Me & my vampire fetish...

Bought this pewter bat necklace recently and have fallen in love with it ever since. My fashion sense is kinda all over the place. I love Harajuku/Manga-style, Gothic and Bohemian things with a dash of everything in between. In IMU I used to wear lots of long, flowing skirts. Haven't done that a lot here, though I think I will soon. Brought some over and they're sitting in my cupboard. ^_^

Don't feel like studying anymore. I just wanna go home... T-5 Days!

You've got to be kidding me....

Was reading Christine's blog bout an article in yesterday's Star Newspaper. Seems there is a Malaysian group (comprised of university students. Yes, university students!), whose vice-president is a woman (yes, a woman!). They claim that government school girls' school uniforms are too sexy and encourage rape, premarital sex, prostitution and bastard children! Now I really think Malaysia is slowly being taken over my religious extremists. This brings back one of my pet peeves about my beloved homeland (read my previous posts regarding this issue) I'm just too horribly disgusted and aghast to say anymore. The following is the newspaper article:


School uniform sexy, says group

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian group condemned the uniform worn by girls at government schools, saying it encouraged rape and pre-marital sex.

“The white blouse is too transparent for girls and it becomes a source of attraction,” National Islamic Students Association of Malaysia vice-president Munirah Bahari said in a statement.

“It becomes a distraction to men, who are drawn to it, whether or not they like looking at it,” she said, calling for a review of uniform policy so that it did not violate Islamic ideals.

In multicultural Malaysia, home to majority-Muslim Malays as well as ethnic Chinese and Indians, female students at government schools have a choice of wearing a white blouse with a knee-length skirt or pinafore.

They may also wear a “baju kurung” and a headscarf is optional for Malay students.

Munirah said that “covering up” according to Islamic precepts was important to fend off social ills, including “rape, sexual harassment and even premarital sex.”

“This leads to babies born out of wedlock and, to an extent, even prostitution,” she said.

“Decent clothes which are not revealing can prevent and protect women from any untoward situations,” she said, suggesting that girls wear a blouse of a different colour or with an undergarment.

However, the girls themselves also came in for criticism, with the association saying that some used the white blouse to lure men.

“This is the source of the problem, where we can see that schoolgirls themselves are capable of using this to attract men to them,” Munirah said.

“This could see them getting molested, having premarital sex and all sorts of things.” – AFP

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/22/nation/21326822&sec=nation



For the benefit of the few non-Malaysian readers of my blog, allow me to give you a clearer idea of the utter stupidity and ignorance of the group's claims:

This is my youngest sister, Yi Lynn. She is wearing a standard secondary school girl's uniform. It consists of a white cotton collared blouse and a light blue pinafore, which is usually knee-length or just above the knees. The other option is the baju kurung, a traditional Malay dress which is white at the top and light blue at the bottom. It's basically long-sleeved, tubular, all the way down to the ankles.

Do tell me Dear Readers, doesn't my sister look 'too sexy for school?' Doesn't she look sinfully seductive? So much so that men who lay eyes on her disgustingly revealing attire can't help but rape her senseless? After all, it is in man's nature to rape, and it is in women's nature to be sinful in all manner of shape and form. Women shouldn't be seen or heard! Lest they tempt males into damnation with their wicked, lustful ways!

Fucktards. Go tell that to the toddlers, frail grandmothers and young women who were clad in tudung, baju kurung, covered their aurat as stated in their Holy Book. They are rape victims too! It saddens me more that it was a woman who made these comments. The ignorance and shallow-mindedness is so deeply entrenched in our society. *Sigh*...

Read also the 2 responses to the article:
Senseless Attack on Uniform
Don't Push Blame on Women's Attire

Pure coincidence?

Your True Love Is a Taurus

Why you'll love a Taurus: Romantic and sentimental, a Taurus can provide you with the security you need. And you both share a fondness for the finest things, from great food to luxury vacations. Why a Taurus will love you: You have the honesty and direct approach that down to earth Taurus desires. And enough elegance to show a Taurus a few new decadent delights!

What Sign Is Your True Love?

The wheel of suffering turns...

"The earthquake was a natural disaster, but nearly all the deaths were man-made."

So said one of the thousands of grieving parents following the earthquakes in Sichuan recently. Yvonne, my ward partner and I were reading about it in the Aussie newspapers over coffee. Felt like crying in the middle of the hospital cafeteria already (but didn't la. that would have been unprofessional). The number of children that died was.... shocking. Mostly preventable, but did the authorities care? Perhaps they cared more about their bulging wallets than anything else. I couldn't imagine how selfishness, ignorance and apathy could beget so much grief and despair. Why didn't the authorities respond quicker to this disaster? Why wasn't the infrastructure improved? Why were school children put in buildings which were deemed unsafe, which literally caved in before the students could leave their desks? And why were soldiers standing watch with their tanks and gleaming shovels while civilians tore through the wreckage with buckets and their bare hands? Because the order to help wasn't issued yet? Seriously when you have people crushed under slabs of concrete screaming in pain, you don't need someone to order you to help them, do you?

Somemore this happened just after Cyclone Nargis hit Burma. *Sigh*...

There are too many questions. And I have no answers. I am but an ignorant, selfish human being myself. Most of us can never truly understand the plight of these people as we have been blessed with happy, carefree lives. I guess we can only extend our hands and heart, though it will never bring the children back.

Instant rejuvenation

Am into my 3rd and last internship for paediatrics: orthopedic surgery. Don't feel like going in this week. My OSCEs are in 10 days and I still haven't covered what I need!

Anyway... orthopedics. Lots of fracture clinics. Since starting ortho I feel like a little girl again. On the first day I was watching some surgery with the consultant and registrar. One of the registrars turned to me and asked: "So... what do you want to be when you grow up?" No one has asked me that question in like, 10 years! That's 'cos I'm technically 'grown up' already... Obviously he meant what specialty I'm interested in, but it certainly sounded like something you'd ask the primary school kid to write a karangan about...

Ooo but it doesn't stop there... 2 days later, in fracture clinic sitting in with another registrar:

Mum and 12 year-old daughter come in for review. 1 week post-injury. Salter Harris 2 fracture of distal radius which was treated with closed reduction and cast...
*Registrar does the usual consult stuff, etc etc*

Reg: OK we're done. Come back at this date to remove the cast.
Mum: Thank you, doctor! *she and daughter get up*
LH: *Opens door for Mum & patient* Thank you. =)
Mum: *comes up real close to me, smiles and......

......TICKLES UNDER MY CHIN!!* "SO CUTEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" *GIGGLE*

I was like!!! -_-" but smiled back politely la. In retrospect, I feel very flattered. :P

Wah. After that incident, I instantly felt 20 years younger. Don't need any anti-wrinkle cream/SKII Facial Mask/whatever elixir of youth already.

Possum

The townhouse I'm staying in is surrounded by greenery (which I oh-so love). Naturally, this attracts lots of wildlife (which I love too). I still don't get tired of watching the flocks of multi-coloured parrots flying about outside my balcony. And sometimes they even eat the fruits off the tree out in the backyard. But! This creature here, as interesting as he is, can be annoying. At first I thought it was a lemur or civet cat-like thingy. Learnt from Jeremy it's actually a possum. Aborigines (and ONLY Aborigines) can catch and eat them! And they're endemic to this area. When I first spotted them last year Ken thought I was seeing things.... Until they started making a ruckus on the roof every other night. They are nocturnal creatures and like walking about on the roof. There's definitely at least two of them 'cos they fight very often. During those fights it feels like the roof may collapse or something. And they hiss and shriek! They really do! So menancing somemore! There were a few times sleeping in the middle of the night, I was abruptly woken by loud thumping and shrieking directly on top of my head. Wah that time I was a bit scared. I was like, "What if the ceiling collapses and the possum lands right on top of my face?" But I guess that's unlikely. They're on the roof anyway, not in between the roof and the ceiling (I hope!). This picture was taken months ago. Saw him climbing a tree branch outside my house so I quickly snapped the bugger.

So there. Yet another weird and wonderful thing about good ol' Adelaide.

Happy Mothers' Day Mummy!

This is my mom during our 2006 trip to Sabah. And the photo below is from my 1st birthday. So happened to have these photos on my laptop and I think she looks absolutely beautiful in them. Happy Mothers' Day, Mummy, though you don't really read my blog. :P

This is also a special day for Darling too (don't think that I've forgotten about you). Happy 24th birthday Darling! Can't wait for winter holidays, then I can come home and spend time with you both! =)

P.S. - Just saw a Woolies (Aussie version of Giant supermarket) advertisement on TV. They were suggesting buying chrysanthemums for Mothers' Day. Omigosh. If I got chrysanthemums for Mummy she'd slap me. :P:P:P

Destroyed in an instant

He is a well-known patient on the paediatric neurology ward. The nurses love him and the doctors pity him. When I entered his room, I was overwhelmed by the get-well cards and messages from his loved ones. They covered the walls from top to bottom. His cycling gear hung around his bed like mobiles, trophies of the past and motivators of the present. He was a bright, cheerful 16 year-old. Only son to his aging parents. Well-loved by his schoolmates and family. Not only was he tremendously active in sports, he was good in it too. He frequetly competed in cycling tournaments, triathlons and was an accomplished gymnast and swimmer. His future shone bright with joy and promise.

Until that horrific accident.

He was competing in a cycling tournament. He was sprinting towards the finish line. There was a pile up in front and somehow collided. He was thrown over the protective fence and his head hit a light pole. Many people don't really appreciate what really happens when one experiences an injury like that. It's not just broken bones and months in hospital. Brain injury is very frightening indeed.

He suffered a fractured base of skull, depressed fracture on another side of the skull, fractured face, jaw and leg. Suffice to say he was in critical condition and spent weeks in ICU. Surgeons managed to fix the fractures, but his brain was massively injured from all the bleeding. There is a hole in his brainstem. It's a miracle that he survived. Although his tracheostomy is finally out, his condition is in laymen's terms, a 'vegetable'. There is no voluntary movement of his limbs at all, he can only move his left eye ever so slightly, he can't even open his mouth or utter a word. He is fed via a tube into his stomach (Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy - PEG) His muscles have all but atrophied. It's difficult to say whether he's still 'in there'. It has been difficult to establish means of communication. The day I saw him, his father managed to get him to blink once for "yes" for the first time. It will take time before he can really be sure it's for real.

Taking the history from his parents was painful. 2 minutes into the conversation the mum broke down in tears. The father did too soon after. As I glanced again at the wall of cards, I could feel my heart breaking too. I kept my examination brief. Tried to get him to blink. Couldn't really tell if it was a real response. But I had this weird, frightening feeling. As if he was trapped in his own body and screaming to get out.

I'm sorry if I'm biased. I can't feel the same sadness for the 60 year-old bloke who drank and smoked his lungs away. This was someone who didn't deserve this. Why him? Then again, I'm looking at only one. Millions around the world. They suffer needlessly too. Life has never been fair in the first place. But it still hurts to see this happen.

My heart goes out to his parents. They have shown such resilience. As his father said: "It's difficult, but what can we do? We have to continue living." Though nothing will ever quell their pain and sorrow. Makes us feel so helpless as healthcare professionals. Hopefully the small improvements recently will continue to grow. I really do pray he'll recover at least some function eventually.

Guys, rejoice in life and love with all your heart. Be grateful for all that you have. You never know when it will disappear.

Maitland & Yorke Peninsula Trip

Finally some photos from last month's trip. Chris, Su Chuen, Ken and I visited Christine and Jebbrine who are doing their 3 week rural MSA in Maitland. Chris rented a car and drove down, spent a weekend there. Good company, good fun. =) This weekend will have to be more boring though. Having my observed case for paediatrics next Tuesday and still not done reading yet. I find paeds so hard to study for compared to O&G.

Places we visited during our trip:

Day 1: Wallaroo, Moonta Bay, Port Hughs, Gregory's Winery.
Day 2: White Flint Olive Grove, Minalton, Stansbury, Port Vincent.

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

Revisited this animation from my childhood today. Sad how many people overlook this movie, thinking it's a childish, girly 'little pony' movie. It so isn't! If anything, this is one of my favourite movies of all time. The vivid and sometimes frightening characters still continue to haunt me. This is a 1982 animated film adaptation of Peter S. Beagle's fantasy novel. It's be known to be a very accurate portrayal of the book. The book itself was published 40 years ago and is still his most popular and well-loved novel.


Taken from http://utd500.utdallas.edu/~hairston/lastunicorn.html, cos I'm too lazy to write my own synopsis right now:

The story follows the Unicorn (she is never given a proper name) who leaves her enchanted forest where she has lived forever, only to find there are no other unicorns left in the world. She goes on a quest to find what has happened to them and is joined by an incompetent wizard, Schmendrick the magician, and a middle-aged scullery maid, Molly Grue. Together they travel to the castle of King Haggard having heard that he and his magical creature, the Red Bull, have imprisoned all the other unicorns. Before they arrive, the Red Bull appears and begins to chase the Unicorn. Schmendrick saves her by turning her into a human woman, thwarting the Bull which can only see unicorns. The Unicorn is revolted at having been transformed into a mortal shape, but Schmendrick explains it is the only way they can gain entrance to the castle. He gives her the name Lady Amalthea and the three of them reach the castle. King Haggard recognizes her for what she truly is, but allows them to stay as his new "playthings". The king's adopted son, Prince Lir, falls in love with Amalthea and devotes himself entirely to trying to win her love. The rest of the novel follows Schmendrick and Molly's effort to find the lost unicorns before Amalthea loses her memory of being a unicorn and becomes completely a mortal human being.

Because it is about a unicorn and a quest for magic, most people mistakenly dismiss it as nothing but a children's story (it's amazing how much of the best and deepest of the world's literature gets classified as children's stories, folk tales, and myths so they can be safely ignored).In reality it is a story that can be read on many levels, simply as an adventure story or more deeply as a fantastic exploration of the nature of truth, beauty, reality, immortality, and the purpose of life. Peter S. Beagle himself has written that the book is sort of "a personal I Ching, which gives me no advice, no handy warnings, but slowly tells me things I had forgotten, or hidden from myself."


I remember first watching this when I was around primary 2 or 3 in Leigh Lyn's house (my then neighbour and best friend in USJ 2). Then again on TV3 in which I videotaped. Being still little and all, I found the red bull, and the scene where the harpy devours Mommy Fortuna (oops! spoiler!) particularly frightening. Even now I still watch those scenes with a slight twinge. I love the beautiful, old-school Japanese style animation. Coupled with fantastic screenplay, voice actors (Mia Farrow and Christopher Lee among them) and hauntingly beautiful music, it really set the tone for the story.

Watching The Last Unicorn made me feel strangely melancholic. I Don't know why. It reminded me that the world is cruel and impermanent, yet in it love grows. This is a story of an immortal being, immersed in the world yet detached from it. In a twist of fate, she becomes a fragile mortal who learns to love and regret.

To love is to let go, to sacrifice, and to cherish the memory.

Eternal Snow
~Full Moon wo Sagashite~


君を好きになって　どれくらい経つのかナ？
気持ち　膨らんでゆくばかりで
君は　この思い気付いているのかナ？
一度も言葉には　してないけど

雪のように　ただ静かに
降り積もり　つづけてゆく

Hold me tight　こんな思いなら
誰かを好きになる気持ち
知りたく　なかったよ
I love you　涙止まらない
こんなんじゃ　君のこと
知らずにいれば　良かったよ

君をいつまで　思っているのかナ？
ため息が窓ガラス　曇らせた

揺れる心　灯すキャンドルで
今　溶かして　ゆけないかナ？

Hold me tight　折れるほど強く
木枯らし　吹雪に出会っても
寒くないようにと
I miss you　君を思うたび
編みかけの　このマフラー
今夜も一人　抱きしめるよ

永遠に降る雪があるなら
君へと続くこの思い　隠せるのかナ？

Hold me tight　こんな思いなら
誰かを好きになる気持ち
知りたく　なかったよ
I love you　胸に込み上げる
冬空に叫びたい
今すぐ君に　会いたいよ

Only in China...

Yet another good weekend has gone by... Was supposed to post photos from last weekend's trip to Maitland. Guess that'll have to wait. Attended the annual IMU BBQ yesterday night. It was good to see the 4th, 5th, 6th years and our super seniors (interns and RMOs) gathered together for some good fun. More pictures on that soon too. In the meantime, hope you'll like this one: I took it off a group in Facebook called "The Most Bizzare Things I've Ever Seen in Hospital." :P

Downfall of a child prodigy

I'm sure some of you remember this girl from many years back. She is the child prodigy Sufiah Yusof who at the age of 13, was accept into Oxford University to study mathematics. Everyone thought this bright, young mind had but a beautiful future ahead. She made us Malaysians proud. Sadly, the public never knew of the torture she endured to reach such heights. It's too much for any young person to bear. This is a perfect example of parents who push their kids too far. She's now 23, and you'd expect her to be sailing smoothly through a shinning career, the world at her feet. Instead this child prodigy is selling her body for £130 an hour.

Gotta admit, she's pretty darned hot. She claims that some clients go wild when she recites math equations during sex. Interesting application of knowledge.

"I don't have any regrets. I've never felt more confident about my body and I've had some of the best sex of my life."
-Sufiah Yusof-

I wonder if she'll still feel the same way when she looks back at her life 50 years from now. Now I certainly don't approve prostitution or any other vices, but I find it shallow/pathetic/?strange that a few people are attributing her downfall to black magic and straying from her religion. There are groups out there (bless their souls) who are trying to contact her and provide 'religious rehabilitation' so she'll return to the 'right path'. I mean honestly, the crux of the problem lies with the years of emotional abuse she's endured from her father, not because she 'strayed from her religion'. If anything, shouldn't this issue be tackled from a psychological perspective? Not resorting to bomoh rituals and whatnot. I think some people are focusing too much on the vice itself, and not the reasoning behind it. But who am I to know any better. I'm just a stupid little medical student...

The following are links to some articles about Sufiah. Do read about her sad story. I hope that whatever she does, she'll be happy and finally be at peace with herself and her family.

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/0604_hooker.shtml
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/3003_hooker.shtml
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/3/31/nation/20798773&sec=nation
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/7/nation/20870201&sec=nation

Memorable quotes from O&G at the Lyell McEwin...

Received this photo some time ago but didn't realise it. It's a picture of the my rotation group and Prof. Dekker at his house the night before the viva. He invited us over for pizza and to discuss any last minute questions, before he and the other consultants grill us the morning after. Yeah... I guess I'm happy the rotation went well and turned out to be enjoyable at times. Easy for me to say though as it's over already. I certainly don't want to go through it again. Hope I pass the exam... Results will be out sometime next week.

For ppl who back home in Malaysia/my old buddies:
(L-R: Aishah, Melanie, Thanh-Thao, Elizabeth, Prof. Dekker, Laura, Brenton, Rosie, Daniel, me) Jeremy is missing from the picture 'cos he couldn't make it that night...

Let me think of a few 'memorable quotes' I heard over the course of my 9 weeks there. Not much actually, but I'm dead tired now and bored as hell:

"Young women are amazing. Some will lose 6 litres of blood and still not die. It's like you just can't kill them!" - Dr. Alphonse Roex during a lecture on antepartum & postpartum haemorrhage -

"...this goes to show that it takes multiple errors to kill a woman..." - Prof. Dekker on mismanagement of pregnant patients.

"The fetus is greedy. It will cause all these changes in the maternal circulation, to squeeze everything possible out of the woman. Just like us men." - Prof. Dekker -

"You need to be very brave to be a woman." -Prof. Dekker -

and finally:

"Be careful of stepping on people's foot. It may be connected to the ass you need to kiss tomorrow." - Jeremy Seow-

I wonder if there really is such a thing as an empathic sociopath...

"There's a hole in the world like a great black pit

and it's filled with people who are filled with shit!

And the vermin of the world inhabit it!"

~Sweeney Todd~

Watched the latest adaptation of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street yesterday night. Yep, I'm a bit outdated. Being stuck here in Adelaide does that to me. A very impressive performance considering most of the cast are not professional singers. As always, Johnny Depp never ceases to amaze me. He is in every part the malevolent, tortured, vengeful barber who seeks retribution in a world where man devours man. No matter what role he plays, Johnny still exudes that unique charm. Omigosh he's soo hot... And having him play a singing sociopath just makes him hotter! *swoons* The ending was so ironic and sad, yet kinda fitting. Sad to see that in this cruel world, even the kind and virtuous are robbed of happiness, beauty and love. Break them enough, even ordinary people can be driven insane with grief and vengeance. This is my kind of movie. A macabre combination of horror, romance and musical. Artfully woven together to form a brutal, heart-wrenching climax. Yet another Tim Burton masterpiece!