My New Toy -- Palm Treo 680

After contemplating for a long time, I finally give up my existing iPaq 6828 and go for a Palm Treo 680. I am quite sick of the lag and hang of the WM phone. Taking advantage of the recent offer, organized by Palmdoc, I received my Treo 680 today -- delivered by C2O rep (Desmond) to my doorstep.

The first impression I get when I open up the box is -- Treo is beautiful. When I turned on the unit, the screen is gorgeous. Even better than my Palm TX's screen, I dare say. And immediately I try out the camera (coz the iPaq phone camera is driving me nuts -- crazily slow!) -- not bad at all! Of coz I am not expecting a 3.2MP camera picture quality, but I must admit, in normal lighting, the pics taken are very decent and nice!

The only problem I need to overcome now, is the small QWERTY keyboard, which I need some time to get use to. I am so far a stylus-person, and not so use to keyboards -- whatsmore such tiny keys! My thumbs are big.

My wife saw the Treo 680 and she immediately gave me that smile on her face -- must be trying to tell me "can I have one too?" -- and so I told her,"If you like it, you can have it, and I will take your TX." But she said I will get to use it first, and if I dont like it, then she will not hesitate to have it! ;)

Charging the unit now, and for the next 8 hours, I will be eagerly browsing through the internet, to look for any Palm softwares for my Treo -- my new toy!

Happy Merdeka!

It's 31st of August. Happy Hari Merdeka, Malaysia! :)
I wish all Malaysians a prosperous and fruitful year ahead!

Fatherhood So Far...

I am supposed to be on call today (if you read my last post), but surprisingly today I received a phone call from a colleague, and he is willing to take up my call today; so that I can enjoy my paternity leave! I am glad to have such understanding and considerate colleague, in this new place of work! :) Thanks pal!

Few days have past, and it's indeed nice to be a father; well, at least every morning, I don't get off bed yawning or lying down a little more just to catch that few more minutes of sleep. Now, I jump off bed, and can't wait to see my cute little daughter -- then snap a few photos of her, in various postures; be it crying, smiling, making funny faces etc. Just awesome! :)

My life is now in a new chapter -- full of hopes! Sometimes people do think that marriage and having children are just burdensome, but for me and my wife, we both think it's a gift; and we will cherish every moment that we have!

My new house is almost done. Can't wait to move in. I will probably hold a house warming party, in conjunction with my baby's one month old celebration! ;) Hope it will be in time!

Arrival Of My Baby

My baby was delivered last night at 1120pm, at Damansara Specialist Hospital. She weighs 2.7kg, term and Apgar of 9 in 1 minute. The O&G specialist, Dr Guna, who delivered her, was really skillful and slick in his management. I have to thank him, as well as to all the labour room midwives, who were all very nice and helpful. Well, it could be because it's in private, and I am paying thousands for that. But I can tell you that it's well worth paying the money!

The only problem is that, although my paternity leaves start from yesterday (for 7 days), I still have 2 on calls in between which none of my colleagues willing to change with me. So I still gotta go back to on call! That's something very different in terms of working culture here in Klang Valley, compared to where I was back in Sibu! But I think I am adapting quite ok so far -- at least I know that my baby and my wife are fine! Happy enough.

Time Flies

Time flies. It's been a month, and I haven't been updating my blog. Today, I get pm off after a rather busy on call yesterday.

My work
I am slowly adapting to the new hospital I am in. With great colleagues (so far) and nice specialists, really makes a lot of difference for a newbie like me adjusting to the Klang Valley working environment. I must admit that my "Sarawak sentiment" still follows me in my new work place, but overall, I am getting on quite well here.

My house
My new house renovation is about 70% done so far, and everyday without fail, I will drive past my new house to take a peep at the progress. Very exciting indeed. Today you see the empty balcony, 2 days later it's bricked up and becomes part of the top floor.

My friends
A few friends are getting married end of this year, around October till December. So nice to see all my friends finally settle down with their own soul mates, and move on to the next chapter in life. I wish I can attend each and every wedding reception held, or at least I can send the angpow right to their doorsteps. Congrats all my friends!

My baby
I am eagerly waiting for the arrival of my first baby, sometime in early Sept. Just signed up with CryoCord and that cost me RM4500! ;)
(oh please, I don't want to start a debate on the usefulness of cord stem cell, or why CryoCord and not StemLife... you decide what you want to do with your own money anyway! Haha!)
Although I already know the gender of my baby, I am not going to publish it here! Soon you all will find out.

My gadget
I am hoping that the rumour about HP coming out with new gadgets Sept this year, is true. I am hoping there will be a VGA display pdaphone, which doesnt cost me a bomb! I am really a gadget enthusiast; every now and then, I have the tendency to change a new pda or phone. I am still undergoing "behavioural therapy" by my wife (she is pursuing Psych anyway!)

My car
Currently there is only one car for me and my wife; we have booked a new car months ago, but it will not arrive till sometime in Oct. Good also, because by then my new house will be ready and the new car will be just right on time to come -- otherwise no place to park in my parents' house now!

My dream
Will try to finish up the membership exam as soon as possible.

Arrival Of My Cargo Stuff

Finally after a long wait of 15 days, the shipping company called me up today to inform me that my belongings from Sibu will be sent to my doorstep later this afternoon.

Coincidentally, I am at home today, not because I knew that the cargo is arriving, but essentially my food poisoning condition is worsening; had been up since 2am purging away and throwing out undigested food particles (non-bilious, no blood seen)! I think by now I have taken in at least 9 packets of ORS to replace the ongoing losses.

My sister is also having the same problem too -- now I start to wonder if it was the sashimi we took at Shogun on Sunday that has caused all this?!

Anyway, I really hope I can get back to work tomorrow; it's really boring sitting at home being a jobless man! ;( And I can't wait for my car to arrive at my doorstep today!

Life In KL So Far...

Barely one week after reporting duty to my new hospital, I am down with a very bad food poisoning today. Weak I am, but still manage to update my blog in my bed, thanks to the WiFi router (a farewell gift from my Sibu colleagues) and the old-but-faithful laptop.

There are lots of things to learn from my new working environment. Colleagues are so far very nice and helpful. The only one thing that bothers me a lot is the computerised system -- driving me nuts! But what the heck, I still gotta learn up whether I like it or not; and my first call is coming up real soon this week (hope I will be well by then!)

Toll is another issue which I have never encountered back in Sibu. It's really costly to travel everyday, paying not only the petrol, but also the toll fees. My credit card usage has shot up a lot ever since I came back.

Food, on the other hand, has been great in KL. So far, I have been trying out a variety of food, be it Japanese buffet at Shogun, Italian dinner at Pizza Uno and Marco's; Lunch at TGIF, and breakfast at Burger King -- this is something I miss a lot when I was in Sibu. And not forgetting my beloved de-caf Mocha at Starbucks! ;)

I am looking forward to every weekend for a nice dine out with my wife or family members. Now, would my credit card company please increase my credit limit? ;P

Streamyx Speed

Using the Speedometer from TM website, realised that the Streamyx speed in my area is more than 1Mbps! :) I was using the same package back in Sibu, but the best was only around 760kbps. That's quite a lot of difference especially when it comes to loading YouTube or browsing other online videos.

Great Time

Really having a great time these few days, after coming back to KL from Sibu for good. Enjoying big and nice meals everyday; movies in excellent cineplexes; parents and siblings to chit chat with... think of it, really should have come home earlier! ;)

Will be reporting to the state health office on Monday to find out which hospital I will be placed in. Hopefully they won't give me hospital faraway from home! Well, till then, keeping my fingers crossed.

And I think I will change my blog title description to "KL Doc in Sarawak, Now Back In KL" !! :)

Good Bye Sibu

After the horrifying incident lately, I have managed to settle it and revert everything back to normal. And so my transfer letter was processed and given the green light by KKM to transfer me back to Selangor, starting on 2/7/07.

One week of packing up stuff, and yesterday the forwarding agent has come to collect all my belongings. I have managed to also settle all the bills, rental, cancellation of Astro, Streamyx etc... earlier on.

2 days ago, I even gave a lunch for my department colleagues and nurses. Thanks to all the gifts they have given me. Although I felt very sad (nearly tears coming out) during the speech, I could luckily control my emotion and went on till the whole function was over.

Sibu is a fantastic place to be in. Although u might say it's a bit backward compared to where I come from, it is still a nice place to live in and to work as a doctor in the GH. I miss Sibu alot... the kampua mee, the gong-pneah, the less hectic traffic, the nice people around. :)

Nevertheless, it's come a time when everyone needs to move on. I have to come back to KL for good. Have bought a house here, and my wife is already in the Master program.

Maybe someday, I will still go back to Sibu, just to say hello to all my fellow colleagues, nurses and also my most beloved specialists and HOD there in Sibu Hospital!

Good bye Sibu, the town of swan, till we meet again some time in future.

Horrifying Truth (Part 4 - conclusion)

And so the night before meeting up with Dr Mazlan, I was really depressed and in the state of shock, that I needed to pay back the govt the whole lump sum of money which I was apparently paid over these years! Just calculate and u will know how much the total amount is!

As I was thinking and thinking... I was staring at the computer screen hoping for some clue. Then a bell rang, I fired up FireFox and went into Google to try my luck -- I typed in the doctor's name (which was on the letter I saw that morning), and then hit the enter key.

Holy gracious! There was a doctor by that name, and best of all, his handphone number was also on the search page! Thanks Google! Immediately I called up the doctor and explained to him what had happened -- just sheer unbelievable but he was also very stunned to hear such thing could happen! But anyway, long story short, I felt such a relief that the whole situation was slowly shedding some light at the other end of the tunnel.

The next morning, first thing at 8am, I called up the SB and the officer in charge to explained to them I have found the error which had possibly been unintentional. They were puzzled to hear that as well, and they promised to call me back in a moment after they check with KKM and JPA side.

Moments later, I got a phone call from the officer from KKM human resources, stating that everything seemed to be under control, and let KKM settle this whole mess. They advised me to return to Sibu to resume work, meanwhile they will issue letters to all respective depts to clarify this whole problem.

With this, after being a detective myself for 2 long weeks, I finally found out that it was afterall an unintentional (or was it intentional?) error. At least now that I have resumed my position as a medical officer under KKM. What a narrow escape.

I received an apology letter one week later from KKM.

Lessons I learned from this horrifying incident:

1. Do complete your 3 year compulsory govt service before resigning to Master program, otherwise u will be in deep shit later on.

2. Never trust what the govt sector officers tell u over the phone, u still have to be a good detective urself to find out the truth.

3. It's still hold true in Malaysia, as the saying goes,"It's not what you know, it's who you know."

Horrifying Truth (Part 3)

I met up with Ismail, and explained the whole thing to him from the beginning till the end; he was speechless initially, but then he delegated this case to the Human Resource section head, ie. Setiausaha Bahagian (SB) to take over this matter, and he did emphasise to the SB that this is of top priority and urgency.

And so I made an appointment the same afternoon itself, skipping my lunch, to meet up with the SB. I was, and in fact I am, very surprised to know that there are still such dedicated and helpful govt officer in the MOH; with smiling face throughout, good patience and knowledgable in her field, and on top of all these -- she had a vast network of contacts which helped me through this shit this time. (I really hope this is herself, and not because I was introduced to her by Ismail...)

She then summoned another officer in charged to bring in my MOH personal file to run through with me the whole scenario. I demanded them to show me the so called "black and white" which MOH received and subsequently cc to the respective depts about my resignation.

To my surprise, the name on the letter of approval of resignation, was NOT my name, although at one glance it actually spelt out like my name!! The IC number was indeed mine and correct though. Date of approval was printed 1/4/05, but then I only did send in my resignation/transfer of service application in mid Feb; with a cancellation letter of my resignation in April. Everything seemed in place, and valid for the resignation (although I doubt MOH and JPA were so efficient in processing my application!)

According to the MOH officer who was summoned in by the SB, that his team had confirmed with JPA and SPA that my name was no longer in their list; and that although there is typo-error in the letter, everyone will follow the IC number instead. Therefore, my resignation is valid.

Stunned I was, and almost accepting the fact and fate that I am no longer in service, and that I have done a full 2 1/2 years of free service for the govt, coz I need to pay back the amount of salary I received over this months! Shocking and depressing it was...

But the SB consoled me that her team could help me out to meet up with MMC personnel to work out something for my 3-year compulsory service. And so an appointment was made to see Dr Mazlan the following day...

To be continued...

Happy Father's Day!

Amidst my blog to uncover the Horrifying Truth, let's not forget to wish all fathers or fathers-to-be ... a very HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!! :)

Horrifying Truth (Part 2)

I touched down in KL the very same day I was "suspended from duty", and because it was a very last minute purchase of air ticket, it cost me RM299++ for that Air Asia one way ticket! And with a little delay taking off from Sibu, I reached LCCT almost midnight.

The very next day, I was full of hope that I could meet up with someone in the MOH to settle this issue; but as usual, in Malaysia govt dept, it is never easy to meet up with anyone. So one day just passed by like that.... without any advancement.

And because my compulsory years are "incomplete", therefore I don't comply with the Medical Act article 71, and so I cannot practice in this country. Goodness. My mind was just confused and in the dark... helpless. At one point, I thought of flying to Singapore; and at another time, I thought if UK/Ireland/Aussie was a better choice -- just pure torture.

I couldn't even do locum or join private GP practice, just because I am not a doctor at this point of time; I am neither here (MOH) nor there (private world). Depressed I was. Can't imagine my parents spent their whole fortune including EPF money, just to get me a degree in medicine, but now, I am not better than any uni drop-outs! Jobless was the word at that time.

2nd day... 3rd day... nothing.

Then weekends. Yeah... Great!

Ismail Merican was my only hope that time. Because he is not only the DG of health, he is also the MMC president -- who can resolve my 3-year compulsory service issue. I wasn't too sure if he could resolve my reversal of resignation involving SPA and JPA etc.... But at that very moment of time, I told myself to be strong; and that if my resignation couldn't be reversed, I must find a way out in private, either to join GP practice or go Singapore, leaving behind my expecting wife ...*sob*.

With some contacts with the high ranked personnel in the govt body, I managed to bring this issue, finally, up to Ismail Merican. He was very upset with this issue and promised to see me personally to rectify whatever shit that has happened, or rather he wants to know how could this shit happened in the first place!

But luck was not on my side initially. He was then in Boston for a while, and then came back with function in Sunway, and then hundreds and hundreds of meetings/issues etc. to attend to. I don't blame him, as he is afterall a busy man holding this post. And so, I could not get any appointment with him.

After another few days of waiting patiently, jobless staying at home helping out mum with dishes and gardening, I finally found another high ranked insider with contact, and managed to book a 15-minute slot over lunch time to be with Ismail Merican. I thought that was it! But...

To be continued...

Horrifying Truth (Part 1)

And so a little about the background story:

Back in 2005, I was indeed invited by UNIMAS to join their trainee lecturer program, and hence I needed to transfer my service years to MOE; so a letter was sent to MOH but the content included a phrase that I needed to resign with permission (in order to do the transfer of service). That time, I hadn't completed my 3 year compulsory service.

However, later I found out that UNIMAS medical faculty and human resources couldn't come to certain terms and conditions (it's a long story, but probably confidential and not suitable for me to publish here), and so I was so angry at that time I revoked everything, including sending another letter to MOH to cancel my resignation .

That time, the MOH person in charged told me that since my case had not been brought up in the MOH meeting, my resignation was actually not processed. So everything went back to normal. I continued to work in Sibu, and I continued to get my monthly payroll, including my yearly increment. Everything seemed smooth sailing, until...

When my wife started her Master program this June, I asked for a transfer back to Peninsular. And this was when the MOH found out that I had resigned according to their record! :O

But the big question mark is: If I had resigned 2 years ago, then how come I didn't receive any letter to confirm my resignation? Not even my hospital or the state office received any black and white on this. But MOH insisted that they had sent out to all the respective depts, including SPA/JPA!! (When you know SPA is involved, you are in deep shit!)

And so, with that phone call, I was immediately "terminated" from work, and I flew back to KL to start looking for clues to solve this mystery.

To be continued...