Earth Hour and .... Happy Birthday Facebook!

The couple above put a new meaning the phrase 'Love is Blind' when they get hitch under candlelight during Earth Hour at Sheraton Subang. How lovely! Just follow this link for the full story. So what did you guys do during yours? Mine was pretty boring. I went out in the car with my kids around MRR2 - leaving the lights at home off of course - and all the lights were still on. Sigh! KLCC lights were off, good. Hmmm! That's all!

Since I am on call today, I thought I called it a night early, but not before reading a few blogs. How long have you guys joined Facebook? I joined sometime in 2007, introduced by one of my colleagues, Vijay Ananda. Yes, the Endocrinologist Dr Vijay that just got married with Dr Sasheela, the ID Physician - and planning to open a clinic specialising in diabetic foot infection I am sure in the future. My only regret ... or might be a blessing is my failure to convert my wive to be a fellow facebooker - she might learn all my secrets however, so status quo can only be good. And worst still, all the cool misconception that all of you have about me can be wiped out by a single toxic entry!

Back to Facebook. They are turning five later this week! Their membership has skyrocketed to 200 mil, doubling in the last six months or so - they reached the 100 mil milestone last August. With that number of clients, being a free service, they will need to find funding from somewhere. Hence the new 'upgraded' interface. Its founder Mark Zuckerberg - who is only 24 by the way - went on record to admit that advertising will creep in, but subtly. There will be things like 'whch colour M&Ms is your favourite?'. We will then vote, and Facebook will earn sponsorship with every vote casted. He has employed a former advertising guru from Google, Sheryl Sandberg to be the chief operating officer and there is no plan to monetise the service. To you an me, Facebook will continue to be free a la Gmail.

Driving for ward round with Toad on the dashboardThe other main reason for the recent facelift is competition. The micro-blogging service Tweeter is catching up fast, although the subscriber is only less than 10% of Facebook at the moment. The main advantage of the utility is the ability to stay online and updating in real time. To be a 'real time' entity Facebook will need to have an interface that update itself without the need to push the update button. It will be some sort of a streaming service, so you will notice the interface scrolling down fast if you have a lot of friends. This may disorientating to some, but it is the direction Facebook is taking.

Another awkward issue with Facebook is he fact that it lacks a physical barrier. I am involved in this awkwardness being a lecturer, should I fraternise with my students? Especially during the exam period. What if if I apply to befriend one of my student and he or she declines, what perception will it have to them. My rule is simple. Do not write anything that you would not say to them in a chance meeting in the corridor or in the ward round may be. Keep away from any touchy feely subjects. Just ignore some comments that you as a student would've made if you are in their shoes. Cut them some slacks. But if they come asking for help, I will definitely respond. Also try not to get too personal with them, but in real life I am very approachable, hence I will not pretend otherwise online.

Enough rambling as I have a ward round to attend - I am on call today, and no, I will not tell you what cases were admitted. I am wishing all my students the best of luck for the long case tomorrow. Remember my tips. Which two questions to ask. Now go get them tiger! I have taken leave on the 7th of April so that I can attend the diploma ceremony. I EXPECT TO SEE ALL OF YOU THERE, AND I EXPECT TO HAVE TO CALL YOU DOCTORS!

Put The Lights Out Brother

The boys do IKEA

Children just don't know when to stop. We went out for dinner in KLCC last night after Idlan's music school. Had a wonderful time at Spice of India. Stopped over at Kinokuniya, bought a few magazine. Idlan and Irfan making noise as usual running around the book store, burning off the extra energy after earlier doughnuts.

Waking up this morning, they wanted to go out again, and as I will be on call tomorrow, it may be a good idea after all. Anita wanted to go to IKEA and as usual, the kids wants to have lunch at Marche. One thing I really love about The Curve is the outdoor market they have during weekends. Today the boys got a Doraemon and Luigi dolls, while I myself got Toad to hang in the car. Nice! Anita bought herself a bag. We just got home and the two boys are asleep.

The Day Market at The Curve

The drawback of this all though is I missed much of the UMNO Assembly speeches. Will need to wait for the RSS feeds to come through later and read the editorials and blogs. But it is clear that Abdullah will be stepping down as early as next week as he is seeking an audience with the Yang Dipertuan Agong coming Thursday. No doubt there will be an eagerly awaited cabinet reshuffle soon after. There will be intense lobbying until then by the politicians to land themselves the coveted cabinet posts.

Idlan with his Luigi, reading at MPH

Daddy's Toad

It looks like Earth Hour is going off with a bang this year. The publicity is better as the one last year seemed like a non-event. For those unaware, it is a yearly event, first organised in 2007, but only in selected cities, Sydney being one of them. 35 countries participated in the event last year. Despite Singapore and the Philippines doing their bids, the concept sounded alien to us back home apart from in and around KLCC - the Twin Tower lights were switched off then. To be honest, even though the event was initiated by the the WWF (not the wrestling one ah!), it did not receive a full backing of the UN. The UN Headquarters will only be switching off their lights for the first time this year even though the whole of New York, including the Empire State Building was in darkness last year. Even the Google homepage was dimmed for an hour during the blackout - they are not doing this year. The irony is, some cities are planning to celebrate the darkness with firework shows .... hmmmm .... carbon emission ... global warming .... you do the math! I pray that KLCC won't be doing the same. But to be honest, the relevant ministers have got their hands tied up in the UMNO Assembly to care much about it.

 The fountains around th Day Market

It looks like everyone is embracing it this year which can only be good, but the main objective is not how much we can save in that hour. The main goal is to create awareness. The fact that it is becoming an event with cult followers will hopefully spawn other ideas in the future. At the time of writing, watching CNN, Sydney has switched off its streetlights and other non-essential lights. I will be doing so as well although it will not be popular in the household. Everyone will be watching Akademi Fantasia!

 

And The Winners Are ....

A couple of days ago during lunch, sitting down with colleague, we just can't help but touch on the UMNO election. Bear in mind my colleagues are mainly Chinese. The main questions were 1) who will be the next Deputy President (basically the next Deputy Prime Minister) and 2) will Khairy win the Youth Head post?

The two questions are answered now. The only way for Muhyiddin to lose is if Ali Rustam's supported all shifted to Muhd Taib's camp. Khairy won by a landslide despite being given a warning only a few days back on his involvement in money politics. But truthfully, there was no major shock there.

I was actually surprised by he manner in which Shahrizat trounced Rafidah. Other eye-opening observations were the fact how badly the 'Menteri Besar's did in the Supreme Counsel election and the fact that there was only a solitary woman candidate selected. Azalina tried but failed to win a seat. The previous leaders of the Youth and Putera wings did well, with Hishamuddin landing the Vice President berth and Azeez a seat in the Supreme Council. It was also humbling to hear that Shahrir Samad offered his resignation from Cabinet after failing to stay in the SC. I always had time for him and I am sure he will find some way to serve. Maybe back to the PAC. Will this be the end for Azalina I wonder? Will this also send a message to both the Wanita and Puteri Wing that something needs to change. The change in the leaders can only be good and hopefully they will start afresh.

They is no time to dwell however as there will be three by-elections coming up in the next few weeks. It will be an early test of public opinion on Najib's leadership, although an unfair one. If BN wins, the critics will put it down to a new wind in the sails. Should BN loses then everyone will start writing about their downfall. It looks like a lose-lose situation. Well that's the price to be paid for having the elections so soon after the Assembly.

Update on Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 1:35AM by Haris Abdul Rahman

After Idlan and Irfan slept, I managed to add in a photo gallery into the blog. In the last couple of weeks, I have been getting constructive criticism from readers like you. It was mentioned that my blog is relatively picturesque. Everyone knows I like to take photos. Should you wish to see my real portfolio, by all means please support my photography site - after I got the time to update them of course, of visit my sister site, mainly about my personal activities with my wife and children in Idlan's photo diary.

The Lull in the Middle of the Storm

I remember the weekends in the middle of exams that I used to enjoy during my student times. It is a time when nobody and nothing can stop you from indulging. Everything you do can be justified as releasing the tension. You can stay up all night watching TV, go to cinema, eating out, retail therapy especially for the fairer sex, on the computer playing games for hours. When anybody ask you why you are wasting your time, you just shut them up by telling them how hard you studied, how difficult the paper was etc. Ahhh! Those days!

Even now as an academician, as their lecturer, there is a part of me that said, 'well some of them really messed up their paper, they should be concentrating on the clinicals', or remembering how rubbish they were when they were preparing for the exams, I can't help but to condone them. I have been through this exams before. At this late stage, a good feet-up will do wonders. Certainly stops you from asking how bad you did, what else I need to study. That will just cause you to tense up. The more tense you are, the worst you will tend to do. So for my Final MBBS boys and girls, take a good day's rest. Get your feet up. Have a nice coffee at Starbucks or Pak Abu. Watch a movie or three. During my time, I used to either play badminton or football.

Clear everything off your mind! .... and I shall see you next week for the clinicals ...... wearing my evil hat, smiling wryly .... before I ask you the five causes of bilateral facial nerve palsy! Ha! Ha! Ha! <insert evil laugh>

Visitors from Songkla

Was planning to update the blog yesterday after the UMNO election results but I fall asleep instead. The reason, visitors from Prince of Songkla University Medical School who visited the Medical Department yesterday. Both myself and my bosses, Profs Wan and Gan were there to welcome them. The leader of the group is a Professor of Haematology. We gave briefings on the Department, the Undergraduate and the Masters programs. We then took them to visit the Haematology ward, Dialysis Unit and the Clinical Investigations Centre. I finally saw them off at around 5.

It was raining heavily, so I had some coffee with Bee and Edmund, waiting for the traffic to subside. Reached home rather exhausted, took my shower and as usual, the the boys were climbing all over me. Then guess what? I was dozing off. Finally learned the election results this morning. Need some time to guzzle them down before I can comment. Will blog later in the afternoon.