Friday, February 29, 2008

Malaysian medical health

I kinda ashamed of myself when my local friends ask me about Malaysian Health Facts - I don't have the answer. Finally I found them!

As of 2006,

Doctor:patient ratio is 1: 1,214

Dentists:patient 1:9016

Main cause of government hospital admission: Deliveries

Main cause of death in government hospital: Septicaemia

Male life expectancy: 71.8 years

Female: 76.8 years

2 most common infections : Dengue and TB

more info click here (pdf)

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Austria, here I come!

Yeah, bought my flight ticket and settled my accommodation for my Easter holiday!! (on another unrelated story, I've bought my ticket back to Malaysia already!) woohooooo!

Destination: Salzburg 3 nights, Vienna 3 nights (Austria). Total: 1 week! The former is famous for its 'Sound of Music' location setting, while Vienna is famous for Mozart!

The scary bit is, I'm doing this alone. But then, nowhere near as Eliza's hardcore solo Spanish or French trip. Hehe. As much as that being a daunting thought, I'm more scared that I'll be bored and lonely. There won't be many people on some of the days I will be in Austria - as evident by the cheap flight and accommodation rates that I get (considering that I booked all these just over 2 weeks prior to holiday - really late!)

Guess I will have plenty of things to write about this experience as much as I did for previous solo trip to Amsterdam and Belgium in 2006, and my somewhat solo trip in Nairobi in 2007. I look forward to meet new friends.

Hope that everything goes well. And fun too.

And another matter, I was contemplating of going to Liverpool MNight on Friday, then KOP Ball and visit Abby in Bath the next day , return to London on Sunday...then fly to Austria on Monday 6 am (have to leave house by 2am) ! Woah!

Medical jokes of the day


Your brain is a masterpiece,divided into two parts, left and right.
In the left nothing is right and in the right nothing is left.
Dr.G.Rajesh Gopal

XX
Reactions of doctors to an appeal for contribution to the construction of a new wing at the hospital:
The allergists voted to scratch it.
The dermatologists preferred no rash moves.
The gastroenterologists had a gut feeling about it.
The neurologists thought the administration had a lot of nerve.
The obstetricians stated they were laboring under a misconception.
The ophthalmologists considered the idea short-sighted.
The orthopedists issued a joint resolution.
The pathologists yelled, "over my dead body!"
The pediatricians said, "grow up."
The proctologists said, "we are in arrears."
The psychiatrists thought it was madness.
The surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing.
The radiologists could see right through it.
The internists thought it was a hard pill to swallow.
The plastic surgeons said, "this puts a whole new face on the matter."
The podiatrists thought it was a big step forward.
The urologists felt the scheme wouldn't hold water.
The cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Cardiff Malaysian Night

Good to see you all again, Cardiff people. Thanks Aizat for the hospitality, and Anuar for the chocolates - so thoughtful of you to send us here in London chocolates!

I really enjoyed myself watching their show called, Festival of Diversity. I was happier when I met plenty of Sabahans in Cardiff! One of them was a person whom I met through facebook!
I think suddenly have this 'addiction' of wanting to go and see all Malaysian Nights - upcoming event is by Imperial College, and soon there will be Kings College, Nottingham, Liverpool.... banyak!

Sabahans in Cardiff!


YunSin Lo, a Sabahan I met in Cardiff - like what Alice would say, my acquaintance with this guy is UBER random!


Superb guys. Congrats!

Hope to see you all again.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Trafalgar Square freeze || Chef Wan

Met Chef Wan in London today. Heh





On another event, Cool event happened yesterday. About 700 people frooze all at the same time in Trafalgar Square for 5 minutes! Have a look at the videos (thanks to Gan, our videoman; and Helen, the camera owner:








Superb.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

V-day

Aaron's featured song of Valentine's Day: Valentine's Day -- Linkin Park



My insides are turned to ash so slow
And blew away as I collapsed so cold
A black wind took them away from sight
And held the darkness over day that night
And the clouds above move closer looking so disatisfied
but the heartless wind kept blowing, blowing
I used to be my own protection but not now
Cuz my path has lost direction somehow
A black wind took you away from sight
And held the darkness over day that night
And the clouds above move closer looking so disatisfied
And the ground below grew colder as they put you down inside
but the heartless wind kept blowing, blowing
So now you're gone and I was wrong
I never knew what it was like to be alone

On a Valentine's Day,
On a Valentine's Day
On a Valentine's Day, On a Valentine's Day
On a Valentine's Day, On a Valentine's Day
On a Valentine's Day, On a Valentine's Day
(I used to be my own protection but not now)
On a Valentine's Day, On a Valentine's Day
(Cuz my mind has lost direction somehow)
On a Valentine's Day, On a Valentine's Day
(I used to be my own protection but not now)
On a Valentine's Day, On a Valentine's Day
(Cuz my mind has lost direction somehow)

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Solo traveling

I have a 2-week easter break in March and as of now, everyone (that I'm aware of) already has their plans.

And I'm neither in any of those.

Reason being, I really want to go Ukraine to visit my friend, Jonathan, my La Sale exclassmate who is studying medicine over there. But I'm apprehensive with going ahead with that plan as tickets are expensive and even he himself says that there's nothing much to do over there. And I also need to pay for my visa to enter that country. So, I'm not sure if that's worth the trouble.

But then again, depending on everything else, that I would go Austria. Vienna is probably a must, and see a concert (and have my dreams fulfilled), then go to Lviv (ukraine) by train or flight. That works out to be much cheaper, as flight is about £70 London-Vienna (Batislava) with Ryanair. Then, if I decide to visit Lviv, then it would be much cheaper from Vienna.

This could be a good compromise. If I were to only go to Austria, then I could also go to nearby cities, such as Slovenia (that's where Batislava is), and Salzburg (where the famous Sound of Music is made). I don't think it would be too boring to even spend all 1 week in Vienna itself, otherwise I would have the aforementioned plans.

Another story of solo-traveling would be unfold soon.

It's scary, though.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

My boon, my bane

Yes, it's a matter of perception that determines which side of the half-filled/empty bottle you're looking at. And yet, there are many things that influence your approach to that. One way is through the experiencing it yourself.

I have this trait which I think can be both bane and boon to my existence. Desire to please people, to immense compromise that I'm willing to make. Some say we have to be flexible in life for the sake of the greater good. However, this utilitarian approach, to me at least, has involved too many compromises of my rights, values and principles. It's a constant battle in my mind. I struggle whether to compromise them or not. It's even more complicated when this also people around, especially those that you love and respect.

That banter was just something that randomly ran through my head. I was suddenly reminded of my primary school ex-classmate whom I was confronted by him after this particular event that happened couple of days before that.

Let's called my friend E. Well, E was selected by my music teachers to represent my school to district level singing competition. Unfortunately he fell ill just 2 days before the competition and had a terrible sore throat. And I so happen to be hanging out in the staff room and they were discussing the prospect of the school having to withdraw from the competition. (why I was there?... I was allowed to, coz I was the teacher's pet. bleeeeeeeaaak :P ) Suddenly, one the teachers turned to me, and asked me if I could replace him. I instantly said yes (boy, sure I had loads of guts to be impulsive those days). Cutting the long story short, E was there during the competition seeing me winnning the 2nd place in the competition. He was also presented with certificate of participation despite not being personally to perform. I got mine too (and also a trophy).

So, after the whole thing ended, suddenly I was told that E was very upset about me winning 2nd place. Not the fact that I only got 2nd (not 1st) that upset him; but rather, me winning it, instead of him. I found him in one of the classrooms crying, with pieces of his TORN certificate held in his right hand. I asked him why he cried. I was not quite sure / able to recall what his exact words were, and it was definitely something to do with the reason that I mentioned earlier. I was not sure what to do after that, and all I could remember was I asking him not cry anymore, everything will be fine. I then had to go home. At this point I did not ever label that as a 'confrontation' (gee this is too strong a word to use for a 12 year-old) yet.

I thought this would have been resolved. The following he was being really nasty towards me. He used the 'silent' confrontation' approach, and the news spread very quickly to my classmates and my teachers. I was even called in to meet the teachers. I tried to face him to settle this, but he just was being stubborn. And I even apologized to him - I really did not know why (for joining and winning the competition on his behalf? He could not even sing if he to join it himself). Even that did not work.

I really did not feel comfortable with this situation. Then I made an offer - that involved the ultimate sacrifice. I would give him the trophy (MY trophy) and he would agree to end this confrontation. He accepted it. Both of us even signed our names at the bottom of the trophy as a symbol to the end of our friction!

If he thought he deserved the trophy then so be it. But it was silly of him to destroy his certificate. Hehehehe

I'm still til today are puzzled by actions in those days. But there's one thing that I think still is happening. I give in to circumstances, very quickly. I need to be someone who is firm, and be true to what I principles that I uphold.