Pingu School for Irfan

Entrance to the School

I'm on leave today. First thing's first. Have to go through the checklist. Amongst the things needing sorting out is getting Irfan and Idlan to see their Paediatrician in Pantai Hospital. At least Irfan did not freak out this time and that took skill!

One of the classroom

Next up, pre-school for Irfan. Destination - Jalan Telawi, Bangsar. Venue - Pingu School. Toot! Toot! Oh My God! They couldn't stop running. The school was empty at the time. While we were chatting with the teacher, both of them were of course watching Pingu.

The boys naturally was watching Pingu

The school is next to the familiar Madam Kwan's restaurant opposite Bangsar Village II. It was right at the top floor. The program were divided into three stages according to age and reading ability, from three onwards. We have to start from the basic for Irfan. 

Pingu saying Goodbye

The class is opened from Monday to Saturday and classes last for an hour, three times a week. Our main concern is leaving Irfan alone at the school. We are sure there will be drama. We enrolled him for a month starting in May. We will then see how things goes. The school days are still not planned since it pretty much depends on how many students joined up.

As for me. Need to rush to get a pair of gym shoes. Playing badminton tonight with the ex-Terendakians.

A Relief, and Some Bad News

I am still high from last night's football match. United does not deserve to win, but a sign of a Champion is being able to win ugly if necessary. I spent the whole morning looking at my student's thesis data. She is in the final haul now of writing them up. I think it will be fine. Some of the data came up really well.

I then caught up with the weeks news and reading other blog post when I got the news that my neighbour's wife has just suffered a miscarriage. All was well until yesterday and she is due for term birth within the next couple of weeks. This will be her first baby. Last night she noticed that the baby stopped kicking and she was promptly brought to the hospital. Unfortunately the baby's heart has already stopped.

They are now inducing her for delivery. This is agony since she still have to go through the whole of process of labour and delivery, which likely going to last overnight. I don't think I can go through all that. I am grateful for the two boys we had, Irfan and Idlan. Even if they got to our nerves at times!

Update on Monday, April 13, 2009 at 5:51PM by Haris Abdul Rahman

My neighbour has finally given birth earlier today. The baby son has just been buried. Mother is still recuperating at the hospital.

A Long Day in Putrajaya

The main Lobby area

Saturday. Nice weather outside. That can only mean one thing. Roadtrip. We decided to check out a new hotel in Putrajaya, the Pullman.

The sitting area at the Jasmine building, built to Indian motif

Located in Precinct 5, after the usual drive around due to lack of signage, we finally arrive at the establishment just after 3. The was no real drive through lobby. Instead, we drove straight into the underground carpark, and took the lift straight up. The place was only opened last month, and they are running a promotion. A night's stay will only cost you just over RM200 with tax.

Hmm! Ice cream!

The hotel compound is divided into 4 areas with a different motif, each themed to the major Malaysian races. I can't remember the 4th though. The main check-in area is in the Oriental building, while the biggest building, in which the bistro was located has a Malay theme. The buildings were nestled next to a lake, with a pavilion. There are nice views of Putrajaya in the surrounding are, with the PICC forming the backdrop.

The concept is rather nice. Each area have their own sitting area, kind of similar to a usual lobby. The rooms are located in the peripheries, with a central open space, a park or a water feature. Everything is open and soothing. One thing I noticed, there are many sitting areas with comfy cushions. In every floor and every open areas, there are cushions and settees. The bistro is also had plenty of open space with verandah. Unfortunately, there was thunderstorm outside and we had to have our tea in. 

The deco on the ceiling of the B bistro, where we had tea

The Oriental theme garden

There were still construction taking place, new facilities are just being furnished. The creche area is already opened. There were also bicycles available for rent and other indoor sports theme. Unfortunately we did not have a chance to see any of the rooms. There is also a restaurant at the jetty area that is opened at night for dinner. It was almost 6 when we left. Everything is pretty quiet by then.

 In the creche

When we reached home Anita was saying that maybe we should bring our Mum there for a respite. I may be able to write a bit more about the place then.

Update on Sunday, April 12, 2009 at 2:13PM by Haris Abdul Rahman

PUTRAJAYA: A ward on the third-floor of Putrajaya Hospital caught fire yesterday, believed to be struck by lightning during the heavy rain.

Putrajaya Fire and Rescue spokesman said the department was alerted at about 4.16pm and immediately despatched two fire engines to the scene.

I wasn't lying when I said there were thunderstorm there yesterday.

Does Our Leader Need to be Smart?

I always landed up in hot water every time I bring this topic up on the dinner table with my Mum. She is a staunch UMNO supporter. Being born in Permatang Bertam, Kepala Batas - so was I - a mere 200 meters from Tun Abdullah's family home the whole kampung is very close to Tok Lah's family. Note that I use the term Tok Lah rather than Pak Lah, as only people outside the kampung call him Pak Lah. We from the same kampung have more respect for him. I am not saying that Tok Lah is no intellect, but if we compare to other national leaders at the international scene, we were clearly lagging behind.

The question really boils down to a few fundamental questions. Is an intellectual better at running the country compared to others? I think the problem here is the association of being an intellectual and possession of a degree. Is going to university equate to being an intellectual. Actually it's not. Prophet Muhammad (saw) and all the Caliph are smart people, but they went to no Cambridge. The point I am trying to make is, we need leaders that are wise. Not the ones who climbed up the ladder because of the family they are born into, the amount of money they spend in their campaign etc. We need people who are wise to lead, adapt and inspire the country froward. We don't want a leader for the sake of leading. They need to be innovative. Innovation can only come with wisdom and intellect. Even being an Ustaz, you need to be blessed with intelligence and wisdom let alone leading a nation.

Looking around, one cannot sit but to admire Barack Obama for his academic credentials. Graduating magna cum lauda from Harvard Law School, a brilliant writer and orator. Closer to home we have the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsein Loong. Son of Lee Kuan Yew, I am sure he had hardly needed to do anything should he be a Malaysian to become a leader one day. But no! He graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1974 with a First Class Degree in Mathematics and a Diploma in Computer Science. He then got his Master's from Harvard in 1980. He was also an Officer in the Singaporean Air Force, with a stint of military training in the States. He retired in 1984 with a rank of Brigidier General.

When I brought up academics in politics here in Malaysia, 2 names always come to my mind. The late Alex Lee and Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon. Since Alex Lee is no longer with us, let just concentrate on Dr Koh. His first degree was in Physics from Princeton. He then completed his PhD from University of Chicago. Later he became Fulbright Fellow at Stanford University. Before joining politics, he was a Deputy Dean of the School of Education at USM until 1982.

Both Lee and Koh speaks better Malay than most of the Malay politician. They are always measured in the mannerism and does not resort to name calling while in a political debate. This is what we should see and nurtured from our future crop of politicians. Intellectuals and academics are generally fed up with the local politics in Malaysia to participate. Given choice they would rather stay away. This essentially contribute to the dearth of intellects in politics at home. Back to the main question now. Personally I think we should include intellectuals in higher politics. It can at least eliminate the yes man and keep our leaders informed rather than being showered with things they just like to listen to. One can but hope!

And The Topic for Today ......... ITP

As I mentioned last night, was rather tired. Crunch some more data this morning before the ward round, after having a look at my RSS feed. Quick browse into the topic in NEJM this morning. 2 main topics, brown adipose tissue and esomeprazole in asthma. No time to read yet.

My friend Jimbo is back in Malaysia after a good week and a half in Austria. Welcome back!

Argh! Fungus! No! - Bad fungus!After the typically long grand round and day care, I listened to Iqbal talking about ITP and then to Bee explaining flow cytometry. Heavy stuff! Then back to counseling patient and home.

Good Fungus!

Idlan is enjoying his term break and is quite keen to go out. We decided to go to Jaya Jusco for a bit of shopping, then dinner. But the main issue for the day is the new Cabinet announced this afternoon. I commented on it on a separate page. In fact the blogs were buzzing, the forums even more exciting. All the TV channels were commenting on the happenings today. Back from NZ, feeling sleepy, but so much to catch up on the blogs and also from the journals. Time to hit the sheets!