Spring Clean

I couldn't believe the amount of junks I have accumulated over the last seven and a half years I had been at UM. With Friday being a public holiday - Malaysia Day - I managed to get plenty of cleaning done, and put the rubbish into black rubbish bags. Unfortunately, there were no cleaners until Monday. So, the junks had to stay in the room until then.

Stuffs I need to go through to clear my roomIn the end, the stuffs needed to be carried home fit into this box.And the rubbish went here. And I was only halfway when I snapped this ....I realised that most of the junks were papers. Plenty were also freebies from the pharmaceuticals. Some of them were not even opened since they were handed to me many moons ago. We really could do with the paperless concept and save a lot on space and resources. Most of the documents and papers were used only once.

Time to get things organisedBefore I head home ......I put together the still useful stuff into a box to take back home. And true to the American movies where you'd bring with you a boxful of personal stiff - plus a plant or a bowl of goldfish - I brought the box all the way to the car at the Faculty. Since it was a public holiday, nobody was lurking. That was the plan …..

A Quiet Day at the Office

I was hoping for a quiet day to sneak some stuff out from my room without bumping into anybody. Today seemed ideal, being a public holiday, but it turned out that there was a small party going on at the Faculty area. The place was buzzing and the cafeteria was opened.

I managed to get some stuff into the car and clear up the mess in my room but I decided against bringing along the hampers in my room. People might look at me funny if I were to do that. So, for the meantime, I was hoping that the party quieten down a bit after the Jumaat prayers.

As for this evening, it would be quiet night in, since Anita has an outing planned with her friends for her birthday. I would be left alone to babysit the boys. Expect mayhem!

Voting Time

Since joining University Malaya as a Faculty Member back in 2004, today was the first time I had to exercise my vote in selecting the new Dean. In the years gone past, this had gone uncontested and the whole selection exercise went on without a fuss. Apparently not so this year. There was some opposition to the incumbent and the Faculty Members were feeling the heat.

The selection was done via a ballot paper, and it was held through out the week until this Friday. Since I would be away from Wednesday, the only real opportunity I had was today. Since it was pretty late when I got to the Faculty Ofice, there was hardly a queue. According to the Committee, there were close to 600 members in the Medical Faculty alone eligible to vote, and it was pretty slow going today still. Maybe some of the members were away on school holidays and would only be back later in the week.

Hopefully the resu,ts would be made known later this months. In the meantime, here's hoping for a fair election. May the best candidate wins.

Welcome to the Department

It was June and every year at this point we welcome the new batch of MMed students to our Faculty. This afternoon, the candidates for our Department came over. I was asked to give a quick presentation of our Department, the structure of the MMed program, the exam format, as well as the rather confusing on call roster we employ at the Department. All together, we had a total of more than 30, but only 10 would be staying on for the next couple of years as in campus candidates.

Both the Head of Department and the Course Coordinator were away on this School Holiday week. So we had a couple of Professors as well as one of our SLAB Masters student to give a lowdown on the on calls and the running of the Department. That was about it for the Department but I heard that they had a full three days of form filling, registration as well as orientation. Most of the work was done at both the Faculty and Chancellory level. We just had a few hours with them for the time being.

Walking around the Faculty, welcoming the new students seemed to be a big thing. I said this judging from the number of banners we had about the place. They were practically everywhere. I hope they recycle them for the next years as I was sure it would have cost the Faculty a bomb printing them new.

The signs were everywhereSo, for the new MMed students, both in Internal Medicine and to other Departments, a warm come to all of you to the Faculty. The next four years or so would be a busy time for you lot. A lot of new things to learn, as well as a whole new culture we have here in UMMC. See you guys around!

Taking shape

On the way from the Faculty Meeting I caught the sight of the new Dataran Pelajar being built. Certainly have come a long way since I joined. Gone all teary a bit since tomorrow, it will be exactly 6 years since I join University Malaya tomorrow.