well, hello to you too.

it's been quiet in here for quite sometime,isnt it?

it's almost four weeks into my elective in the local hospital. i was wee bit anxious and intimidated at first. even though it's a local hospital, somehow it felt so foreign to me. in the first few days at least. one thing, it felt so weird wee bit hard to take medical histories in plain bahasa melayu initially. the first few days saw me struggling to find the words in bahasa melayu, whenever i was asking patients. and from brief four weeks that i've spent in the wards, i find it unbelieveable that some malaysians could not, well speak the national language!! and they cant speak english either, so that was frustrating!. you know, we've heard countlessly on how we should "memartabatkan bahasa melayu" and all that. but clearly, whoever's responsible, the job was not carried out as effectively as it should. and i find it to be a joke, when they were so headstrong about it,what more with the PPSMI issue, and yet, using "malaynised" terms like inkues, rasis and so on. really, arent there any better, proper malay word to be used?

and this is my two pence: i think it's a shame loss that maths&science will no longer be taught in english. i wish it was implemented during my school years. it'd be nice,so the transition to kmb wasnt such a big shock as it was. it's been only what? 5-6 years since it was first implemented. patience, is what the policy makers dont seem to have. even singapore took at least 15 years, for it to be implemented successfully and look where they are now. yes, we dont want those in the rural areas to be left out, but instead of the maths and science, i think just the science stream subjects like additional maths,chemistry/bio/physics should be thought in english. and this is no news, arent science subjects being thought in english in university? or will we hear in a couple of months/years; well since the science subjects are being thought in bahasa in schools, why the need to teach it in english at uni level? god forbid, i hope i will not have to read those kind of headings in newspaper in the future.
having the early exposure will boost students confidence tremendously and help them to grasp the learning in uni better, even more when independent study is the way of life in uni. but as every other manmade policy, there can never be perfection. so it's mainly the matter of balance.

and since i'm on the roll, here's another observation: our health care system. is far from perfect. the medical/treatment side, i think is almost on the same par as what i observed in the UK. it's just the welfare state that saddens me. there was this one patient whom i saw, was admitted due to hypertensive emergency, who could not afford his medications hence the admission to hospital. and it broke my heart when i hear that he has to take three buses just to go to the community clinic for follow up. he's retired and lives alone after his wife passed away from cancer, so you could imagine, how's he going to find money to eat every day, what more to buy medications?? then there's another lady, who had stroke and is now bed bound, with no family/relatives to take care of her. the doctors were digging every hole on ways she could be place at good nursery home and financial sources to support her stay there.
ya know what, because of those kind of stories, i'm gonna make it my mission, to help as much as i can in terms of that when i start working later on.

this entry is getting way too long. there's a few more stories i'd like to share.
so, tungguuu.