Weather

As far as I know it, El Nino has not passed. The droughts in Australia's not improving and crops are not growing. Cattle have to be manually fed instead of letting them graze the fields. However, Yun commented that the mornings are getting colder. I agree, it almost feels like waking up to springtime in Japan. Except it's bright and full of sunshine in Jap while it's dark and windy in Singapore.

Well, people have been saying the El Nino effect should be coming to an end soon, but the last time it ended, La Nina followed. Out with the droughts and in with the floods.

This is What Happens When...

The country does not have natural resources.

First it was water. During the final years of Mahathir’s rule the water supply issue went to the chopping board almost every year. I will not rant about the water supply issue because we have not been hearing it ever since Abdullah Badawi has taken over Mahathir. Anyway, we have our pathetic Newater which only provides 1% of our water consumption..

This time, Indonesia is not giving us concreting sand on the grounds that it is protecting its environment and borders. Sounds like b***s*** it to me. If they are really that concerned about the environment, they should really do something about the forest fires as well. Of course, Singapore’s at fault too. Stupid of us to put all our eggs into one nest. Anyway, time to look for other sources of concreting sand, and possibly other types of building material.

忘根、忘本

Globalisation. The paradigm of our era. People leave their countries of birth, settling where their jobs, their passions bring them. Or on a sad note, leaving in seek of asylum. However, there is something that I cannot understand. When you leave, do you have to leave all that define you behind?

I know of a nurse from China. For reasons I do not understand, she would never speak to me in Chinese. She'll always speak to me in her Chinese accented English even if I were to speak to her in Chinese, and this really bugs me. I never have this problem with other China nurses in the wards. Most would speak to me in Chinese or more commonly they'll learn to speak Singlish. Is the English-speaking nurse so ashamed of being a Chinese from China, that she has to speak in English all the time? I mean, wouldn't you get a warm feeling when people speak to you in a language you can understand in a foreign country?

Then, there was this Philipino who married to a Singaporean guy. When my tech, also a Philipino, spoke to her in Tagalog, she feigned ignorance and claimed that she does not understand Tagalog. She affirmed she was from Philippines, but is now a Singaporean and not a Philipino. I have nothing against people wanting to be Singaporeans, and adapting to our culture. However, to the extend of denying your roots is something I cannot understand. No matter how you hide, your language betrays you. Accents can be trained, but not many can actually master the accent and pronunciation perfectly unless it is their job to do so. Most people will still slip back to their original accents occasionally.

忘根、忘本，难道就一定要这样才能在它处落脚吗？

Age Must Be Catching Up...

Been having aches in my right wrist for the past couple of days and this morning I woke up to aches and stiffness in my right knee and ankle. Guess age is finally catching up with me for all the abuses I had put my body through when I was in school. And I suppose standing the whole day while at work is not really helping people like me who had a history of knee injury.

Going Back to Basics

For a long while I've drifted from my training in classical music. After I stopped taking piano lessons, I dabbled in some pop music, but mostly anime and video games music. Had enjoyed them for a short while. Eventually, I realised I am just playing the notes, I cannot grasp the essence of those music. Or maybe there was nothing for me to grasp in the first place.

Then I gave up playing the piano. Naturally I gave all sorts of excuses not to play the piano more often. Eventually, I can only remember how to play one song from memory: As the Deer Pants For the Water. However, I felt something stirring in me when I had the chance to hear some classical music recently. Made me realise that I still love classical music more. It is something I can understand, something I can express.

Irritations

Sometimes, the people who irritate you happen to be those who are close to you.

Mom: She thinks studying for a PhD is like taking some cooking course or language course. You can do it part time, and finish it in no time. Don't know how many times I've told her that if I were to do PhD, I won't do clinical pharmacy; it has to be research because I am not about to go into clinical pharmacy and then still end up serving stupid patients. And I've no idea how many times I've told her that it is NUS that awards the PhD and not the hospital. I can do a uni-hospital joint research, but doing research in the hospital is not going to give me the PhD. Duh!

Aunt: What I cannot understand is how she managed to be promoted to the position of a pharmacy technician and not know that sales of Procodin cough syrup is restricted. I am not expecting her to know what is the legal quantity permitted for each purchase, that's my job, but she should know that sales is restricted seeing that the polyclinic's policy is not to sell any Procodin over-the-counter. However, when I told her that I can only get her 2 bottles of the cough syrup BECAUSE IT IS AS WRITTEN IN THE LAW for over-the-counter sales, she kept asking if I can help her get 3 bottles. Hello?! Anybody up there?! It's the law! I'd get hauled to the pharmacy board for investigation if people report that I abused my license to get more than the legally permitted quantity of Procodin syrup.

And this was suppose to be my day of rest.

I Can Get Use to This Kind of Life

Waking up early in the morning, going for a jog in the slight drizzle, coming back and then start blog... er I mean start getting ready for work. LOL

Haven't been exercising. I know I've been using work as an excuse, but then again, I'm off work today so... work is still my excuse for not exercising more often. Too tired after a day of fighting with patients and not getting any job satisfaction...

Back With A Vengeance

Yes! My Stupid, Rude Singaporean blog's back with a vengeance, and the blog name has morphed to better reflect the bulk of the blog's contents. URL is still the same, and you can access it from my sidebar under "links".

Because We Are Malaysians

As required by my boss when I gave him my resignation, I spoke to my colleague regarding the cover of her duties during CNY. When I told her I cannot understand why both she and the first cover cannot take the standby duty on CNY, her answer to me, in a matter-of-fact tone, was, "Because we are Malaysians."

I expected her to give me that answer, but I was hoping she would offer up front to do the standby without making a last pitch at trying to get me to do it. The "we are Malaysians" thingy just totally puts me off. Told her off that being Malaysians does not give them the right to go back during CNY, and that she and the first cover had taken me for granted. I know they are away from home, but to be fair both of them cannot always use the excuse of being Malaysians to dump the standby duties on me. If they are so concerned with the fact that they are Malaysians then pay up the bond, and then go back to Malaysia for good. Why work in Singapore?!

We all know we have to make sacrifices working in the healthcare line, because you cannot tell the patients not to fall sick on public hols. It is not something they can control. So when we have public hols, we take turns to go off; that is playing fair and nice. When I turned this into a rhetorical question for her asking what she is going to do if the whole department is run by Malaysians and everybody wants to go back during CNY, she just kept quiet. I do not know what her silence meant, but it felt good to pour out my frustrations... and anger at her.

I've yet to give her my answer as to whether I will be helping her do the standby duty, but I know I will end up doing the duty. Why? Because I am a sucker for sob stories such as "It is the only time we get to meet up with all our family for a reunion."

茶舞 (NC-16)

Went to watch One Last Dance aka Tea Dance with Yun today. Actually, the movie is quite profound. Was kind of lost somewhere in between. I think Yun dozed off sometime around the time I was not really following the movie.

Anyway, when we bought tix for the movie, there was some misunderstanding. See, the counter person kept looking at me and I thought well, maybe she was just trying to keep eye contact as part of good customer service. Then she asked to check my IC. Why?! Because she thought I was under 16! Yun was appalled and started ranting at how I cannot make it etc etc. I was only glad I had my IC with me else I won't be allowed to watch the movie. (-_-!)

The Angry Pharmacist

No, I am not referring to myself although I am an angry pharmacist too. Anyway, that's besides the point. I am referring to a fellow blogger in US who happens to be a pharmacist as well. My senior up in inpatient was trying to search for my blog and she chanced upon this site.

The posts are hilarious, and the patients he met are every bit as stupid as the ones in Singapore. This kind of rekindled the fire in me to post more often on my Stupid, Rude Singaporean blog. Anyway, for my convenience I have added a link to my sidebar. :D

MacDonalds

Mac burgers are getting sadder and sadder. When I ate Macs for lunch today, I realised the fillet burger has significantly shrunk in size over the years. Serves to remind me why I did not like Macs when I was in secondary school and junior college; the portion is too small to feed a growing kid.

Taken For Granted

Was really pissed off yesterday. Checked my email and found out I was rostered to be oncall during the Chinese New Year (CNY) week. I did expect to do my oncall sometime in Feb so that was okay. When I informed the lab pharmacist I cannot be her standby for the coming CNY, she asked me if I can swap my oncall with another colleague such that she and the first cover can go back to Malaysia.

Now, this really annoys me to no end. I was the standby for the long X'mas weekend, and the long New Year weekend so the 2 of them can "go back to Malaysia". So just what the heck does she want me to do now?! I did agree to go back to the hospital and prepare TPN on the 3rd day of CNY, but that was before I found out I was oncall. And since somebody definitely need to go back to prepare TPN, either she or the first cover has to sacrifice their CNY to be the standby.

When I told her I am definitely not going to be her standby and not going back to prepare TPN, she started whining that she and the first cover will both be in Malaysia. Just because the 2 of them are bloody Malaysians does not give them the right to go back every time the public hols fall on a long weekend, and then letting me, the stupid Singaporean, do all the standby duties. I'm sick and tired talking to all these selfish idiots. Seriously considering giving my letter coming Mon such that my last day falls just before the CNY. Still have 36hrs to mull over this.

狗急跳墙时...

就丢辞职信。

Difficult Questions Every One

To Abort or Not to Abort:
Ever watched TV dramas portraying those who lost their minds? You know, those who no longer had any life in their eyes and are forever trapped in a world hard for us to reach? Yeah, that was how my friend is like now. She has this dazed look about her, and no longer respond when you talk to her. She does not even bother to clean herself up and just let the breast milk drip and mess up her blouse.

Essentially, she is going through post-natal depression (PND), but it is something we all expected to happen as she is not ready to be a parent plus she had a history of depression a few years back. When we found out she wanted to abort the baby at 30wks, my first reaction was, "It is a hard decision." My senior gave me a funny look. I then add on, "If she really really cannot cope with having a baby mentally and physically, then she should have aborted right at the beginning when she discovered she was pregnant. Not when she's 30 wks into her pregnancy."

Okay, that's it, my senior started saying things like it is not fair for the baby, yada yada... My counter argument, "So you mean it is fair to bring the baby into this world and deny him of parental love?" I must clarify that I AM NOT PRO-ABORTION. I know my friend, that's why I say what I am saying. She would have been a loving mother, that much I know, but she is just not ready and being in a foreign country with no next of kin except the stupid husband is not really helping.

Anyway, to what end now that the baby is born, and my friend is reduced to an empty shell who just keep mumbling, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

To Continue Living Or Die:
Imagine the day when you are old. You become senile, and a stroke leaves you paralysed and weak. You are no longer able to continue going about your daily activities of living ie. brushing teeth, wearing clothes, bathing etc, and you are mentally reduced to that of a 2-3 yrs old. Would you rather meet your maker, or prefer your family to continue extending your life though it no longer has any meaning?

Or what about when your child has cancer that relapsed twice and the prognosis is bleak. You seek overseas treatment and the cancer relasped again. Would you let your child go in peace and less suffering? Or to continue letting your child suffer by trying more and more unorthodox treatments including the use of intravenous arsenic knowing full well you are just gambling with your child's life?

I cannot answer for everybody, neither can I dictate that everybody has the same opinion as me. I know I would choose to meet my maker, and I would let my child go in peace. Hard decisions, but that is what I choose.

Regarding the use of intravenous arsenic for treatment, I am talking about a true case. The patient has passed on, and till this day I still cannot understand why the parents let him suffer this much. He was in so much pain that he had to take high doses of morphine everyday. The highest that I have seen in my pediatric oncology patients thus far.

Long Live the Aged and Short Live the Young

Was reading the Review section in the Straits Times a couple of days back and came across a report on how the baby boomers in US are losing their retirement nest eggs. Does not matter if you have a high paying job. Ultimately whatever retirement funds you've stashed away for yourself would be used to pay for your parent's medical bills. Granted medical care in US can be really expensive, but to be frank, caring for the immobile/ senile/ seriously ill aged is expensive worldwide.

Let's start breaking down the cost:

1. Fees for consultation. Can be quite expensive depending on what's ailing the parent. You may end up having to pay a few specialists to look after your parent. Cost can still add up even if the patient is under government subsidy.

2. Fees for tests. Talking about blood tests, and scans or scopes that has to be done to aid the doctors in better understanding of the patient's condition. Again, cost can add up if the parent requires multiple tests even if there is government subsidy for some of these tests.

3. Fees for medicine. Yes, it is separate. I have no idea why Singaporeans always think the medicine fees are charged under the consultation fees. Again, depending on the condition of the parent. Medicine fees can range between $10 - >$1000 a month.

4. Fees for maid. Naturally not everybody will hire a maid to look after his or her ailing parents, but when it comes to parents who are no longer able to do simple things such as dressing or feeding themselves, or are bed bound, a maid is essential. With current trends of having small families, it is unrealistic to expect people to stop working just to look after their parents full-time. The opportunity cost of not working is way too high compared to hiring a maid. After all, humans do not live on air alone.

5. Fees for nursing home. This is the alternative choice to the maid. Usually chosen over having a maid because the parent probably needed professional nursing care round the clock or there is difficulty in getting a good maid to look after the parent. A choice even my dad, who can be a stick in the mud, agreed is in the best interest of the child and the parent.

6. Fees for hospitalization. Nuff said.

7. Miscellaneous cost such as hiring ambulance to ferry the immobile parent to and fro the hospital for check ups.

It does not take a guru to conclude that the monthly cost of just looking after one aged can be equivalent to the monthly earnings of an average university graduate who has already worked for 3-5 yrs, and this is the scary part. Already we are working hard, but to make ends meet when looking after the aged we have to work doubly hard and this usually does not translate to double the income. I don’t know about others, but I would be pissed off knowing no matter how hard I work, I never really get to touch the money.

I am not trying to point fingers at the aged saying they are a burden to society. I am just highlighting the reality and frustrations of looking after a population whose life expectancy keeps increasing, and asking parents all over to change their mind-set on what is filial and what is not. Do not blame the children when they send parents to nursing homes, or when they occasionally fail to visit the parents in the nursing homes.

Gone are the days when the monetary load of looking after sick aged parents can be shared amongst a few siblings and at least one of the siblings can quit the job to look after the parents. Gone too are the days when people succumb soon after major diseases eg. stroke, heart failure, renal failure etc. With advancements in the medical field, life of those who had suffered major illnesses can be prolonged with some give on the quality of life of the patients. At the same time, to put it bluntly, it also means the monetary burden of looking after them is prolonged. For the sandwich generation (those with aged parents and young children to look after), the stress and monetary load are heavier. Eventually there may be a trend whereby life-expectancy starts to decrease again; the sandwich generation may just die at a younger age due to the stress incurred when they were younger.

Whatever is the case, things certainly do not look rosy.

Some People Are Hard to Please

Had not been talking much to my senior for the past couple of weeks, and my tech complained that I was not talking to him, and went on about how I should not let the rumors affect our friendship etc. Okay, point taken. I've done some reflection during the long weekend and decided it was really stupid of me to be angry with my senior. It's not that poor guy's fault (nor mine) anyway.

So as of yesterday we started "squabbling" again, and guess what, my tech wanted to bang our heads. She complained we were too noisy. Some people are just really hard to please.

幸福的感觉是...

下雨天时喝碗妈妈炖的冰糖燕窝。

Watches

Got my first Swatch watch today. Nothing fanciful. Basically I just need something functional to replace my dying Baby-G, but I guess this is just the beginning. I can see myself getting tempted to buy more Swatch watches for the next few years. Was really tempted to buy those metal or funky ones, but my wrist is too small to do justice to the straps so I opted for something functional but boring. Anyway for the time being, I just want a watch that can last me at least 5-6 years.

Actually, I've been eyeing Swatch watches for quite sometime. In the past I would not have bothered looking at them cos I had always worn Casio watches. However, I have lost confidence in Casio watches after the last Casio watch I bought in 2005. In less than 6 months' time the watch became dysfunctional. We were unable to determine what caused the watch to stop functioning as the battery was still in good condition. Anyway, I threw it away after it stopped for the 3rd time in a span of a week.

Right about the same time I bought the dysfunctional watch, my sports series Casio watch stalled on me. Granted I bought it in early 2003, but according to the manual, this watch runs on a special battery that is suppose to have about 10 years battery life. Apparently one of the mechanism in the watch was not assembled properly therefore there is difficulty for the current to flow from the batt to the watch. Anyway I have decided to stop buying Casio watches because I realise that the dysfunctional watch is made in China and all the Casio watches in Singapore are made in China. You can no longer find any that is made in Jap or Korea. I am not trying to be biased, but my beloved Baby-G which is made in Korea has been with me since 1998. The sports watch after some repairs is still alive and kicking; it is made in Thailand.

It is therefore my belief that despite the expected reliability that comes with a name such as Casio, you still have to look at the country of manufacture. If it says "Made in China" don't even bother. With the same amount of or a little more money I can get a Swatch (Swiss made) or a Hugen (Germany made) watch. And what's better, both Swatch and Hugen have longer warranties than Casio, and theirs are international warranties compared to Casio's which is limited to Singapore.