Dr Huang Huikang and his envoys visit to Petaling street.

I am against any extremist activities and threats that will put our people's safety at stake.

But the China's ambassador to Malaysia Dr Huang Huikang and his envoys visit to Petaling street is uncalled for.

He said during his visit to Petaling street: "The Chinese government opposes terrorism and any form of discrimination against races".

LOL, we all know how Uighurs are treated back in his country.

Ethnic Han Uighurs are banned to fast during Ramadan, officials in the region of Xinjiang made to swear that they will not fast, restaurants given incentives if open during the day in Ramadan, beard & hijab discouraged, school using Uighur language disappearing & non-existence in tertiary level, & no one gets the freedom of speech.

Bitch, please!

A minimalist

I am becoming a minimalist.

Starting to learn and trying to be one only recently. 

Minimalism is a good thing, it is not only reduces spending on unnecessary items, produces less waste and encourage to focus more on what really matter, it also results in clutter-free and tidy home we live in. 

As a Muslim, this is what Islam teaches us to do. To be moderate, to prevent excessive consumerism and to love each other more instead of things we own. 

The prophet Muhammad peace be uppn him once told someone to use less water for ablution, even in a flowing river. This shows that we must not waste any sources even though they are abundant. 

And he also told us to live like a traveller. 

Our live is a journey, toward a better place, the hereafter. 

So as a traveller, we don't need to spend so much on stuffs. We would not buy everything that we want or that we can afford. We would only buy the necessary items just enough to get going and continue with our journey. 

Beloved prophet Muhammad peace be upon him was a minimalist himself. He lived in a very small house with little things in it. He didn't even has the best camel to ride. All this despite the fact that he had the high status among the people and the most important job is the history of human being. 

So me, becoming a minimalist is like turning to the opposite direction of where I was going. I was someone who enjoyed spending the hard earned salary on stuffs like superbike, latest flagship phone model, spent too much on almost anything I want like fancy dinner, overpriced coffee and lots more. All this came with certain convincing justifications like I 'need' them, I 'deserve' them, buying those things is a 'stress reliever' etc etc

So is having all these stuffs makes me happy? Will I be content after I purchased the stuffs that I wanted? Or there is always something else to buy next?

We know, there is never enough! And most of the stuffs we have, they are not as useful, important and meaningful as we thought. And some we don't even need them at all. 

The first step is to clean your crib. It is during cleaning and tidying the room we will realised how much stuffs we have and how much space these stuffs have taken up. 

There are DVDs that I kept in my room and I frequently have to put them back in order every time I clean up my room. These DVDs basically are of no use to me anymore. I have watched all of them and I know despite having this thought that I'm going to watch again later, I never will. So I offered them to couple of friends and I managed to get rid all of them in just a day. I felt lighter already. 

Then I put aside my clothes that I haven't wore more than 5 months, and the clothes that can no longer be worn. Now only a few shirts left and a pair of pants, though they are very few I know that is all I need. 

Now shopping for more clothes seems unnecessary. 

I also had two pair of sport shoes. I got rid one of them. 

Other than that, there were unused files, pens, newspaper, and so many junks I need to get rid of. 

Seeing a clutter free room brings peace to my mind. My computer table looks better with nothing on it except the computer. 

And by having less stuffs, we appreciate and optimise the usage of the stuffs we have more. And we can use the extra money and time that we have for something else or better for someone else. 

I'm going to the Holy Land.

Happy eid to all brothers and sisters. 

Eid al adha reminds me of two things. The most important historical event in which Abraham had to sacrifice his son Ismail and the hajj pilgrimage.

Due to some issues, I did not go back to my hometown to celebrate the feast of sacrifice with family this year. 

In the morning of eid, after fajr prayer, I got ready and wore a baju melayu with kit. Went to the albukhary mosque and joined the crowds to perform the eid prayer.

The sermon was rather emotional. The imam reminded us about the story of Abraham & the journey of hajj. 

I was there at the Holy Land earlier this year performing umrah. And the sermon made me missed the place more than ever. 

Tears in the eyes. And it's not just me. Everyone else looked touched as well. 

There was a sudden surge of motivation to go to work, to make money for the purpose of going for the hajj and nothing else. Just enough that I can bring my parents as well.

is giving out cash good?

The government has spent a large amount of money on scheme in which the poor are given cash in the bid to assist them. I consider myself as coming from this poor category and hence I know that receiving cash would make us feel so grateful (who doesn't?), and the best part is that we actually don't have to do anything to get it! Well maybe we just have to listen to some boring speeches, but it's worth it.

But really, is this actually helping us in a long run? Is giving out cash to people without having them to do anything a good thing? Is it healthy from the economy perspective? I'm no expert in this.

I just think that maybe getting them a job, or assisting them to get one or starting a business or something would be better. No?

The money spent on this scheme can be used for other things to benefit the poor and the rest of the people in the country.

What triggers me to write this is a news that I just read which says that the amount of the cash maybe will be increased if the current ruling political party wins during next election. It sounds like a bribe, no?

I'm not anti government. In fact I'm more of a pro government. And there are good schemes like book voucher and the assistance to improve small biz, are good and have to continue.

Even the opposition using more less the same method. When I was in Indonesia, the Penang government hold a dinner to meet, bond, and answer questions from Malaysian students regarding latest issues. And I remember one of the state minister was saying that they are trying to reduce the number of the poor in the state by giving out cash just so that the poorest have just enough income to put them out of the 'poor category'. hmm does it work that way?

lets start living now!

I have just realised that I should stop chasing the future much and to live more on the present.

While struggling for a better future is a must, I shouldn't neglect the current live, the now.

We deserve to have fun and live to the fullest everyday amid stressful work we have to face or whatever reasons we have to postpone being happy.

We don't have to wait to really living, enjoying it and live to the fullest. Do it now as we're not even sure how long we will be living.

Amir's visit.

A good friend Amir came to my hometown, Lenggong in Perak last week. It was our last activity during the holiday before we actually start working!

I took him to many places where we had loads of fun visiting.

After completed his 274km bus journey from KL, first he had to accompany me to Taiping Hospital because I had a doctor appointment that day haha. After done seeing doctor I took him to several places around the town of Taiping such the Taiping lake garden. (The most beautiful garden i have ever been to hence it is my favourite) and later we went to Kuala Sepetang Mangrove forest reserve and also the Taiping Night Safari. I love zoo!

Kuala Sepetang mangrove forest. It's huge!

Amir trying Mee Udang Mak Jah

Taiping Night Safari! It was cool as we can see lions and tigers running around and playing!

On day 2, I took him to the royal town of Kuala Kangsar for some touristy stuffs and then we headed to Bukit Merah water theme park.

Amir in front of the beautiful Ubudiah mosque.

Sultan Azlan Shah Gallery.

At Bukit Merah Laketown resort. Had loads of fun at the waterpark! omg I love water.

Cool ATV ride at the ATV adventure Larut in Taiping! This is Amir's favourite.

Day 3: Took him around Lenggong, the world UNESCO heritage site, then headed to Seri Iskandar to visit a friend there, and Ipoh at night to watch a football match live.

At one of the many caves in Lenggong.

Inside Lenggong Archeological Museum.

Raban Lake near Lenggong.

Lata Kekabu waterfall

We watched a football match at Stadium Ipoh at night. Love the atmosphere!

 Day 4: he headed back to KL to attend the induction course. We're gonna start working soon!

Train fetish

I like trains since when I was small. Even though I was only manage to see the trains when my father stopped the car when we happened to cross the railway on the road. Haha I remember there was one time when the alarms and the warning lights flashing signalling the road will be closed temporarily for the train to cross, instead of going faster my father decelerated the car so that me and my siblings would be able to see the trains. haha. And the very long cars moving on the track really amazed us, or me particularly :p

And like the other normal kids, having a toy train was my dream. But coming from a not so well to-do family, I never asked for one. My parents never actually spent money on such things like toys. The only toys my sister and I had were the donated used teddy bears (argh).

So when I got my first salary later (yay), I promise I will buy one for me, hmm maybe several of them so that I can connect the tracks together to make a long track for the train haha.

Four days ago I took the ETS train from KL to Ipoh and I love it. It ran 150km/hr, maybe faster, and it was really comfortable and smooth as compared to bus or other transports that use the land road. and I felt safe. Really glad the double tract from KL to Ipoh is done. Now the double tract from Ipoh to Padang Besar at the northest part of the peninsular is under construction. I am following the updates regarding the project closely and can't wait for it to be done. They say it is more than 75% complete now.

Few years back, I took the old train namely Senandung Malam, and it was a one long journey. There was only 1 trip per day due to the single rail track and it's a night trip. It was a noisy and bumpy ride. Now it became history.

Just now I checked on the latest development of the KL MRT project. Love it. Love the artist's impression videos, can't wait for it to happen for real.

And every time there's a news about the possibility of  a fast train project from KL to Singapore, I will read every single word of the news keenly. And I hope it's going to happen for real.

I wish the government will extent the double track project to the east coast of the peninsular and also to Sabah and Sarawak. It would be easier for us to travel to places there. Traveling to these places via road is too mush a hassle and energy and time-consuming. Plus the motion-sickness that I have, is not helping haha.

Train is really the future of transportation on the land.

Knowing about how advanced the technology and the engineering of high-speed trains around the world is, really excites me. And I dream of traveling in the Eurostar from London to Paris one day. Enjoying the views from the window.. I want to try other fast trains too like in Germany and China.

So anyone wants to travel with me soon? hehe

applying housemanship in malaysia for medic fresh graduates

This post is dedicated to those who has just finished medical school especially those graduated abroad. There are several sites and blogs that i found helpful but here i will summarize and put it into numbered points to make it simple.

Here are 5 easy steps :)

1) Fill in the SPA8i form online at Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam (SPA) website:
http://www.spa.gov.my/

2) Contact SPA to book an interview (via phone/email/go to its office)

3) Download, fill in & send in the Borang 4: Permohonan untuk Pendaftaran Sementara, Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) and Borang Maklumat Tambahan MMC.
http://efenem.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/mmc-daftar.pdf

4) Download, fill in & send in the borang Permohonan Jawatan Pegawai Perubatan, Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (KKM)

http://www.mediafire.com/?jqggmomhy2lifwo

5) Attend interview at SPA office.

That's it. Read the guidelines carefully as you fill in the forms and get the required documents attested.

Currently I'm waiting for my interview scheduled on 13 March. Wish me luck!

don't be too mean towards cats

I was having a little chat with my Mak Ngah when she told me about her son who's now moving to Kedah from his previous house in Negeri Sembilan due to work. He is a cat lover, he loves to pick up stray cats and lets them stay at his house. As a result he has many cats.

But mysteriously his cats keep on disappearing one by one. My aunt says she thinks it is his neighbors the ones that took the cats and threw them away as to them the cats in the neighborhood is a nuisance.

It got me thinking, maybe there's an answer to my kittens disappearance when I was in Medan, Indonesia. It's weird really, as one kitten disappeared after another within one or two days. It's impossible for them to go to far and got lost or hit by car in such orderly interval.

My kitten Abu, who ran over by my neighbour, without informing me was buried. I knew about it a few days later only after an old lady told me what she witnessed.

This is really sad you know. If that was what exactly these people were doing then they should know how selfish they are. And very unfair towards the innocent cats.

These cats were taken from the streets, adopted and taken care of. Isn't that a good thing? Not only it gives these cats better lives they deserve, it also will reduce the number of stray cats that many people find disturbing on the streets or at the restaurants, (though all these cats are asking for is some leftovers that we not gonna eat anymore).

But still if you are unhappy about cats, talk to the owner. We can control the cats better. And the number of cats can be controlled by spaying these animal. Throwing them somewhere else is not solving but creating more problems.

Last week I found out about this very sad news:


This wonderful person, Nicole took these cats from the streets, adopted them and feed them with love. Unfortunately her neighbours complained to DBKL and they gave her several days to get rid of these cats.

And what happen to those cats on the street of KL captured by DBKL? What I  read in the Mastika January 2012 edition startled me. Those cats will be put in cage and feed for 1 week, and after 1 week if nobody buy them for RM15, these cats will be put to 'sleep'.

we are who we are

I'm angry with myself after reading the title that I just typed. Of course we are who we are. There's no need to tell that to everyone.

Being on a holiday as I just finished my study, enables me to look back and realize something that's quite important in helping me to make choices and how to deal with stuffs in the future.

we believe in what we want to believe.
Seriously, there was a friend who think that I did something bad and though I have had explained to him that I didn't do it, he still believed that I did it. In this case, don't worry and just let him be. Don't let what others believe affect us in a negative way. And we our self should be careful and rational in choosing in what to believe in.

we feel what we want to feel.
You will be happy if you want to. And you can be sad if you want to too. Seriously. it's like choosing what movie to watch or what song you want to listen to. Choose to be happy instead and choose not to be sad for too long.

how we react to stuffs determines our beings.
Having similar problems in the university, I can see how my friends reacted to them. And the way how each of them reacted determines how they gonna feel later. If one chose to be happy and reacted to it positively then he'll be happy, no matter what the outcomes would be. And of course there was someone who dreaded about it every seconds, busy complaining, busy hating and it affected her own self, she ended depressed which was the result of her own action.

we choose what we want to be.
Yes we can choose to be a happy person that light up people around us or we can also be a mood spoiler. We heard people saying "oh why is he/she leaving me, why? why?" and blaming that person for something that without realizing it, is partly our fault. Have we given that person good reasons to stay with us? We might as well just blame our self.

So to dearest reader (if there any haha) and to me, choose to be happy instead, if we can't change what happened we can always choose how to react to it in a way that benefits us. And having said that, lets laugh at the title instead of angry with it haha.

saying bye to my cats

As I am approaching the end of my journey here in Medan, one of the things that bothers me is what am I supposed to do with the four cats that I have. We adopted Ubu our first cat in 2010. She was a small kitten shivering somewhere near Pringgan, Medan when we first found her. We stopped our motorbike and she got on my foot and stopped crying. So we took her home to become part of our family.


Ubu, the mother.

Since then, she gave birth couple of times. Demok, her first child is (now) really a huge cat who was also my fluffy pillow at night. This morning someone came and asked me to adopt him. Although it was such a sad thing seeing him taken away but it's for the best.


Demok, he just loves to stare.


He also loves to stand in front of computer screen to get some attention.

Abu the youngest one died two days ago, ran over by our neighbour who also has buried the cat without telling me. I am very sad as he was really manja and not scared of anything or anyone cause I never hit him even once, but I think that costs him his life as he not even scared of car! But my friend said maybe it's for the best that he's gone during my very last day in Medan. Is it..


The late Abu.

I sent one of my cat to Dr Rosdiana's house. She is such an amazing cat lover. She has lots of cats in her house, I mean a lot! like around 100 cats. And she spends Rp6,000,000 just for the cats' food.

She adopted her first cat in 2002 when the cat she called Nenek Unyang came playing at her house. Since then her very productive cats producing even more cats some of them new ones from the outside.

She is the example of a good cat lover. Well you know not in a kind of annoying way. As we know some cat-people tend to humanize their cats, cutting their nails, bath them every day even dress them up. But not her! And none of her cats have been sterilized. She really thinks it's their right to keep on breeding and producing new off-springs. Though I'm not totally agree with her on sterilizing cats, but it shows how pure her love is towards cats.


Dr Rosdiana with one of her cat who has just underwent surgery!


She has so many stories about her cats to tell.


My cat, Dubuk that I've given to her as a new owner.


Looking at her for the last time.


Some of her many cats.


Super nice of her as she invited us to have some kuih jala and Surabi. yum yum!


Her first cat, she called her Nenek Unyang. haha 


Me in front of her practice.

Cats in some way have contributed to my well-being as I tried to keep myself sane from the stressful and crazy world and being such good companies when I was lonely. Cats are simply awesome. they are innocent and their behavior is actually the reflection of how we treated them, really!

crossing the finish line.

The much awaited time of.. my entire life maybe? is finally arrived. I've finished my medical study a week ago. Now I have 2 more days left before going back to Malaysia for good.

I feel very much relieved after all these years of stressful works, exams, not to mention complicated immigration stuffs and financial problems but I've done it all! it's time to say bye bye.

But this week I feel quite sad, almost everything I see around me makes me realize that I'm gonna miss them. I've lived here for 5 years and a half, that's definitely quite a long time. Lots of places I have been to and lots of things have happened to me here.

Now I realize there's gonna be a lot of things I'm gonna miss. Honestly I feel quite sad now as I type. I woke up this morning and immediately thought 'how many days left? Is today gonna be the last day I'm here?

During my 5 years and a half here, I learn about freedom, friendship, self dependency, trust and having fun. yeah really! I also got the chance to see my country from the outside, far from those biased government controlled media in Malaysia, I got to meet new people, to understand their feelings, cultures and what they really think. Oh, also learned about hardship ones has to go through in their life and all the inequalities in the world. Looking at children begging/working is the most difficult and heart wrenching.

the most precious that I'm gonna miss forever are friends. It is here that I know how a friendship can help you to live in this world, how they ease your hardship, or how much fun they add into your life!

time, move faster!

Currently I'm in ObGyn Department which is the last department for the clinical cycle that I have to complete. Since it's the last one, one should be happy thinking about the prospect that the long 5year+ study is coming to an end.

Somehow as day goes by everyday, I feel like time is moving too slow even though 1 month and two weeks is all it takes to reach the finish line.

Reading my previous post, obviously I was quite stressed out with the endless oncalls, exams, papers and being the servant for the residents. I just want all this to end, and get paid for what I'm doing! haha

So I started counting down and hoping time to move faster!

But two nights ago I had a dream in which I was holding a baby, my baby, and saying 'how times flies' and thinking in disbelieve. The alarm clock rang and I was back to reality.

Man, I'm glad that I still here, in 2011. I should stop asking to forward time to the future but cherish every minute and second I'm having right now instead. Those times will come, but the now, it's passing by, leaving us. With no chance of getting back to it.

I will finish my study on 14th January 2012. Insyaallah. yay!


from my album: sunset at Danau Toba.

feeling blue.

I don't know what is happening to me right now, I'm kind of feeling blue. I'm a happy person for most of the time, sometimes it shows and sometimes it's within. But now it's neither.

I think without me knowing it, I'm a bit stressed. I think I'm too tired. I just want a long holiday. Without having anything much to worry about. I want all these things that I have to go through everyday to stop. I'm exhausted of worrying too much.

I want all these to end. Maybe I just want to have somebody here that I can talk to, more than the regular what's-going-ons, about something else, that even me don't know what it is. Maybe I'm just lonely.

Maybe seeing sick people everyday is depressing. Having someone else to control your life is annoying. Having lots of thing you have to know is worrying. Having exams now and then is tiring.

Maybe seeing how unfair the world is adding more stress. Maybe I should stop thinking too much, though it happens everyday in front of my eyes. Maybe I should just have faith in God. Maybe I should try to.

I'm hoping that this phase of my life to end soon. It's been too many years. It's not that life here is too miserable or what. It's just that.. sigh!

The only things that make me happy right now are The big bang theory and How I met your mother. They make me forget what's happening for awhile and make me laugh.

I'm gonna regret writing this. haha.

smoking is idiotic

The first thing that disappoints me when I first got here in 2006 was the fact that there are quite a number of medical students who smoke cigarettes. Some of them smoke openly in the no-smoking area like inside campus.

Not only locals, Malaysian students also seem like enjoying the 'opportunity' given as many of them are smokers, some have just picked up the habit here.

Not only that cigarettes are available almost everywhere, these young smokers are also influenced socially plus with the fact that big tobacco companies are still allowed to advertise their products widely here.

I really think that those young people born in the late 20th century, growing up and living with a well known fact that smoking scientifically proven to be fatal, are totally idiot to be smoking. There are also massive campaigns warning about the danger of smoking. Yet they let themselves addicted to the nicotine that comes with other carcinogenic substances.

Smoking is forbidden in Islam. Off course those addicted to it will come up with many excuses to justify their 'harmless' or 'beneficial' habit.

What happened to me earlier today triggered me to write this. I was in a air-conditioned room with several people smoking in it. I felt like a guinea pig, put in a closed box filled with cigarette's smoke to see the how many ways I can die. I'm not exaggerating.

If you still choose to be a smoker, please at least think about others who are not, have some considerations and ethical values.

"Do no harm, yourself or others"- Prophet Muhammad pbuh.

use condom to prevent pregnancy, idiot.

It is really really really disturbing to read the news about baby dumping now and then. These 'unwanted' babies not only dumped into trash bins, left at the mosque, by the road side or in the toilet or any other unthinkable places, but also some of them killed unintentionally. Or intentionally! gosh. It really has come to the limit. That is too much.



But sadly, ironically, or stupidly our self-righteous community still in a state of denial. Most of us cry foul every time such heart-wrenching things make the news. Not to mention those which didn't make it to the news and remained unknown.

This is what happen when we let those not wanting to have babies, to get pregnant and give birth. It's that simple.

The questions that are worth to look into are: why are they committing unlawful pre-marital sex, why the unprotected one, why not resort to legal abortion, and why can't they just let the babies being taken care of and live?

Some of us might blame them, the ones who did it. But it's obviously not totally their fault, but ours! No thanks to the hardship ones have to go through to get married, the complicated and expensive wedding, and the stigma that young unwed mothers have to face.

I said earlier that we are in denial because some of us won't admit that the usage and promotion of protections e.g. condoms can reduce the number drastically. Compare Malaysia with any western country. Those countries openly allow free sex and we say it is a bad western culture. But with cases of baby-dumping on the rise, what kind of better culture we have here? From this comparison we can see that the aetiology of this epidemic is not from the so called free sex itself but the ignorance that wearing protection and practising safe sex cam cure this 'disease'.

Our self-conscious friends and family worry so much that condom will promote free sex, which they worry so much about, apparently more than the fact that many innocent lives being dumped and some even murdered by those heartless murderer!

it's a relieved that there are some quarters aware of this fact and also pushing for the promotion of the usage of condom although some are against it.

So dear friends, I think it's about time to put our idiocy aside and remind each other to wear protection to prevent the unwanted pregnancy. Yeah, there must be other solutions to tackle this as most of us think but to ignore this one is moronic.

Prevention is better than cure.

that rainy sunday morning.

I woke up early yesterday on that rainy Sunday morning , 16th Oct 2011. I have no alarm (or phone equipped with alarm) so I depend on my biological clock to wake up every morning for the past several months.

after done getting ready for hospital, I stood outside of the door looking at the rain and thinking how was I suppose to go to the hospital. I tweeted:



I couldn't call taxi, rp10,000 was all in have in my wallet. I have some friends who had to go to the hospital too but they're going with bike so I didn't think I should trouble them. I decided to walk and wait for angkot, just outside of my residence area.

I had already walked halfway out when I noticed that my pants got so dirty. No thanks to the Japanese slipper that I was wearing and to that wet watery road. I turned and walked back home, changed my pants, put extra pants for change later and wore a shoe instead.

I waited for angkot no. 24 by the road side. Thank God the rain wasn't that heavy but still I went to a nearby shop selling fresh chicken for some shelter. it was a mistake. other than its super strong foul smell, I also happened to stand on soil with chicken poops everywhere on it. Few minutes later the angkot arrived and took me to jalan setia budi, where I had to change to angkot no. 62 to take me to the adam malik hospital.

I yelled (yes you have to yell) "pinggir pak" to stop the angkot. It didn't take long for me to realise that I left my wallet. it's in my dirty pants that I wore earlier at home. shit! hoping that I have some rupiahs in my bag to pay for the angkot, I searched my bags. Embarrassingly I dropped some of my stuffs on the road, like my toothbrush! No, I had no rupiah at all. The bapak just drove the angkot away disappointed. sorry pak!

then there I was. alone stranded. on a not so beautiful Sunday morning. penniless. and late for hospital. I texted some of my friends for help but to no respond. well, post Saturday night, with rainy cold Sunday morning, pretty sure they're still in deep sleep under their warm cosy blanket.

then I got a crazy idea. All I need was rp3000 to get me to Adam Malik Hospital. there were some people waiting for the angkot, a shop selling mie balap for breakfast and a shop selling cleaning stuffs like broom and mop, which apparently opened on Sunday.

I couldn't believe with what I had in mind. Asking people for rp3000? haha. Are they gonna believe me. and it's gonna be very embarrassing surely. I decided to try my luck at the mie balap shop but then I guessed, the few customers they have waiting for the food won't make it any easier for me. I turned to the broom shop instead and took a deep breath. it took me quite a few minutes and finally I forced myself into the shop.

Mama Trisno, as I know her name later looked at me in kind of disbelief look and told me to wait as she called her husband. I waited for few minutes and later she came out and hand me rp3000. I was so grateful and thanking her unstopping. Some part of me was in disbelieve as to how easy it was.

then I got into the angkot 62, grateful. later I got some reply texts from my friends, but by then I managed to handle it myself already. yay.

p/s: deep in me, I'm really angry with myself for always being too careless. I lost my ID cards for several times, my phones too, I went to the wrong airport a month a go and now this? sigh.

anyway, Thank you Mama Trisna!!

let's pledge to donate our organs!

some times around a year ago I signed up as an organ donor. I did it online, after reading a news about several critically ill patients waiting for organ transplant in a hospital in our country. the story has really touched me as many of the patients are still young, just started working and most of them are the breadwinner of their family. since the number of organ being donated is not much, many of these patients are kept waiting until their final breath.



my mother knew about this when the ID donor card was mailed to my house. on the phone she made it quite clear that she did not really approved of this. while I totally understood her worry, I explained to her my intention of helping the needy fellow human beings and that such act would not do me, or my dead body in this case, any harm.

from the religion point of view, this organ donation is totally permitted. In the Malaysian Society of Transplantation Society web site, it is said that National Fatwa Committee meeting on June 23 and 24 in 1970, assisted by a panel of medical experts, made the decision to allow organ transplantation based on acceptable juridical principles.



quoting from the article "Islam considers a disease as a natural phenomenon. However man should seek remedy, Allah, who causes ailments, also brings cure and redemption. Muslims are therefore encouraged to search for new modes of treatment and should apply them if proved successful."

I also have came across this one blog, saifulislam.com in which the writer explains it in a more refreshing and beautiful way. it's a really good post that I think everybody should read it.



so dearest friends, lets pledge as a donor, lets do this, lets help somebody to have their life back, to work for their family and lessen their sufferings, after we no longer need the organs.

I think it is not really something that is so hard to do as we are already gone, dead. we really don't need them anymore. it's just like donating out stuffs such as clothes that we no longer need. right?

so if you are interested, you can sign up at the National transplant resource center web site here. if you're in malaysia, you can also buy the form with only 60cents at the post office.

blackouts

it's raining heavily outside and I'm in the dark. No thanks to the blackout that happens very frequently nowadays.

I've blogged about how stressed I was due to this problem before in which I suggested that maybe they should allow a foreign expert to tackle this.

 

I was just started to find some info on the net about fractures in children when it went blackout. I tried to sleep but there were too many blood hungry female mosquitoes biting every part of my skin and there's a probability that some of those are transferring their infectious saliva into my blood stream. I covered my whole body under the blanket then it got too hot.

it's stressful as I just got back from hospital and want to spend the time as optimal as possible before going to spend the next day and night at the hospital again.

same thing happened two days ago when I was in the hospital. it was raining and suddenly, blackout. Normally the generator would be started to generate electricity for the whole hospital, but this time something went wrong as the electricity went on-off many times to the patients and their family members annoyance. The ward was totally dark. I also heard a doctor complaining how this has disturbed the operation that was going on during that time. Maybe this has not happened frequently but i think a place as important as a hospital just can't afford a power outage even a minute.

But as a foreigner in this country, i can't complain much as i afraid some people will take it wrongly as if I'm trying to find flaws and be critical of this country or that they will be offended.

so i silently hope that this problem will be gone and be the thing of the past soon.

i remember when i came here in 2006, some said this power problem would be over in 2006. then later 2011. well now as we are already in 2011 i really hope the authority or the government is not waiting for another year to act.

Medan as the biggest city in Sumatra island which is bigger than the Malay peninsular, need a continuous undisturbed electricity supply to grow. with the current growth of this city with its 5-star hotels and big malls, Medan can grow faster if the electricity problem is overcame.

Okay, it's already maghrib time in here, Azan is in the air calling people to pray and to achieve success. it's a total darkness in my house, so do my neighbours and many other people in this highly populated city. to people like me here all we can do is to pray for things to get better.

A doctor in the house: the memoirs of tun dr mahathir mohamad.

--> I had been wanting to buy this book since it first released in around March 2011. I was in Sumatra Indonesia and hence couldn’t get the book which was not yet available here.

So, I was elated when finally able to buy this book during the almost 2 weeks-off I took from my clinical as a medical student at the teaching hospitals in Medan. The holiday was necessary as I had to settle some of the immigration stuffs and needed to go to the Indonesian embassy in KL. Since my temporary residence card expiry date falls on raya, I couldn't be more grateful.

But the buy of this book itself was quite an issue for me, personally as I'm coming from a low middle-class family in which money is use with extra care and only spend it when necessary.

And of course a books that costs me RM100 book is unnecessary. When my sisters found out that I bought this book, it since then continually became a point of validation of me not spending money wisely. And later associating me as someone who is immature, who can’t decide which is more important as later they also found out that I complained to my parents that I don’t even have any underwear to wear anymore. Though having none was merely an intended exaggeration, I truly needed a shopping as the last one I did was 5 years ago paid by my sister. Hence, needing a few new pants, I tried to get some sympathy from my parents and that explains the exaggeration. It finally paid off when my dad gave me a few bucks of money and I did the much needed shopping. So the immature part is simply when I chose to buy the book instead of the clothes.

Unexpectedly the MARA loan which normally gets in the bank account at the end of each month wasn’t there by the time when I was already in Malaysia. Having to pay for the visa, I borrowed some money from a friend. And my sister too, I thought wanting to help, handed me RM100. I used the extra money that I had borrowed to buy this book.

I was so eager to read this book that as soon as I bought this book at Konikuniya KLCC, I sat on a bench outside the shop and started reading and finished a few chapters. The book is really good. I love memoir in general and this book, having written by one of the best Malaysian leader made it even more interesting.

I read it during the busy raya holiday. And when I was back in Medan to continue my duty as co-assistant here, I couldn’t read much as I was too busy, especially week 9 in surgery department. Finally on the last day in surgery, that Saturday night I finished reading this book. And it was 3 a.m. I found the last paragraph was quite sad.

I love every chapter of this book. Dr Mahathir is really somebody who deserves all the praises given to him. The unusual ways he took to face the financial crisis and the visions he has for the future Malaysia is outstanding. Even though he mostly discussed serious national matters (compare to a more personal in others) in his memoir, I sometimes find myself smiling or even laughing to it. I don’t know whether this is appropriate or not as I think reading this book is more entertaining than watching a movie during free times. The movie I played in my computer always playing itself alone without getting any attention from me when I have this book in my hand.

The book tells a story of Mahathir in his early life, how he sees his Malay communities, the colonies, the politics and also his study in medical college. I find this is very interesting especially when he said that he was really scared of dead bodies in his early years as me too actually have the same problem.

There are 62 chapters in this 843-page book. The ex-premier touched on a variety of issue that really shows how careful and wisely he handled each one of them. Being a medical student he admits he lacked some knowledge on economy or law but he glad he wasn’t an expert on these subject which makes him not aligned or subject to general expert believes and see the whole thing from more clearly and unattached view. I also glad when he explains on the financial crisis, why he thinks it happened and what measures actually taken by Malaysian government then to overcome it.

His dislike for the western developed country is quite clear and I quickly understand why as I read. His personal life is not much written in the memoir but I am really satisfied with his take on everything else such as on physical projects which he thinks are important infrastructures to build a modern Malaysia. His account to every issue such as the sacking of his deputy or other issues also clearly explained from his point of view.

Somebody responded to my tweet on twitter by suggesting me to read the maverick mahathir written by an Australian. But I don’t think m gonna read it as m not interested in finding somebody’s flaws. The writer also is not really someone who has contributed to our country (at least not to my knowledge) so I don’t think he deserve my attention to read his work.

I also hope other leaders in Malaysia such as Anwar Ibrahim, Nik Aziz or Tun Abdullah to also write their memoirs too as I want to see things from their perspectives and to learn something from it and from their life.



 Having finished reading this book, I totally not regretting buying it in the first place. It’s totally worth it. A must read to all Malaysians and everyone.