Is This Lame?

I was sure that plenty of you would have received these SMSes lately. For me, I was getting them at least once a week. Initially, I thought it was just a random thing, but after a while, it started to become a pain.

I know when it was nearing election time, the pelican parties would do their best to win votes. But this is rather lame, nice the parties from both sides had not ally been covering themselves in glory as far as championing Rakyat's causes were concerned. I was sure that some crony was making tons of cash from these SMSes. All at Rakyat's expense. And the sad thing was, there was no such thing as opting out here.

I wish that this could stop. Responding to the messages would just encourage more of these. A good incentive would be to get RM10 credit on the phone bill every time we get this messages. If that was the case, I would volunteer them to SMS me on my data line. I would get free Internet then ..... I could but wish ..... As it stood, the messages were getting annoying by the day. The message I received today definitely got the cake ..... Just read at how lame it sounded. Facepalm!

Am I Going Mad?

I'm glad that I do not have to go to school at this age.

I pity my children. They were burdened with exams from such young age. Look at Irfan. He is six, just done with his kindergarten. He had an exam at the end of it. And guess what, there were pressure on him to do well by a certain member of the family. Poor boy is only six for God's sake. And some of his classmates had been going to tuition since last year. We're talking starting at five years of age. To get them into the habit of studying? I hope not! I went to Med School because I like Medicine. Not because I like to read. I listen to books rather than read.

Then, there is the elder, Idlan. In Year Two. He did fine in the exam, but his Bahasa Malaysia was not the best. And he was given an essay to write? Have mercy. He speaks pristine English. In fact, his English is better than mine. He knows more Science and Maths than when I was at his age. The amount of pressure for him to do well was enormous. He got all A's apart from his Bahasa. I was more than happy. Unfortunately not for everyone.

When I was a Faculty Member at Universiti Malaya, I found hard to make sure that we have an interview on all the candidates coming into Medical School. I did when I went to Med School. And all I needed to get in was 3 B's in A level. But you have to have a certain soft skill to get in. That is more important than getting straight A's in my opinion. The ones which got all A's did not necessary became good Doctors, Engineers or Lawyers. They were just better at getting better grades in exams. I want people to get further educations because they wanted to, not because society tells them that they have to.

I tried hard not to emphasise exams on my boys. At a young age, they already had SIX assessment per year! SIX bloody assessment. I would go mad if I had to go through all that ....... In fact, I go mad just thinking about it ......

Three Years

I have always thought that sites such as FourSquare and Go walla would gain in value with time. So was my blog. When we look back, it formed a diary for me. I could catch up on old photographs in context. Which is different from looking at photographs in isolation.

So, when I checked into FourSquare earlier in the week, I was surprised to learned that I had been a subscriber for three years. There is a lot of data in there. I wished that it does a lot on the data for the user though. But in the meantime, let's see what I was doing two years ago .....

Physical All Done

The physical examinations were all done and now I was on my way back home, picking Irfan up in route. I actually have a lunch talk at 1 and at the rate I was going, I don't think that I would be able to make it back to Subang in time for that. In fact, I had taken early lunch with Anita before leaving KLCC.

As for the checkup itself, it went without a hitch. It was rather comprehensive, with blood, urine, X-ray and stress test. It was completed with a physical by one of the Physician there. It went on smoothly after he learned that I was a fellow Physician as well.

The place, Twin Towers Medical Center was a lot bigger than I expected. One of my friend, Azida work there a few days a week and Anita had been to visit her on a few occasions. It was my first time there and I was surprised. I could only imagine the amount the place had to pay for rental monthly. It must be a bomb. And the place was packed.

I managed to get to stage V on the treadmill, reaching the target heart rate. I felt OK afterwards, but a bit thirsty. I could do with a bit more of a regular exercise especially with my BMI now surprisingly above 25. Not by much, but I could do with shedding a kilo or two. Or five.

Rushing home now for a quick shower, then back to Subang for the afternoon clinic.

Bursting

Since I applied for a loan for the apartment, I was asked to attend a medical. And it was scheduled for this morning at one of the panel clinic. The one I picked was at Suria KLCC. It would involve a blood test, physical as well as exercise ECG. I hope I would be fit enough for the treadmill. Imagine if I were to vomit due to my ...... physical non-fitness.

For the blood test, I was asked fast overnight. I was allowed clear fluids, and I had been drinking since morning. I suspect that they would need a urine test as well. So, with the gallons of water I had been drinking, I needed to go the loo frequently. On the way to the clinic, traffic had not been kind. I had been stuck on the same spot for the last 20 minutes with my bladder almost bursting. Definitely my blood pressure would go up. No doubt about it. And the end was not in sight yet .......