Long Silence...

It's been a long silence since I last blogged in April. These past two months had been really happening! And of coz, really busy!

Attempted my part 2 written paper in Singapore, but didn't make it thru this round; official result was out today, and I realise I missed by 1 mark! Sigh, probably will try harder next time! And of coz to pray for more luck next round! ;)

Then came the most horrendous news mid of last month, when my hospital received news from MOH that I was no longer in govt service since 2005 -- ie. resigned! Unimaginable! That news came about, and I was immediately "terminated" from service in my hospital. Everyone from top to bottom were shocked, but clueless. I was myself stunned by the news too!

Stay tuned for the true horrifying tale uncovered...

Upgrade To WM5

Few days ago, I tried to upgrade my Dell Axim x50v from WM2003SE to WM2005 ROM, and after a heart-pounding 30minutes, my x50v had turned into x51v-like pocket pc!

However, after installing all the necessary softwares which I use everyday, I fired up a few programs, like Spb Finance, Resco Pic Viewer and Pocket Informant; to my disappointment, my PPC now crawled like turtle speed, or probably should I say, snail speed! Can you imagine after clicking on the Resco Pic Viewer icon, it took me 10-12 seconds before I am in the program. That's just way too slow, and totally unacceptable.

After googling around for solution, I am surprised to see that I am not alone; many people have also experienced the similar problem -- slowing down of performance. Looks like the x50v is not meant for WM5 afterall!

And so I decided to revert it back to WM2003SE ROM, which could be downloaded from the Dell Support website. But the disaster came -- I could not flash my ROM properly back into my x50v!! And my PPC hanged after the ROM flashing completed!! True disaster!

Now my itchy hands have caused me a bomb... I was really thinking of immediately purchasing a new x51v, as the PIKOM offer is still on (RM1218 inclusive of delivery), and my x50v warranty was no longer valid. After calling Dell, the support team gave me a very good suggestion -- ie. to renew my x50v warranty, which will only cost RM100; and immediately they can do a one-to-one exchange for me, and I shall get a new x50v!! ;)

Now, I am still waiting for the Dell Warranty Dept to give me a ring, in order to proceed with my renewal of my PPC warranty.

Lesson of the day: When it ain't broken, don't fix it!

RM5 Off Next Pizza

I was at the Pizza Hut over lunch time, and decided to purchase the Lunch Combo Special. It was clearly stated on their pamplet that if the pizza was not served by 15 minutes, they would give a RM5 off voucher for the next visit.

I started counting down right from the time the bill reached my desk; it was printed 13:40 and I started waiting eagerly for the pizza. The clock started ticking away and there was no sign of my pizza. 1:49pm... 1:54pm... then 1:56pm!! Yesss, the pizza wansn't on my table yet, and I could see the waiters and waitresses were walking around, not busy at all! (I would have given them more grace period if they were busy at that time, but they weren't!)

And so I waved at one of the waitresses and demanded my RM5 off voucher. To my surprise, she passed on to her colleague (possibly a more senior one) and the waiter tried to brush me off by saying he wasn't aware of such thing (although it was CLEARLY printed on their advertisement all over the tables and walls).... I pointed at my iPaq rw6828 on the table, with the Resco Audio Recorder running, and told him,"Sir, u better watch out what u r saying, as i am recording down whatever u r saying right from the beginning..."

I could see his face suddenly turned pale, and with a smile, he told me he would get his supervisor. The pizza came at 2:01pm, and while eating, I could see the whole bunch of waiters and waitresses gathering around the cashier counter, whispering to each other.

Few minutes later, the supervisor came, and politely she apologised to me (meanwhile, I could sense that she knew my gadget was still recording the whole conversation) and she explained to me why the pizza was late -- I told her I was not interested to know how the pizza came late, but just wanted to know if she would honor Pizza Hut's claim about the RM5 off voucher.

She smiled and said,"Of course!" And there she handed over to me a RM5 off voucher.

I think if I hadn't got my PDA doing the magic of turning the waiter's face pale, I wouldn't have possibly got my RM5 voucher (knowing Malaysian mentality -- they would have given me all sorts of excuses!)

I think I have to use my PDA recording feature more often in the future for potential legal actions and to protect myself. I even plan to use it during my conversation with my patients especially sensitive issues are being discussed.

Addendum:
I came across this comment by the public in The Star dated 6/7/2006, whereby the Pizza Hut refused to compensate the RM5 voucher.

Medical Specialty Aptitude Test

After reading Tauke Fooji's blog about the Aptitude Test he tried out online, I gave it a try as well to see if I was in the correct field so far... And true enough my result turned out to be Paediatrics ranked number one! Well, so looks like this is the field I must continue to strive hard on! ;)

Special High Intensity Training

Here is another joke I kept in my diskette since 1990! But I think it's a really innovative one! :)

TO: All Employees
From: Management
Subject: Special High Intensity Training

In order to assure the highest levels of quality work and productivity from employees, it will be our policy to keep all employees welltrained through our progrom of Special High Intensity Training (S.H.I.T.). We are trying to give employees more S.H.I.T. than anyone else.

If you feel that you do not receive your share of S.H.I.T. on the job, please see your manager. You will be immediately placed at the top of the S.H.I.T. list, and our managers are especially skilled at seeing that you get all the S.H.I.T. you can handle.

Employees who don't take their S.H.I.T. will be placed in Departmental Employee Evaluation Programs (D.E.E.P S.H.I.T.). Those who fail to take D.E.E.P. S.H.I.T. seriously will have to go to Eployee Attitude Training (E.A.T. S.H.I.T.). Since our managers took S.H.I.T. before they were promoted, they don't have to do S.H.I.T. anymore, and are all full of S.H.I.T. already.

If you are full of S.H.I.T., you may be interested in a job training others. We can add your name to our Basic Understanding Lecture List. (B.U.L.L. S.H.I.T.).

Those who are full of B.U.L.L. S.H.I.T. will get the S.H.I.T.jobs, and can apply for promotion to Director Of Intensity Programming (D.I.P. S.H.I.T.).

If you have further questions, please direct them to our Head Of Training, Special High Intensity Training (H.O.T.S.H.I.T.).

Thank you,
Boss In General, Special High Intensity Training (B.I.G. S.H.I.T.)

3-Minute Management Course

I have actually read these jokes long time ago, but recently my friend emailed me again, and I think they are worth being posted here to share with those of you who need a quick 3-minute moral education! ;)

Lesson 1:

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up
her shower, when the doorbell rings The wife quickly wraps herself
in a towel and runs downstairs.

When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbor.
Before she says a word, Bob says, "I'll give you ?800 to drop that
towel." After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and
stands naked in front of Bob.

After a few seconds, Bob hands her ?800 and leaves.

The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When
she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, "Who was that?"

"It was Bob the next door neighbor," she replies.

"Great!" the husband says, "did he say anything about the ?800 he
owes me?"

Moral of the story : If you share critical information pertaining to
credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a
position to prevent avoidable exposure

Lesson 2:

A priest offered a Nun a lift. She got in and crossed her legs,
forcing her gown to reveal a leg. The priest nearly had an accident.
After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg.

The nun said, "Father, remember Psalm 129?" The priest removed his
hand.

But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again. The nun
once again said, "Father, remember Psalm 129?"

The priest apologized "Sorry sister but the flesh is weak." Arriving
at the convent, the nun went on her way.

On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm
129. It said, "Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory."

Moral of the story: If you are not well informed in your job, you
might miss a great opportunity

Lesson 3:

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to
lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie
comes out. The Genie says, "I'll give each of you just one wish."

"Me first! Me first!" says the admin clerk. "I want to be in the
Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world."

Puff! She's gone.

"Me next! Me next!" says the sales rep. "I want to be in Hawaii,
relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply
of Pina Coladas and the love of my life."

Puff! He's gone.

"OK, you're up," the Genie says to the manager. The manager says, "I
want those two back in the office after lunch."

Moral of the story: Always let your boss have the first say

Lesson 4:

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small
rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do
nothing?"

The eagle answered: "Sure, why not."

So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of
a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be
sitting very, very high up

Lesson 5:

A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able to get
to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the
energy."

"Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the
bull. They're packed with nutrients."

The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him
enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next
day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.
Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the
top of the tree.

He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Moral of the story: BullShit might get you to the top, but it won't
keep you there

Lesson 6:

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the
bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was
lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him.

As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to
realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He
lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.

A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate.
Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of
cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Moral of the story:

(1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy

(2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend

(3) And when you're in deep shit, it's best to keep your mouth shut!


And so, this ends the 3-minute management course. Hope you guys enjoyed it!

Good Friday & Kuan Yin Birthday

Today is 6 April -- a public holiday in Sarawak. It's Good Friday. Co-incidentally, it is also the 19th day of second lunar month, which is the birthday of God of Mercy (Kuan Yin). It's therefore an auspicious day for both Christians/Catholics and Buddhists.

Snack Attack!

I just came back from KL after a 3-day break. It was rather refreshing, and of coz it was a home sweet home experience.

Took AirAsia on the return flight, and despite some 20-minute delay, everything was rather tolerable. My wife and I didn't take any meal at the LCCT, becoz we arrived almost around the boarding time, so we feared that we didn't have enough time for a meal at the fully packed McDonald's.

We decided to go for the inflight meal, Snack Attack, instead (which is the usual way we fill our tummies during the 2 hour journey!) However, this time, we did a big mistake for not eating something before boarding the flight.

As the stewardess approached us and asked in the usual friendly manner,"Sir, what would u like to have?" And I replied,"Nasi lemak for me, and a fried mee hoon for my wife." But to my horror, she explained,"I'm sorry but there is nothing left, except for biscuits and Mamee vegetarian noodle!"

Gosh! Instant noodle left?! And yet the in flight stewardess just announced earlier that "AirAsia practises no outside food"... they don't prepare enough food for the passengers, and yet prohibit us from taking outside food on board?! WTF?

As I was still hesitating for a few seconds, the stewardess made a funny face, and whispered to me,"It's the last cup of instant noodle, do u still want it?" And right away, with my tummy growling, I responded,"OK! I TAKE IT!" (kiasu!)

And true enough, that was the last cup of noodle. The few passengers after me, were left with only biscuits and cup cakes. No more hot meal available! I could imagine how they salivate looking at me and my wife sharing that hot and nice noodle! ;)

So, the RM5 instant noodle had instantly become the most sought after food on board! What an irony... I still have those similar cup noodle at home, which most of them already approaching expiry date, and yet I have not even touched them! :)

Money For Nothing and Chicks For Free?

I received an email today, entitled "A Young Malaysian MILLIONAIRE Reveals Internet Secrets". Right away, I could sense that this is another spam... but just out of curiosity, I wanna know what kind of spam this is all about.

Here's the content:

Hi,

Good day to you. My name is JoWong from Selangor. I would like to share a proven money making techniques with you which I have already making money using this techniques!

This concept will help you to make A Full Time Income On The Internet Making Unbelievable Cash In Ringgit Malaysia From the Comfort Of Your Home Using His Time-Tested Techniques That Work in Malaysia!

This young Malaysian millionaire, Jason Tan reveals his secrets on how he makes millions on the Internet working only a few hours per week.

For the first time ever Jason Tan is revealing his never before told secrets.

Jason’s Only In Malaysia Mah has been rated the number one opportunity by numerous online reviews and has been seen in Entrepreneur Magazine.

You too can start making RM100, RM500, even RM1,000+ every day working at home fulltime or part time from your computer.

I have recommended the site to my family and friends and they all have started to receive pouring income.

Wishes You Success In Internet Business!

JO WONG

And so, do you think u wanna give it a try? Money for nothing? Is there such a thing? Sometimes, although we laugh at such spam mails, there are still many gullible people around who fall prey to such scam; and the next thing they will do is to cry for help in front of our infamous Mr Micheal Cheng from MCA! ;)

Car Polish

It's weekend. And so I decided to "give a treat" to my 1 year 8 month old car. Took her to the nearby newly opened car polishing company for a spa treatment! :)

Ever since I bought this car, it has been always me washing her every week. However, after last week's car wash by those professional people from that car polishing company. I finally decided that the RM10 is damn worth it (plus vacuum and waxing the dashboard!). And I will not do that donkey job myself again. And it is also after their persuation last week, that I decided to bring my car for waxing and polishing today. Cost me Rm150 after discount.

But I must admit one thing for sure -- they did a damn good job. Now my car looks just as new as I first bought it. I just hope when I drive out tonight for dinner, it doesn't rain... or else, my car will be due for another car wash in few days time! ;)

Viagra For Ancestors

Cheng Beng (tombsweeping festival) is near.

Read this piece of news in The Star today, and thought that some people are really innovative in the money making business nowadays! Imagine viagra (in paper replica form) to be burnt for the deceased ancestors during the Cheng Beng festival, as a wish for satisfying their sex after-life! :) They even sell images of condoms and heavily made-up bar girls.... The usual items the chinese have been burning for their ancestors are things like cars, handphones, pagers, paper money, houses, maids, diamond rings ...etc.

And I wonder if there is any one ever tried burning images of doctors, lawyers and bodyguards for their ancestors; lest they fall sick, need legal advice and extra protection by Gurkha bodyguards (bcoz having big cars, big house and big money, can risk being kidnapped or robbed!)

Having said all that (well, it was just a joke anyway, whatever I said above), becoz of multi-racial and multi-religion in this country, hence there is multi-beliefs from every ethnic and society member. We cannot therefore say this practice is right or wrong; neither can we judge other people's belief using our own perspective or religious belief. I hate people who condemn other people's belief, no matter how weird or funny the practice is.

Everyone has his or her right to believe in whatever, so long as not harming the harmony of the society and that of the world.

Malas?

On call today.

Got a call from labor room. The MO, with her strong chinese accent "chinglish", said over the phone,"We've a baby out 45 minutes ago, now still blue facies... "

"Gosh... 45 minutes ago?! Is the baby crying now?! How is the baby NOW?!"

"Yeah 45 minutes ago... Still malas... "

"Pardon me?"

"Malas"

Took me few seconds to register,"U mean still weak looking? Any cord round neck?"

"But moving limbs... but malas... yes, loose round neck" (WTF is this description anyway?!)

"Ok...ok, I come now!" hung up the phone and ran to LR.

At times, i do get such referrals, and dunno to be angry or to start laughing.
And why the hell did she call me after 45-long-minutes anyway?! If the baby was flat since birth and no resuscitation was given adequately, it would be already another CP child in the making.

Anyway, the baby was fine, just congested face; observed for 4 hours and sent back to mother.

KKM Search For Doc

I came across the KKM new website today, and am surprised to find out that there is a search function, which my name could be found on their database! I tried a few more names of my friends, and my wife... all are in their database. And that they are also providing the email add for the doctors of KKM, ending with @moh.gov.my.

So is your name in there too?

World University Ranking

If you would like to know where our local universities stand in the World University Ranking, you can take a look here. To be more specific looking at the Top 100 universities in south East Asian countries, take a look here. The picture above just illustrates a few universities in Malaysia, with their respective world ranking. It doesn't show the ranking of UNIMAS, and looking through the list at the website, I found out that it's at the 3542nd place.

Differences Between Police and Ah Long

Read this in China Press, it's really humourous but true to a certain extent! :)