Argh! Phlegm

Been having incessant postnasal drips since last Saturday. It contributes to my cough; I am trying very hard to cough out all the phlegm that is a result of the postnasal drip. Did not have much luck until I came upon this website today. Not sure if this is an unorthodox method, but it did help me cough out a lot of yellow phlegm just now. My parents were so worried when I was hacking away in the toilet.

My mom insisted I go see a doctor tomorrow. Which I think I will seriously consider, seeing that my voice is still as hoarse as last week. Guess I really need to rest my voice and not talk so much.

Neopets

Yes, virtual pet. Was bored so I decided to visit my pet and earn some neopoints while I was there. What is amazing about neopet is it allows for irresponsiblities; you can simply fail to look after you pet for ages and it is still alive. It will simply exist in the cyberworld in a perpetual dying state until you feed it some food. Play with it for a couple of weeks and you can leave it to "die" again until you are free to feed it.

When we talk about humans being attracted to the cyberworld and losing our humanity in it, I sometimes wonder if it is an over-hype. I had my pet for more than 3 years now. The only time I had consistently fed it, groom it, play with it was when I was still in school. Once I started work, I probably only played with it 2-3 times a year. Lack of time.

Cyber is still cyber. It is not real. If I had a real pet it would probably not allow me to ignore it for this long, case in point is me and the stray cat that came to deliver outside my house a couple of years back. Although she has left my block for ages, but while she decided to make a home out of my parents empty pots (for plants) we fed her and looked after her kittens. It was a good time and the closest I came to having a pet.

Neopets. Guess my brain can still differentiate the real from the unreal.

Impassivity, Barriers

Have you ever taken a good look at the people taking the same lift as you? I don't. Why bother. The person taking the lift may not be any neighbours, could be somebody visiting whoever's living in the same block as me. Of course, I still know some of the people living one floor above and below me. It's not as if I totally do not bother to know people.

When I returned home this afternoon, there was an old lady standing near the lift and when she saw my handphone she asked if she can use the handphone. Maybe I paused for longer than necessary. She immediately say it is okay if she cannot borrow the phone, but can I just help her call her sister who is living in this block as she cannot remember which unit her sister is staying in. Seriously speaking, the first thought that came to my mind was: is she going to steal my handphone? However, if you had seen her, you would think I am crazy. This is an old lady who is around 70 years old. Even if she were to steal my handphone, I could easily take it back from her. She is not as strong as me, and she definitely cannot outrun me so there is no harm in letting her use my handphone.

Anyway, she could not find the number and when she asked me which floor I am staying, I lied. She then started telling me in Hokkien how her sister looked like and how her sister is never without the maid as she has to be pushed around in the wheelchair. No go there. I have never seen anybody around being pushed in wheelchair. Anyway, to cut the long story short, I brought her around looking for her sister's house. Not too tough with a few appropriate questions from me and some vague ideas from her.

What struck me as I think back on this is my lack of trust and the ease of giving false information so strangers cannot trace me. Sigh... mistrust of others. I was not like this.

Brain Contusion

Mom asked me how come the hospital did not give me MC for today, and my answer was, "Not enough manpower how to take MC." Guess it is natural for parents to worry about their children, because the next thing my mom said was I should not be bothered whether there is enough manpower. That is for the management to worry. If I am sick I should take MC and have a good rest at home.

Maybe I should, but I do feel bad that I left my senior to fend for himself on his first day back at work on Monday. Oh well, things were not too bad today, considering he tried to do more dispensing so I can rest my voice. Anyway, the cough is catching up. Having very bad daytime cough now, and I am getting a headache from it. Must be due to my brain getting knocked against the skull when I cough too hard.

I can feel the sedative effect of Procodin taking place. Time to snooze.

Antihistamines

Yah, you know the class of medication that blocks the release of histamines so you do not get symptoms such as runny nose and itchiness etc. Problem with the first generation antihistamines is they cause drowsiness, that is why you will be cautioned against driving and operating machinery. For aunties I always add in that they should not be cooking after they take antihistamines. No, I am not worried they'll mistake sugar for salt or vice versa. I am more worried they go take a nap, leave the soup to boil and then... you get the idea.

I took one that is combined with a decongestant last night as I was again experiencing post-nasal drip. Really should not have done that given the history that I usually have carry-over effects. Woke up this morning feeling groggy although it's been more than 8 hours after I took the antihistamine. Sighz... and I still have to work.

What a Pharmacist Does when Sick...

1. Self-medicate. Unfortunately the disease still has to run its own course so I still end up losing my voice from the incessant nocturnal coughs. Well, at least the mucolytic is working and the thick phlegm is showing signs of dislodging itself from my respiratory tract. I can breathe better now.

2. See doctor for MC. Sad to say, this is an all important piece of paper if you do not want to work, although it is obvious I cannot be dispensing to patients without my voice.

3. Tell the doctor what meds I do not need. Haha... luckily my family doctor knows I am a pharmacist so she is not offended, but she obviously thinks I need a course of antibiotics to prevent secondary infection of the throat. Guess she knows my medical history better.

4. Practise "professional" judgement. I know the usual dose of the mucolytic I am using is 600mg once a day, but it is not working fast enough so I decided to double the dose to 600mg twice a day. Heck, my professional judgement tells me I will not die of overdose, and neither will I be experiencing side effects so... just double the dose until all the phlegm clears up. Haha!

Still Hazy

2 weeks after my friend's post on the haze, the papers are still talking about the haze. Still talking about how Indonesia's government should have plans in place to prevent this from happening, still talking about other countries placing pressure on the Indonesia government to do something about the haze issue. The only interesting thing to note is the fact that the haze is going to last longer this time round as the monsoon is not coming anytime soon.

It's amazing how humans are still as inefficient as ever and nobody's perturbed by this inefficiency. Just continue talks at the drawing board, continue the blame game while the fires continue burning.

Man's Voice

Wah! After coughing through the whole night, fighting with thick phelgm lodged in the chest, constant post nasal drip and persistent block nose I wake up this morning with a man's voice. Definitely going to take MC tomorrow.

I did ask to be sick, but I much prefer to contend with fever and sleep throughout the whole day than not be able to communicate except via sms and paper. It's a torture to be so mentally alert and yet not be able to use the voice to communicate. Sighz...

My Presents from Jap!

Haha... saw my senior today. I had to do afternoon A&E duty, and he came back to check his over-flooded mail box. Saw him carrying some bags and I excitedly pointed at the bags asking if my presents are in there. (Yah, I know I sound like a kid getting excited when the dad comes home with presents.)

Although he did not get me the full list of things I wanted, but it is good enough. So happy to see my チョコレトPocky stick, and aluminium screw-capped Qoo. The Winnie the Pooh sweet is not exactly the one I wanted, but it's okay. The box looks pretty though I still preferred the box I brought back in 2003. Then there's the handphone trinket... kind of look like the one I got him from Taiwan except it's much bigger and made of a different material. Great minds think alike eh.

Oh well, it certainly is good to see him back again. No need to work with covers anymore. Yeah!

I want to Fall Sick!

Why is everybody falling sick and I'm not. Actually it's not that I don't fall sick it's usually just a small sniffle and cough now and then, not the full blown type with high fever and all. Unfortunately, only those full blown ones will get you an mc...

I am tired of covering the duties of other people, and I am tired of knowing the complains my cover made about my section by hearsay. I mean what is her stupid problem? First I heard she requested not to cover on Thurs and Fri because the pediatric renal consultant is having clinic on those days and it will be very busy. She is not the one running the pediatric counter. I am. She is always hogging the orthopedic counter so just what the heck is she talking about. Naturally, this is by hearsay and me being me confronted her about it. She either did not have the guts to tell me in my face what exactly she told my outpatient in-charge, or my other colleague misinterpreted what she said.

Next, I heard her cash till was short of money while I was away covering my colleague the day before yesterday. My tech asked her to top up the money as per requirement should the cash till be short. She was not happy about it, and again complained to the outpatient in-charge and told him she does not want to come and cover anymore. Hello. There are times when I worked with her and my pediatric counter would be mysteriously short of money everyday. When I closed my counter I would just pay up grudgingly. Allow me to bear a grudge because whenever I worked with my senior or my junior (the protangonist here is my classmate) it is once in a long while cash shortage, and the amount is usually small, less than $5.

I just want to fall sick, take 4 days mc and go sleep out. Yah, I know mc is usually 2 days, but trust me. Once I develop fever, it usually last that long and they have no choice but to let me go on 4 days mc. Or maybe I should go speak to my big boss and request for 2 weeks no pay leave. Heck why should it be no pay leave when I still cannot finish clearing my leave from last year!

The Poor

Overheard a discussion on the poor in Singapore. Someone said the poor will continue being poor as most of them are not well-educated and this limits the jobs they can take up. When asked how such situations can be improved such that the poor can move out of the rut, most just beat about the bush.

Actually, the Singapore government has already put in place long-term plans on helping the poor break the vicious cycle: compulsory education. Education is one of the platforms that can help the next generation break out of the poverty circle of the current generation. Call it an investment into the future.

However, to eradicate poverty is not possible in any country or society simply because poverty is relative. A country can be prosperous, but there will always be a group of people who cannot keep up with the country's economic growth. In other words, the poor will always be amongst us. The thing to be concerned is whether we can decrease the odds of the poor (including the next generation) from becoming poorer.

Messing Around...

Yah, kind of tired of the same old same old. Decided to change some coloring and fonts on the blog. Wait till I figure out how to mess around more with html or xhtml. Will see more changes, but for the time being, it's just fonts and colors. Talking about fonts, there are tons of interesting (and readable) fonts out there, but I wonder why some are not supported by html...

Ramblings

Murder: Today's Straits Times reported the verdict on the man who murdered his wife outside her workplace. I don't know when I have become jaded, but I have. I no longer feel anything when reading about murders. Heck I don't even bother reading the details anymore, just the headlines. It is happening everyday, everywhere anyway. What is there to read about the deterioration of humanity; people succumbing to their animalistic instincts. Guess people no longer turn back to see what's following them. Come to think of it, I don't do that either, but I have a good reason because I know my God's angel(s) are behind.

Haze: There's an in-depth report on the haze situation in Indonesia in today's Straits Times. It is basically a dissection of the current situation, and it made me glad that there are people out there who agreed with me that it is cheaper to just burn the forests. Not that we supported the burning, but you got to look at the big picture. Impoverished country needing a quick and cheap way to clear the land. So all those nature societies what-nots, and neighbouring countries, stop wasting time talking, and start doing something to actually help Indonesia.

Mobile Phone: Weekend papers always have tons of advertisements on mobile phones. I really wanted to change my lousy Samsung phone, but nothing really catches my eyes. Okay, those that do get my attention are not within my cheapskate budget. I am simply not willing to part with $500+ just to get a mobile with multiple functions considering the most common function I use is the sms. Games, music and camera functions? Try beating my PDA, mp3 player and Canon Powershot.

Birthday: Yah, I turned 26 a few days back. Celebrated for 3 days straight. First day almost got drunk on cold sake with my secondary school friends. Okay, not drunk. I turned red and almost puked. No high sensation. Just wanted to puke. Second day, Jap food again, but with pharmacy friends. My friend from TTSH laughed and said it was surprising that all except one could make it as it was a last minute gathering. Next time she will not plan birthday gatherings 1 month ahead. Third day, with family. The usual fare, shark's fin soup, grilled honey chicken and broccoli. I shall ask for flower crabs next year. :D

I'm Paid Third World Salary

I know I've been complaining about my job way before this blog was even started, and I know people get tired of hearing me "singing" about my frustrations with work. Yet, I just cannot help complaining. It is something to help me keep my sanity and to give me a false sense of righteousness.

Seeing that the year is coming to an end and I would very likely tender after my year-end bonus sits snugly in my bank account, I started surfing the net on information such as career choices, and career changes etc... you get the picture. Happened to chance upon this website dealing with salary survey in US. Curiosity got the better of me and I automatically clicked on the salary survey for pharmacist and guess what! Pharmacists in US are paid loads better than us here in Singapore.

The national average is USD93,300 per annum. That's USD7775 (~S$12K) per month! Even if I were to compare to the lowest state average (Washington DC) which is USD88,000 per annum, I cannot help but feel underpaid. Granted the living standard is much higher in US, but I am sure it is not 5 times higher than Singapore. I am only drawing a fifth of the US national average, but I have to work much harder. On average, an inpatient pharmacist have to look after 100-150 patients in Singapore. This compared to the average of one pharmacist to 10-20 patients in US... we are working 5 times harder but paid 5 times lower.

It made me realise that Singapore despite trying to market itself to have world class healthcare services are not paying the people working in healthcare world class salaries. Kind of sad really. Lack of monetary compensation, long and unpredictable working hours are what drives people out of healthcare services, and policy makers do not realise this. They continue to hold stupid meetings after meetings to discuss on how to retain the young pharmacists in the profession.

Get this: we need to be paid more, and you need to cut down the repetitive work we are doing. We did not go to university just to say, "Take 1 tablet 2 times a day," every working day.

Still @ Work

Typing this while waiting for my tech to finish preparing the TPN bags. Yes... it's Saturday 15:45 now, and I am still in the hospital, and guess what, I've been here since 08:45. Talk about work life balance. What balance is there when the patients take precedence over your personal life?

First I had to extend my pharmacy's opening hours because the consultant had not finished reviewing her patients, and the main pharmacy is closed at 13:00. I mean fair enough. It is not the patients' fault that the consultant cannot finish within the pharmacy opening hours.

Next, my colleague paged me to say there is an urgent TPN, as in the doctor insisted on giving the patient TPN even though he was told the pharmacy lab is not opened today. Smart... Was really pissed off with my colleague although I know I should not be. Told her the patient will have to wait. I am in the pharmacy alone with only one pharmacy assistant so there is no way I can just leave the pharmacy and go down to lab to prepare the TPN.

Really angry with the hospital for making me work so hard. I am going to claim overtime for the everything including the Sat that I had to come back to work although it was suppose to be my off day. If my outpatient in-charge wants me to convert to off days, I am seriously going to complain big time to my big boss. Okay... got to go. Got to start filling up my form.

Squandering Tax Payers' Money

They are the bane of the healthcare system in Singapore. They come to restructured hospitals and polyclinics wanting tons of medicine some of which are just health supplements or cosmetic products; wanting A class treatment when they are too cheapskate to go to private hospitals. Yes, I am talking about the civil servants. All civil servants hold what we call the civil service card (CSC), and they get free healthcare services in restructured hospitals and polyclinics. Well, at least for the old timers on the pension scheme healthcare services are absolutely free for them. The newer generation of civil servants are on what we called the co-payment scheme; they have to pay a fixed percentage of the medical bills. Although things were slightly better with the co-payment scheme, we still have a large number of people on the pension scheme and they are the true bane.

Allow me to list down all the disgusting things those on pension scheme had done.

1. They collect the whole entire years' worth of vitamins, and health supplements eg. evening primrose oil. I am not denying patients who really need supplements because of poor health, but I have patients who told me they take the vitamin E capsules because they want to use the vitamin E oil for cosmetics purpose; basically they open up the capsule and use the oil for application on the face. In addition, when doctors prescribe vitamins for them, they will always request for the most expensive brand available. When one of my colleagues tried explaining that we cannot give that particular brand to him, he retorted saying, "Why can't I have it?! The government owes me." I was really embarrassed because my colleague, a Malaysian, quirked her eyebrows at me and asked, "Your government doesn't give salaries to the civil servants?" This is one of the many instances that makes me ashamed to be a Singaporean.

2. Some of these patients also abuse the system by getting different specialists to prescribe the same list of over-the-counter medicines. When you add it all together, they have probably collected more than 1 yrs' worth of medicine in just a few months' time. What is worse we have staff seeing these patients selling the medicine they collected to other people. Some sell near the MRT stations, and there was even one that set up stall in Toa Payoh. The one in Toa Payoh was actually caught on camera and a news report came out in the New Paper a few months back. I mean they are seriously "very smart". Collecting all these medicine and then selling at a lower -than-market price because no matter what price they sell, they earn a 100% profit. Okay... my bro's reading this while I'm typing and he says there can never be 100% profit by virtue of the fact that profit is calculated by taking selling price minus cost price divided by the cost price. If the patient's cost price is zero, in theory profit is infinite. (^o^)

3. They think holding the CSC mean everybody must kow-tow to them. They think they deserved to be treated with more respect than other patients. They complain that services are slow and they had to wait about half a day in the hospital just to see the doctor and then collect medicine. Well, what is there to complain about something that is free of charge? I can understand paying class (private) patients complaining. After all, they pay the full price so it is natural for them to expect timely services. If those CSC patients without serious illness (meaning those who only come to collect vitamins etc) stop coming to clog up the scarce hospital resources we can probably give other patients a much more personalised care. I mean they can always go to the polyclinics, or if they prefered a hospital setting they are most welcomed to go to private hospitals. I forgot, they are probably cheapskates.

I know it is not right of me to think in this manner, but I really wish they will just drop dead and stop giving us so much problems. I mean they are nothing but pests squandering the tax dollars when the tax dollars can be put to better use for patients on the Health Services Development Program (HSDP). I can still remember the time when the HSDP funding for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) ran dry and how some patients who benefited from the HSDP funding were at a lost when they realise they can no longer afford the treatment. I don't mind my tax dollars going to these patients, but I absolutely abhore to know that my tax dollars are squandered by the CSC patients.

Eyebrows

Thought my colleague looked funny today. She looked perpetually unfriendly and almost always looked bewildered. It was until late afternoon then I realised she had her eyebrows plucked albeit a lousy job done. Haha... made me feel better that I did not bother with what some people said about me needing to pluck my eyebrows.

Stocktake

Had stocktake for the past 2 days. Did not take long to finish counting the stocks as my section is relatively small. Anyway, we cheated. Friday was not busy so started counting during office hours. On Sat, which is the official stocktake day, we started scanning in the quantities the moment we arrived.

Today, we counted the stock variances. Heaved a sigh of relief when my technician called just now to inform me the stock variance is only $110. Stocktake is not something I look forward to, but it is a necessary evil. Tired...

In Response to "Haze Season"

This was intended to be a comment on a friend's blog, but decided to post it on my blog instead as I was getting really long winded. For details on my friend's post you can click on the words "haze season" in the title.

To answer the question "Is Indonesia really that poor to protect its own resources?" It is yes and no. Burning of the forest is probably much faster and easier in economic terms. You don't need to pour in huge amounts of money into it, but at the end you'll have cleared lands for development that can potentially improve the country's economy. Let's just say this is Indonesia's decision on how to get the most economic return out of limited resources.

It is the same reason why George Bush refuses to participate in the Kyoto Protocol and we are talking about US which really has the economic means to cut down greenhouse gases emission. I forgot, he probably squandered a large amount of the country's resources waging wars and hunting down Hussein and Osama. Back to the point. What George Bush sees is the shrink in profit from the revenue pie if US is to use greener industrial methods. His short-sightedness will probably cost the country more in terms of healthcare expenditure and worsening living conditions in the long run. Nothing we can do here if George Bush refuses to budge.

Right or wrong we cannot force our opinions on the Indonesian government. Given the circumstances and resources of Indonesia, can other world leaders say with certainty they would not also make the same decision? The haze may be affecting the health of millions and causing damage to our environment, but so does the fumes spouted by factories brought about by the industrial revolution. Developed countries arrived at their economic prowess today by slowly poisoning the world too, and some continue to do so even when they know the long-term impact on the environment.

All in all, let those who have not sinned cast the first stone.

Employment rate

Saw the headline on The Straits Times (06/10/2006) regarding employment rate in Singapore. According to what was reported, Singapore's employment rate is now at a 15-year high. The article went on about how there was a significant increase in the number of women and elderly in employment. For women, the article attributed it to higher education and the desire to pursue a career rather than staying at home. For the elderly, it was attributed to the change in mindset of employers to hire older workers, and also a change in the mindset of the elderly to retire earlier. I am sceptical.

For starters, anybody who has studied micro-economics knows that there is such a thing as underemployment. It refers to those who are employed, but not in the desired capacity in terms of compensation, hours, or level of skill and experience. This group of people are in employment, any kind of employment, as long as there is some income; reason being they cannot afford to be unemployed. They are considered as employed, but on a stricter sense are not fully employed since their capabilities are not fully utilised. There may be those who cannot find jobs during the economic downturn and were only able to gain employment with the recent job growth. Therefore, in the midst of having an all time high employment rate, we still cannot be certain that there is no significant underemployment.

Although I do not refute the positive relationship between higher education and the desire to try and pursue a career in women, how much of the recent increase in employment in this group can be attributed to this reason? There should be a comparison on the percentage of the female population who are degree/ diploma holders between now and whichever quarter the statisticians are talking about. Only when such comparisons are made can we make the statement attributing the increase in female employment rate to an increase in the education level. Another issue to consider is whether the recent increase in employment could be due to re-entry into the workforce after the economic downturn.

As for the elderly, I am apt to think the reason given for increased employment rate in this group is just some hype to encourage the employers to hire more elderly workers and the employees to retire later. I am interested to know which areas of work the elderly are working in. I am also interested to know if they are re-entering the workforce or they have been in the workforce and are staying on. I am not sure of the percentage of the elderly workforce in low paying jobs, but I do wonder if they are in low paying jobs because they are not capable of performing in higher paying jobs or they are underemployed.

With regards to those re-entering the workforce, are they all doing it because they believe they will have a more fulfilling life working or is there a significant percentage working because their nest egg cannot sustain them. With the Asian economic crisis in 1997, and the economic downturn in 2001, lost of job and failure to gain re-employment meant those affected probably had to start dipping into the retirement savings much earlier than expected. The end result is the failure of the retirement savings to sustain throughout the planned retirement years, and hence it becomes a matter of no choice that this group of people had to re-enter the workforce, when the country's economy is recovering, to stretch the remainder retirement dollar.

All time high employment rate? It is just roses covering the thorns beneath.

No Leave for the Rest of the Year...

It's confirmed. I can only convert my unconsumed leave from 2005 to off days. I'm not even allowed to encash. Off days, as far as I am concerned, will never come. Really disgusted.

Yeah!!

Was wondering about beta blogger and decided to make a switch amidst a nagging feeling that this upgrade may be worse than the original. Call me a cynic but I can't help it with the hospital constantly rolling upgrades that create more bugs than the original program.

Anyway, reason I'm happy was because previously I cannot use Mozilla on the old platform and I have been using Mozilla for years. Just to publish post, I had to resort to my ancient Internet Explorer. Okay... I will probably upgrade my Mozilla next although I think mine is only 1 or 2 versions behind the latest one so an upgrade is not urgent.

\(^o^)/

Propagation

Why do people have children? Are they truly fruits of love between two people? Or are they just tools to ensure the continuation of the human race? Or maybe they are just the wish of 2 people wanting to know that a part of them continues to exist in this world?

I read about the Singapore government lamenting about the low birth rate and how we can never replace our population if we continue at this rate. Heck, with no mood for sex what does the government wants the married couples to do?

I read about AIDs spreading like wild fire in third world countries, and I wonder if it is time for the human race to end. Here we have people propagating much more rapidly than us, yet the irony is these people are not going to live long. Even if they do, they are no longer part of the propagation stream; the diseased are not favored by natural selection.

Do not be mistaken, I have nothing against children. I have always gotten along with them seeing that I am kind of a big kid myself. Nevertheless, I do wonder if there is any need for human propagation. What are we bringing the next generation into? A world that is dying from the constant pollution? A world where human relationship is easily destroyed with the slightest provocation? A world plagued by diseases that spelt unfaithfulness? A world that people start to form cyber cocoons round themselves? Can the children be safe and happy in this kind of world?

I don't know.
I really don't know.
I am not pro-life, neither am I anti-life.
I am just an observer.