Blast from the past

It was a night scrolling through the previous posts, reminiscing at the cherish thoughts of yesteryears that spurred my decision to revive this blog.

There were so many forgotten snippets of my life that bobbed to the surface, like fishes enticed by just a short blurb or spiel in the blog.

Reading the blog filled me with mixed emotions; the occasional laugh out loud at my own wittiness, a soft glow while glossing through at my wondrous writing skills and the bashful smile reliving my naivety.

Lesson of the day: never underestimate the might of words and overestimate the power of memory.

The year 2011 ended in exactly the same spot where it had begun: surrounded by the same friends and hoards of nameless others, ears serenaded by the sounds of blaring music, eyes pleasured by the beauty of fireworks, minds in the making of perhaps the same wish, all under the pale edifice of the tallest building in Sibu.

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But rest assured the year didn’t end in a full circle. In fact 2011 can be describe as the year of exponential growth as I struggled and strived to define myself and develop a persona as a unit head in a district hospital.

It was a year where I learnt a lot about myself: my strengths, my weaknesses, my leadership style, my fierce ambition. It was a successful year career wise, even though I had identified several personal demons that required some more hard work in 2012 to banish and overcome.

2011 ended on a high with an eventful December where we  successfully organisation a “Meeting with clients” day, holding a nice Christmas dinner and a relaxing shopping trip to Singapore.

The Hari Bersama Pelanggan which made the papers.

The End of year/Christmas/Birthday celebration

 Singapore revisited.

2012 will be a defining year. A year to build upon the foundation laid in 2011 and bring the pharmacy in Mukah to the peak of its glory and then making a graceful exit at the top. I believe 3 years is long enough before the search for new challenges begin. Hopefully, I will be hardworking enough to chronicle them in this blog.

The next mountain is always higher than the one I’m climbing

I always thought that my pharmacy in Mukah is a very nice place. Relaxing but challenging enough to keep me on my toes and my brains working. Not too modern but young enough to be comfortable. A pharmacy that have the potential to be first-class with a little bit of hard work.

Then I visited Hospital Sarikei.

It is also a district hospital, but at first sight, it was already Hosp Sarikei 1; Hosp Mukah 0.

Then as I went into the outpatient’s pharmacy waiting area. immediately, the score became 2:0.

Dispensing counter, 3:0

Arrangement of medications, orderliness, neatness, completeness, 4:0

Beauti-ness of the notice board and displays, 5:0

Well, I think I should stop here before it became a thrashing. In shortness, Hosp Sarikei is a dream hospital. It is big, new, have a relaxing feel, new computers and furniture. Pharmacy wise, it is well-run, systematic and beautiful.

At least after the trip, I had now a benchmark – a clear vision of what I want the pharmacy to be. And hence I should work harder =)

Lest I fail, there’s also the step as per saying “if you can’t beat them, join them”. I am now keeping Hosp Sarikei firmly in my sight as my next working destination if I got tired of Mukah one day.

But now, its to improve my pharmacy with renewed vigor!

Happy Mother’s Day

Mum, this is for you.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Kaul in pictures (2)

 

Welcome to Pesta Kaul!

One of the elaborate booths on display. Each kampong around Mukah build their own booth, where they had cooking demonstrations, exhibitions and sell their unique food and wares.

I had actually been to the site four times. This is a pretty pic taken at night.

Stalls selling things from perfume to clothes to handicrafts.

Food stalls with lots and lots of unhealthy glorious food.

Fishes swimming in the sky.

Kite aero-show. Those six people at the bottom left of the picture skilfully made their kites fly in beautiful synchronised formation.

The parade of the ‘Serahang’. It had some cultural significant to please certain gods. But whatever it is, it was intricately handcrafted.

Close-up pic of the serahang.

The beach during sunset still looks very nice…

But Malaysians do need to learn one day not to litter.

Hmm….that’s all for this post. Its getting too long…^^

Watching paint dry

Gone as a footnote in history:

For the past couple of years, this was the facade that greeted every patient who required some meds from the Mukah Pharmacy.

Towards the left hand side of the first photo was the door into the pharmacy, and next to it, the notice board which I was helping the hospital admin to decorate. Actually I hijacked it without permission for pharmacy’s gain =).

This was the interior of the pharmacy dispensing counter. Normal.

I had nothing against light colours, besides the fact that it is so without character. It just blended into the background as part of the ‘hospital furniture’. Lifeless. Mundane. Lack of vibrancy. So not cheerful. Not distinct. No way to go for a ‘top class’ pharmacy. No standard.

That’s why it had to be transformed. After waiting for a whole month, at last I had the novelty to watch paint dry for the whole day and continue to gaze and wonder at the brand new pharmacy for another. Tadaa! Presenting the final result:

 

The new look of the pharmacy counter. Bright youthful orange encrusted by a outer wall of contrasting dark brick-red.

 

The door into the pharmacy beckoned, surrounded by a welcoming brick-red warmth.

 

The cheerful interior of the new-look dispensing counter.

The view from afar which I took just before we close for the day. Now we look different and will be different.  Hope the positive ‘qi’ can increase staff morale and work rate. I am already happier. ^^

Kaul Festival in pictures (1)

Kaul Festival is the most happening thing in Mukah. It is sort of a Melanau new year which was celebrated annually around April.

The festival was held at the Kala Dana beach, which was the halfway point of my 6km jogging route. It was fascinating watching day-by-day as they slowly transform what was a barren field into a festive ground:

From this (above) to that (below) and that (below the below :)

They had also constructed a huge stage,

which was filled to the brim with local dignitaries and normal people at the day of the festival.

And who else to officiate and grace the opening ceremony if not the current most famous Melanau son. The one with white hair and beautiful wife.

I was there early and the usually serene and quiet roads of Mukah was already starting to choke with the unusual barrage of vehicles. And fellow human beings.

And since this is the most happening thing in Mukah, I guess I had to write about it in a few posts to do justice to it. And to finish this post, my take on youths playing the tibau – the famous Melanau flying swing that I think most Chinese parents will scream when their kids wander near it. Another version of this picture by an official photographer made it to the front page of the Borneo Post.

Watch out for the next photo-laden post! =)

2nd anniversary

        

      2008               2009             2010            2011

Today marked the second anniversary of me being a pharmacist in Malaysia.

That means I  had already fulfilled one third of my contract with the government of Malaysia. At this rate, six years will be way faster than I imagined.

Two years down the road from the day I first stepped into the unknown landscape called pharmacy in Malaysia, I am now writing this in my wooden abode 500km from home, with the police sirens blaring outside as the luxurious convoy carrying the Chief Minister of the most current government sped through just 20 metres away.

You may ask, did it ever crossed my wildest imagination, that I will one day find myself in the current situation? Had I ever imagined when I first stepped into the hustle and bustle of Sarawak General Hospital two years ago as a greenhorn that I will now be in the middle of the Melanau heartland, holding the dubious post of Chief Pharmacist in a district hospital? The answer is “No”, partly because, as Mother told Sarah in the kindie song “whatever will be, will be, the future’s not ours to see..”

Nonetheless, the short span of two years had been an amazing experience, where I find myself evolving from a pharmacist carrying out the exalted duty of hands on patient care to a pharmacist whose main responsibility is to carve out programmes and policies to better serve a rural community.

My aspirations can be as fickle as the wind. After the end of my first year, I aspired to be a clinical pharmacist with a well-stocked ammunition of complicated drug know-hows . After the end of my second year, it becomes being a managing pharmacist with a well conceptualised plan to transform a backwater pharmacy to be world class. 

It is scary how situations and experience can easily change you.

Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” had been an oft quoted poem. Two years ago, I held to my blind faith that there exists greater hope in Malaysia then Australia by returning home. No kompangs or heroes welcome was evident as I forged through this less taken road. But I have no regrets. I love what I had been doing so far.

Back to the Chief Minister. He is here today because coincidently, today also marked the first time I am eligible to vote as a Malaysian citizen; and he is the candidate here. But this privilege I had decided to forfeit, for after deep consideration and deliberation, I found myself unable to choose. As I foray closer to the next diverging junction of my career, I fervently hoped that when the time comes,  I will know which way to go.