i was in singapore the other day, when i was visiting im sing, and got some very VERY old pictures... pictures which we took, just after our official professional exam results were announced... which, when i looked back, was superbly funny... i mean, what the heck were we trying to do???? nevertheless, memories are memories, however stupid they may seemed... so, i'll be sharing some of them today...
p/s: i had a huge zit on my face that day :(
post-exam-stress factor... oh well... so, just ignore that ya...
~the moment~
5 years transalated to 5 seconds
~WORDS OF APPRECIATION~
Thanks a million to those who shaped us and made us who we are today...
Prof Wu
our beloved lecturers
a perhaps, more serious picture, this is the dean, Prof Lokman Saim & i ^^
~Prof Emeritus Adeeb, my supervisor at the background~
it's a pity i did not managed to take pictures with all my lecturers...
i would like to take this opportunity to thank every single one of them...
special note to the supervisors of our study group:
Prof Shahril, Prof Rohaizak, Dr Wong Sau Wei, Prof Tan, etc...
this is probably the only picture i had with my baby.... taken outside our apartment... ^^
Thanks for temaning me through this journey....
starting the new chapter of life....
p/s: sorry yml, your picture wasn't available... hehe... but i'm so glad to have you to teman me crazy through the 5 years... as we had been roommates/neighbours/housemates....
THERE has been so much hype on the tough life a houseman faces.
As a parent of a final-year student, l totally agree how depressing it can be for young housemen just graduated after a gruelling five to six years of study – and not all are government sponsored – to be treated so shabbily that they would want to leave the service, no thanks to the system.
Even as final-year students, they are sent to hospitals and are kept on their toes for anything between 10 and 12 hours a day without a weekend off.
How do you expect them to study with the exams around the corner? Mind you, most students already decide to leave as soon as they graduate.
To make matters worse, the consultant comes in and verbally abuses those poor housemen who have been in the hospital for over 24 to 40 hours.
They are even called “stupid” and “donkey” in front of their patients!
It is really absurd to be made to work continuously in the most inhuman manner, depriving them of sleep and rest.
What irks me most is why aren’t housemen subjected to the same labour laws of the country as other civil servants – eight hours of work and overtime to be paid for on-call duty and a rest day in between calls?
Why is it so difficult for us to follow the foreign practice in which housemanship is for one year and subsequently, the houseman can decide whether he or she wants to continue or leave the service.
Speaking from the point of view of a final year student, I think final year students are expected to performed almost like a doctor, perhaps the reason why they were sent to hospital for 10-12 hours each day. It gives them early exposure of what they will be facing during housemanship, therefore, they will not get a ‘cultural shock’ when they step into the working environment. I am not too sure about your son/daughter, but from where I was trained (UKM-University Kebangsaan Malaysia/National University of Malaysia) we were even expected to be oncalls. In my opinion, it is worth it, to attend these calls, when there are consultants to teach us during these calls. In fact, I enjoyed on-calls very much, as we get to see many cases at night, and we get to learn a lot more. Especially during O&G (obstetric & gynaecology) where we do Labour room calls...The thing is, medical school is very much different from high school, or other courses, perhaps. The knowledge and skills we need to obtain, are not merely from textbooks per se. Ward works, clinics, theaters, clerking patients, case presentations, are very important too. I guess many students would agree that they preferred their clinical years to pre-clinical years.
About verbal abuse, do bear in mind that not all consultants are like that. I have seen consultants who give compliments and encouragements to students and housemen. I believed that consultants/ MO should be more careful in their choice of vocabulary, especially when addressing other doctors as they are all colleagues. I had once had my share of embarrassment, when my friends and I were called ‘brainless’ during my medical school years, but I guess, we deserved that, as we just started our posting and had very little knowledge at that time, being third years. I was indeed motivated to work harder and prove myself. But that was being a student. However, I guess, for the doctors, and the house officers, surely, they deserved more respect.
The working hours, I must agree, is crazy. Sometimes, to think of it, would you want to be treated by a doctor who had back to back calls? a doctor who had not been sleeping well for the past 48 hours? That thought itself is scary I suppose. It comes back again, to our health system. The government trained many doctors yearly, sent many overseas, yet there were never enough housemen. It is about time they ask the question – WHY? A huge proportion of the people chose to do their housemanship overseas, get their post graduate degree and return to out country as specialist. Some perhaps, never return. Why you may ask? The answers are very obvious, other country offers more.
You know, when compared the salary of house officers in Malaysia to other countries in Asia, Malaysia ranked third from the bottom, following Indonesia and the Philippines. Housemen in Korea is earning 6 times more the salary than those in Malaysia.
Today, we even have patients complaining about doctors... sometimes, they forgot that, doctors are humans too! and yet, they really need encouragements from time to time, and they too need acknowledgements, appreciations... very much indeed... to boost them on, help them get by...
You know, if the conditions is not that bad… and the pay is more or less the same, and opportunities for a postgraduate program good, I am sure that many doctors will opt to stay in our country… thus more doctors, less workload, less stress, happier doctors, happier superiors,.. see the cycle? I hope the people up there will put some thoughts into it… and i hope that more and more doctor would opt to stay back and serve the rakyat... together, we can make a difference...
I guess I had too much on my mind lately… You know, after graduating, you are to step into the working world, a new phase of life. And there are options, many options. It is about time to plan our future, to decide where we stand 10 years from now. What decisions we make today, decides tomorrow. And being a Libran, decisions are what I feared most. And therefore, I had put a lot of thoughts into this.
Let’s see, there are two sides of the coin, at this moment. One side offers better working conditions, more advanced technology, better working hours (having only 1-2 oncalls per week), and halved the housemanship period (one year only). More importantly, it promised better opportunities for postgraduate programs (postgraduate training after housemanship itself!), educational funds and sponsorships. As a bonus, you get better salary and higher increments. It is almost like a dream come true.
On the other side of the coin, you have the hectic working conditions, work politics, every-other-day-calls (EOD) pushing a straight 36hours call and then given the night off and expected to report back the next day for another 36 hours call. On top of that, the doubled housemanship period (2 years), sleepless nights, heavy workloads, and your superior pushing you beyond your limits. Opportunities for post-graduate programs, from what I gathered, was somewhat slim, especially if you plan to opt a surgical field. The competitions are great, too many demands, yet too little supply. And the salary? Oh boy, you would certainly be surprised if I were to show you our starting salary… and with only an increment on RM100 yearly… so, I don’t think anyone would want to opt to be a chronic MO, now to think of it…
Funny, despite all that and more, I turned down the offer to work in Singapore.
A friend of mine once said, there is no ending to this argument, this debate. Either way, they had their pros and cons. In the end, you just have to close your eyes, shut your mind, search deep within you and follow your heart.
So, there I am, back at the beginning. I came back to the big question, why am I here? Why did I take this path? Why did I study Medicine in the first place? Knowing that this is probably one of the most challenging professions on Earth! One that requires sacrifices, choices… yet here I am…
-To make a difference-
Why else take up medicine if not to one day treat you family, friends and loved ones?
After a year of consideration, and cracking my mind for the past whole month, I have decided… Yet, yesterday, Su Yin and my cousin asked me again, why did I rejected the offer to Singapore… and today, MK asked. In fact, everyday, people had been asking… and news on the papers has been disappointing… news like this(1) and this(2).... it sometimes clouds my mind… perhaps I needed reassurance that I had made the right choice.
So, I needed to blog about this.
I want to constantly remind myself why I chose this path. I needed to remind myself, constantly.
-HOPE-
Something I strongly held on to. I have hopes that the Malaysian Health System can be improved. Hopes that there are still many doors opened for us, opportunities for us to specialize in our desired post-graduate field. Hopes that after 10 years, when I looked back, I would be glad I made this decision.
Sometimes, it strike my mind, that if I were to take the greener road, the comfortable path, I would probably be away for a solid 10 years. It’s like uprooting yourself, starting a fresh. And there is a fat chance that one may not come back to the country. My friends thought that I think too far ahead. And so, I was thinking, if all our good doctors were to leave our country, despite the lack-of-doctor-crisis, who else is there to treat our loved ones? The vicious cycle continues…
Perhaps, it was because I was trained locally, I felt that I owed it to the country, that I should serve our people… Did I sound almost too patriotic? Haha! Very unlike-shinyin, ei?
Besides, my Professor, Prof Shahrir, once said, 'Don't go, the Singaporeans are just using you...'. Perhaps, he was right. Singaporeans are smart people, they would not do a losing business.
In fact, during the interview with Dr Liam, the Singaporean Recruitment team, I popped out the question, 'Why employ us?', despite knowing very well the answer, perhaps i needed reassurance. He answered, 'because we are building 2 new hospitals, and we do not have enough doctors to sustain the hospitals'. '2 new hospitals?' 'Yup, we plan to make Singapore the one-stop Medical Centre' 'What about your local students?' 'We had opened new medical schools, but it would take another 5 years before they graduate and practice'.
So, the fact hits hard.
1. The Singaporeans wants to build new hospitals to earn money 2. They did not have enough resources 3. They needed us Repeat: THEY NEEDED US
So really, to think about it, the decision is all up to us. Do you want to help them? and if you noticed close enough, we were needed merely to fill in the gap.
My dad had this interesting illustration for this... He said that our country nurtured us from young, right from the seeds, with patience, with love, and when we start bearing fruits, the Singapore government added some fertilizer, promised a better future, and start plucking us...
It would be nice though, if our country itself can provide us, that better future. I think most of the people who left the country, was doing it against their heart. They were disappointed, and perhaps lacked the sense of security... the reassurance...
So maybe today, I felt that I loved my country, I loved my people, I loved my family, I loved my friends, I loved them too much to leave… I loved the life here. The people. (and the food, of course!)
And I hope
Yes, I do
I hope that, I will be loved in returned.
Hope, faith and love can take a person very far indeed...
Like Robert Frost once said, I took the road less travelled by, and that had made all the difference!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ p/s: i'll be leaving for my BTN and induction course tomorrow at Pontian, Johor & Port Dickson respectively... will keep you all updated whenever possible ^^
Remember the last time I told you I met my good old high school friend, Lee Eei, on facebook? How we lost touch for 8 years… and suddenly, out of the blue, she found me on facebook, and how I thought it was a miracle? She helped me recalled those days we had at my first camp... how i was a little girl, following her around, and she would take care of me and Shin Loo, like a big sister...
Well, guess what? This time, Facebook did something even more amazing… I found my standard one friend, someone I lost contact 17 years ago!! S-E-V-E-N-T-E-E-N YEARS AGO!!!! can you believe that? That's over a decade and a half... What can I say? - Facebook does wonders!
It’s really nice, I guess, when you get in touch with really old friends… really, really old friends, and see how much they have changed over the years… Guess what? And I never knew I could learn so much about my childhood from these friends. So, I learned something very interesting today. I managed to retrieved this piece of memory which I had lost.
You know, when we were little, and our teacher used to ask us the MAJOR question: 'What is your ambition? What will you want to be when you grow up?' And with our limited vocabulary, we would try to give her a satisfying answer, at least something good enough that she would nod, and call the next person. And when you finally give her an answer, she would demand for another two, perhaps just in case we didn’t get the first.
So, there we were, two 7-year-olds going through the pictures in the little ‘kamus bergambar’, stopping at the page labeled ‘Occupation’, looking for the right answer, while Puan Tan called out the names, one by one.
I learnt that I was rather indecisive, even during Year One, as when Puan Tan reached the alphabet ‘W’, I was still struggling to decide which occupation to select. So you see, my indecisiveness was in me, even when I was a child, days before I knew the word ‘libran’. (So, to my friends whom had often said that I used Libran as an excuse, see, it’s not an excuse, indecisiveness has been there ever since I was a kid!! Even before I could remember!)
His name was before mine, my old friend, and he answered: sailor, engineer and pilot. And then it was my turn. Guess what? I answered DOCTOR!!! Yup! That’s right! At least that was what he remembered. So, today I learned a fact from a very old friend who had changed my life history. So, I wanted to be a doctor when in standard one!! (So, the answer to the question in my facebook quiz had not been accurate) and of course, my previous posts (namely COAMS #1) were all wrong as well! Geezz…
So, yuin loi, I wanted to be a doctor when I was a child, when I was in Standard 1... It probably would not be surprising though, because I think, apparently, half the class wanted to be doctors too... it seemed to be the 'right' answer that time, I guess... How ironic can it be? While I was pondering all this while, over the past 5 years in Med school, wondering whether is this what I really had wanted... and only after I've graduated, I found out that it was indeed what I wanted back then... haha! God is really funny...
Oh yes, my friend did lived his childhood dream too, he became an engineer...
So, do you remember what you wanted to be when you were in year one?
By the way, my friend sent me some of our class photos during my Standard 1 days… and if you promise not to laugh, I’ll show it to you… I looked rather grumpy in those pictures… i wondered why didn't i smile to the camera... and yeah, I had those thick rimmed glasses, huge thick rimmed glasses… Coz my dad had this belief that the bigger the glasses, the more you see… and I actually believed him for quite a number of years… until I learn about optical point and all.. but that’s another story…
Click the pictures to enlarge it.. I found out that i hadn't developed the subconscious lateral gaze yet... (if you know what i mean, haha!) you can try to find me, if you like, no, i won't tell you which though =P
don't we just loved guessing games? ^^
p/s: Oh yes, i learned another thing too, yuin loi the students in each year are the same... they don't shuffle students back then...
remember the current issue about 2 doctors being complaint of 'not doing their duty' at HKL Emergency Department?? today, i'll like to share an article with you:
Doktor cuma 'berdiam' bila rakyat kritik khidmat mereka
Oleh AZMAN ANUAR rencana@utusan.com.my
PENDEDAHAN berhubung isu penemuan dua doktor di Jabatan Kecemasan Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) 'mencuri tulang' oleh Timbalan Menteri Wilayah Persekutuan, Datuk M. Saravanan sedangkan lebih 20 orang pesakit masih menunggu dalam kesakitan - memang menghangat.
Susulannya, pelbagai pihak lain turut mendedahkan versi pengalaman dengan doktor di hospital kerajaan. Semua doktor hospital kerajaan telah dicemuh oleh masyarakat.
Tetapi akhirnya lain pula cerita sebenarnya. Dua doktor yang dituduh curi tulang itu sebenarnya doktor pelatih yang baru habis bertugas sejak hari sebelumnya. Bilangan pesakit yang menunggu hanya lapan orang (selebihnya ahli keluarga yang menunggu).
Inilah bahana apabila membuat tuduhan tanpa usul periksa. Tidak rasa sedih dan terhinakah doktor dituduh sedemikian. Sedangkan kita tahu mereka bertugas dengan dedikasi, merawat pesakit berbilang kaum tanpa jemu, bekerja siang mahupun malam tanpa hirau penat dan lesu - tiba-tiba dituduh secara melulu sedemikian!
Jika ada pun doktor yang bersikap 'curi tulang' jangan dibuat andaian semua doktor begitu. Tempias nama buruk terpalit kepada institusi hospital kerajaan.
Pada hakikatnya ramai doktor masih bertanggungjawab dalam menjalankan tugas.
Sebagai rakyat Malaysia, mungkin kita pernah menjadi pesakit di hospital mahupun di klinik-klinik kerajaan.
Soal menunggu lama adalah lumrah kerana kita maklum jumlah pesakit yang ramai. Cuma sikap sewaktu memeriksa pesakit perlu dilakukan dengan penuh dedikasi - bukan menunjukkan reaksi kurang selesa dan kurang berminat untuk merawat pesakit.
Pun begitu, kita percaya masih ramai doktor yang komited dengan tugas mereka. Mungkin hanya satu dua orang sahaja yang tidak beretika dan sanggup mencalitkan lumpur kepada nama baik hospital.
Doktor dan pembantunya, jururawat telah diberi kursus dalam membentuk etika yang baik sewaktu bertugas. Mereka tahu cara untuk berhadapan dengan jumlah pesakit yang terlalu ramai termasuk melayan pelbagai kerenah pesakit.
Petugas di hospital kerajaan harus memberi layanan terbaik kepada setiap orang tanpa mengira status dan kedudukan. Jangan kerana pesakit terdiri dari golongan kurang mampu dan ditempatkan di kelas kedua atau ketiga, mereka dilayan bagai orang yang tiada perasaan - diherdik dan ditengking sesuka hati.
Profesion doktor cukup mulia. Tetapi naluri manusia sentiasa mahu dilayan dengan cepat dan tidak sabar jika terpaksa menunggu lama.
Perkara ini dilalui oleh para doktor. Bilangan doktor tidak pernah bertambah. Seorang rakan yang memilih bidang ini pernah meluahkan 'tidak ada masa yang cukup' untuk mereka.
Ada masa mereka terlepas waktu makan tengah hari. Kalau mahu ke tandas pun perlu bergilir-gilir. Perkara-perkara seumpama itu adalah biasa bagi seseorang doktor.
Namun, kita belum lagi mendengar doktor menjerit marah kerana kepenatan. Belum pernah kita lihat mereka memberontak dan mogok tidak mahu merawat pesakit.
Kita pun tidak pernah melihat para doktor berpiket menuntut hak mereka. Tak dengar oun mereka meminta dihargai. Sebaliknya mereka terus bekerja penuh dedikasi siang dan malam tanpa jemu merawat pesakit.
Sebenarnya tidak ramai antara kita sedar bahawa waktu bila doktor bekerja. Mereka memulakan tugas sebelum pukul 8 pagi, dan jika on call kena bertugas hingga 36 jam.
Banyak masa mereka korbankan untuk pesakit daripada bersama di sisi ahli keluarga, ibu bapa dan anak-anak.
Mereka tidak pernah merungut tentang gaji. Tidak ada siapa antara kita yang serius memikirkan soal menjaga kebajikan doktor.
Sekarang, amat jarang pesakit atau waris pesakit yang mengucapkan 'terima kasih' kepada doktor. Sebaliknya ada pesakit yang berani menghentak fail ke atas kepala doktor semata-mata kerana tidak diberi cuti sakit.
Tetapi doktor hanya diam, senyum dan meneruskan kerja. Bukanlah bermakna mereka tiada perasaan. Sebaliknya mereka dididik dan dipesan untuk bersabar dengan semua kerenah pesakit.
Jangan kerana desakan sesetengah pihak berkepentingan tertentu, mereka ini dijadikan mangsa dan bekerja dalam tekanan. Kelak ia hanya mendatangkan masalah kepada diri doktor, keluarga dan pesakitnya.
Mulai hari ini dan mengambil semangat baru sempena Hari Pekerja semalam, eloklah kita ringankan mulut untuk mengucapkan terima kasih kepada setiap doktor yang merawat kita
the medical profession is perhaps one of the most tiring and taxing occupation on Earth! Is there any other job that goes on for 36 hours without stop, and expected to report back 7am next morning? and this happens on every other day (EOD calls) meaning 3 times a week... and no public holidays, no chinese new year holidays, no hari raya holidays, no christmas holidays, no weekends, no sundays.... no long vacations... no family outings... no birthday celebrations... no honeymoon post marriage... and do these people complain or go on strike??? do they blame patients for coming in the middle of the night with dry lips, cough & cold, URTI, or some minor non-emergency illness? do they quit their job?
sometimes, people tend to forget that doctors are humans too...
and what hurts the most was, after all those sacrifices... they are not appreciated... and blamed for 'not doing their duty'.... siGh... how sad...
I was in the ward the other day, some time ago. After clerking Encik XXX, who had rheumatic heart fever, I was getting ready to leave the ward when I saw an elderly man walking passed. He occupied the empty bed in the next cubical. New admission. I loved new admissions! Well, at least I did as a med student, (on days when I do not have to cover beds, of course) I wonder whether I might still do as a House Officer though, but that’s beside the point.
Anyway, back to the patient at the next bed. He had a grossly distended abdomen.
“Good evening” I greeted him. “Good evening” he replied with a smile. The usual handshake and brief introduction took place. Let’s call him Mr YYY.
“I know, I looked like a pregnant lady, right?” he joked. When patients start throwing remarks like that, I tried to be all serious and professional. Holding his wife’s hand, he continued, “After she gave me 2 smart sons and 2 lovely daughters, it is about time I return a favour” he tempted a laugher from me, waited for it. I managed half a giggle. I thought that was a very sweet thing to say to his wife.
From that shiny skin, we could have easily made a safe guess – gross ascites. The differentials start popping out, like pop-corns in the oven. He slowly unfolds his story. He had End Stage Renal Failure. In simple terms, his kidneys could no longer function normally and sustain his body needs. Or in more simple terms, he needed dialysis (or a renal transplant) to prolong life. I offered to explain the nature of his illness to him, but it seemed that he already had a very good insight of it, a very educated person, I supposed.
It is not very often that we see such loving old couples around the hospital. There’s always the husband who complains non-stop, dominating, or otherwise very promiscuous. And the wife who nags, could not be bother, wearing a sulky face all day, otherwise very hot-tempered, peri-menopausal stage, we labeled them. So, it is really nice, seeing old happy couples every once in a while. Further clerking revealed otherwise though.
It seemed that all their four children were very highly educated, overseas education- he said. Lawyer, engineer, successful careers… He must have spent so much on their education. I’m just glad to see him so proud of them.
“Which children are you staying with?” I innocently made an assumption.
“It is just the two of us” He replied, looking back at his wife.
I put down my pen and clerking sheets. The somewhat formal clerking evolved into a casual chit-chat. He started sharing his stories about his life, his opinions. Mrs YYY would continue with their sweet loving stories. They were very friendly people.
I later found out that all his children had migrated to Australia. They meet each other only once a year. Hardly.
“Do you miss them?” I accidentally blurted out. I was not sure whether as a med student, I was actually allowed that question. But I guess, I asked more as a friend.
“Sometimes” he answered “I tried not to miss them too much”. His eyes revealing the sadness in him “Luckily I have this beautiful lady to take care of an old hag like me” he held his tears back and took his wife’s hand again, and she was blushing like a little child. "You are indeed one lucky man" =)
He was a pleasant person, his eyes lighting up when he gets excited, dimmed when otherwise. If you may be wondering, his wife was not one of those drop-dead-gorgeous auntie which one might wonder in awe, - how does she keep it? No. She was somewhat ordinary, perhaps almost too plain. She might even passed as a cosmetic model for a product saying [use this if you do not want to end up like her in 10 years time], no offence. Thick wrinkles formed at the end of her eyes, skin not spared from the harshness of time, body stretched from all those child births. But in the eyes of her husband, she is perhaps the most beautiful women on Earth. And if you attempt to look close enough though, you can see that she must have been a jewel during her younger days.
“Why not follow them to Australia?” I asked another dumb question, almost like a reflex.
“I couldn’t” he gazed downwards. I paused a while and allowed him to break the silence. “Well you see, I have End Stage Renal Failure” he answered, which explains everything. Right – Dialysis 3 times a week = $$$ The painful reality is not very hard to translate.
How can this be affordable in a private hospital overseas? “I just wished I would not go early. I would not want Mrs YYY to be alone”
My teachers used to say, you learn the most from your patients. I believed that this is very true indeed. We learnt not only about illness, diseases, diagnosis-investigations-managements, we learnt not only what is expected of the medical school syllabus, to pass exams; but we learnt something perhaps of even greater importance; some things that we would never find in our textbooks. We learnt about Life.
Sometimes, in search of a better life, for the sake of our children, our grandchildren, are we forgetting people who matter used to matter to us?
Health is perhaps THE MOST EXPENSIVE commodity in the world!
I was wondering whether I am still ‘allowed’ to blog about bimbo-tic stuffs. You know, like when North Korea is busy launching its rocket, Thaksin leading another protest, the huge hoo-haa about Earth Hour, And all I care ( or worry) about was my hair, or scratching my nail polish. Yeah, having a blonde moment and all.
But I guess, it’s okay. If not now, when else? If not here, where else? When I start working, I would have to put a professional upfront and remain all composed and mature. (and somewhat boring?)So ya, today I decided to resume blogging, however bimbotic I may sound… at least for a while before I start work… if that’s okay… whatever...
So ya, I was saying. The bimbotic part of me is currently worrying over her hair. Guess what? On the day before the Dean announced our pass-fail list, which was supposingly the superBIG-est moment of my life; you know, it’s like when you are proposing to someone and waiting for the ‘YES, I DO!’ part,... so ya, on the day before that life-changing-event, I did something stupid.I added 10 years to my age.
Okay, if you were wondering how it was possible, well, I went to the nearest hair-dresser, and trusted the hair-stylist.
A day before that the waiter at Tony Roma was demanding for my identification card when TYP ordered some beer (what, am i 18 or something?) and post-event, Cheryl's friend, Dan-Dan guessed that i was 28. So, isn't that 10 years?
Anyway, I went to T & T @ Bandar Permaisuri. I wanted to curl and dye my hair (finally, since the exams were over and all). So, I was introduced to Siang, the hairstylist. And oh boy, did he had opinions, lots of opinions. ‘I want my hair curled, like this (pointing to a mag), big curls especially at the end’ I said in Cantonese.
‘Why curl? Wave is more popular now’, he replied, showing me a few pictures from another mag.
‘but I want curl. I wanted my hair curled since a long time ago’ I said. *blink* *blink*
‘like you said, a long time ago. Now not nice anymore. Your hair is too little for big curls. It would look like the end of a horse’ he insisted.
(pony tail???) ‘Please, please curl my hair’ I begged.
‘Curls are very hard to maintain. I used to live in Japan, and the girls there wake up 2 hours earlier to do their hair. If you can promise me you'll do that, then I’ll curl your hair for you’ he said, and continued sharing his experience in Japan.
*this hairstylist demanding juga*
‘Hmm… should I just do rebonding instead???’ –ALAMAK! that was me giving up in the argument, and the indecisive Libran overpowering me.
‘Huh?' *scratch head*' What’s the point? Your hair is straight already!!’ he said. - I think he almost pengsan.
‘Coz you said curl not nice ma...’ I continued challenging him. -.-||| *sweat*
So, he took nearly 15minutes to persuade me to have my hair ‘wavy’ instead of ‘curly’. Never have I seen a hairstylist who is THIS PERSISTENT. So, in the end, I settled for one of his suggestion, something in between. He said that he’ll give me something which I could style into curls, or change them into waves. And it’ll last longer too. Being shinyin, I thought he was a genius.So, he curled/waved my hair.I asked why he did not use digital perm, but did the normal perm instead. 'Digital perm too fake', he answered. I was wondering wasn’t digital perm supposed to be better? With less chemical used and all? I could not be sure.
‘Can I cut your hair?’ he asked politely.
‘No’- my instant reflex answered.
I thought I sounded a little rude, so I tried to explained, ‘I used to have my hair up till my waist line, and I just had it cut last week to shoulder length. I wanted only 2 inches shorter but the hairstylist (who was really good at Maths) did it 5 inches shorter. So, I really don’t want it any shorter’.
‘Oh I see’ he nodded understandingly. ‘but if cut some, easier to curl’ he added ‘ just an inch, this much’ he bargained.
‘do I really have to do this?’ I asked.
‘Just a little’ he added. ‘Okay then’ I said.
After 10 minutes, I saw this on the floor.
i don't think this was anywhere near one inch though....
I realized that :
1. Hairstylists have really bad Maths and judgement
2. Hairstylists have a different scale on their imaginary ruler
3. Hairstylists are ‘cutaholics’. They are addicted to cutting hair. And they just have to cut.
*sigh*...
Then, he started curling/waving...
*the curlers*
*the curlers looked very funny on me*
*so serious~ *adding some chemicals*
*then, use this heating machine~ damn HOT wehhh... i dare not move an inch as i was scared it might burn my face*
This suffering part took a while, a long while...
Thank God, Cheryl was there to teman me...
and helped me with some decision making.. this was me, waiting not very patiently...
*so sleepy* zzzZZZZzzzzzz....
After like about 2 hours or so, wa-la!
When he was washing off the chemicals off my hair, I commented, ‘not many people to day, huh?’ He replied, ‘I don’t know. Today is my second day at work’.
‘Today is my SECOND day at work’
‘Today is my SECOND day at work’ ‘Today is my SECOND day at work’
That echoed a while in my mind.
WHAT THE ****!!!
*glass breaking background sound*
My heart was shattered.
I couldn’t believe that I rest the fate of my beloved hair on the hands of a newbie, a two-day newbie!! I guess it must have shown in my eyes, the fear.
He tried to reassure me ‘I used to work in another salon, a bigger one. The salon had more customers.’ ‘Why did you changed jobs?’ me being a busybody. ‘The boss was crazy, make me count stocks and work till 2am without being paid for overtime. Then scold me for being late the next morning,’ he said. ‘I didn’t like it’ he added.
That did not offer much comfort. Great! How could I have trust a newbie hairstylist aka previously storekeeper? I was already expecting the worse. Fine, I could always do rebonding if I don’t like it, right? It’s not like un-save-able or anything.
Then the next part, dyeing. (more like dying)
‘How do you like your hair dyed?’ He asked.
‘Do you have a colour chart?’ I answered with a question, being very careful this time. No one mess up dye colours, right? Just choose the colour, apply and smile.
‘No’ he answered.
‘No colour chart? I thought I was supposed to choose the color’ I said.
‘I don’t use colour chart. I mix the 3 colours together. It makes the hair looks more natural’ he replied.
From the mirror reflection, I could see that he was already mixing the colours.
‘Okay then. Just give me something copper-red. NOT TOO BLONDE. I don’t want to look bimbotic and all’ I said.But I guess, he already had the colour mixed and was already applying them on my hair.
Fine. Do whatever you want to my hair, I thought.
Was God playing a trick on me? I wondered.
Finally, he was done. He had Michelle to help him with the dye. After that, Michelle helped me washed off the dye. I wondered whether she sensed my worries and doubtfulness towards this newbie. She gave me a nice massage while washing off the dye solution away from my hair. It was perhaps, one of the best massage I had ever had, not that I have many to compare though. I felt a little better after that. She gave me a simple hair treatment after that.
Finally, having my hair wrapped in towel, I when back to my seat. He toweled dry my hair. ‘Why the curls doesn’t look curly?’ I asked. At this point, I might have been rather annoying I guess, hehe. ‘Coz it’s still wet,’ he still had the energy to entertain me. ‘It'll be beautiful after I blow dry it’ he added confidently. He reached out for the hair blower and did his magic. I closed my eyes a while and tried to relax myself. The warm air brush against my face, soothing and reassuring.
The blower stopped. I opened my eyes. And guess what?
I saw Prof Adeeb staring back at me.
OH MY GOD!!!
My jaw dropped.
I almost shouted. Almost.
I was so in shocked that no voice came out.
I guess he was rather in shock too, as he observed my reaction.
I started fiddling with my hair. He started to panic, and tried to save my hair. He applied a generous amount of gel on my hair, a very generous amount. He tried shaping it to perhaps what he had visualized in his mind. Making it less fluffy. After a while, he looked rather satisfied with his creation. I wondered whether he was faking the confidence and satisfaction to reassure me, to calm me.
He taught me various techniques on how to maintain my curls, how to make them wavy, how to style them. However, I was too ‘in-shock’ to absorb anything. ‘You can always come back few days later, if you are not sure how to style them. I can show you again’ he said as he passed his name card to me. He being nice made me feel a little guilty. Now, thinking back, I guess I was over-reacting, and perhaps being a little cruel to the poor guy.
Surprisingly, my new hair style gave me various feedbacks, from the two extreme ends.
To quote a few…
My first feadback reaction was from Ki Tiong : ‘OH MY GOD! WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR HAIR?’ *pause* *shinyin looked sad, regret a little* ‘pu yong jing, kan qi lai bi jiau cheng shou’ (nevermind, look more mature) she said, patting my shoulders.
I told Cheryl this and she said : Curls memang more mature one. (generalization) Last time, I did my curl also like that.
Su Yin: WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR HAIR???? *eyes open widely* Is it permanent?? Luckily it’s not permanent… curls doesn’t suit you…
(walau, now, I feel really bad. So I went back to my room, and try ‘fixing them’ – helpless) I feel like crying liao.. I can’t believe I paid people to destroy my hair.
After that, I get better ones. May Luu said : Where got like Prof Adeeb? You think Prof Adeeb’s hair easy to style? That a-mah hairstayle damn classic weh.You should have curled your hair way earlier. Don’t look so boring.
Shu Juen : I like it
Susan and nat liked it too. *thumbs up*glad that shinLoo and Audrey liked it too!
So, I felt better, a little.
Well, the funniest comment I heard was from Mr Ooi : What happened to her? Why suddenly do so drastic thing?
I didn't take any picture until the next day, when i was less traumatized...
Now, this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps, the end of the beginning...
I know it’s been a while, since I last posted anything here…. Finally, the smell of freedom, Hmm… freedom isn’t the right word either, More like, finally, I can join my other friends, In starting the next chapter of my life -WORK and LIVING MY DREAMS~
today, i'll like to make a THANK YOU NOTE DEDICATION~
Everything I am today, I owe it to my parents and my supportive family.. thanks Mum & Dad….
Thank you, dear God whom grant me wisdom, patience; watching over me, not forgetting me...
A million and one ‘thank you’s to my dear lecturers… Thank you Prof Shahrir who dedicated his everyday of the study month to his students.. Motivated us from time to time, bonded with his students, encourages over facebook (tech-savvy indeed)…. Thank you Prof Rohaizak, Prof Tan YL, Dr Lim PS, Dr Wong Sau Wei, our supervisors for our study group.. thanks for spending your time teaching us, guiding us though the last moments before professional exams… those critical moments when we started to panic, with SVT 140bpm! Thanks to my dear supervisors who inspires me in every postings and rotations, Dr Nur Azlin, Prof Adeeb, Prof Ros, Dr Halim, Mr Goh, Mr Imtiaz, Mr Vasu, Mr Jeevanen, Dr Tong Seng Fah, Prof Suhaila, Dr Marhani, Ms Shalimar, Ms Hazla, etc… you make me love medicine more and more with each passing day…. Thank you to the radiologist-Prof Tan who truly taught me xrays in the most simplified way… A teacher’s contribution never stops, it continues and shines in their students… you have all inspired me to teach others… to appreciate knowledge, will use them wisely… i am proud to be a product of UKM (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia / The National University of Malaysia) =)
Thanks to my coursemates, my housemates and close friends (you know who you are)… and congratulations! Thanks for teaching me, helping me catch up, practice… Thanks for not losing patience in me… not losing hope in me… We have made it this far. I would not have been able to do this without you all… one of my biggest fear of failing was to have to go thru another torturous 6 months and another C-R-A-Z-Y Professional exams… and to have to do it alone… I’m just glad we got through… We’ll be going different paths soon… will miss you all~~
Thank you to my zhimuis from high schools… you have all been there when I needed you most… on days when I go crazy reading books, when I almost give up hope, you were there to pull me up again… and it made me realized, I still have you guys… thanks! YOU ROCKS!!!
Thank you to all my friends… friends I met online, offline,…. my understanding blog readers… thanks for the words of encouragement… when I was in my down-est pitt, your words offered comfort….
Thanks for all the GoodLucks, whether given, stolen or loaned…. The pineapples… The prayers…..
I’m back!! and I want to share everything with you all… heaven and hell… perhaps shall be doing it in some retrograde fashion… just give me some time to reorganized my thoughts… =)
Finally, I've received my exam slip yesterday, sort of CONFIRMING that all this is true. and no, i won't be shouting into any pillow this time. I can't believe that 5 years past in a blink of an eye.. okay, maybe several blinks.. Shu Juen was already talking about missing university life.. i think i'll be missing it too...
Anyway, meanwhile, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed..... Praying hard that everything will go through well... and hoping that i will not screw up...
Mr Jeevanan, our ENT consultant, said that: 'Examiners don't fail students. Students fail themselves.' I guess there is some truth in what he said. When under exam stress, students (including me) do all sorts of funny things. Even a very good or average student, when panic, make mistakes in exams, and some mistakes, being very unforgivable..
The last mock exam i had, well, it didn't went really well... (and guess what? it was videotaped and all! and yes, my coursemates get to view it in dk1 and well, 'learn from my mistakes'.. ) Prof Shahrir was like: shinyin, what happened to you?
The next exam, the real one, would be even more stressful, You get thought block when four examiners stare straight into you, watching you examine the patient, pressuring you to answer the questions, as the time keeps ticking....
So much at stake...
But i suppose, we have to learn how to manage anxiety, stress... how can we manage patients if we ourselves get over anxious, no? i really hope i can maintain composure, calmness.. breathing exercise....
Will be giving it all my best for the next three weeks... Wish me good luck! =) (i desperately need in this time)
All the best to all my coursemates, hope we'll all pass this with smiles ^^
p/s: Will be fasting from the internet for a while~ Please do not abandon me.. :)
Dear friends and readers, Thank you for dropping by and leaving comments/ shoutouts. More importantly, thank you for being there...
please accept my apology that, lately, i may be busy with work and not have time to reply youir messages/comments, but rest assured, each and everyone is read, and highly appreciated :)
have a nice day! ^^
our beloved lecturers
~Prof Emeritus Adeeb, my supervisor at the background~
skipping with joy
