It's a funny feeling this..unemployment. Well, in my case, transitional but still its a funny feeling. How do I describe it? Carefree spirits now that I don't have to answer to anyone..that I don't need to show two faces to someone I don't like just because I need something which that person is holding over me at work. Its all gone. Like the blown wind. Feels great. I felt as if a huge burden was lifted off me the moment I put the resignation letter on my boss's table, and a copy on the HR manager's table. Why we ever needed to succumb to someone else's games and politicking just for face value and false power I will never know. Well its all over for me now.
Have fun guys.
If I am to endure such mismanagement and pseudo-capable HOD's (apart from my own HOD) I might as well endure it in another organisation with a higher pay and at least some sort of chance to get sponsored higher education, as well as a mandatory 48 day annual leave. I just have one regret: I will really miss my immediate colleagues. May I stress again the word Immediate. They are the ones who really imparted upon me the invaluable experience they had, and for that I will be eternally grateful. For without that, I would not be able to proceed to where I will be proceeding to careerwise. Anyway, looking forward..the next chapter in life..Target realised. Next target due...hmm....secret!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Oh dear, Health Expo shmucks...
Oh no I've gone and done it again...I've chomped down on my tooth again. Luckily I work in a medical centre so I can get corporate rate for any medical work. As it is, it still cost me a few hundred dollars for a crowning (tooth lah!) and a whale-sized headache due to the dentist giving me an OD on local anaesthesia..and this on one of our busiest days yet...oh well, luckily I got through it and thanks to our locum dentist who managed to squeeze what was supposed to be a week's worth of work into a day.
And the whale sized headache wasn't entirely due to the OD though...I spent 4 harried sessions at the recently concluded Brunei 100 years health expo held recently, giving free glucose tests to the lucky 100 every day.
THAT however enlightened me to a very important factor that Bruneians have. L-U-C-K. Healthcare is free for Bruneians. No matter a simple health check or a surgery procedure, its all free as long as you get a referral from the doctor. Now what this means is that health is grossly undervalued. Grossly as with a capital G. Why do I say so? Imagine this scenario; in fact don't bother, I'll just narrate based on experience at the Health Expo:
Me: Selamat pagi, apa khabar?
Patient: Selamat pagi, apa yang kita buat ni??
Me: Hari ini kita ada free glucose checkup...
Patient: Oh ok...bah apasaja tah..
So as I do the relevant procedures to prepare for checkup..
Me: Ada kita makan pagi tadi??
Patient: Ada....
Me: Orh...bagus bagus..lepas sarapan pagi kan check glucose lah..?
Patient: Ya, saya baru saja minum...teh tarik sama tiga biji gula....
Me: Err...ok..bah mari kita check saja dulu aahh...
Now FYI fasting glucose is around 3.9 to 7.0 mmol/L and random glucose is up till 10.0 mmol/L and anything after that is Onset diabetes Type II.
Me: Aiyor, ini kira tinggi lah..[result came out to be 15.3 frikkin mmol/L]
Patient: Ya, kenapa ah? Aku ada makan ubat diabetis pagi tadi orhh!!!
Me: [*&**^&%^**_] Masih tinggi lah, lepas makan ubat sepatutnya dibawah10.0 woah. Bagus kita ke arah Dietician kami ah, dia akan bagi komen makanan yang sesuai ah..terima kasih..
And over the 4 days, I had this scenario repeated more than 7 times. Are they just blissfully unaware or just don't care? Imagine the hundreds of thousands of $$ being pumped into the health sector just to rectify ignorance like this? Let me reiterate; these people know, they just don't care. They think that after that magic little pill then it can be justified, that teh C and roti canai..that money that could have been funding research or directed to hospital improvements and to actual people that needed surgery or post-health care, rather than spending on medicines which these people take for granted. Or take the other guy whom I tested 19.9 and was IN DENIAL!!! Actually enquired about our Opthalmology services after that result for his failing vision when it was blatantly obvious that diabetes onset was causing the vision problems..hello!!! Wake up and smell the roses.
DID you know that teh tarik/teh C/Milo/soft drinks that you order in restaurants in Brunei have equivalent of 7-8 teaspoons of sugar?? Working in the cardiac centre let me inform the uninformed public that a basic surgery to unblock vessels (PTCA/Angiogram) costs around B$20,000 and that a full CABG bypass surgery costs B$50,000++ per patient. Then let me remind you that arterial blockage is caused by sedentary lifestyle, non-exercise, smoking and the "Nasi-Lemak/Katok Syndrome".
Did you also know that eventually if this continues on, the Brunei government will have to start charging fees for each and every procedure and then the people who will really hurt in their pocket will be these ignorant citizens etc whereas those who genuinely care about their health and follow doctor's advice will be the ones who suffer the most..talk about rotten apples spoiling the whole crate...
WAKE UP BRUNEI..YOUR HEALTH IS THE ASSET OF THE COUNTRY, NOT THE LIABILITY OF THE GOVERNMENT...you guys expect so much from the country but never give back...apaler....
And the whale sized headache wasn't entirely due to the OD though...I spent 4 harried sessions at the recently concluded Brunei 100 years health expo held recently, giving free glucose tests to the lucky 100 every day.
THAT however enlightened me to a very important factor that Bruneians have. L-U-C-K. Healthcare is free for Bruneians. No matter a simple health check or a surgery procedure, its all free as long as you get a referral from the doctor. Now what this means is that health is grossly undervalued. Grossly as with a capital G. Why do I say so? Imagine this scenario; in fact don't bother, I'll just narrate based on experience at the Health Expo:
Me: Selamat pagi, apa khabar?
Patient: Selamat pagi, apa yang kita buat ni??
Me: Hari ini kita ada free glucose checkup...
Patient: Oh ok...bah apasaja tah..
So as I do the relevant procedures to prepare for checkup..
Me: Ada kita makan pagi tadi??
Patient: Ada....
Me: Orh...bagus bagus..lepas sarapan pagi kan check glucose lah..?
Patient: Ya, saya baru saja minum...teh tarik sama tiga biji gula....
Me: Err...ok..bah mari kita check saja dulu aahh...
Now FYI fasting glucose is around 3.9 to 7.0 mmol/L and random glucose is up till 10.0 mmol/L and anything after that is Onset diabetes Type II.
Me: Aiyor, ini kira tinggi lah..[result came out to be 15.3 frikkin mmol/L]
Patient: Ya, kenapa ah? Aku ada makan ubat diabetis pagi tadi orhh!!!
Me: [*&**^&%^**_] Masih tinggi lah, lepas makan ubat sepatutnya dibawah10.0 woah. Bagus kita ke arah Dietician kami ah, dia akan bagi komen makanan yang sesuai ah..terima kasih..
And over the 4 days, I had this scenario repeated more than 7 times. Are they just blissfully unaware or just don't care? Imagine the hundreds of thousands of $$ being pumped into the health sector just to rectify ignorance like this? Let me reiterate; these people know, they just don't care. They think that after that magic little pill then it can be justified, that teh C and roti canai..that money that could have been funding research or directed to hospital improvements and to actual people that needed surgery or post-health care, rather than spending on medicines which these people take for granted. Or take the other guy whom I tested 19.9 and was IN DENIAL!!! Actually enquired about our Opthalmology services after that result for his failing vision when it was blatantly obvious that diabetes onset was causing the vision problems..hello!!! Wake up and smell the roses.
DID you know that teh tarik/teh C/Milo/soft drinks that you order in restaurants in Brunei have equivalent of 7-8 teaspoons of sugar?? Working in the cardiac centre let me inform the uninformed public that a basic surgery to unblock vessels (PTCA/Angiogram) costs around B$20,000 and that a full CABG bypass surgery costs B$50,000++ per patient. Then let me remind you that arterial blockage is caused by sedentary lifestyle, non-exercise, smoking and the "Nasi-Lemak/Katok Syndrome".
Did you also know that eventually if this continues on, the Brunei government will have to start charging fees for each and every procedure and then the people who will really hurt in their pocket will be these ignorant citizens etc whereas those who genuinely care about their health and follow doctor's advice will be the ones who suffer the most..talk about rotten apples spoiling the whole crate...
WAKE UP BRUNEI..YOUR HEALTH IS THE ASSET OF THE COUNTRY, NOT THE LIABILITY OF THE GOVERNMENT...you guys expect so much from the country but never give back...apaler....
Saturday, November 10, 2007
It's a boy!!!!!!!!!!!!
Congrats to L.C.H. and wife!!! The new addition to the family is a healthy boy!!! Good on ya mate!!! Guess that means not much more time for weekly badminton anymore hey?! Hahaha...come back to Bandar soon ya, baby's gift is waiting for him!! I bet you'll love it too..
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Down memory lane...
It's nice to meet you guys..its been what, 4 years or something like that since the class of '99 and whoa everyone's done well hey..like what...4 scholars in each of the top prestigious unis around the world...or everyone's migrated and is making their own mark in the world..great one!!!
Reminiscing over old times and current times, and it struck me just how good we have it here. For all you say it's boring over here and whatnot, did you know there are certain facts that establish that working here is heaps better than outside??
1) Stop complaining about the pay. People in Malaysia get paid half of us AND get income tax again. Or try working in US of A and getting whacked with a 35% total tax bill every paycheck.
Or in real world figures: on paper u earn 2.2k but bring home a real cash amount of 1.6k only.
2) Did you guys in Brunei know what real world petrol prices are? I've had so many people complain to me that their car consumes a lot of fuel. Hey, get a life..I've paid up to $1.40 per litre of petrol before and thats real world oil prices man. Don't go whining about how little your $5 of petrol gets you. In Malaysia $5 gets you from 1 end of the petrol station to the other. Try asking for $5 of petrol in Singapore, at $1.80 a litre I'm sure mineral water bottles hold more.
3) Complain about work, try why don't you. At least you get to go home at 5pm. Others overseas go home at 7pm and some are lucky if they get home by 9.
All in all, I think we've got it pretty good here. And at $0.53 a litre of petrol I'm sure you guys can save up enough money from there for other things..like another car.... :p
Reminiscing over old times and current times, and it struck me just how good we have it here. For all you say it's boring over here and whatnot, did you know there are certain facts that establish that working here is heaps better than outside??
1) Stop complaining about the pay. People in Malaysia get paid half of us AND get income tax again. Or try working in US of A and getting whacked with a 35% total tax bill every paycheck.
Or in real world figures: on paper u earn 2.2k but bring home a real cash amount of 1.6k only.
2) Did you guys in Brunei know what real world petrol prices are? I've had so many people complain to me that their car consumes a lot of fuel. Hey, get a life..I've paid up to $1.40 per litre of petrol before and thats real world oil prices man. Don't go whining about how little your $5 of petrol gets you. In Malaysia $5 gets you from 1 end of the petrol station to the other. Try asking for $5 of petrol in Singapore, at $1.80 a litre I'm sure mineral water bottles hold more.
3) Complain about work, try why don't you. At least you get to go home at 5pm. Others overseas go home at 7pm and some are lucky if they get home by 9.
All in all, I think we've got it pretty good here. And at $0.53 a litre of petrol I'm sure you guys can save up enough money from there for other things..like another car.... :p
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
What to blog?
Whoa, I think that I am not meant to diet. Seriously. The last time I tried a low carb diet for a week, I ballooned up and ended up not fitting in any pants of mine. And how depressing it was as well. So I ended up going back to eating my normal meals and voila I shrunk back to size. Thank God!! I thought I needed to go for liposuction.
Anyway so apart from that, I've actually become pretty proud of myself. Managed to squirrel away a few coins in the past month or two. I think I'll go buy myself something now..muahahaaha NOT!!
Seriously I think I can..I'm sure I can...I know i can...aahh whatever...
Anyway so apart from that, I've actually become pretty proud of myself. Managed to squirrel away a few coins in the past month or two. I think I'll go buy myself something now..muahahaaha NOT!!
Seriously I think I can..I'm sure I can...I know i can...aahh whatever...
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Pleaze be excusing my error for spellin...
I've been tagged, I can't be bothered about tagging others or typing up all the rules again. But it goes along the lines of linking to the person who tagged me and then sharing 7 random facts about myself to the world. Here goes: Pandachu tagged me. So what should I do now? Run and hide? WHoops this is not kindy anymore. Anyway..sharp eyed hawks would have noticed that I accidentally spelt the ship's name wrongly, it's supposed to be the MV Doulos..my thousand apologies...anyway here goes the
7 Random facts about myself:
1) I hate my hair. Short its too spiky and makes me look like a goddamn rambutan.durian mish mash hybrid. Long and I look like a bum. Why can't I have silky hair which listens to me and my gel?
2) I love my sisters to bits. I just wish that they didn't stay in their own fantasy world so much and come down to earth and have some common sense regarding street smarts.
3) I love cars. I'm a guy. Enough said.
4) Crap I can't come up with another 4 facts lah...okay maybe this one: I can't stand idiocy and non-commonsensical actions.
5) I'm really at a loss here....
Ok I give up. Actually I don't. I just think that those who are reading this blog will judge me based on 7 facts about myself? How is that different to the hypocrisy of judging a person by the 1st impression? So this is what I'll do..Drop me a comment whoever of you wants to know me better, rather than rely on 7 facts. Only single females need reply. Hahahaha j/k.
7 Random facts about myself:
1) I hate my hair. Short its too spiky and makes me look like a goddamn rambutan.durian mish mash hybrid. Long and I look like a bum. Why can't I have silky hair which listens to me and my gel?
2) I love my sisters to bits. I just wish that they didn't stay in their own fantasy world so much and come down to earth and have some common sense regarding street smarts.
3) I love cars. I'm a guy. Enough said.
4) Crap I can't come up with another 4 facts lah...okay maybe this one: I can't stand idiocy and non-commonsensical actions.
5) I'm really at a loss here....
Ok I give up. Actually I don't. I just think that those who are reading this blog will judge me based on 7 facts about myself? How is that different to the hypocrisy of judging a person by the 1st impression? So this is what I'll do..Drop me a comment whoever of you wants to know me better, rather than rely on 7 facts. Only single females need reply. Hahahaha j/k.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
MV DOULAS
Finally I got to experience for myself this floating wonder of a 'bookship' feted in history as the 2nd oldest ship still in service after the TITANIC. But what is with the QUEUE?? I think most people just wanted either a slice of history for themselves or have never experienced the novelty of having a cruise ship open to public (myself included mind you, but I was there more for the books, honest!)
All puns aside though, I was expecting a really wide array of book titles not available here (snigger!) over the whole levels of the ship..but nonetheless it was an experience. Ahh yes, the experience..of people jumping Q..walking across the queue lines like it was a starter's line at a running track..or the uneducated-female-Amazonian-overfed-thick skulled-empty headed-barbarian who was going to slap my 10 yr old sister just because her backpack brushed against her cheap handbag..REALLY!
And she was the one who cut the Q in front of us too!! The nerve of some people..
All puns aside though, I was expecting a really wide array of book titles not available here (snigger!) over the whole levels of the ship..but nonetheless it was an experience. Ahh yes, the experience..of people jumping Q..walking across the queue lines like it was a starter's line at a running track..or the uneducated-female-Amazonian-overfed-thick skulled-empty headed-barbarian who was going to slap my 10 yr old sister just because her backpack brushed against her cheap handbag..REALLY!
And she was the one who cut the Q in front of us too!! The nerve of some people..
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