Al Fatihah

Learned this morning that a dear friend and a former colleague passed away after some period of illness. He had a big scare a month ago, but recovered and we were optimistic than he would get better. Unfortunately that was not to be.

He was among the first few people who welcomed me when I first joined Universiti Malaya. An imposing fella, but a gentle giant deep down, he soon left for Germany to complete his PhD and further studies. He came back a few years back, and since then, I learned that he had been fighting diabetes.

He bounced back somewhat, but since the beginning of the year, he had not been well. Enough about that.

Prof Salem. Alfatihah. I would miss his quip about computers and gadgets. Even after I left UM, I still get the occasional emails or Facebook messages about tech. He had been updating his social media outlets until recently, but I only learned about the sad news this morning. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to attend his solat this morning as I learned about the news an hour too late.

It had certainly been a sad year for the Medical Department at UM. We had lost a couple of very capable Faculty Members. Alfatihah to both of you, and condolences to the family.

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!

UMMC Medical Department Badminton Tournament 2009

UMMC Badminton Tournament 2009, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

After a much-hyped preparation, the Lecturers finally had the chance to teach the Medical Officers more lessons. This time on the badminton court. Starting at 4pm, each fielded men singles, men, ladies and mixed doubles.

YK Pang and me. Average height 5'5".Hiew and Harre. Average height 5'10".Harre and Hiew playing against LP Tan and YB Chong.Line judges making sure all the line calls goes unchallenged.

PC Bee put it succinctly when he said, "Apa ni? No resistance lah!" The lecturers won all the games but one. And that was clearly because YB Chong was still in his working attire and bare-foot when he took on his opponents! Have to apologise also that the pics did not come out very clearly due to high ISO. It may also have to do with the fact that SH Ho was the one behind the camera.

Shuttles were of course of international standard. Ask YK Pang.Yip Boon's time-wasting tactic of asking for time to tie up his shoe laces backfired big time! That's why he lost!

The event was made possible by Iqbal and his band or organiser. I think we should make it into an annual event, and even invite the more senior member of staffs to participate. Maybe they were to form a separate team. We had fun in the end, although I would have wished more of the Medical Officers participated as there were so many of them around.