Life's a Pharm

Was watching Grey's Anatomy when this crosses my mind: Why there aren't any serial or sitcoms that are based on the lives of Pharmacists? There are a plethora of Medical series: Grey's Anatomy, Scrubs, House, ER and Chicago Hope but not even one Pharmacy series. That's bloody unfair! Being pharmacists are glamourous too and their daily occupation can be also a cocktail full of the daily suspense, life-death situation, decision dilemma and lovey-dovey relationships. Hell, if they make a pharmacist orientated drama, we wouldn't be facing a shortage of pharmacists now.

Making a series on Pharmacist's life is not so difficult at all.. even I could do it..Let me teach you how.

First, you need a handsome guy as the male lead.


Second, you need a pretty girl as the female lead.


Then you need to throw in a support cast full of weirdos.

The whole idea is at the end of the season, the gal fall for the guy and they open their own pharmacy and live happily together forever. The weirdos are there to spice things up.

Then you need the location and an interesting title:

The brand new pharmacy series: LIFE'S A PHARM

Now the scenarios:
Of course in any love story, there will be lotz of complications, like
A male patient fall for the female pharmacist.
"after I exit this hospital, I'm going to your place everyday for panadol.."


Or can have some doctor-pharmacist relationships
Supervisor: "Litigate! you must report him! the doc is too careless! He nearly killed the patient!" Pre-registant Pharmacist: "I can't..he is my boyfriend... "


Of course, some other gals have to fall for the good looking guy too.
"oh cutey..the sleeping pills you prescribed were simply exceptional... I kept dreaming about you last night..


Then there are those arrogant docs who think they are cleverer and always right (if you are always right then you don't need pharmacists to look out for your mistakes, docs..)
Doc: "Me making a mistake? you must be nuts... I had been practising for 15 years and been in med school for 7 years..."
Pharmacist: But you prescribed tamsulosin for that guy who is just 30 years old. it can lead to him being impotent you know..."
Doc: (oops realised his mistake) He's been sleeping with my wife and I wanna make him impotent cannot meh. Nevermind, I'm not angry with him liao. Give him prazosin instead! See I so nice guy!


Then there can be some funny situation:
"are you sure you wanna get some viagra for your husband?"


Junkie looking customer:"I wanna two packets of clarinase please... Ah-Coo!"
Over-zealous pharmacist: "I can't give you Clarinase, you know, you look err..."
Junkie looking customer: "I'm sick can't you see! Ah-Coo! I want Clarinase!"
Over-zealous pharmacist "But you might use them to make Speed. I can't give it too you.."
*Knock-out punch.*

Of course a pharmacists job isn't complete without some extraporaneous fomulation job.


Consider a scenario where 2 pharmacists (the leading actors lah, who else) are confined in a room making cream:
"oooh... see the cream... so smooth.. oooh... so white...so soft...come, let me apply some cream to your face..."


then they can have a battle trying to smear cream over each other in every concievable body parts and have a creamy romantic time..

Easy right? So can anyone out there make a drama about pharmacists real soon please...PLEASE..? I wanna be in a glamorous occupation with lotz of gals swooning over me when I graduate...

P/s: Tamsulosin in a alpha 1 adrenoreceptor antagonist that is used to treat benign prostate hyperplasia in older men. One side effect of tamsulosin is that it can lead to impotence. Clarinase, a nasal decongestant, contain pseudoephedrine, which can be easily transformed into amphetamine (Speed) in backyard lab. Speed is a street drug that can make you 'high'.

My exam venue

After reading Chang Yang extolling about his World Heritage Listed exam hall, I'm tempted to write about my exam hall too. Well, no, it's not a World Heritage Listed site; no, it's not that beautiful or glamourous or surrounded by a magnificient garden. But it's special and unique too. My exam is at a Race Course. You know, the place where they race horses? Yeah there. Well that does not equal us being horses, but by the way we race against time finishing our exams at breakneck speed, it came pretty close.

Here's some pics of that equally awesome place where I have our exams every semester:



The front entrance of the Caulfield Racing Stadium.



We have our exams here..rite under the sunshine on the green green grass =)



Joking... we have it here inside this building. If you sit at the back, you can turn around and gaze at the green green grass if you are stuck halfway through..

Anyway, juz finished my second exams paper there today. 2 down, 3 to go.

There's no better way to conclude my post than by borrowing a line from Chang Yang: a reason to be proud of having my exams there - who else in the whole wide world have their exams in a Race Course? ^_^

Exams grumbling:
Damn you med chem lecturers! I am paying my fees to sit for a real exams, not doing past-years practice! I can do that at home by myself thank you very much... don't tell me you are all so mentally challenged that you cannot set a new set of questions and need to resort to making a compilation of past year questions and call it an exam. Shame on you!

World Cup muttering:
Damn South Korea.. nice way to (not) take a free kick. No.. i don't mean the one you managed to score.. i mean the one that you can potentially shoot at the 92nd min but instead pass it around. That cost me a bundle okay...
Aussie aussie aussie... nice interesting match..but for those no brainers who kept on blaring their horns the entire nite till I coundn't sleep (and I have an exam the next day)... go to ****
How come no shock results one??

Oh No! I'm Tagged...

Thanks Chang Yang for the tag... I'm so so grateful =P

Instruction: Name 20 people you can think of at the top of your head. Don't read the questions before you write, and tag 5 people to do the survey.

Yeah, before I start, the people I wanna tag are Wee Loon, Heng Liang, See Hua, Kimberly and Kheng Ying. Too bad you ppl have blogs. =P

1. SeeHua, 2. YangYaw, 3. Vincent, 4. WeeLoon, 5. ThowKong, 6. JooShin, 7. Caroline, 8. KhengYing, 9. Freda, 10. Pauline, 11.HuiBing, 12.XuanNi, 13. ChangYang, 14. YongChin, 15. Kimberly, 16. KeanAun, 17. HungJen, 18. ChinFei, 19. Esjay, 20 JiaJan.

Yeah...like Chang Yang said..the list is generated not based on importance but how you name juz happened to pop-up from my head.

1. How did you meet #14? (Yong Chin?)
Met him in INTEC 3 years ago. Forgot exactly how...

2. What would you do if you had never met #1? (See Hua?)
My life will be definitely duller.. this guy is a little crazy and fun to be with. =P

3. What would you do if #20 and #9 dated? (JiaJan and Freda?)
Haha.. such a coincidence.. will have to give them a present they can share together every year coz they have the same birthday..

4. Would #6 and #17 make a good couple? (HungJen and JooShin)
Maybe..maybe.. since they know each other for soooooo long..

5. Describe #3. (Vincent)
Haha.. my oldest friend that I know since Primary 1. Outgoing, hardworking, high achiever blah blah blah...

6. Do you think #8 is attractive? (KhengYing)
No comment. =P

7. Tell me something about #7. (Caroline)
A 9-year-old little girl who is afraid of snakes.

8. Do you know anything about #12's family? (XuanNi)
I think she got an elder brother and sister coz she is so manja.

9. What is #8's favourite? (KhengYing)
Chatting gua.. and listening to songs by David Tao.

10. What would you do if #11 confesses that he/she likes you? (HuiBing)
Same reaction as ChangYang: AHHHHH!!!!! Run!!!! =P haha.. No, i think I'll faint..

11. What language does #15 speak? (Kimberly)
English, Malay, Chinese, Japanese, Cantonese...

12. Who is #9 going out with? (Freda)
#14.

13. How old is #16 now? (KeanAun)
nearly 21...

14. When was the last time you talked to #13? (ChangYang)
I think last Monday..

15. Who's #2's favourite singer? (YangYaw)
Alamak I forgot.. I used to know... damn... weak guess: Jay Chow? =S

16. Would you date #4? (WeeLoon)
Er.. maybe if I'm a girl.. he is so so caring and considerate and.... =D

17. Would you date #7? (Caroline)
Maybe.. =P

18. Is #15 single? (Kimberly?)
Haha I dunno...

19. What's #10's last name? (Pauline)
Ball? =P Joking only... It's Chew.

20. Would you ever consider being in a relationship with #19? (Esjay?)
No..he will definitely put me out in the cold. He is too cool.

21. What school did #3 go to? (Vincent)
Same as me lah. Till Form 5. Now he's in Auckland studying to be like O'Malley in Grey's Anatomy.

22. Where does #6 live? (JooShin)
Down the corridor in the apartment which yellow door squeaked loudly.

23. What's your favourite thing about #5? (ThowKong)
He is as adorable and cute and eager to please as a puppy...

24. What do you think of #13? (ChangYang)
Yeah, I return the compliment: Narcissistic smart guy. :D

25. What do #4 and #19 have in common? (WeeLoon and Esjay)
Same dark coloured complexion.

Well I guess that's it =)
Now need to carry on with my studies. Exams start tommorrow!!

World Cup ramblings:
Damn England.. play more attractive football can?
Damn Argentina.. you do not deserve to win last nite.
Thumbs up Trinidad and Germany.. entertaining football
Damn time zone.. u had me sleeping at 4am 2 nights in a row...
and yeah... damn exams.

My own World Cup battle

Its D-Day tonight. The first match of the World Cup will go on at 1.30a.m Aussie Melbourne time. And you bet I will sit through to watch the entire match...

How I wish I can watch all the matches.. but bad luck that the exams is just around the corner.. and as luck will have it, all the interesting and juicy matches was superbly paired into 'groups of death' with my exam papers... Much as I would like to say "bring on the World Cup! who cares bout the exams..." I'm still weighted down by the responsibility to study. Heck, I am paid to study... For me it will be a titanic battle between World Cup Matches versus Exam Papers.



Who will win? Here's my prediction:

June 12
VCP 2011 Pharmacy Practice II (230pm) vs Serbia and Netherlands (June 11 1030pm)
This I think Serbia and Netherlands will win hands down coz VCP 2011 is in the afternoon. But then hopefully Netherlands will play better than they did against Aussie or I will only watch 45 mins...

June 14
VCP 2021 Medicinal Chemistry II (830am) vs Brazil and Croatia (430am)
This match will be won by VCP 2021.. no question bout that coz eventhough the likes of Ronaldinho and Kaka is tempting, Med Chem is too tough a paper to fool around with. Anyway I don't support Brazil this time round..

June 19
VCP 2031 Pharmaceutics (830am) vs France and S.Korea (430am)
This is a tough call to make.. S.Korea had been such an enigma since their referee assisted exploits 4 years also. This is certainly a mouth-watering matchup with the hero-turn-zero France.. but then Pharmaceut is tough too.. a draw this time round, as I will watch the second half only.

June 21
VCP 2091 Biochemistry (830 am) vs Sweden and England (430am)
Another tough call... must see if England versus Sweden end in draw again or not.. and Biochem is the hardest of the lot (but I like Biochem a lot). Well, still I think a draw... second half only...

June 23
VCP 2041 Pharmacology (830 am) vs Czech and Italy (June 22 1130pm)
This one I think Pharmaco will win. Its a big difference between sleeping late and waking up early. Once I sleep late the second day will be a goner. So too bad Czech and Italy..

And for those of you who are still wondering which team I will support for the World Cup, need I remind you its this team lah...



=) Nah juz joking. I support England this time round. Why? coz their defence is much stronger than both the Brazilian and Argentinian defence.

06.06.06

Yesterday's was the so called devil's day: 06.06.06 as 6 is widely regarded as the devil's number. And I have an interview lined up on this particular day at 6.40 pm (lucky not 6.06pm). Bad omen huh?

Well, yesterday's was my first ever interview in Australia, and it is for 4-week hospital working stint during the summer. So I prepared my CV, Cover Letter, skim and scan through the hospital's info online and read up on interview techniques. No probs there till its time to figure what to wear. Was thinking of wearing my suit but then alwaz figured that Aussie loved being informal. I mean, here lecturers even wear T-shirts to lecture! In the end, decided on some semi-formal wear. Here's a pic of me yesterday before the interview...thought I look real smart...



Big mistake. Coz a lot of them turn out looking like this:



Anyway, the interview was okay.. had some freakin unexpected questions and spent a great chunk of time talking about cheese cake and da vinci code with them. Imagine that. The last question was the craziest: if you are a superhero or have some supernatural activity, who you want to be or what ability you want to have and why. I was like what? Okay maybe I was forewarned about that question.. but still haven't really prepared an answer.. Anyway, the chance of securing a place is like 1/10. So whatever. Juz went there for the experience.

After returning from the interview, felt bored. Scoured OWL's computer and found a few series of Grey's Anatomy. Had heard so many rave reviews of the series so tried watching them. Big mistake. They are so damn funny that instead of the intended 10 mins allocated, I ended up watching 2 full episodes. Lucky have enough self control to stop myself from continuing on the third. Or might as well kiss sayonara to all my intended HDs in the coming exams..

Talk about the devil.. EXAMS. damn.. am suppose to study and not writing this. Whatever. Oh well, am returning to face the DEVIL now.

S.W.O.T

It's swot-vac time! After 13 weeks of tedious studies, it is now the time for a 1 week cramming before the real exams start next week.

What does swot means? well, I'm not sure about it myself initially when I first heard of the term last year. I thought it was an acronym of study with own time, study with-out teacher, start worrying over test or stress working over-time. Nobody ever try to ask what actually swot means. It is just taken for granted that we know what it means based on what we think it means. Sounds complicated?

To role-play it:
Happy Student: "Yeah, I have a swot vac this week!"
Sad Student: "Wow! so nice... our uni didn't give us a break to study..."

"damn.. you got swot vac..."

Sad student knew swot vac as a week without lectures, where one can stay home to study. But he doesn't know the real meaning of swot. So one day if someone ask him..

Sad Student: "That uni have swot vac..."
Pretty Student: "What is the meaning of swot?"
Sad Student: "Huh? swot means... err... I dunno... (brain going overdrive) study with own time gua..."
Pretty Student: "Ohh... I never knew that.. you so clever.."
Sad Student: "hehehehe.. (break sweat)"



"tiu... what does swot means?"

Well, sad student still doesn't know what swot means , and he well think what he perceived is the truth until some nerd comes along and correct him..
Sad Student: "You know, yesterday some sohai ask me what swot means.."
Nerd: "Let me encyclopedia it..."



"come... come ask encyclopedia..."

and the results:

swot1

swot [swot]

or swat [swot]

vi (past swot·ted, past participle swot·ted, present participle swot·ting, 3rd person present singular swots) (past swat·ted, past participle swat·ted, present participle swat·ting, 3rd person present singular swats)

U.K. study very hard: to study very hard and intensively, especially for an examination (informal)

n (plural swots) (plural swats) U.K.

1.	hard-working student: somebody who studies very hard or excessively (disapproving informal)
2.	period of hard study: a period of time spent studying hard, especially for an examination (informal)

[Mid-19th century. Originally a Scottish variant of sweat .]

Microsoft Encarta Reference Library 2004. ©

Nerd: "let me google it also"

Swot - a British slang term for an inoffensive person who nevertheless offends his peers by giving too much attention to his schoolwork

From wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

And as a result of this extensive swotting, I will try to spend less time blogging, unless I am too stressed out. Happy swotting to everyone else too!

Cool word rite, swot? ^_^"""

P/s: the role play above, as the name role-play suggest, is just a role-play. It does not bear semblance to anyone and anything that had happened in real life. Any similiarity with anyone, dead or alive, is unintentional. The models' appearance are for aesthetic sake of the role-play and for your entertainment per se. I repeat, they are NOT to be correlated with real life happenings.

P/s 2: Thanks to the ever hardworking OWL for encyclopedia-ing the word out for me and enlighten me on the real meaning of swot.

Oh ya, before I forgot.. another birthday dedication to dish out too: Happy 21th Birthday to Heng Liang (or I think he called himself the sydney feline nowadays). Hope to see you in Melbourne soon so we can visit some bars and hot nite spots together. ^_^

The cost of education

Was discussing about the escalating price of overseas education with my roommates the other day when suddenly it dawned upon us the magnitude of our own education cost. It is so ridiculously expensive that the rise in petrol and electricity bills sound so like...peanuts.

For example my Pharmacy course costs a cool AUS$11925 per sem, minus ammenities fees. That's equal to 13 weeks of studies, which is the equivalent of 13 x 25 contact hours (11 lectures, 2 tutorials, 4 three hrs long prac) which is 325 hours. Divide the sum of money paid with the number of hours, one lecture actually cost me AUS$37, which is RM100. Try compare that to the price of petrol. One hour of lecture = 70 L of petrol. Parents, think how much you can save before sending your offsprings overseas - gallons and gallons of petrol! Sure made me feel guilty of missing class. Too bad they don't calculate the amount of money you have to pay based on the amount of lectures and pracs you had attended. That way some of my friends can actually save a lot.. especially this guy here whose nick is OWL..

Sleep, sleep, sleep always
Money fly away...
Merrily merrily merrily,
Dreaming all the way...
(tune it with row, row,row your boat...)

Can't blame him though, coz he is a medic student and under lotz of the dreaded S-word: Stress). To the rest of you who love to miss class: Wake up! Don't waste ur parents' money! The money you waste by juz missing a lecture can enable me to buy 40 big bowls of my favorite kolomee.

Oh ya by the way, yesterday was my birthday! Haha.. both my roommates tried unsuccessfully to reproduce what they did last year: trying to keep my party a surprise. I am not so stupid to be fooled 2 years in a row k.. perhaps you both managed it last year.. but not this year.. =P anyway thx for the gallant effort. Thx to those of you who sadly had to part with your precious time and money yesterday coz you are 'unfortunate' enough to know me..hehe. I appreciate it very much even though I juz can't manage to elicit any tears yesterday. Too bad I forgot to bring onions.

To sign off.. a happy Hari Gawai to all my S'wakians friends! Gayu guru gerai nyamai.

New hairstyle

Warning: This is a post about MYSELF, my whole SELF and purely MYSELF and nothing else. If you cannot stand any narcissism, please do not continue to read on. But I strongly encourage you to admire the photos.

Haristyles can make a lot of difference for a person's apperance. I only realised it at the beginning of this year when I changed it. Immediately I look different and feel different. Last year I couldn't care least of how I look:

2005

The usual crew-cut (right) and long hair (left). I think the most photogenic photo of myself is the one in the middle. But as usual, my crown is in a mess.

Early 2006


The hairstyle that changes it all:

Perhaps you can't see it but my hair is actually layered at the back and the whole hair was cut with minimise use of the shaver. Coupled with the modern-styled classic-looking black rimmed specs, it gives me a new look...

But as time goes by and hair starts to get longer...

Yesterday

Looking unkempt again. So I decided to splash out some money and give myself a pre-birthday treat. I went for a AUS$ 25 hair-cut. I kept the back layered but ask the hair designer to sculpture a new front for me. And this is the result:

Today


Voila! A brand new looking me ^_^. Looks just brilliantly handsome rite?

I hate black umbrellas

Well, I returned home today and two black umbrellas greeted me. One said: "How ya doin, mate?"; while the other (the more shiny one) just tilt her head back haughtily as if wanna say "Black... is quality...". My first feeling was "Omigod... who had died?"

I juz don't like black umbrellas, and the worst thing is, they are everywhere. Such sombre colour, black, and I can't help always associating one with funerals. Black umbrellas, like black cats, when seen, gives the forbading impression that I will suffer bad luck very soon. They have the innate ability to suck the happiness out of me.


Contrast that to my umbrella. I juz love my umbrella so much. It had been together with me for more than two years, literally through rain or shine, sacrificing itself to protect me from danger, whether it is the unforgiving sun, the howling wind or the thundering rain. Besides, it juz look ravishing. It is vibrant and full of life, as well as love. Yes, i mean LOVE.

See the pink and purple LoveS on the umbrella? ^_^

Anyway, by the time now you might to wondering how come a boy like me have a umbrella that looks, well, umm.. so girlish?

Well, I have a reason to love this umbrella. But I'm afraid the reason is so absurb that you wouldn't believe it.

My dad brought this umbrella for me.

Surprising huh? No, I didn't nick it from my sis. No, he didn't buy it for her or for my mum and I nicked it. I asked for an umbrella and he bought me this. Till today, I'm still figuring what was he thinking about when he chose this umbrella for me...

Talk about Fatherly love.

The team that will win World Cup 2006

The football hype is back again! Yes, after 4 agonizing years of waiting, the world's greatest showcase of football is here again. It's time to watch some ball!

As usual, I will like to make my usual prediction of who will win the world cup. 4 years ago, I thought Brazil will win and hey pesto! They won! So my prediction is pretty acurate and if you wanna do any betting, heed my advice!

The team that will win World Cup Germany 2006:

AUSTRALIAN MATRICULATION 15 INTEC CHINESE HUNKS FC

I know you are expecting me to name Brazil, Argentina or even England, but before you pull one of your incredulous look with a gaping hole for a mouth and starting to go Aus-what? let me introduce this team to you first and tell you why the team will win the World Cup.

Australian Matriculation 15 Intec Chinese Hunks FC or in the World Cup known as Australia for short (not THE Australia we know) was formed 3 years ago in INTEC. It consists of only the most handsome guys with football talents and skills you never seen before. Now you must be wondering why you never heard of any of these great hunks before? Coz they have to keep a low profile in order to shock the rest of the football world in the showpiece compertition. Heck, they even have the Australian team we know covering them all these while. Those facing Australia in the World Cup will be in for a great surprise. Ooh.. couldn't wait to see Ronadinho's face on June 19.

Match Prediction
First Round
vs Japan ( June 12) win 13-0
vs Brazil (June 19) win 3-0
vs Croatia (June 23) win 6-1
Second Round
vs Ghana (June 28) win 4-1
Quaterfinal
vs Spain (July 2) win 2-0
Semifinal
vs England (July 6) win 3-2
Final
vs Argentina (July 10) win 2-1

And here is a glimpe of the Star Player of the AUSMAT team that will set the world alight in Germany:

B.Phiaw? Who's that? Is he better than Ronaldinho? See the number 13 in action starting June 12 and you will get the answer. Here's a picture of him in action:

Not much is known about him, but I've heard he is helluva player. Don't be deceived by his short Rooney-like stature. See how composed and well-aligned his incredible body is while kicking the ball? Notice how nobody dares to go near him when he kicks the ball? That will tell you something...

Well, I wish I could tell you more, but if I do so, then the appearance of the team in the World Cup wouldn't be such a surprise. Since you are all loyal readers of my blog, I let this big secret out so that you can earn big money by betting Australia to win! Remember don't tell your friends about this secret team when they ask you:
"are you so crazy to bet $5000 that Australia will win the World Cup?
Coz you know you aren't crazy and you are definitely laugh all the way to the bank later.

Birthday Dedication:

Today one of my frenz is turning 18. She is this cute gal (pic) who now is in Japan and sports a mushroom head. If you happen to see her on the street, remember to give her some hugs and kisses coz its legal to do so now. =P Happy birthday kimmie-chan!

The Cardinal Rule of Human Relationship

Dale Carnegie once stated this:

"When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudice, and motivated by pride and vanity."

How true.

This is a rule that one should always strive to remember. Or else. Think about it.


P/s: Currrently I'm quite stressed out due to the impending exams. Hence blogging will be kept to a minimum in order to make time for last minute studying. For those in the same boat, good luck and best wishes. =)

Of Mars and Venus

Men are really from Mars and women from Venus..

很多女生都认为男生不了解她们。这点其实我挺赞同的。女生的脾气还比天气变化得快，真的时常令人错手不及。她们的想法简直和男生所猜测的有天地之差。但是，我也觉得女生也并不是很明白男生罢了。她们不懂男生不是很喜欢玩猜谜语这个游戏的。她们不了解男生的想法是很单纯直接的；喜欢异性在有什么不愉快的情况下就直接的说出口。有些女生更不懂事，明知男生的自负是很大的，却很喜欢在鸡蛋里挑骨头，找些无聊的理由薄贬他。

但是，一般最可怕的女生是知道男生的弱点，而从中下毒手的女生。女生第一武器是所谓的 Emotional Blackmail。这包过哭在内，目的是使男生们感到内疚惭愧，自暴自气。接下来的部分我会用英文来写，因为对象是一个不会读华语的女生。

A girl's greatest weapon: Emotional Blackmail

What is Emotional Blackmail? It is a statement or behavior, which uses your fear, guilt, obligation, or confusion to trap you into giving the abuser power over you. It sounds very criminal but actually most people use Emotional Blackmail on each other from time-to-time without realizing it (Sorry to say but it is usually committed by the female species). Likewise, a lot of people are also actually victims of Emotional Blackmail unknowingly. I first came across this term in a book by the world renowned ‘body language’ master Allan Pease.

Usually, a person uses emotional blackmail because he/she needs a favour. To ensure he/she gets the favour, he/she will try to manipulate the target by making him feel guilty. For example, consider this scenario:

A girl wants his boyfriend to buy her an expensive skirt.

Girl: Wow! Look! This skirt looks nice… I’m sure it will look good on me…

BF : (Looks at the price tag = $300, says what the **** to himself) Err… It looks real nice, but don’t you think the price is a little bit on the high end?

Girl: Aw…. but I really felt that it is made for me… (caressing the skirt for maximal effect)..and the colour is purple! You know I like purple very much…. (giving him the biggest smile and looking at him expectantly… )

BF: Look, dear, it is too expensive… why don’t we go to the Night Market to have a look? I’m sure they have nice skirts too.

Girl: (pouting) Obviously you like your money more than you love me. Jill’s boyfriend brought her a $450 blouse last week and he didn’t complain…

BF: (feeling guilty) But Jill’s boyfriend is the son of a business tycoon..

Girl: (angry look) I don’t care! The bottom line is that you don’t love me! I’m leaving you!

BF: (feeling fear of being dumped) Okay okay… I buy for you this time only…

Girl: (180 degree change from angry to pure bliss look) Oh, you are the sweetest guy on earth! I love you so much! Muaks!

Well, that’s only an example to illustrate how emotional blackmail works. Emotional blackmailers are usually people who are too pampered by their parents or boyfriends and are too used to get what they want. They are not accustomed to people not obeying their wishes or succumbing to their desires and will resort to emotional blackmail to achieve their intention. In a sense, they are not bad, but just too pampered, and will never realised that what they did is wrong. They always think that they are correct, which of course means that you will never succeed if you try to reason with them.

Anyway, in a nutshell, preying on people fallacies such as guilt and fear to achieve your means is WRONG. Emotional blackmail IS blackmail. Just something for you all to ponder this weekend...

Teachers' Day

A day for reflection...

May 16 is the date which I think all of us should all pause for a moment to reflect the sacrifices of our teachers. Throughout our formative years, I'm sure we had met a myriad of teachers: some are good, some are bad; but nevertheless they all left their footprints in our hearts. Forever.

"Many can teach, but only the special few can reach."

Besides our parents and friends, teachers has the most powerful influnce on a child. They have the ability to motivate a child to reach his or her full potential or fill him or her with self-doubt. Good teachers teach more than maths, reading and writing skills; they teach about life, virtues and love. They care and reach out to the students. I felt those who are granted the privilege to teach should justified the trust put upon them and teach with the aim of producing bright and well mannered students instead of teaching for the sake of money.

"Teachers nurture the seed of today so that they might bloom into the flowers of tomorrow."

Nowadays, there are just too many people who became teachers because they cannot get a better job elsewhere. It is indeed a bad move by the government to let them teach because I don't feel that they have the motivation and desire. Perhaps these band-aids used to curb the shortage of teachers may solve the problem for now, but I believe the long-term repecussions will be too great.

"Teaching is the profession that creates all others"

I had always wanted to be a teacher. I felt that it is the most prestigious and important job in the world. They are the ones who would mould the future stars of the country. Prime Ministers, Doctors, Lawyers, Accountants are all taught by teachers before they secure their profession. Since primary one while writing essays about my ambition, I will inevitably write "when i grow up I wanted to be a teacher..." Even though now what I'm studying deviate from my ambition, I still believe that one day, I will make my ambition a reality.

"Teaching is the work of the heart."

Today, I had reflected on all the teachers that had taught me before. Some left memorable moments that I will always cherish, but some leave much to be desired. However, I would wish to thank them for what the have done or tried to do. My wish for teachers' day this year is that someday, those not-so-good teachers will realise the consequence of their mistakes and begin to really teach...

"HAPPY TEACHERS' DAY!" to those who deserves it for all their sacrifices. =)

Acknowledgement: All quotations are from the website http://www.classwebsite.org/ inspirationalpoems.htm. If you have time pls visit that meaningful website and read the story about little Teddy Stoddard.

A dream realised

Dream and Dancing

梦想成真

In one of my earliest posts, I mentioned that one of the reasons I started this blog is to 'chronicle my evolution into a better person'. I wrote about taking the first step in everything is always difficult and it is inevitably the hurdle where most people falter. A few posts later, I mused about my desire to learn dancing.

Now I am proud to announce to the world that I had in fact, accomplished something that I always yearned to do but did not do: learning how to dance. I had recently finished a 4-week course on Hip-hop dancing. Even though I exited the course with only marginal improvement in my non-existent dancing skills; the whole process was very enjoyable and I really had fun.

I'm proud of myself becoz I had climbed the difficult first step. In the past, I always have grand dreams about learning new things but did not actually try to realise them. Now everything is very different. In half a year since I had written all those posts in October, I had now learnt how to dance, play the guitar and swim. Besides, I had also improved my stamina, now being able to jog for 4-5 km without feeling tired. I'm now living my dream, and it felt wonderful.

Martin Luther King was infamous for his "I have a dream..." speech. However, his dream, till today remained unrealised. I dare say I had gone one step further than him, even though the magnitude of our dreams are different. I had a dream, but at least I had achieved it.

I leave you with a quote by Oscar Wilde (poet, author, novelist, dramatist)
"The supreme object of life is to live. Few people live. It is true life only to realize one's own prefection, to make one's every dream a reality."

That's what I live for.

Happy Vesak Day

A Moment of Contemplation

To all Buddhist out there, Happy Vesak Day. I know this is a religious festival and not a festive occasion, but let us rejoice and contemplate on the deeds and teaching of Gautama Buddha.

For the benefit of those who are in the dark, Vesak Day is celebrated once a year to commemorate the Birth, Enlightenment and the Passing Away of Gautama Buddha. Usually on this day, Buddhists will partake vegetarian food, release birds and animals, as well as going to the temple to pray and meditate.

Like last year, this year I will celebrate Vesak Day in Melbourne. It is definately a low-key event as surprisingly there is a lack of acknowledgement concerning Vesak Day here. Nevertheless, I will try my best to radiate loving kindness today in honor of Gautama Buddha. By the way, it is not that I seldom radiate loving kindness, its just that I'll radiate more today. =)

Contemplating on Vesak Day, I couldn't help but feeling how great Buddhism is as a religion. Buddhism is one of the most misunderstood religion nowadays, with some people associating it with the pagan acts of worshipping a myriad of Gods and leaving food for the departed ones. In fact, there is no God in Buddhism. The Buddha is just a normal being like you and me but who had attained enlightenment. The Buddha's teachings are relevant to the current world; as the basic of Buddhism is a philosophy of morality and ethics. The whole teaching can be simplified in three sentences: Avoid all evil. Do good. Purify One's Mind.

One things I like about Buddhism is that Gautama Buddha teaches his diciples not to take his word as the truth; but rather let them discover the truth themselves. This encapsulate what I believe about religion; it is there to guide us on our lives, but not there for us to accept it as the truth. Buddha encourages us to question about everything, and not just accepting and believing things blindly. Besides, he did not force others to convert into the religion; in fact he usually invites those who are interested to understand the religion first before converting.

For someone who would like to learn more about buddhism, I recommend this book The Naked Buddha by Adrienne Howley, or you can just drop in to visit my friend See Hua's blog. Happy Vesak Day! May you be well and happy always.

Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!

An Unexpected Letter

This just came through the mail...

Wow! It never crossed my mind that I will get the highest marks in a subject during last year's final exam. Just the thought of being the best amongst nearly 200 students is enough to make me feel very proud of myself.. haha.. It's a nice surprise anyway, and came at just the right time too. I was starting to slack off and lose interest in this year's study and suddenly this comes and gives me the much needed adrenaline push. Now I'm studying with renewed vigour with the aim to get another one of this cert. ^_^

Well, I actually had nothing else to write, as I just wanna spread my joy =). Cheers and happy studying everyone!

By the way, the cert came with a congratulatory letter by the dean:

29 April 2006

Dear Boon Phiaw,

Each year the Victorian College of Pharmacy recognizes students who have excelled in their academic studies. Students who receive the highest mark in each individual unit are acknowledged via a certificate and letter of congratulations.

I am proud to inform you that you are the 2005 recipient of the highest individual mark in VCP1O92 Mathematics, statistics. Please find the related certificate enclosed.

Students who receive prizes for academic merit are excellent ambassadors for Monash University, congratulations on your outstanding achievement.

Professor Colin Chapman

P/s: For those of you read this and think "Yeah rite, so proud of himself now" or "What a big show-off", I'll like to clear your misconception. This post does not intend to showcase my achievement (well, er maybe 2% of my intention) , rather it is to share my joy of getting this with all of you and hopefully can spur all of you to study hard for your coming exams (98%).. good luck and happy studying!

P/s 2: By the way, this is the only paper which I scored highly, the rest of my results are pretty mediocre.

What my Birthdate means...

This is interesting...

Sorry guys, I'm currently very busy doing catch-ups in my studies. Been lying dormant too long. Anyway my finals is only 33 days away, and I haven't started revising... the scenario sounds familiar? Actually wanted to blog something meaningful, but guess that has to wait till this weekend. In the meantime, have to regale you with this. In my opinion, it is quite relevant to me. =) but there is another reason I wanted to post this. Guessed the reason? Haha... ^_^

Your Birthdate: May 31

You're a pretty traditional person. If it's lasted, it's probably good. You seek stability - both in your career and your romantic relationship. In return, you're very loyal and predictable. Which is usually a good thing. Without a partner, you feel lost. Being with someone is very important to you. Your strength: Your dependability Your weakness: You hate being alone Your power color: Midnight blue Your power symbol: Shell Your power month: April

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Patriotism and the scholarship holder

A love for Malaysia

With interest I read about the recent plead by the new Higher Education minister for Malaysian overseas to come home and seve the nation, especially those on Government schorlarship. As a M'sian studying overseas and on Govt scholarship, I felt obliged to give my two cents' worth on the issue.

For myself, I will definately go back to serve the nation, as I felt it is my responsible to do so. I definately felt scornful and looked down towards those who took the scholarship with the intention to break the bond in the future after graduating. Even now while studying, I deeply felt that we who study under govt scholarship or tax-payer funded scholarship should do our best to repay the faith shown by the govt in us. Even though I must admit a future in the govt sector doesn't look rosy at all at the moment, with low pay, low morale, supposed racial discrimination and back-water technologies, unfulfilled vision (the stagnant Biovalley) etc., we are obliged to go home and serve the nation, as the nation needs us. It may be an act of patriotism or responsibility, but it is morally right to do so.

However, for those under FAMA schorlarship, the grass is always greener on the other side of the field, which I tend to agree. I will not blame them for not going back to M'sia, but I will encourage them to do so. Money may be a big factor, but I believe the lack of chances of personal fulfillment and promotion may be the main cause. Whatever the matter, I do not think that it is a lack of patriotism that restained M'sia best brains for returning home.

Patriotism: how should it be defined? In overseas, there is no barrier for us being patriotic: during Merdeka celebration, Malaysian of all races were there together at Malaysian Hall to meet, interact and have fun together. During the commonwealth games, especially the badminton tournament that i attended, M'sian of all races, even those whom I suspect are Australian raised were there to lend their support to tme M'sian team; eventhough as Chang Yang noted, all of the players are Chinese. They cheered voraciously and waved the M'sian flags energitically throughout the match. During both occasion, the feeling of patriotism hung thickly in the air and I felt really proud to be a Malaysian. What about in M'sia? As a Sarawakian, I felt that racial polarisation does not really exists, but penisular m'sia blew a different air. During my one and half year study in KL, I felt that the racial tension there is far higher than in Swak. Why it is so? I have no idea. Perhaps someone can enlighten me on this.

It is unfair and near-sighted to say those who chose to remain overseas to work are unpatriotic. In fact, I felt that they are essential in uplifting the 'M'sian brand'. They can promote M'sia by excelling in their field of expertise, for example, Jimmy Choo, Michelle Yeoh and Michael Wong. I always felt that a yardstick for patriotism is your interest in Malaysian history and current affairs, even when you are overseas. As a Chinese adage pointed out: 风声雨声读书声,声声入耳;家事国事天下事,事事关心。A truly patriotic M'sian will keep in touch with his/her grassroots wherever he/she is. Sadly, I felt that this is lacking in a lot of my scholar friends. They had no idea who Noordin Top is, nor Ghafar Baba. They pay no heed to the Scenic bridge, nor the increase in oil price. We may show patriotism in diffrent ways, but a patriotic M'sian must at least show some care towards the country, irrespective of his or her location. A M'sian living in the bottom of the well somewhere in KL is not more patriotic than a person who lives in UK but kept abreast of all the M'sian current affairs. In fact, I think that the latter is more patriotic.

My post today may be seen as a narrow view of patriotism, as I don't deny patriotism is a multi-facetted outlook . It is hard to define patriotism, or gauge who is patriotic; for example someone may think that serving in the army or instigating a terrorist attack against the USA is a patriotic act. However, I believe as long as you care for your country and feel a burning pride for being born and raised in your country, you can be classified as a patriotic Malaysian.

Windows of the soul

Of Korean dramas and actresses

Well, since you two (Loony n DeadFlower) insists so much.. i will delve a little bit into the korean dramas i like. Ever since watching Autumn in My Heart a few years ago..i had been hooked by the korean dramas, or more truthfully, the leading beauties in the drama or movie, specifically their eyes. I love the eyes of korean gals very much. There are big, rounded, watery, sparkery, alive, similar to shining black pearls or anything you like to describe beautiful eyes... In one word: their eyes are just magical. Okay, maybe not every koreans, but the korean actresses. I love their eyes so much that i had change the 'requirement' of my future wife or girlfriend: she need not be pretty, slim, have long hair etc. The only prerequisite is that she has beautiful eyes that are big, playful and alive. I don't care if her eyes are 'belladonna' induced or she suffer from near vision., as long as her eyes sparkle all the time.... =) I really believe eyes are windows of the soul.

Currently I'm watching a Korean series named Love in Harvard. It starred the everly lovely Kim Tae Hee... she was just heavenly. Eventhough the plot in Korean dramas are roughly the same, I still watched them anyway..becoz of the actresses. Besides, its about life in Harvard, and since I did not have a chance to study in the US, might as well have a look at the famous Harvard school. (But heard it was not filmed in Harvard)

The top five Korean actresses (ranked by looks and eyes) in my all time favs list according to order are:

1. Song Hae Gyo 2. Kim Tae Hee 3. Jeon Ji-Hyun 4. Kim Hee Sun 5. Jang Na Ra


Clockwise: Jeon Ji-Hyun, Kim Hee Sun, Jang Na Ra, Song Hae Gyo, Kim Tae Hee)







Well, enough of Korean gals.. now talk about myself.

Current mood: Quite down, coz I'm sick, and M'sia just lost in the Thomas Cup semis to Denmark. But somewhat happy coz juz beat my freinds in Counter Strike. Its the weekend too..meaning I have 2 full days to recuperate... Hopefully will be well by Monday.

Think thats all for today.. yeah and juz if you are curious, i didn't celebrate the historical 010203040506 moment. I was asleep by then. =) Anyway, ciao!

Of Kindness

天下有乞丐,是因为人们允许他猖獗。

I believe there are beggars in the world because people allow them to live that kind of life. There are perhaps no misplaced kindness greater then giving coins to the road-side beggars. Even though I felt a twinge of guilt sometimes by not donating some money to them, I stood resolute by my belief. I concurred that kindness somehow will impede our innate ability to find a way out of every difficulties, and hence make us weak.

However, it is not that I am totally against showing kindness to people; it depends on the circumstances of the situation. A little kindness is good, it is what make us human, but too much will only spoil the person at the receiving end. In the end, we will be the guilty party in causing the downfall of that person, stunting his/her inner growth to be an independent, resourceful person. Thus, our effort have a paradoxical effect that is the direct opposite of our intention.

Sometimes we live under the kindness of others without really knowing it. We took them and their kind-heartedness for granted until it became a habit. We let them help us, and seek them for help when we faced the same problems. We never venture to solve the problems ourselves and became almost despondent on their charity. So my beloved reader, I bide you to sit back and ponder for a while.. had you been so accustomed to someone always being at you side and helping you that you had became complacent? If yes, it is time to wake up from your deep slumber...

P/S: this blog is not intended to be a surreptitious swipe towards anyone, it is purely my opinion and my opinion only. I am not sure what spurred me to write this post, perhaps an overworked brain, but I write this off the cuff. If you are 'stinged' by this post, I would like to apologize but I would also hope that you do a little bit of reflection...

Myself

I'm seriously very busy now... but to keep a promise to myself, I'll try to update this blog. I had no idea what to write. So I will write about something I know really well: ME! ^_^

This is a current picture of me: at 0020 hrs Aussie time 2 May 2006. I just snapped it using my webcam as my digital camera broke down. I'm having 4 lectures and 2 meetings tomorrow, so it is kinda hectic day for me. Weekend had been good, spent lazing around during nothing. Currently is watching the Korean serial Love In Harvard starring the very enchanting Kim Tae Hee. Maybe I will talk about it tomoro =)

By the way, been very active in the gym recently, running on the treadmill for a minimal of 2km per session. Been very happy with my progress coz now can running for more than 4km without feeling tired. And also was practising on my guitar too.. but till now can only play a song well.. try to guess which song is tat ^~^

I guess that's all for this post now.. will try to cough out something more substantial tomoro.

The two-sides of every story

Contemplation after reading "The Raja Bahrin Story"

Recently, the Raja Bahrin story resurfaced in the mainstream media of Melbourne. For those of you in the dark, Raja Bahrin is a Terengganu prince who cause a furore back in 1992 after kidnapping his son and daughter from the custody of his estrangled wife in Melbourne and smuggling them back to M'sia. Now after 14 years of seperation, the daughter in the case (now 21 years old) is back in Melbourne reunited with her mother.

When I first read the story in the newspaper, I had a bad opinion of the prince, whom the newspapers protrayed as someone who snatched away the motherly love that are entitled to two young children. He was also protrayed as an unfaithful man who took a second wife despite already being married. I was, of course, quite appalled by his action, and wondered why he was not dealt with the justice he deserved. I shared the sentiments of the Australians, fully sympathized with this long-suffering mother.

However, all of this changed when I stumbled upon a book at the regional library in Melbourne that I frequented: The Raja Bahrin Story. In that story written by the prince himself, he chronicled the way his wife was disillusioned with life and the manipulative way she herself smuggled the children to Melbourne from Terengganu, toying with the sympathies of the Australian Family Court and the general public to keep the children away from the father. The book was very successful in swaying my opinion about this matter, and I was left seething in anger at the mother in question which I suspect is the ultimate aim of the book .

Now I am waiting to read the version of the story from the mother's perspective. She too, had written a book on this drama: Once I was a Princess. Perhaps I will be in a better position to make a judgement on this matter after that. Nonetheless, this serves as a good 'knock in the head' for me for being so easily swayed by the sentiments skillfully articulated in the media. It serves as a reminder that for every story, there exist a version from one side, another version from the opposite side, and the truth sandwiched somewhere between the two versions. History, as people said, can be accounted as His Story, which may be the truth in the author's point of view, but not from the another person's view. It is nearly impossible to get the true, neutral version of a story that are devoid of feelings and subjective lifting. Talk about reading between the lines!

Another Rebirth

Hopefully there will not be another...

It seems that I always have this difficulty to keep something I started going. There is just such a tendency to be disinterested and let it go after a while. Hopefully this will be the third time lucky that I got this little blog of mine going...

Well, I had spent a good 2 hours changing the outlook of my blog, with the hope that with a new look, I might have renewed vigour to continue doing what I am supposed to do =) hopefully this time round the blog will survive till eternity, instead of stopping abruptly when I am not in the groove to write something. Inspiration.. thats' what I constantly need, and hopefully that I will constantly find. Happy reading! =)