Howdy.

Had the best Christmas break ever.

Now I've to strap myself to the chair and revise like there's no tomorrow.

No space for teh tarik

I don't know if you can read that. I almost can't.

Read the article here.

Well, well, well.

We DO have decent experiments to perform in space

No, I'm not going to say "I knew that...they can't be REALLY playing batu seremban and making teh tarik.."

My uncle mentioned in his blog about the dangers of light-hearted statements made in jest being misquoted by the press.

The person who made the statement may well had been misquoted. I do hope, for everyone's sake, that this was the case. Being misquoted is one thing, but I guess one's got to be careful not to make such comments in the first place. Look at how ridiculous we looked in the eyes of foreigners.

Let's see what happens...

Confidentiality issues

I started my 2-week GP rotation last Monday.

It's been a good experience so far, the GPs are excellent teachers. I have, however, ruled out general practice as a career option (reasons why will be discussed another time).

Anyway, as I was entering the consultation room today (yesterday actually, since it's already Saturday), I bumped into a friend, who's also a medical student in my year. She was a patient registered under the GP surgery, and I guess she came in for a consultation.

When I went back home later in the day I mentioned to another friend that I saw so-and-so at the surgery. Only just a few moments ago I realized I've breached confidentiality; revealing a patient to another.

Every patient has a right to confidentiality. This includes his/her identity and anything discussed during a consultation. Health professionals have the duty to protect this and reveal to no one except those involved in the patient's care. This responsibility holds true even after the patient's death. Only in certain circumstances can the patient's information be revealed, e.g. if required by law or if the patient can potentially cause harm to another (e.g. when an HIV-positive patient refuses to inform partner of HIV status, and doesn't practice safe sex).

If the patient-doctor relationship is strictly professional, I guess it is easier to maintain confidentiality, by virtue of the fact that when the doctor leaves his office at the end of the day, he leaves his work behind. When the patient is also a friend, and known to others in one's social circle, all it takes is a slip of the tongue to reveal all.

Back to the friend I saw yesterday. You might think it's not that big a deal, since the only thing happened was that I met her in the corridor. It's not like I was present for the consultation or anything. But it IS a huge issue. She has the right to remain unknown.

The reason why I'm relating this story is to remind myself, as well as some of you who, like me, will become doctors soon, God willing. Better make mistakes now than later. Despite my occasional self-deprecating remarks about being a lousy medical student, I DO plan to become a good doctor. Borrowing Aunt Eller's line from Oklahoma! : I don't say I'm no better than anybody else, but I'll be damned if I ain't just as good.

Kamus NOGORI

Got this from Aniz, my childhood friend.

Although I claim myself a Negeri Sembilan girl through-and-through (I was born in Terengganu, but it wasn't my fault my dad was posted there), I have to confess my loghat nogori is abysmal. Oh, I can talk basic nogori, we often crack jokes using the dialect at home. But I can't talk the proper version of it. That's why I won't even attempt to write anything here in nogori, takut kena buang daerah hehe.

Neways, you Negeri Sembilan people out there, how extensive is your vocabulary? Below are over 60 words. I know 25, so I guess it's not that bad. How about you?

Enjoy

*******************

KAMUS NOGORI

1) ANGEK..............hangat, loghat

hangat

- angek boto badan budak ni, domam, gek eh!

2) AMBA...............tak ada rasa, tawar

- Apo lak amba yo gulai ikan semilang kau ni timah!

3) ANGKEK.............angkat, loghat angkat

- piah, tolong angkek air lam baldi tu....

4) ANCUK...............copulate, lucah ni

- beghancuk yo kojo eh budak ni

5) AGEH.................sejenis ulat agas, loghat agas

- ghumah onyang ni banyak na ageh, maleh la nak tido

6) SUKI = cukup

- ayam tu kalau suki makan eh..sihat la dehhh

7) GHOSAN = basi

- lauk ayam nia kok buh dlm poti sojuk..tahan la deh. kok bia

yo kek luar..ghosannn deh

8)MELANGSIT = tido yg bersungguh

- ekau ni kan, melangsit yo kojo kau. cubo la poie motong gotah

9) SENUGHEH : senonoh

- ekau ni tak senugheh boto lah. den lompang kang!

10) CHEMAT = rotan

- budak dogey ni cemat yo hukum eh. tak mau di koba org..

11) BOGIK = dogei mak amek

12) HOBIN - ho-bin : pukul atau belasah

ekau hobin yo muko dio tuh!

13) KITAI - ki-tai : mengibas atau merenjis (badan dan selalu nya utk kucing)

kucing tuh lopeh dimandi an memang gomar mengitai an badan eh

14) PELAIH- pe-la-ih : endah atau amik tau

bukan dio nak pelaih an apo yg den cakap!

15) TETOYEK - te-to-yek : mcm lebihan terutama bg rendang

banyak boto tetoyek ghondang nie

15) GHEMAH - ghe-mah : saki baki nasi yg bertaburan lps makan

apo la makan cam tuh... bersepah ghemah

16) ONTOK-ONTOK : diam-diam

heh, duduk lah ontok-ontok sikit

17) MENDODA - men-do-da : terlalu kuat

sampai mendoda bunyi eh dio bukak lagu tuh!

18) LELAN - le-lan : cuai

lain kali bawak keto, jgnlah lelan... bahayo

19) MENTENENG - men-te-neng : besar, boroi etc

menteneng poghot dan lopeh makan lomang nie

20) DODAT - do-dat : minum terus tanpa cawan

jangan lah dodat air tuh camtuh, amik lah cawan, karang ado org lain nak

minam!

21) BELOBAU- be-lo-bau : terjatuh

jangan ditolak kucing tu, belobau dlm kolam tuh karang!

22) KECENG - ke-ceng : kenyit

apolah terkeceng-keceng mato tuh

23) AMEK - sangat

Kau jangan bawak motor tu laju-laju amek jang, kang kok terjungkang kek

topi somak tu kang.

24) TONAR - kedengaran sangat kuat

Mak oi, kuek bonar budak tu menangih tonar sekampong.

25) LUNYAH - dipijak-pijak

Abih tompek tidur den di lunyah dek bebudak ni

26) TEBOK - tanduk

Semalam atuk den di tebok kek kobau nasib baik tak apo-apo

27) POLAK - rimas...

polak eh la pulak...ekau kipeh den sokojap../ polak tolingo den dongar

bebel kau ni..apo mulut kau tak bulih diam ko

28) BEJEOH (be-je-oh) = untung besar

Kalau dapek duit pelanting, bejeoh den.... hehehee......

29) PORUN (po-run) = bakar semak-samun/sampah-sarap

lopeh tobeh somak tu tolong porun sekali biar torang, nanti sonang nak

tanam apo-apo.

30) CENEKEL (ce-ne-kel) = tipu/ngelat

ekau main cenekel patutlah kau buleh monang

31) HONGEH ~ ho-ngeh - mengah/keletihan

"den tongah hongeh ni sobab baghu lopeh dikojar dek lombu garang"

32) HONGAP ~ ho-ngap - nafas

"hongap kau ni bebau rokok"

33) NGICAK ~ ngi-cak = minta

"tak habih2 budak ni nak ngicak kueh den yo kojo eh"

34) KELOKAIAN ~ ko-lo-ka-ian = habiskan

"mano ado tinggal laie, habih dikolokaian eh kek budak ni"

35) NONGGOK = duduk, tinggal

"ekau nonggok mano sokarang"

36) PEMONGAK = pe-mo-ngak = pembohong

"usah kau pecayo cakap2 eh tu, pemongak nak mampuih"

37) NGENDENG ngen-deng = mendekati seseorang untuk dapat sesuatu

"apo kau buek ngendeng yo ni jang, nak apo laie?"

38) SEJOGHENG se-jo-gheh = secebis

"ado ko patut dibori eh den sejogheng yo, padohal banyak laie tu

hah..."

39) MENYONGOK = me-nyo-ngok/menjongok men-jo-ngok = menziarah

"aghi rayo aghi tu den balik kampong menyongok gf den...hehehe...."

40) KECEK = ke-cek = minta dgn muka kesian

"cubo kau kecek ado laie tu...."

41) BEGHAMUK = be-gha-muk = bergaduh

"apo dibuek eh kek bobudak ni, beghamuk yo kojo eh"

42) DOGHEH = do-ngeh/dedogheh de-do-ngeh= cepat

"jalan lah dogheh/dedogheh, agi dah nak malam ni"

43) BONGKAR = bong-kar = bangun

bongkar la copek..dah subuh

44) MENTOKODAGHAH - men-to-ko-da-ghah = makan

kuek amek mentokodaghah ko ni milah..abih duit den

45) POLOSER - po-lo-ser = pemalas

poloser amek ko ni jang

46) POLOSIT - po-lo-sit = jahat

Huh anak si Jang katek tu, polosit sungguh, mencurik ajo kojoeh.

47) BOSOLUMAK - bo-su-lu-mak = comot

humang aiii!!.......bosulumak boto mulut kau lopeh makan aiskrim tue

48) JEWAT - je-wat : capai

lupo lak eden nak jewat baju tido tuh tadih

49) METENG - me-teng /peteng - pe-teng - perati

apo yang dok peteng tuh jang.. berio bonar lak nampak eh.

50) TITIEK - ti-tiek / TALO- ta-lo = rotan

Ekao nak kono titiek tak ngan abah kao?"

Bang talo sikit Bidin tu, dogee bonar pulak dio

51) OCUP - o-cup = tenggelam

jangan mandi kek lubuk tu ocup kang

52) BUNGKO - bung-ko = bingai/bengap

apo bungko bona si acai ni, den dah koba bokali-kali masih tak faham2 laie

53) BENGOT - be-ngot = herot

bengot mulut kau konon kono mato kail tu

54) BOLENG - bo-leng = bogel

ajis jangan mandi boleng kono sekodeng dek anep kang

55) MOH DOREH - moh-do-reh = mari cepat

moh doreh kito poie beghayo ko ghumah tok imam

54) GODANG - go-dang = besar

godang eh lubang hidung kau

55) GOLO- go-lo = parah/susah

alahai kantoi lak dengan bini waktu dengan dating dengan senah tadi..golo

lah den

56) PENGOLAN - po-ngo-lan = pengait

bak sini pongolan tu fana..ekau duduk ontok ontok kek situ

57) OKAP - o-kap = tamak

okap bonar kau ni im..sumo asal cun sikit kau kobeh

58) KOBEH - ko-beh = kebas

ekau monyangkung lamo lamo tak kobeh ko kaki mizz

59) LOHONG - lo-hong = barai

lubang hidung jiman somakin hari somakin lohong sebab selalu korek hidung

60) KOMAN - ko-man = ketinggalan zaman

apo koman bona dressing kau ni sarip

61) BALUN = belasah

apo tersongge songge baco posting den..nak kono balun

itu ajo la setakat nie.........bhaso jiwo bangso!!

Ayat yang membuatku kembang tak terkuncup lagi..

Weh korang!

Guess what?

I had GP attachment this a.m. Had a quick chat with the receptionist. Pastu dia cakap :

"You look like you're not even out from school.."

Ehehe.

Now, before you start leaving bubble-bursting comments, hear (or read, rather) me out first. I KNOW she meant that I look young, mostly because at five past nine in the morning I hadn't the chance to make a monkey of myself, and she wasn't able to asses my competence (incompetence, actually) as a medical student from a 5-minute encounter.

What say you now?

Wooohooooo!! *melompat-lompat sambil menari tarian sumazau*

So I guess I have a few years yet before I need anti-ageing thingies. Maybe if I invest the money I put aside properly I'd be able to afford botox! Muahahahahahah!

Eh. Takdela. Gurau je. Ko ni cepat melatah la senah!

It's SUCH a beautiful day...don't you think?

"I've had..time of my life.."

I'm listening to Dirty Dancing's soundtrack right now.

Watched the movie for the first time a couple of weeks ago (don't know why I never got around watching it before), when I visited Leicester and stayed with Peah.

Everytime they played a song in the movie, I went like "Ouh! I know this song!!" and then sang along, much to everyone's disbelief. (I'm sure they thought : WHAT DECADE is this crazy woman from??)

What can I say, I am more at home with songs from my mom's era. Should've been born in the fifties/sixties. I would've been SUCH a cool person back then! However, living in the current time and place, with my taste, I am doomed to be a geek and totally, totally uncool (by virtue of the fact that I can't connect with my peers, but can sing along with their parents).*sigh* Oh well. You people just DON'T KNOW how to appreciate me *pbbtthh*.

Now I have all the songs from the Dirty Dancing movie, thanks to Peah who delivered them to me and to Sid who obligingly downloaded them for me!! Remind me to belanja you fantastic people later!

If you'd excuse me, I'm gonna put on my 60s retro sunglasses and sing some golden oldies. ALOUD.

I WANT TO GO HOME.

The only place where I think, act, feel like myself.

Being away drives me positively nuts. It's like being on a roller-coaster ride. I'm not even pleasant company most of the time.

Everything's moving too quickly for me.

Astagfirullah. I know that I am ungrateful. By right I should feel nothing but happy.

So why do I feel like crying for no apparent reason?

**Addendum 09/12/06 9:40 pm: I'm fine. Just had a bad case of PMS. All is good now.

WOULD. YOU. LOOK. AT...

THAT.

Saw the advert on tv.

Introducing Nintendo's Wii (well I'm sure most of you already know about it anyway).

Has a wireless controller, which acts as a handheld pointing device and can detect motion and rotation in three dimensions.

That means, if the character in the game you're playing is in a swordfight, YOU are executing all the moves. If it's a golf game, you are literally the player (although I can't imagine anything less exciting than that).

I've given up my game controller ages ago (cewah macam bagus je) but I think Nintendo's latest release has taken gaming to another level.

Please excuse me while I drown in my puddle of saliva.

Ummm Santa? I've been a *ahem* good girl this year...do you think you can put this up on my list? Pretty please?? *with big shiny eyes ala2 kartun Jepun*

Owh. I forgot. Santa Claus doesn't exist. And I don't celebrate Christmas.

Drat.

Well, how about a belated birthday present? Anyone?

Hello?? *distant echoes are heard*

Ah well.

Too revealing?

Interesting piece of news on The Star Online today. To read it click here

Or if you're too lazy, the picture below sums up what's going on :

There's a RM500 fine for those who go against it. As expected, the 'Do's and Don'ts list' has sparked protest and outrage in some quarters (as reported here)

Their arguments were, in my personal opinion, valid points. Women have always been blamed as 'the source of evil'. It is unacceptable to say if a girl dresses a tad 'too revealing' and gets assaulted that 'she asked for it'. Honestly, does anyone still buy that argument?

How are they going to determine what's 'tight' and/or 'revealing' and what's not?

Before doing IB, I spent one semester doing matriculation locally (in Malaysia, that is). After spending 11 years in an all girls' day school where most of my friends were non-Malays, I got my very first wave of culture shock there.

My first Pendidikan Islam lesson, the ustaz threatened us with his 'kad kuasa', and said that he was authorised to 'tangkap khalwat' any couples seen doing anything funny. I was like, "oookay..."

That was a 'nice' welcome.

The whole environment of the campus was...well..to put it in a way, very religious. Now, I had no arguments against that (in principle, that is). I was ok with the fact that they tried to take care of everyone's 'spiritual well-being'. But I objected to the way they did it, and how they targeted only us girls.

Friday night ceramah focused mainly on how girls didn't wear camisoles with their baju kurung, or how thin the fabric is, or even how some girls don't wear socks. They made jokes at our expense, and the boys snickered at the front while us girls seethed with anger at the back.

We were proper second-class citizens, the female students. Actually, even worse than that. I felt the scavenger cats at the canteen were treated better. Then a sequence of events took place which left me properly traumatized. But that's a story for another day. Let's just say I never felt so happy to leave a place in my life.

Back to our main topic. Yet another article here (sorry! I make you read lots this time around). Statements such as, and I quote “A woman who wears an indecent outfit does not respect herself, so how can she expect men to respect her?” and 'there was no denying that men would be aroused by a scantily- dressed woman, as this was human nature' are ludicrous.

What is THAT all about?

At the same time, I do feel that we Malaysians have become too westernised - our clothes, our thinking, heck, even right down to our American accents we picked up from tv. Scantily-clad girls are no longer found only in 'large cities', as small town people would say. They now can be found in your own hometown. She can be your neighbour. Or your best friend. Or even your sister. It's such a norm now that people rarely bat an eyelash when they see such things.

A few years ago (when we Malaysians were still conservative...remember those times?), at a wedding reception, my mother made a remark about the bride, who wore a sleeveless, a-bit-on-the-sexy-side dress, saying that she 'tak tau nak hormat majlis,' showing her underarms to guests and her elders. At that time, I didn't understand what the fuss was about. Now I think I understand where my mom was coming from.

If you were to attend, let's say, your best friend's kenduri, you'd choose what you wear carefully. Or if you were to go to meet your relatives, your mom will surely ask you to wear something 'decent' (that is, if you have one like mine). If you go for a job interview, you'd spend hours deciding what to wear. Even in the medical profession, there are standards on what doctors should and should not wear. You may ask, why? Out of respect for the other person. You do not dress simply for yourself, it's also for every single person you meet that day, whether you know him/her or not.

As it is wrong for people to criticize you on how you dress, it is also unacceptable to impose your dressing on other people.

I guess what MPKB is trying to do is 'protect' their people from being keBaratan, while still trying to preserve eastern; and most importantly, Islamic values. And to be honest, when I went to Kelantan last summer, it was really nice not to see people 'flaunting' themselves, that everyone looked so well ummm... decent.

I feel SO old saying that.

But I still object to the statements made in the papers. Totally devoid of respect towards women.

That's the problem. They blame us for everything, and teach their brothers and sons that women are the root of all evil. They never taught their sons to respect their mothers and sisters, to love and cherish and protect. Instead they are taught to look at women with contempt.

And seriously, if you want to fight 'immorality' and 'indecency'? EDUCATE the people. EDUCATE them. EDUCATE them. Teach them good values; show them how to think for themselves; teach them the importance of respecting others, and also one's self. Only then will we stop being the mindless sheep we have become.

Not so easy, huh? We always prefer the quick-fix method, washing our hands off the problem afterwards, claiming we've done all we can. How myopic. How irresponsible. How typical. (Oh dear, it's the 't' word...again).

Hmmmmm

Just look at that.

I'm usually a neat person - well agak neat la. In my younger days (cewah) I loved spring cleaning, everytime I got stressed I'd clean the room from top to bottom - usually after midnight. (I know...I have weird habits, like bathing after 12am..there are even weirder habits you'd find out about if you get to know me better). Can't even be bothered to clean up anymore. Everytime I do, it gets messy again double quick.

The state of the rest of the room is more or less the same. Oh, I can still see the floor,thank heavens, but things are cluttered in groups - in an 'organized' sort of way.

You should see my laundry basket. It's like a volcano ready to erupt. In fact, it has a slightly smaller twin - the 'handwash' pile and the 'washing machine' pile, you see. Sometimes I yell at them : "Why can't you wash yourselves??"

My dishes get that a lot too.

I also wish that the food in the freezer would defrost themselves and voluntarily jump into the cooking pot.

I really marvel at my friends who are still studying and are also married +/- with kids. Cammane korang cope haaa? Aku kat sini diri sendiri pun tak terjaga. Mungkin sebab tu la jodoh korang awal and mine is still on suspension.

More friends are getting married within the next few months. I wish you all infinite joy. Me? Everytime anyone asks about 'my turn' (tak serik2 lagi ke?), my standard answer is now "Rabu. Datangla ye..bawak hadiah sekali.." (well I haven't used the 'hadiah' bit, but I think it's a good addition. Gonna use that next time).

Not going home for Christmas holidays. Somehow that thought makes me depressed...