Same Song. Same Lyrics. One Simple Message

When we speak of these countries what usually came in mind is the Philippines, Indonesia and probably China. However, the Malaysian Insider reported on November 10 that 2 out of 3 Malaysians working abroad are professionals. I see two implications from the brief but shocking news - more Malaysians are working abroad then ever, and our country really need to rethink on how human resource is managed.
So this morning when the unstable dorm internet can only turn up youtube and blogger on my computer I started wondering aimlessly (exam's over, for the time being). I might have shared this one song during my previous post, but the simple lyrics hit me hard again this time. Partly because I'm destined to become a Malaysian working abroad myself, and that I made a promise to return home one day, no matter if my medical degree is not recognized or how harsh the conditions are. I can very easily camouflage and mingle in with the locals here. I can very easily learn their ways of expression, share their taste for bland food, learn their hardcore studying methods. But I figure I can never leave my roots in Malaysia, or Penang for that matter. So, quoting the lyrics (though things seem real bad right now) "but my heart lies waiting, over the foam. I still call 'Malaysia' home!"
What hit me this morning was a simple song by Peter Allen, an Australian whose homesickness churned up 'I Still Call Australia Home'. Magnificently popularized by Qantas after his death, this song had been with the Australian airline for more than a decade.
To all overseas Malaysians, listen to the lyrics. To the Malaysian government, please stop tobogganing around and practice good governance. I'm sure a large fraction of the 785,000 overseas Malaysians yearn to come home, it's just the protectionist and nepotistic people in Putrajaya that's impeding them.

1997 "I Still Call Australia Home" - jazzy solo, all Australian singers. A 3-minute TV commercial costs two fortunes then, I imagine.


1998 "I Still Call Australia Home" featuring Australian Girls Choir and National Boys Choir. The most expensive Australian ad ever made (USD 3 million). Note the still standing World Trade Center in New York.


2004 "I Still Call Australia Home" by the aforementioned choir. This time it sounded more like a pop jingle, but still countless beautiful scenes from Qantas' destinations.


2009 "I Still Call Australia Home" with stronger emphasis on Australia's outback and deserts. The choir is less impressive this time but the message is clear enough.

Let all overseas Malaysians not lose heart in their homeland. And that 'someday we'll all be together once more', working and fighting for a country we truly call home.

Weather the Storm

For the Aussies currently having their finals (or is it over?); for me, having a long upcoming week, and for all those who think life's a challenge right now.

My Very First

Stethoscope arrived two weeks ago, though we haven't had the opportunity to use it yet, here's just to show off:

The box, nothing very special, probably recycled paper. 3M's box look better, but smaller. How big is the box?

It's wide enough to fit a CD, a complimentary reflex hammer and a pen light, also complimentary.

The complete set - a user manual, a name tag, different earpieces, exchangeable diaphragms, and the caviar itself - Harvey Elite Stethoscope with latex-free tubing and dual-lumen tube.

3 exchangeable earpieces, a metal diaphragm and a plastic diaphragm.

My color of choice - navy blue.

The bell and the diaphragm, with complimentary name engraving. I chose my initials 'J.Y.Sim' instead of my Chinese name, thinking it might see useful when I work in Harvard one day (daydreaming).

A Reminder of Life's Short

Many have read about the sad story of the Batu Berangkai waterfall accident, 31st of October, where 3 young students were drowned. When we see such news we'd usually just shrug it off - another tragic accident, young ruthless people, another 3 bright lives wasted.
But for me, one of the victims is someone I knew. James Khor Wan Kai is my junior back in Chung Ling High School, and from my very vague memories 4 years ago he was a prefect, one year my junior and very athletic and energetic.
I am very sensitive on the issue of death. To me, death signifies an end in all means - while some may argue death is a door to another realm, to me it's the end of everything solid and concrete. My life is packed full to the minute and I never really put much thought in a sudden end on everything.
So, what if things do end suddenly, like for James? Did he realized the weekend would be his last (and hopefully a happy one too)? If indeed another realm exists and thoughts were preserved thereafter would he regret leaving so soon? These questions I keep on challenging myself, and it was so very saddening to me when I woke up this morning and found out the 'RIP James Khor' messages on Facebook had also included a short clip made by his UTAR classmates.
There James appeared confident, happy, and steadfast - the qualities that 5 years of Chung Ling education just won't miss. He is alive, maybe just yesterday, chatting, photo-shooting and doing everything a normal university student does.
And now memories about him might probably be just among his friends and the youtube clip. I barely had memories about this boy until this morning, my first exposure to the clip.
Once again James' passing had reminded us that man is frail in the hands of God. And we should never live a day of regret. May James Khor be at peace now and forever, and may my readers learn that life's measured by breadth - the things we do and the qualities we possess; and not by length.

Trivial Nothings October

Just realize we almost skipped October, so here's one to catch up on the last day of this month:

• Question of October: Where did all my time went?
• Topic of the month: teachers, all types of teachers, classified by examples below -
  
• Old is gold? We had this veteran parasitologist from National Yang Ming University. Arriving with his 20-year old slides as the room is dimmed (and getting warmer due to closed windows), he starts telegraphing his entire life of knowledge upon us - "...Paragonimus, para means a pair...Japanese...(indistinct murmurs)...cannot kill off immediately...cannot observe under microscope...(rumblings)". At the end of the day, I knew Paragonimus westermani is a worm living in the lung and lots of indistinct murmurs.
• Doctors make good teachers? Not necessarily - being good-looking or charismatic adds to the attention span, but different specialty contributes more - surgeons have some neurotic features on stage, "if the patient isn't keen on surgery you can photo it with your phone and show it to him - see how large your hemorrhoid is?"; internists are boring and tied down by trivial details "the heart will beat 'lub-bA-dub, lub-bA-dub' instead of 'lub-dub lub-dub' or the usual beats found in children 'lub-dub-dub lub-dub-dub'..."
• Gynecologists are charismatic - or else they wouldn't convince women to strip in front of them; while neurologists and dermatologists are so smart they expect you to make a diagnosis with just one look at the patient - "ok, I'm going to show his picture, just 10 seconds ya?"
• While clinical lessons are fun during the semester it's not when it comes to exams.
• And a university library who takes 3 weekends off in one month isn't going to help - 2 weekends off for public holidays, and this week - for refurbishing the main door.
• I would really like to blog more, trust me. But time just seem to fall through my hands.
• Maybe next week...
  
  
  

Caffeine, Refined Carbs, and Saturated Fats

Last weekend, out of boredom, and running out on DVDs I rented 'Super Size Me' from the school library. These movies (or sort of) are not my type because they always try to tell you something you like is bad for you. Well, my 2 year history of renting 2 DVDs every weekend had depleted the library collection, so I can either take them or watch pirated, grainy downloaded movies.


And it did told me that something I like is bad for me. No kidding, we all knew this coming since Mum and Dad start going 'organic' and all the family eats for dinner is steamed vegetables and steamed tofu. However, we still frequent the global chain store every now and then - friends gathering, birthday parties of our 3-year old nephews, just for a quick bite before a movie etc. Their idea is very simple - create 12 menus, mass produce lots of fries and contract Coca Cola to supply an unlimited fountain. Advertise aggressively, and get an entire generation (now approaching two generations) to live with it. In fact, thanks to them, we won't get hungry anywhere in the world. Just spot the golden arches and head in. And the familiar colors, scent and food will greet you within minutes.
‘Super Size Me’ is about a guy, inspired by two obese teenage girls' lawsuit against McDonalds, decided to try a 30-day regime of McD-only food to see if McDonalds is poisoning, fattening and causing disease to all its consumers. Needless to say the 30-day regime proved very harmful. The director/producer experienced constant mood swings, signs of addiction, chest pains, insomnia, gained a lot of weight (I can remember exactly how much), and blood tests showed liver damage resembling an acute viral infection.
The outcome is within my initial expectations. We all knew almost everything served under the golden arches is unhealthy - caffeine, fats, refined carbs, sugar and salt. But, after my first mid-term on Monday I questioned myself again and again - will you give it up completely? I found it difficult to yes.
McDonalds had been with most of us since we grew up - something like the cinema or the beach where you reward yourself once in a while. Every visit there after something gained - a victory, birthday parties, or a post-exam celebration had slowly shaped our minds into learning the Big Mac and large fries are rewards of hard work. We look forward to these rewards in times of hardships, and of course, when we abstain, the mind will wreak havoc for the weak-willed.
Is this an addiction, you ask? Well, psychologically this is simply a behavior we learned and memorized unconsciously ever since we're small. The same thing for our craving for fatty and sugary foods - milk that we drank from infancy to childhood shaped our brains into learning high fat food is associated with comfort and security (the ancient wiring of the human brain). Subsequently, when we experience depression or break-ups, we crave for this source of learned comfort - ever heard a simple way of losing weight is remain optimistic and cheerful?
However, as a responsible doctor to-be, and as discussed and agreed by the movie, fast food may provide a quick fill-up, it is not a sustainable diet. On average one meal at McD equals two home-cooked meals - so you can do the math yourself. Occassional indulgence is fine as long as you exercise regularly (3 times a week for 30 minutes minimum), and if possible, never up-size the coke or the fries. And forget about ice-cream if you want a six-pack.
Finally, to avoid our children becoming like us, avoid McD visits or make them a minimum. We are stuck in this mess, and have difficulty pulling of now. But we can teach them to rely less on such cheap, unhealthy comfort.
So, a Filet anyone?

Evaluation and Accreditation

Our school was splurged into something resembling Buckingham Palace for the previous week, all because of the TMAC evaluation. This is something of last chance for our school, if we flunked this time, we'd end up halving our student intake next year. Needless to say the school poured in every available effort to get this through.
Well, I am compelled to clarify on an issue up to this point - medical education at our school is comparable in quality to all other medical schools in Taiwan, we had been in first place for medical licensing board examinations for at least 5 years, as far as I can remember. Seniors had won many competitions, both clinical and basic sciences. Hospitals praised graduates - students from TCU are more compassionate and usually able to see eye to eye with patients. Why the evaluation committee is harsh to our school is beyond the description of a single post. Anyway, just take a look at how things are spiced up:

Welcome message - 4 of these scattered throughout the school.

School of Medicine emblem - before this only a piece of ground glass.

Potted plants, armchairs, coffee tables all across any available empty spaces - before this you could break dance here.

And, even in our PBL classrooms - beautiful, artistic potted plants.

Will tell you guys more about the process in the next post.