as a result of a badminton-induced injury. he had to put on a foot cast for 6 weeks after that.

my colleague is having severe backache (hopefully not a slipped disc), probably from playing too much badminton (at least 3 time s a week). he hasn't come to work for 3 days. my other colleague, a self-proclaimed worldly-wise sage, attributed these injuries to not warming up enough before competing on the court as well as age catching up. he could be right on both counts.

i myself have stopped playing badminton years ago (for fear of archilles tendon injury) as well as jogging (knee injury). so i just go for brisk walks & the occasional aerobics session at the park. i think there are just a few things in life you can't fight & win - like, income tax, bosses & Father Time. the sooner we realise that, the easier we accept our inadequacies.

speaking of Father Time, it seems my father's time is not up yet - he's just been discharged after 3 weeks in hospital & is now recuperating at the nursing home. thanks again for the prayers & words of encouragement.

farewell lunch

5 nurses recruited from India will be going home next month & it's customary to give them a lunch treat as a gesture of appreciation.

much like foreign maids, they come to fill a huge gap left by our locals who are seeking their fortunes elsewhere. but the similarities with the maids doesn't end there. most that come to malaysia couldn't make the cut in s'pore, hongkong or the middle east, so they generally fall short of the standard that i've come to expect from expatriates.

having worked in a foreign country myself, i can identify with them. they uproot themselves from their loved ones & go through all the hassle/inconveniences of living amidst people of different cultures, ideologies & whims. some adapt so well, they exend their 2-year contracts, while for others, the heat (not the weather) is too unbearable, so they cut short their stay & contract.

anyway, these 5 nurses had stayed on the full 2 years. it seems that having worked in malaysia is somewhat a status symbol in india & that can only enhance their worth to prospective employers & spouses!! to these 5, we hope you had enjoyed your stay here & that, unlike your indonesian sisters, we didn't treat you too badly. i'm sure you savoured our food but i bet you liked the your salaries even more. (heh heh)

bon voyage, ladies!

fatherly advice

my daughter made this card for me. simple as it may be, i appreciate it was created from the heart. in return, for some reason i now thought baffling, i gave her this piece of advice :

"when you grow up, don't marry someone like me, if possible.
instead, marry someone like your brother,
who loves God, loves people, & who will love you endlessly."

she just smiled & gave me a hug.

the decision

after discussing with my family & then with Dr L, we all agree that father will not have a quality of life we would all like him to have - he will be bedridden, unable to care for himself & for most times, not know what's going on around him. just a couple of steps short of being vegetative.

since, being the eldest, i was given charge to make all decisions regarding father, i sought counsel from the prophets & they spoke to me thus :

This is what the LORD Almighty says:
'Administer true justice;
show mercy and compassion to one another.'
zech 7:9

He has showed you, O man, what is good
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God. micah 6:8

so i explained to the family that father will continue to have basic nursing care, including cleaning, feeding & his regular parkinson's medication. any other requirement will be assessed on its merits but there certainly will be no more invasive intervention, eg. resuscitation, ventilatory support.

as expected, they all agreed.

so, this is our decision : to act justly & to love mercy.

may God see us through.....

playing God

doctors are often accused of deciding which patients should have proper treatment for their medical problems while others are denied it, because of the lack of staff (usually doctors & nurses), hospital beds or medical equipment, esp if this decision was made without discussing the issues with the patient or the family.

this is often a dilemma in the ICU where adequate staffing is a perennial problem which subsequently affect the number of available beds.

today i played God but not based on the above reasons. my father has been on the ionotrope (heart-pumping medication, remember?) dopamine for 11 days & his blood pressure has been hovering around 110/60, which is lowish for him. after discussing with the attending physician Dr L, he concurred that my father should start having the dopamine gradually reduced & eventually stopped, irrespective of how the BP would react.

that was 5 hours ago & his BP has gone down to about 90/50. my sister arrived from KL this afternoon & my brother will be here tomorrow. maybe he's just waiting for my brother to turn up. after all, the last time we all got together was chinese new year 2008.

nevertheless, we all agreed he has suffered enough - 8 years with delibitating parkinson's disease, a broken hip & a serious chest infection.

yeah, the old man is running the home stretch. may he find Home soon....

education

as the debate on the use/importance of English in schools continues with no end in sight, many parents aren't taking any chances. hundreds thronged the Sunway Convention Centre last saturday waiting to pick up their kids while the latter sat for the Asean Scholarship selection test. it invites students to apply for entry into their Sec 1 & 3, & pre-U programs.

my daughter has an older school friend who applied last year & successfully entered Sec 3 this year. so she took it upon herself to follow the friend's footsteps - she applied online & prepared the required documents. my only role in the whole process was to send her to the post office to post the documents & fetched her back from the test centre. (she got a lift to Sunway from this same friend whose brother is applying for Sec 1). wife & i didn't give her our "overwhelming support", in the sense that, we weren't totally convinced she was ready to live out on her own in a foreign land. well, maybe for the pre-U....

it's obvious this isn't a 2-bit scholarship test that we are all too familiar with. it's a whole day session which tests on English (includes writing an impromptu essay), Maths & General Ability. if the student get past this, then there's still the final interview to contend with.

from the parents' perpective, the final objective is presumably to do pre-U & then at least gain entry into the Univ of Singapore (ranked #30 in the world in 2008, & for comparison, outranked ALL aussie varsities except Australian National Univ at #16, & Univ of Malaya is #230, read here)

the issue of patriotism doesn't arise at all here. this is our kids & the govt has messed about the education system far too often & for too long (& let's not get started on the quota system) NOT to give them an alternative.

seriously, is there a parent who is satisfied with the way public schools are currently managed & who wouldn't provide the kids the opportunity to do better?

not me. (or, is it not I?)


(test over)

thanks.

thanks to all who have sent messages of encouragement & interceded in prayer on behalf of my father. he is still in ICU & recovery has been slow. he does not need any respiratory assistance now but is still dependent on inotropic (literally, heart pumping) support.

every cloud has a silver lining, they say. of the many things i learned from this difficult period, the one that stood out is my son's care & concern for his grandpa. he wants to visit everyday & has lots of questions to ask at the bedside. at the end of each visit, he will offer a prayer for him, & for the other patients, doctors & nurses.

i ask for nothing more.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them. psalm 127:4,5

a setback

just when we thought my father's recovery from hip surgery was going smoothly, within a week our optimism grounded to a screeching halt.

1st, the hip screw which had held the hip fracture in place.....

loosened quite a bit....


he could have tried to stand up & put pressure on the hip before it recovered fully. because of this, it's back to square 1 & another 6 weeks of non-weight bearing, ie. not allowed to stand on the affected leg.

the carers at the nursing home then resorted to feeding him in bed for fear of aggravating the hip. last week, he apparently choked on his food. although he recovered, some food may have lodged in his right lung resulting in an infection....
(Friday)

(Sunday)

so currently he is in ICU on multiple medication & respiratory support. it's a strange feeling. after treating so many patients in ICU, i'm dealing now with someone i've known all my life. will it be easier? will my clinical decisions be biased because of this relationship? & will i make a decision which i wouldn't normally do for someone else?

i may have taken the easy way out. i asked my colleague, whose clinical acumen i have the highest respect for, to manage the treatment & reassured him i will not interfere with his decisions.

my brother in Christ, JL, sent me this verse when he heard the news:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. phil 4:6,7

amen.

spelling bee

just heard from the news that a 13-yr-old indian-american has won this year's US spelling bee competition. (read here)

the winning word? Laodicean.

which according to websters dictionary, refers to one indifferent to religion, caring little or nothing about the matter, like the Christians of that church, mentioned in the Book of Revelation.

To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (rev 3: 14 -16)

which, please reprimand me if i'm wrong, also aptly describes the general state of christian believers these days. myself included.

a spoonful of birthday cake

we celebrated the boy's birthday during our CG recently. amidst playing with his friends...


anticipation of the cake....


a Ben 10 one at that....


& posing with his friends.......


i think this spoonful meant the most.....


happy birthday, boy!

tourism India-style

this promotion says it all.....

Spell It Right

my daughter's school participated at the state-level competition today & i lent support by being there. this was sponsored by RHB bank & New Straits Times as part of their corporate social responsibility. RHB provided the financial backing, to the tune of RM 2m for the whole competition i was told, while NST organised the event & provided personnel & logistic support.

personally, i did not think that the overall standard of english the students exhibited was good - it was mediocre at best. even the quiz master wavered in the pronunciation of certain words!

as each student was given a different word to spell, a fairer assessment of the students' ability would be to give the same word to each group & allow them to write it down instead. after all, i did overhear some mothers mention,"how come my daughter got the difficult words one?"

anyway, all was not in vain as i learned a few words myself, eg. menhir, elegy & gossamer, none of which, by the way, was spelt correctly.

& as a delayed birthday treat, my daughter had an over-rated, over-priced cup of....

why cigarettes are bad.

mr H, a 61-year-old ex-rubber tapper used to work from sunrise till late afternoon tapping, collecting & selling latex in his smallholding business. he looked after his family well, so well that he has 2 - wives & respective families, that is. although no stranger to hard labour, his only vice seemed to be smoking 2 packs a day of them bad boys for the last 40 years. well, this has come back to haunt him. it's called chronic obstructive airway disease, or COAD for short.

13 years ago, he was admitted to hospital for breathing difficulty & the chest xray revealed...

...an infection in the right lung. the infective process compounded by damage due to years of smoking resulted in mr H suffering from recurrent chest ailments. each time he recovered with a course of antibiotics, bronchodilators & steroids but this recent attack 3 weeks back must have been the last straw.

although the chest xray actually looked better than previous ones, he didn't improve with the usual medications, & needed to be put on a ventilator...

- he was persistently out of breath, as if he had just completed long-distance running.

efforts to take him off the ventilator proved futile, so the next step was to create a little hole in his windpipe (tracheostomy)...

which helps him breathe easier & facilitate nursing care as well. with this, he took a whole week to improve & even then, it was with a little help from this BIPAP device...

...a compact piece of equipment that bridges the recovery process between total dependence on a ventilator & being able to breath without aid.

today, he's breathing on his own with the tracheostomy tube still in place. he will be transferred to a hospital-based nursing home where the tube will eventually be removed.

3 weeks in ICU with a barrage of tests, procedures & medication, i hope the bill doesn't trigger another attack....

a conspiracy theory?

we shared about the H1N1 flu at prayer meeting tonite. my worldly-wise colleague B8 proposed his conspiracy theory - that although there is a real epidemic going on, it's been played up beyond its true severity by......get this....the manufacturers of N95 masks & pharmaceutical companies that produce tamiflu & flu vaccines.

it's possible, isn't it? remember when SARS raged in 2003 & how bottles of vitamin C & N95 masks were rapidly bought off the shelves in pharmacies?

it may or may not be true but have a look at the stock price of 3M, one of the manufacturers of N95 masks....

**source**

..which is showing an uptrend starting May (& also note the rise in 2003 at the peak of SARS). the stock of Roche, the producer of tamiflu, however, behaves differently....


**source**

err...it's still at a 5-year low!! ok, never mind, but good try, B8!!

anyway, before you rush off to buy those N95 masks...

..costing RM100 per box of 20, check out this myth-busting report.

remember guys, back to basics & take care!

they're here....!!

now that the 1st cases of H1N1 flu has been reported, it's only a matter of time before more cases flood in. the ministry of health has already sent out circulars to advise the private hospitals how suspected cases are to be handled.

we started out with closing all entry/exit points except 2 - the main entrance & the emergency department, where staff were stationed to screen visitors & patients &......

several temporary counters were set up to advise those with doubts or queries.

personally, i feel that this is just a token effort. short of measuring everyone's temperature, like how they do it at airports, which itself is a logistic nightmare, a lot of people with a slight temperature are going to get pass. besides, those in the early stages of the flu may not have a fever but may be infectious.

so what should we do?

totally avoiding unknown infected persons is impossible, unless you lock yourself in till the storm blows over. i would stay away from enclosed spaces as much as possible, like elevators, cinemas & airplanes, but having to go to hospital at least 6 days a week would negate all that.

the jury on the effectiveness of immunisation with the H1N1 flu vaccine is still out as rapid mutation of the virus may make that particular vaccine useless. virus resistance to medication like tamiflu has rendered this treatment option doubtful at best.

so where does this leave us then?

i guess it's back to basics then, & that is to maintain a healthy lifestyle - eat balanced meals, drink plenty of fluids, exercise regularly & have enough rest.

and pray for divine intervention.

This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
psalms 91:2,3

angels & demons

bought the book last year at a warehouse sale & it's been collecting dust on the shelf since. now that the movie has just been released, in Rome no less, i literally spent the last few days glued to the book.

it has a mind-blowing plot with a vile twist, & i'm surprised there wasn't more opposition to the book/movie from the catholic church.

even after reading the book, i think i'll need to see the movie TWICE to fully grasp the essence of plot.

like i said, mind-blowing!

if only.....

3 year is a long time in medicine. this is the time period that lapsed since this 51-year-old lady last came to see the surgeon, who had then advised her to remove a lump in her breast. she came back this week for the surgery & this is her chest xray taken pre-operatively.

the multiple coin-shaped opacities seen in both lungs are typically called cannonball lesions. they are most likely a result of the spread from breast cancer. despite surgery to remove the affected breast, she will still need to go for either chemotherapy or radiation (depending on the nature of the cancer), & even then, things don't look promising. she may not see the end of the year.

if only she had agreed to the surgery 3 years earlier....

but, it not too late for most of us. besides maintaining a healthy lifestyle & going for regular medical check-ups, frequent breast self-examination (read here) can detect early abnormalities. further info on breast cancer awareness can be obtained here.

multiple salary scheme

years ago when i bumped into an ex-classmate, a teacher, he was dating another teacher. double salary scheme, he sheepishly told me. they eventually married & have 2 kids who are now in varsity.

tonite, as i passed the lady security guard at the entrance to the ICU, i asked her, "budak baru?", referring to a new recruit by her side. there's always a constant turnover in the security service as people search for better paying jobs. the new girl, in her 20s, turned out to be her daughter, who took this job on a part-time basis while on holiday break from her college. in the midst of our conversation, yet another new recruit joined us & she is another daughter, also on college vacation to earn some pocket money. in this instance, they work 12-hour shifts, 6 days a week & are paid RM700 a month.

double or triple salary schemes - these are decent jobs during difficult times. if only people are prepared to rough it out & make an honest day's work of their lives, we would be faced with fewer menaces in the form of snatch thieves, mat rempits & sms scams.

a caring heart

went to the nursing home to see how my father was getting on. he's been there for 2 weeks & seemed to have settled in nicely. the skin sutures have been removed & he moves around on a wheelchair now. the helpers normally feed him his meals, but when we are there, my mum would do that. however, we were pleasantly surprised by the boy's caring gesture....

before we left, i asked him to offer a prayer for kung-kung & he did that without hesitation. & as if to prove that wasn't a flash in the pan, he even volunteered this as well...

i have to say i'm totally overwhelmed by this display of concern & responsibility. & you know what? i couldn't have done better myself.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." ephesians 6:1-3

public holiday on friday

it felt like an optical illusion - today being friday & a labour day holiday.

woke up late, had tim sum breakfast with daughter, then went to hospital to see a patient in ICU. by the time i finished, it was already 4pm.

for some reason, it felt like a saturday. because i was looking forward to watching football tonite & preparing for Lord's supper tomorrow.

am i the only one who felt this way?

a step at a time

parents constantly warned their kids not to run, climb, fight, jump, etc. to avoid injury to themselves. most times, the kids disobey & most times, they get away with it.

except for this 9-yr-old boy, who ran up the staircase 3 steps at a time. a mis-step & a trip later....

.....resulted in this deformed forearm....
(note: the GP had impressively improvised a wooden splint, which immobilised the fracture & therefore, reduced pain)

.......while the xray confirmed 2 broken bones.


so remember, kids, God made parents for a reason! take care!

saving for the future?

since i was not busy this morning, i opted to try for some ASW2020 units at the local bank. a long queue had already formed even before the bank opened at 9.15am.

why would a doctor in private practice join a queue like this, you ask. hey, in these difficult times, every little bit counts! i even filled in the forms & wrote out the cheque last nite. maybe that's the reason, despite the long queue, i still managed to be 5th in line to purchase.

actually, this is my 1st foray into ASW2020. last week, i topped up some ASM units & was pleasantly surprised there was NO queue. thus, i was taken aback at the small crowd this morning. is there something i do not know about ASM & ASW2020?

i hope the kids appreciate what i'm doing for them!!

the best things

this sign is placed by the road leading to whiteman/caversham park in perth. as this message is often repeated elsewhere, there must be some truth in those words, although there is no indication what these "best things" are. however, i think this version by robert louis stevenson is more definitive...

The best things are nearest:
breath in your nostrils,
light in your eyes,
flowers at your feet,
duties at your hand,
the path of God just before you.

even so, are we prepared to take on that journey?

**thanks, Yan, for the message**

78

when i get to be 78, bogged down with a broken hip & dementia, i would not want to be a burden to my family & kids. so, if i get placed into a nursing home for rehabilitation, i guess i should not really complain. perhaps living with like-minded people, pun intended, may actually speed up recovery. kids, take note.

anyway, this is about my father. because he is bedridden & unable to take care for himself, i'm left with no choice but to get him into a nursing home, where he will be looked after for the next 2-3 months, by which time the fracture would have healed & he should be able to mobilise with a walking frame.

sorry, father, but it's the only viable option.

just 4 words this easter

break...


mend.....



immersion.....


salvation.....

an easter to remember!

things sometimes happen at a furious pace. like this weekend, for example.

1st, my father had a fall & broke his hip. the operation to fix the fracture today was successful, thanks to Dr L & his orthopaedic-trained team. because i had to stay with him, i couldn't drive my daughter to KL to do the mensa test. my wife took up the challenge to handle the task, even though she hasn't driven to KL by herself before.

they came back just in time to attend our church 10th anniversary & installation ceremony of the new pastor.

and, tomorrow, as if perfectly-timed with Christ's resurrection, my daughter will publicly declare her faith by baptism through immersion.


hmm..where did i read that all heaven rejoice when a soul is saved? like i said, it's an easter to remember....

killer bottle

it seems these days, you don't need firearms or sharp weapons to kill. apparently, a water bottle can do the job just as well.

yesterday, a 12 year old student was an innocent bystander who was hit with such a bottle accidentally thrown by his school mate. being made of plastic, it is normally light, but filled with water, a 1lit bottle actually weighs 1kg, & can impart considerable impact when forcefully thrown. the result was this life-threatening blood clot in the brain, as shown on this CT scan...

the surgery to remove it was successful but unexpectedly complicated at the end with the presence of fluid in the lungs (deja vu ala A Kugan??) causing the lungs
to look white on a chest xray.....


this was vigourously treated & his lung dramatically improved today....

now that all is well, i wonder if the parents would make a police report on this unfortunate incident, & whether this report would achieve anything, other than for insurance claims. as a concerned parent myself i realise there's no way my kids, or anyone else for that matter, can be guaranteed safe while they go about their daily activities. accidents can & do happen. i can only repeat the prayer of David :

Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from men of violence who plan to trip my feet. psalms 140:4

second chance

this is a true event which happened on 1 April.

41-year-old Mdm T underwent excision of a lump in the breast. just as surgery was to commence, she was in tears because 2 of her family members had cancer & she feared she could also suffer the same fate. during the procedure, the suspicious-looking lump was promptly sent for frozen section, in which the nature (or histology, in medic speak) of the tissue, whether cancerous or not, can be immediately determined.

if cancerous, the surgeon will proceed with a mastectomy, ie. complete removal of that breast, to be followed up with chemotherapy & an uncertain future.

if not, then Mdm T can look forward to another 41 fruitful years.

when told of the result after surgery, she cried again, this time with tears of joy.

on a day, when there were jokers aplenty, playing out pranks & making nuisance of themselves, life has graciously dealt Mdm T with an ace instead.

G'day, mate!

you know you're Down Under when you see this....
it was more an impulsive move rather than a well-thought out plan. when MAS offered some cheap flights in Oct last year (oil was about $100 per barrel), we couldn't believe that return tickets for Perth went for about RM1300 each, all in. having talked about vacationing in Australia for years but not doing anything about it, this was like an offer from Don Corleone.(the tickets have come down to under RM1k since)

after an uneventful flight, we touched down to a sweltering 35 degreesC, & this was supposed to be autumn already. my secondary school classs-mate CL picked us up at the airport & sent us to our apartment in Joondalup...
....a modern suburb about 25km north of Perth. after settling in, we went for a drive along the coast....

to the reknowned Hillary's Harbour, just in time to catch the sunset ....


...& for our 1st meal - a sea-food platter dinner....

a short visit to King's Park at nite was our last stop on the 1st day.

.

this is the city at nite as seen from the park & zooming in on the bright structure on the right, & hey, what do you know - they have their own version of the ferris wheel by Swan River....


the next morning, CL took us to a Car Rental & we decided on a Mitsubishi Lancer for $33 a day.....

now that we've got wheels, Perth is there for the taking. drove to Cottlesoe Beach where a local exhibition was on show.


some of the sculptures include giant polo mints....
extra long pencils....

...and an oversized scrabble set...


next post : swan river & the city

Down Under

the boy has never been on vacation with the family for more than 5 days - that was to bangkok last year. so, you can understand his excitement that he's going Down Under...for a whole week!

so excited he already marked it on his diary way back in january....

Obituary

"Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be
remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

Knowing when to come in or out of the rain;
Why the early bird gets the worm;
Life isn't always fair;
And maybe it was my fault

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Elastoplast to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you
still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing."

**thanks, YO, for the email**

those were the days, my friend...

so, march 12 will be D-day for thousands of SPM candidates.

this is where the students are spoilt for choice - some have already started A-levels, while others wait for 6th form & matriculation places, & a small minority hope & pray a windfall called a scholarship.

i remember clearly the day i went to school with my friends to collect our results. nope, no top-scorers amongst & certainly none of that calling-parents-on-the-handphone rigmarole but hooray, we all passed! we had lepak-ed for over 3 months since the exam & we still had another 2 months before school re-started. yes, for us, life was simple - pass SPM (called MCE then), lepak some more & then join 6th form.

we ate ice-cream as we took a leisurely stroll through the istana gardens to town to catch a bus home...

on the way, we reminisced those care-free lower secondary days while ruminating over a concept still alien to us then - the co-ed classes of 6th form. hmm....girls!

& we laughed wickedly in anticipation.

evacuation drill?

Next time, if there is an evacuation drill in your office, think before you rush out...

In a large multinational company..............

A fire alarm rang at 4 PM in a large office when almost all employees were in office (approx 5000). As usual the entire office was evacuated within 3 mins & all employees gathered outside the office in the designated area waiting for further announcement.

The Security Officer in charge made the following announcement: "Dear employees - with sincere regret I have been asked to announce that for many of you it will be your last evacuation drill. Due to the recession the company is laying off almost 50% of its employees. So when this announcement finishes, I ask all of you to move back into the building and if your swipe card does not work then it means you have been laid
off, in which case you will not be allowed inside and all your belongings will be couriered to you by tomorrow.

The Company has used this innovative approach as we didn't want to fill up the email box with lay-off mails and good-bye mails in thousands & also to avoid any fight inside the office and the consequent security issue for all staff. Hope you have had a rewarding career with us and all the best ahead. Please move back in & try your luck".

**thanks, WW, for the email**

black sheep

a post-mortem examination is usually performed by a pathologist (also called coroner in UK or medical examiner in US) to determined the cause of death when it is not obvious, or in medico-legal or suspicious circumstances, eg. road traffic accidents or suicide.

or, like when someone dies in police custody.

we all know about the Kugan case & now that the 2nd pathologist's is available online, it should make us medics wonder how is it possible that the 1st report is so vastly different from the 2nd?

obviously, someone has gone against the oath. the hippocratic oath. the part that upheld one to abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous.

i know some of us overcharge, while others are less than meticulous in treatment, but to lie in a high-profile police case?

i've since removed this from my side-bar...

the head bone & the heart bone

lynnxuan's post got me thinking again about why i applied to do medicine in the 1st place.

this is that time of the year, after the SPM/STPM/matriculation exams, when career paths take shape. some students are focussed enough to know what they want to do, while for others, their ambitions are molded by well-meaning parents.

it really doesn't matter what the reasons are for doing medicine. it's noble to desire to want to heal & relieve suffering, yet it's not a crime to want to make lots of money.

many years ago, a dear friend gave me a cutting from a magazine, Newsweek i think, about a speech directed at a graduating medical class. the speaker was Alan Alda, most famously revered for his role as US army surgeon Hawkeye Pierce in the long-running TV series M*A*S*H. he highlighted several pertinent points:

You're entering a special place in our society. People will be awed by your expertise. You'll be placed in a position of privilege. You'll live well, people will defer to you. call you by your title - and it may be hard to remember that the word "doctor" is not actually your first name.

Where does money come on your list? Will it be the sole standard against which you reckon your success? How much will it guide you in relating to your patients? Do patients in a clinic need less of your attention than private patients?

Where will your family come on your list? How many days and nights, weeks and months, will you separate yourself from them, buried in your work, before you realize that you've removed yourself from an important part of your life?

I congratulate you, and please let me thank you for taking on the enormous responsibility that you have — and for having the strength to have made it to this day. I don't know how you've managed to learn it all. But there is one more thing you can learn about the body that only a non-doctor would tell you — and I hope you'll always remember this:

The head bone is connected to the heart bone - and don't let them come apart.

here is the full text of a most inspiring message every prospective & new medical graduate should read, deliberate upon & keep in mind, as they embark on their brave journey.

bon voyage, doctors!

20 years

we've had our share of friendship blues, lovers tiffs & running battles as man & spouse.

be that as it may, 20 blissful years & 2 lovely kids later, i'm still married to the same person.

i think that's how God would want it.

He who finds a wife finds what is good
and receives favour from the LORD. prov 18:22

a good deal?

my insurance agent is like a friend. having known him for over 12 years, he still keeps me informed of what he thought to be good deals. like oil palm land for sale. or a property whose owner was deep in debts. the latest on offer is a BMW 325 sports - less than 2 years & only 7000km on the clock at a "giveaway" price of RM200k (RM305k when new). ha ha!

but like the land & property before this, the deal is dead right after he mentioned "BMW". in these difficult times, when terms like insolvency, slow-down & rescue package are everyday conversation pieces, i guess it's prudent to be frugal.

the pastor once expounded: why buy things you don't need with money you don't have, just to impress people you don't even like. yes, why indeed?

thanks, but my current car has gone over 7 years & 100k km with us & we're ok with this.

timeless

we've heard it all before.....

love is blind.....

love is patient.....

love is kind......

the greatest is love......

but here's another dimension of love....

thanks, Jems, for this insight.

the lovers, the dreamers & me

have you, like me, always thought that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow was a story you only told to kids? well, wonder no more, because someone actually photographed the end of a rainbow in california (read here) & there's certainly no glitter in sight.

i learned of the significance of rainbows at different times of my life....

when i was young, i was told never to point your finger at one, or it'll get chopped off (how, i don't know as i've never put that myth to the test)......

in primary school, i had to remember all 7 colours of the rainbow in its order....

in bible school, it was the sign that there will never be another Great Flood, the tsunami notwithstanding....

and then, Kermit the frog sang of the Rainbow Connection...

Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth. Gen 9:16

abandon ship?

we've been pondering a move out of our current Care Group. having been with them for over 4 years & witnessing its steady growth, credit for this positive transformation, from just 3-4 families to the present 8-9, is due in no small part to the shepherding skills of B8. in fact, i paid him a glowing tribute when the CG leaders met with our new pastor just last sunday. i was the only one who did so.

still, i thought it was time to move on. i have to admit our spiritual needs are well met in this CG with 1 exception - my daughter's. the adults study the lessons while one of the wives taught the kids. however, there are currently no other teenager attending this group & i felt it's important she interacted with her peers in a bible study setting. 

this is just an intent for now, having sounded out to B8 as well as the leader of the CG we planned to move to. we shall pray & see how we can do the Lord's bidding.

(true) love @ 1st sight

despite these difficult times of global melt-down, recession, extreme weather changes & political upheavals, i find this message particularly soothing. so, to all mothers whose unrivalled love & devotion to their children is never in doubt, this one is for you....

appropriately, Mitch Albom wrote this in For One More Day:

"And I realised when you look at your mother, you are looking at the purest love you will ever know."

corporal punishment

my son grew up with his group of friends in church who were all born within months of each other in 2002. 3, including the boy, are in the same class in primary 1 while the 4th is enrolled at another school.

he is particularly close to this girl - he used to chat in class & spend recess time with her. i'd even go on to say they'd be inseparable if the teachers didn't intervene. just today, the teacher smacked her with a ruler & she cried her heart out, a response i suspect to be a result of not ever been punished by her parents. now, she doesn't want to go to school for fear of another beating.

so i asked the boy, what if he gets punished by the teacher. i'll try not to be naughty in class, he replied.

what if the girl gets transferred out to another school & he loses his best friend, i tested him. this is what he has to say: it's ok because i still have to go to school.

i'd say he's got things under control, but it's still early days yet.

The rod and reproof give wisdom,
But a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother.

prov 29:15, NASB

**image : NST, 29.6.2000**

one for the women

Dan was a single guy living at home with his father and working in the family business.  When he found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sickly father dies, he figured he needed a wife with whom to share his fortune.

One evening at an investment seminar, he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.  Her natural beauty took his breath away. "I may look like just an ordinary guy," he said to her,"but in just a few years, my father will die and I'll inherit US$200 million." 

Impressed, the woman obtained his business card .... and three days later, she became his stepmother. 

Morale of the story: Women are so much better at financial planning than men.

**received this email from a colleague. thanks, WYO. so, guys, watch out for wily women!!**

child-like innocence

now that the ang pows have changed hands, what should the kids do with their new found wealth? my daughter will be planning to spend most of that at the next shopping trip (i believe an iPod is top on the list, which i shall try to deter) while the boy is thinking of opening a kiddie bank account. he probably got the idea from going on numerous trips to the bank with me.

when i asked him which bank he intends to save with, without a 2nd thought, he picked Maybank. 

why?

because he was born in the month of May.

good choice, i thought. after all, there's a branch near where we live, parking is easy & free, & it's government-linked. 

so there you are, save your money & support the government. how much simpler can life be??

CNY at 1-Utama

i like 1-Utama because:
1) it's easily accessible via either NKVE or LDP;
2) it's a RM1 flat-rate parking fee &
3) being a kampung boy, having lunch at dragon -i is a big deal to me.

where i live, no restaurant has a numbered queue system, only banks & govt agency payment counters, but it does provide some semblance of civility as hungry patrons aren't a patient lot. while waiting for a table, one can actually observe the chefs prepare their trademark noodles & dumplings.


we didn't have long to wait despite the lunch crowd (& i thought most KL-lites were out-of-town for the New Year). my order of stewed beef noodles was very good & filling.

this establishment was obviously thriving, despite the steep prices & in difficult times. the boy however didn't join us as he had more pressing matters to attend to:

therein lies our dilemma - when he can play, food, sleep & school are the furthest things in his mind!!

& in line with the festivities, the acrobats...


.....and the lions.....

.....were let loose.

i wonder if this is how a typical KL-lite would spend the weeekend or public holiday?

year of the ox

this is from Jemima's blog  & although written by Oren Arnold originally for Christmas, i feel it is very relevant for every day of our lives:

GIVE:

To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart. 
To a customer, service. 
To all, charity. 
To every child, a good example. 
To yourself, respect.

Happy New Year of the Ox, one & all!

PS. 'tis the season for SMS greetings but occasionally, i receive a few that is not on my phone list & the sender doesn't leave a name. i wonder how you would respond to the SMS?

TV merry-go-round

i've been toying with the idea of getting a plasma/LCD tv for over a year but found no reason for acting on it, notwithstanding that prices are on a slide, much like most other electronic gadgets.

until recently.

my mum had 2 tvs in the old house - a Phillips & a Sony - & for some strange reason, she sold off the latter & kept the Phillips. wrong choice because ever since moving over, it was not working well, & all she saw was blurred images, & even then only could receive TV1 & TV2. 

so i thought it was a good excuse to get that plasma tv now. besides, my regular home appliance guy must be tired of trying to get me to upgrade for the past year & much to his chagrin, i remained defiant.

so i surprised him last week by asking him to make me another offer. after mulling for another few days, i settled for a Panasonic, although i had originally wanted a Bravia. well, can you blame me - after all, i have 2 Sonys that still work? thus began the merry-go-round.

the New Toy now sits proudly in the lounge, while the Sony (8 years old) was relocated upstairs, replacing an even older Sony (11 years) which was promptly moved to my mother's house.

i'd like to think that everyone's happy now, not least the tv dealer.

(now that the tv's in the bag, i'm toying with idea of a GPS device - which means it'll be at least another year before i get that Garmin 205w)

men's night

you'd think this is about a promotion at a girlie bar.

or, a page out of Sodom & Gomorrah tragedy.

actually it's our (very benign) CG night-out solely for the guys. i know it sounds almost juvenile - like kids up to their tricks when the parents aren't watching - but seriously, what kind of mischief can a bunch of middle-aged guys create?

food is always a good reason to meet & this time it's ikan tapah on the menu. it was definitely a marked improvement over the last night-out at KFC, which i managed to wrangle out of due to work commitment. (heh heh)

the fish didn't disappoint..
.
& neither did the crabs...

nor the karaoke after that...


it also became obvious who will NEVER be potential malaysian idols.

advisory

i avoid posting on political issues but i can't help thinking of this possible SMS to be circulated tomorrow:

"Dear fellow Barisan MPs/Assemblymen,

Please stop playing badminton, or other strenous sports for that matter. We can't afford another by-election. Thank you.

PS. Please go for your 6-monthly medical check-ups."

change #3: new doctors

it was time to get appointments for my father. 1st stop at the neurologist/physician's clinic. even after having been with his regular doctors all this time, he seemed to warm up to the new chaps easily. perhaps it helped that these guys are my colleagues. after the physician, it's off to the eye doctor. well,the general consensus was that nothing's changed - my father is in an advanced stage - he will not get better, but for now, he's not gotten worse.

& as he lives out his twilight years in a strange place, this song by Mike & the Mechanics keeps playing in my head...

parents beware!

got this from Alex's blog & as it turned out, ours are rated similarly...

mine got this rating based on the presence of the following words:

death (4x)

dead  (2x)

kill  (1x)

hey, what gives? i also use words like faith, hope & love, so how come they don't mitigate the precautionary rating?

anyway, children, be good & stay away from doc & his morbid blog, while adults may rate their blogs here.

school rocks!

i'm glad & the wife's relief is palpable.  

after a week, the boy is actually looking forward to school & day-care. school dismisses at 1.45pm & the wife sends him to his previous kindergarten where he has a bath, then lunch & gets guidance on homework, esp Chinese.

when he gets home at 5.30pm, he's still none the worse for it - plays a bit & watches TV before dinner, & then goes to bed at 9pm. much like any other day.

i hope he sustains his enthusiasm because this school thing is long haul.

1st day blues?

i don't remember if i had a traumatic 1st day at school. maybe i had been primed by a year of kindergarten, considered a luxury those days. maybe that's why the boy is actually looking forward to primary 1 - he had THREE years of kindie, currently considered mandatory in an environment of kiasu-ism.

having woken up at 6.30am (school starts 7.45am & is less than 2km away), he promptly changed into new uniforms & heartily ate breakfast...

& then, it was time to embark on a brand new adventure....
.

go on, my dear son, take the 1st steps to school. the world's at your feet now. make new friends, have your petty skirmishes, be strong when teacher punishes you, rejoice but be humble when you do well in your tests & learn when you don't. if you're anything like your father, school will be the best time of your life. go on, my son, have a blast! may God guide you every step of the way.....

Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many.

I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.

When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble.

Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.

prov 4: 10-13

honky tonk haven cafe

my friend Dennis took over a cafe in the Jonkers Street area in Melaka recently, & yesterday he invited some of his friends & CG members to a New Year's dinner. the wall facing the bar was pasted with record (called LP) covers of the artistes of the 50s &60s...

& there was a little stage presumably for live music..
we dined at the back of the cafe, which has been transformed from a dirty river bank to a alfresco-style water-hole, where the Melaka River Boat Cruise plied.

it was really pleasant.

much of the food was catered since there was going to be a crowd of about 50 - there were varieties of curries, meats & veggies. & he gave a little bonus stage show....

now, we don't have to go to Thailand for this anymore. just a stone's throw away is the famed night market of Jonkers St

which was still in full swing at 10pm. brightly-lit trishaws await customers...
...while a street musician showcased his trade at the
entrance.

he turned out to be an ex-neighbour when i was staying at the previous place. you can get almost almost any knick-knacks here.
now i know where i can source a screen protector at street prices. but a sign of the times that modernisation has arrived at this quaint market...

....credit cards accepted!

this is definitely worth another visit. if you're ever in Melaka, check out Honky Tonk Haven Cafe - the ambience will be worth it! if not, give me a call & i'll have a word with Dennis!

;-)

change #2 : the move

my parents finally uprooted themselves & came over to stay with us for good. well, actually they are staying in a rented single-storey terrace less than 5mins away from my place. my father is unable to climb stairs, so we decided they are better off with their feet on the ground, literally. furthermore, there's an old chinese saying that you can't have 2 tigers on the same mountain, if you know what i mean. ;-)

it was quite easy to get a house at the residential estate adjacent to ours. wasn't it ironic that the landlord is a patient i had treated just a week earlier?? & his sister helped me open an account at a bank she used to work for?? seemed like this house is meant to be. got my cleaning lady to tidy up the place in time for the move. 

on the appointed day, the movers came early in the morning to help pack/load stuff while my brother drove the folks up. by late afternoon, almost everything has been unpacked & arranged around the house.

the wet market, pasar malam, shops are all within walking distance, so i hope they'll settle in quickly. they've already made friends with the neighbours & even the phone line was connected just 2 days after application. 

and, for the 1st time in over 30 years, we will not need to travel for the reunion dinner. this Chinese New year should be a breeze!

new for old?

didn't we learn from the Aladdin story that it was in the old lamp that the genie resided? & it was the evil uncle who tried to exchange Aladdin's old lamp for new?

so, we stand at the threshold of a new year, & by convention, bidding farewell to 2008 while hoping & wishing that the outlook for the NEW year would be better or brighter. will it? certainly not if we were to believe the economic naysayers. read here and here

that we have made enormous scientific progress is not in doubt, but has human life made the corresponding improvement? people still suffer illnesses & die. medical science has prolonged our lives & devised new treatments for many common ailments but life still has a beginning & ending. hence, January is named after the Roman god of beginnings & endings.

BUT no science known to man has been able to decrease the amount of greed, anger, jealousy or cruelty to the world.

older isn't always worse, but newer, improved or advanced aren't always better either. find out what has gone before & compare the new to the old. & if the new seems like shallow attempts to be hip or relevant, stay with the ancient path that believers have walked for millenia.

This is what the LORD says:
"Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls."
Jer 6:16

blessed year ahead, one & all!!

**image** Roman bust of Janus, Vatican Museums

penang #2: kampung folks in the big city

where we come from, there isn't a proper airport or railway station. neither do we have Swensen's nor TGIF.

so can you blame us when we got all excited over this...?

because i believe, inside all of us, the icecream-loving gene is dominant. so while the boy is yet to appreciate good ice-cream..

.......we chose 5 of our favourite flavours....

........yummy!

& to make the city-trip worthwhile, we had lunch at...


it's mostly burgers all around...


& they don't serve in small portions...


i settled for the 3-course meal.....with starter...

main course....

& dessert.....ooh, more ice cream!


a few observations made during this trip...
(1) penangites love to eat (not that you don't already know) - this restaurant was still full at 3pm!!

(2) penangites love coffee - there seemed to be a home-grown cafe at every nook & corner...




(3) clowns making balloons seemed to be a popular act for festive promotions...


one more thing, on the north-south highway the cops now place decoy cardboard pictures of themselves manning speed-trap cameras. they are located at the underpasses of km317.9 northbound & km287.2 southbound. believe me, they look real!

still, it can't be over-emphasised to drive carefully, kampung folks or otherwise.

penang

it can be a pain to drive up to Penang during public holiday weekends but i had to do it because it's our annual ritual. traffic was heavy but flowing & the big bottle-neck was inevitable - at the penang bridge, where 10 lanes of traffic tried to squeeze into 2. kids have the least care in the world....


we did break journey though, at Ipoh where we met up over lunch with cousins who visited from UK....


1st order of business after breakfast the next day had to be .....the famous Penang Road cendol, where there's always a crowd...

for me, 1 bowl is never enough.....

can you blame me? just look at the big beans & cendol screaming,"Eat me! Eat me!"

all for just RM1.60 a bowl.

after a late afternoon hike up penang hill, it's time to check out the latest steam-boat joint at McAllister Rd...

the varieties were just mind-boggling....

with choice of clear or tomyam soup, or hotplate....


then, there's the fried kuay teow stall....

it's NOT penang without lap cheong....

& the lok lok stall...

& the ais kacang....

all for RM17.90 per pax, this looked a good deal - just see the crowd...


& this is just 2 days into penang.....burp! excuse me.

the musical

there was a time when Sweden was famous not for her Volvos, Ikea or even Bjorn Borg, but for the musical exploits of Abba. although their Eurovision hit Waterloo passed me by without much ado, it was S.O.S, their hit of 1975 that meant something to me. i was doing my MCE exams (nowadays rebranded as SPM) & was torn between studying & getting distracted with a new-found pen-friend. it was dire straits....


fast-forward to 1999 & multiple hit songs later, their music have come to life again with the debut of Mamma Mia! the musical. i was fortunate to get complimentary tickets for the show at Istana Budaya on tuesday & i came away with this verdict - much, much better than the movie (pierce brosnan couldn't sing to save his life) & you just can't stop stomping feet with the beat.

thank you for the music, guys!!

the reason

you just know tis' the season to be jolly...tra..la..la...la....

shopping malls adorn themselves with all manner of colourful & shiny trappings, as if trying to outdo each other by the size/height of their christmas trees....

....radio-waves bombard your senses with yuletide songs & promotions....

...and churches showcase their efforts in spreading the message of love & salvation.

the Sunday School children at my church had their simple event yesterday...




....& i was given the task of presenting a skit for the kids &
i thought the idea of Christ's birth in a modern hospital was....

.....refreshingly different.

later in the evening, the Youths had their own program...

....& from the photos my daughter took, the theme was obviously very Starwars-like....

...the battle between Good & Evil...

no matter how the message is communicated, as long as we can look beyond the glittering tree decorations, the presents & santa clauses, & remember that we are the reason He suffered & died, it would have been a story well told.

blessed christmas, one & all!!

grey's anatomy

i had a middle-aged patient who underwent 3 surgeries without improvement. it's unfair to pronounce judgement as to whether the patient should have been subjected to the traumatic experience, based solely on hindsight which we all know to be 100% accurate.

so how do doctors make crucial decisions? consider the facts:

1) the patient had a fall which resulted in multiple blood clots on both sides of the brain;

2) doctor#1 told his family that there's severe brain injury & survival is slim, even with surgery;

3) the family sought a 2nd opinion & doc#2 concurred with doc#1;

4) it was commendable that the family undertook to consent for surgery, & subsequently 2 further procedures, but in the end, it was futile;

doctors are not God, although some may behave like one. however, we do well with our God-given knowledge & skills when we provide the available treatment options & explain each on its own merits, so that the patient and/or the family can deliberate & make an informed decision.

in medicine, results can go either way - the same treatment given to different patients can end in different outcomes. it's never an exact science (or art). there are always grey areas where the unknown & unexplained thrive.

it just occured to me that maybe, just maybe, that's why the TV series is called Grey's Anatomy. could it be that it's never about Meredith the intern-now-turned-resident but rather about the uncertainties the patients & their doctors encounter daily? that sometimes even with the top experts, high-end diagnostic tools & most advanced drugs, the patient dies while another, left on his own may miraculously survive?

i pray for wisdom & discernment as we deal with our patients' fear & concern.

amen.

"Pay attention, Job, and listen to me;
be silent, and I will speak.

If you have anything to say, answer me;
speak up, for I want you to be cleared.

But if not, then listen to me;
be silent, and I will teach you wisdom."

Job 33:31-33

change #1 : the decision

changes are generally well-received if they are for the better. but if we have to move out of our comfort zone to accomodate it, then we may confront change with mixed feelings.

not having lived with my parents since leaving home for varsity, it took some time to face reality when they decided to move out of JB, where they were born & bred, to come live with us. they have been stubbornly independent all this time & i think 2 events finally prompted them to do so:

1) my father is gradually deteriorating from parkinsonism, which has afflicted him since 2002. my mother, being the primary care-giver, is getting on in years as well, & the Lord has blessed her richly with good health & a cheerful spirit;

2) the next-door neighbour has offered to buy over the house in JB - the same one we've lived in for over 40years, which of course held abundant memories for all of us, both better & sweet.

they will move at the end of this month. it will be a change for all of us. but then, perhaps it's not so much about changes as it is about responsibility.

and filial piety.

If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 1 Tim 5:8

wisdom

my colleague JR & i regularly discuss current affairs over coffee or lunch, usually focussing on politics & finance. yesterday, we were again lamenting at the credit crunch/recession/bankruptcies that's gripping the world, when we realised that there's limited sound investment opportunities now.

that's when he asked : what we need now is wisdom.

but before i could reply, he continued : and wisdom is fear of the Lord.

i was down for the count, because JR is not exactly the God-fearing type although he has attended a few CG events i've invited his family to, & has a personal copy of the bible in his office.

good for you, JR, & while we're at it, can i also add this:

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well
matt 6:33

**image** Judgment of Solomon. 19th century engraving by Gustave Doré.

just another day?

8.00am : woke up

8.30am : started work. SMSs began to come in.

10.00am : reminded wife to get some ASM units launched
today

1.00pm : skipped lunch because work needed to be done

6.30pm : back home. wife out at pasar malam. kids watching
TV.

7.30pm : went out for dinner

9.30pm : home again.

pretty much an ordinary day, except that in between....

i get this birthday card from the kids....


which opened up to this...

(and the numbers "50" actually popped out)

my daughter used her pizza hut voucher from a school project.....


to buy dinner......


and my wife specially made a trip to Cold Storage so that we can have this for dessert...


maybe, like the beatles proclaimed, love is all you need....


.....to change just another day into a not-so-ordinary one.

fictitious reunion

hawaii 5-0 was a really popular cops-and-robbers TV series in the late 60s, not least because of the infectious theme music. it probably prompted my primary school classmate to write this in my autograph book :

"hawaii 5-0" here referred to a girl in the next class who demonstrated her prowess as a hula dancer, grass skirt & all, in a school talentime contest. one whom we all had a crush on. ok, actually, it's just me.

this year, all my classmates of that primary school & the secondary school after that, would be 50 years old. in my imagination, we would be having our grand reunion by the beach of waikiki, lazing beneath palm trees & sipping pina colada. so i thought of hawaii 5-0, not the tv series nor that girl, but the fictitious reunion. so guys & gals, wherever you are, have a grand & blessed 50th birthday this year. because, tomorrow, i shall be joining your ranks. woo-hoo...!!

p/s. the last i heard, hawaii 5-0 (the girl) was working as a tour guide back in my hometown. & i did take my classmate's advice seriously - it was many, many years later before i thought of money or love. anyway, for the 1st time, i managed to embed this video from youtube, so savour it....

4 things you (probably) never knew your mobile phone could do.

There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies. Your mobile phone can actually be a life saver or an emergency tool for survival. Check out the things that you can do with it:

(1) Emergency
The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112.If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network and there is an emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked. Try it out.

(2) Have you locked your keys in the car?
Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may come in handy someday. If you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their mobile phone from your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near his mobile phone. Your car will unlock.

Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other 'remote' for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the boot).

(3) Hidden battery power
Imagine your mobile battery is very low. To activate, press the keys *3370#. Your mobile will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your mobile next time.

(4) How to disable a stolen mobile phone
To check your mobile phone's serial number, key in the following digits on your phone: * # 0 6 #, & a 15 digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe. If your phone is stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless.

You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile
phones!

a chip off the old block

i used to collect old bus tickets when i was a student. those days, i could get into town centre with a 10 or 15 sen ticket, & for 50 sen, i could take a bus from JB into S'pore. i did this because i had made up my young impressionable mind that i was going to be a bus conductor when i grew up. i thought it was a thrill to punch holes into the tickets & to ring the bell twice to let the driver know it was ok to drive off after passengers had alighted.

tonight, after watching madagascar 2 with the boy, i was surprised he had kept the cinema tickets from the movies we've brought him to in a tin box....

is his mind, like mine years before, considering a living as a cinema usher? after all, he enjoys movies & popcorn (especially so, i suspect, if he could see & eat for free) & has a habit of playing with torchlights.

i just wonder.

human folly

The couple were 85 years old and had been married for sixty years. Though they were far from rich, they managed to get by because they watched their pennies.

Though not young, they were both in good health, largely due to the wife's insistence on healthy foods and exercise for the last 10 years or so. Lots of supplements, organic this and that, the whole gamut!!

One day, their good health didn't help when they went on a rare vacation and their plane crashed, and because they were both good decent folks, they went to Heaven.

They reached the pearly gates, and were escorted inside to a beautiful mansion, furnished in gold and fine silk, with a fully stocked kitchen and a waterfall in the master bath.

A maid could be seen hanging their favourite clothes in the closet. No more pasar malam stuff now, all Mucci, Bucci and Ducci.

They gasped in astonishment when a Bearded Man said, 'Welcome to Heaven. This will be your home now.'

The old man asked how much all this was going to cost. 'Why, nothing, remember, this is Heaven.'

The old man looked out the window and right there he saw a championship golf course, finer and more beautiful than any ever built on Earth.

'What are the greens fees?,' grumbled the old man.
'This is heaven, You can play for free, every day.'


Next they went to the clubhouse and saw the lavish buffet lunch, with every imaginable cuisine laid out before them, from seafood to steak, exotic desserts & free flowing beverages.

'Don't even ask. This is Heaven, it is all free for you to enjoy.'

The old man looked around and glanced nervously at his wife.
'Well, where are the low fat and low cholesterol foods and the decaffeinated tea?,' he asked.

'That's the best part, You can eat and drink as much as you like of whatever you like and you will never get fat or sick. After all, This is Heaven!'

The old man pushed, 'No gym to work out at?'
'Not unless you want to,' was the answer.
'No testing my sugar or blood pressure or...'
'Never again. All you do here is enjoy yourself.'

The old man glared at his wife and said, 'You and your silly bran flakes, vitamins, organic stuff and exercise. We could have been here ten years ago!'

so, is it possible each of us are destined for great things BUT holding us back are our own doubts & self-serving desires ? we ignore & reject that which is exceeding much better than what human minds can create or design, then lament that life is unfair.

pile it on!

apparently this is how a pizza hut outlet in beijing is losing out on it's self-service salad order......










but in these uncertain times, can you blame the customer?

or, is this just plain greed?

btw, did this also happen at an outlet near you???

michael crichton, RIP

sci-fi author crichton died on tuesday from cancer (read here). although i have not read any of his books, i thought jurassic park the movie was the best dinosaur flick at that time, & still is, thanks in no small part to the CGI that amazingly made the dinosaurs come to life. the 2 sequels somehow just didn't match up.

& who can forget ER....

...the thrill-a-minute the award-winning TV medical drama that launch the career of george clooney, as well as initiating a trend of similar series, eg chicago hope, strong medicine, scrubs, & house.

thanks for hours of unrivalled entertainment, michael.

vote wisely

the US election - isn't the choice obvious? or is it?

if they vote Obama...


they get this....


however, if they vote McCain.....


they get this...


p/s. this is from an email an ex-classmate sent.

CG retreat : port dickson

it was SS's idea that we should have a retreat during the deepavali weekend, & for some strange reason, he ended up organising it. but he did a sterling job of it - with a car treasure hunt thrown in. we started off on sunday morning & after several stops to search for clues, finally reached Port Dickson in time for lunch...


after checking & settling in at the Guoman....


we headed for the ostrich farm 10mins' drive from the hotel. the kids really had a great time here, eg. patting the animals....


taunting the ostriches....


having a ride on one....


pony-riding...


& they'll do stuff to entertain themselves....

back at the hotel, everyone brought a little something for tea....


while the kids frolicked at the beach...


& later adjourned to the pool..


seafood dinner at a nearby restaurant....

was followed by our very own sunday worship & sharing. after breakfast the next day, most of the others stayed back for extended check-out while we made our way to the MPH warehouse sale. & we're happy with our plunder....


here's when i realised the wife may have more common sense than i - why have thai food at a restaurant in SS2....

when you can glorious penang hawker fare & much cheaper, too!!

graduation

both my wife & i are not native mandarin-speakers, & we can't read the above message to save our lives. so we were a little apprehensive when the boy was selected to give this address to open the kindergarten graduation ceremony.

but our anxieties were unfounded & instead, we were pleasantly surprised that he recited the speech with ease. perhaps there is hope that he will even more than just get by when he enters primary 1 in a mandarin-medium school next year.


but we know he did enjoy himself in kindergarten. he even looked forward to playing The Beast in the school version of Beauty & the Beast....


p/s. i had originally titled this post "valediction" but i thought that was going a bit overboard!

time for a vacation?

got this from Jemima's email. this could well be the case had oil remained at $140 a barrel. but it's now down to $60 -70, so perhaps it's time to check out some of the offers from MAS or Air Asia?

bon voyage!!

The Son

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.

When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.

About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands.

He said, 'Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art.' The young man held out this package. 'I know this isn't much. I'm not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.'

The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. 'Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It's a gift.'

The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.

The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.

On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. 'We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?'

There was silence.

Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, 'We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.'

But the auctioneer persisted.. 'Will somebody bid for this painting. Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?'

Another voice angrily. 'We didn't come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!'

But still the auctioneer continued. 'The son! The son! Who'll take the son?'

Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. 'I'll give $10 for the painting.' Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.

'We have $10, who will bid $20?'

Give it to him for $10. Let's see the masters.'

$10 is the bid, won't someone bid $20?'

The crowd was becoming angry.. They didn't want the picture of the son.

They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.

The auctioneer pounded the gavel. 'Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!'

A man sitting on the second row shouted, 'Now let's get on with the collection!'

The auctioneer laid down his gavel. 'I'm sorry, the auction is over.'

What about the paintings?'

'I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings.

The man who took the son gets everything!'

God gave His son 2,000 years ago to die on the cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is: 'The son, the son, who'll take the son?'

Because, you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.

(reproduced from a personal email)

difficult times ahead

this just in :

The economy is so bad that the Treasury department is issuing a new dollar bill:

a moment of pleasure

it reminded me of a recent newspaper report about a youth accused of raping his teenage girlfriend. his father was in court & publicly scolded him for enjoying a moment of pleasure, only to pay a hefty price of humiliation to the family, on top of a jail term.

a moment of pleasure.

well, mine wasn't exactly like that. i allowed my attention to be distracted for a brief moment & something critical happened to the patient. whatever i did to control damage wasn't enough to prevent him from ending up in ICU for the nite. he was better several hours later but all these aggravation could have been avoided had i exercised more caution.

a moment of pleasure.

a moment of distraction.

what's the difference - there's still a price to pay. if the patient completely recovers tomorrow, maybe i have a (second) chance....

can you trust the salesman?

i was at a Raya lunch organised by a motor dealer yesterday. it was 4pm when i got there & i could see a whole bunch of people had been there earlier when i signed the guest book, some of whom are my colleagues.

after the usual pleasantries, the salesman plunged into his sales pitch - specs, price/discount, trade-in, loan, etc etc. naturally, i expected this - after all, motor dealers exist only to sell cars. however, what i didn't anticipate were the names of the rich & famous he spewed up as buyers or potential buyers of this & that model. presumably, the aim was to impress me but it actually had the opposite effect.

i have the same issue with insurance agents. they like rattling off names of their well-known clients, as if they are prized trophies, to induce a sale.

didn't the car saleman know that in times of war, loose lips sink ships?

in my case, his just sunk. thanks for the satay anyway.

prayer

EL, wife of my CG leader B8, was admitted to hospital on sunday with a febrile illness. she had been unwell for a week & it had gotten worse with high fever, chills & rigors. on tuesday, she had to be transferred to the ICU because she had developed a critically-ill state called septic shock where the blood pressure deteriorated as a result of the underlying infection, most probably a pneumonia. everyone, including B8, himself a physician, seemed to fear the worst.

so before i visited her last nite, i had envisaged a grim scenario - tubes & syringes & support machines crowding around her bed, & family members weeping by her side. ok, maybe that was a bit overly dramatic but you know what i mean. instead, EL was by herself, asleep. she actually looked calm & peaceful. by her bedside, was a book titled something like "Whispers from God" & when i turned the page, this was the verse that stared at me :

With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation. psalm 91:16

was that God whispering to me, or was that a sign that EL will lead a long & fruitful life in His service? only time will tell, but the church is praying for her round the clock. yep, i kid you not - someone somewhere is praying for her every hour of each day.

because we all believe that when we ask, it shall be given.

Amen.

hari raya #2

nothing much except for a CG barBQ (i think i've forgotten how to spell the actual word).

our leader B8 & his wife share almost similar birthdates, so the wives of the other members decided to throw them a (sort of) surprise birthday barBQ last nite. held at a condo pit, the kids...

...kept themselves busy at the pool while the adults fired up the pit. is it a normal thing at barBQs that it's often just 1 or 2 persons who end up doing most of the grilling?

same occurence again yesterday.

some of the kids tried their hands at it as well....


thanks to the ladies who bought, sliced & marinated, there's chicken wings, hotdogs......

.....& jacket potatoes.....

& even ikan panggang.



even though it's B8 & wife's birthdays, the kids got into the act as well....

& behaved like it's their own - they actually blew at the candles.

one advantage of having a barBQ at a condo was that the kids, who by & large were more concerned with playing with each other than eating, had the space to do so....



& this little eager-beaver was dubbed the chair stacker...

hari raya

where we live, nothing like this happens on a daily basis. so it's nice to drive into downtown KL & have this greet us...


so we spent the 1st day of the Raya break in KL. actually we wanted to check out the new mall.....

which turned out to be a disappointment. not many shops, unlike the adjoining Midvalley.

my daughter wanted to get a watch from Swatch but they didn't have the model she wanted. it baffled me a lot, just to digress a bit, why she must have a swatch, esp when they aren't too many shops that sell that make. why not a casio, seiko or timex? my 1st watch was a timex that served me well for a good 6 years. but no, she has to have a plasticky gaudy-looking time-piece that is a swatch. so, since the shop didn't have the particular model she liked, she elected to wait for another time to get it. now, if only she were to exercise this dogged determination in other aspects of her life....

enjoyed a delightful lunch at Tony Roma's - gosh, everything seemed to be served in gigantic portions! we had spare-ribs....

& burger.......


while the boy clearly enjoyed his pasta.


finally, met up with my primary school teacher whom i've not met in over 40 years. few months back, i happened to chance upon a newspaper article written by her daughter. i sent an email asking the writer if her mum was an ex-teacher in my hometown, & that's how we re-established contact after all these years. nah, none of that teary-eyed heart-rending theaterics - just the casual hey-long-time-no-see stuff.

(that's me, the scruffy one, sitting on her left)

that's how we spent hari raya this year.

mean machine

he was created by a Higher Being.

he has boundless energy & his body can take all manner of physical insults - withstanding sub-zero temperatures of the arctic cold, the extreme G-forces of space travel, the ravages of the most lethal diseases & even escaping the clutches of some terrifying cancers.

yesterday, i met such a person.

no, he is not a cyborg born out by the imagination of the most fertile of Hollywood minds. he is as human as they get. he is my patient & he went through several harrowing minutes of extreme low blood pressure & subnormal oxygen supply to his brain & heart.

ordinarily, he would have suffered a stroke or a heart attack. or both.

but he emerged from his unconscious ordeal largely unscathed. all he asked when he woke up was : where's my wife?

i'm neither a magician nor a miracle-worker, but i witnessed something out of the ordinary. the amazing resilience of the human body. the ultimate mean machine.

suddenly, in the great scheme of things, & not for the 1st time, i felt very tiny.

what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him? psalms 8:4

mission : pekan 2008

3rd year running - that's my (proud?) record for entering the oil palm estates & forest fringes for a bout of brotherly sacrifice. met up at church friday morning...
to load stuff into the 2 vehicles. after praying for guidance & journey mercy......

we started off at 8am & broke journey at segamat for breakfast...
then, it's off to our 1st stop just outside of rompin. the orang asli's (OAs) were already waiting at the community hall even as we arrived..

while others took their own sweet time...

all the kids got a dose of a dewormer & multivitamin syrup to take-away....

some appeared unsure of our presence...

....while others were openly protesting.....


the dentist fired up the portable gas stove ......
..to sterilise his instruments...

& the villagers know he meant business when they have their backs to the wall...



ah...a satisfied customer!!

at the end of the day, it's on to kuantan to unpack at our host MY's home. a short walk away was the same restaurant we have our dinner each time we're in
kuantan.

of course, it helped when MY is a regular customer, as we're assured of the goodstuff at fair prices...

...fresh fish, wild boar meat, roast pork, squid, towfu
& veggies...

no wonder the plates were polished off with impunity!! all for RM145 for 11pax.

the next day, we're off to the oil palm estates around pekan/tasik cini area.
the 4-wheel-drive sure came in handy.

this was where the abject poor live, staying in wooden shacks without electricity or piped water


it's no wonder malnourishment &......

skin ailments were common, but they looked contented
with their lot.

hmm...i wonder if their assemblyman/MP....

....are aware of their plight?? after all, there's no doubt where their loyalty lies...

a late lunch was served alfresco-style at the cafe de palma tropika...

thanks to MY who had cooked up a storm earlier in the morning..


all work & no play....well, you know the cliche. we rounded off the day with a boat ride in tasik cini....

& shoot some darts...

....bull's eye!!


worshipped with the locals on sunday morning....



then it's home after that. made a little detour highly recommended by a local...
this was on the road from rompin to muadzam shah. the reason was this - fresh ikan tapah, from the net...

to the table...


the udang galah...er...suffered the same fate...