Busy Bee..

It's been almost 4 months I did not put any words into this blog. Many have asked of whether I have posted any new posts on the blog. Truthfully, at this moment of time my hands are pretty full. Time flies when I still long for more. It's a total capsize of what I had when I was in Sandakan. From whooshing to clinic to the application deadlines and back on the road for one hour, it is a tonic life. Not that I abhor it but as a matter of fact I love this kind of pace.

It is good when you wake up in the morning and you have a cogent reason to put aside the Monday blues. Yeah, I used to suffer from this condition. Only that mine was more chronic where the blues were not just confining on Mondays but it includes every other day as well. And it made worse when at the end of the term of my service in Sabah, the condition (or should I call the syndrome) had been metastasized and found its way to the weekends. So, if I was about to be in Medical Miracle for the syndrome that I had, perhaps, they should also had to rename it. I would suggest Modified Monday Blues Syndrome or Everyday's Blues Syndrome. More dramatic, don't you think?

As I am in the midst of adapting to the vibrant academia life (adapting fast!), I'm grateful to have such cool and friendly colleagues to accompany me/us every luncheon. Pardon me, not just every luncheon but every academic aspects as well. Discussing about the university applications are the all-time favourite, the topic that would never come out during any lunch time break of the ministry dental officer.

I attracted to write on my recent Facebook discussion with few colleagues of mine from various walk of background. The theme was nothing more about the engaging promulgation announced by the Prime Minister in the Budget 2011. So many issues popped out. Some were arrestingly expressed that made the doer stripped to his foolishness and some who had points that worth debating on. One fellow lady claimed that the 600 million Ringgit allocated to fund PhD candidates to further their study was nothing but a mere sweet talk. She made a remark that the government may had a miss on a good candidate and undermined the 'truly deserved one' in achieving the goal. Yes, that is true that government or the responsible body may have a miss in term of selection or anything but the question here is who is at fault?

Is it government's fault for not going to the rural and village asking everyone they bumped into on the road of whether they want to do PhD or is it the candidate's fault for not revealing themselves to be recognized?
As most Malaysian universities have taken steps to becoming the utter most premier and being the one who stands out from their peer, the question like this must not be left hanging. In my part, I always believe that in order to get the best model the mould has to be pristine. The students should strive for betterment. No more spoon feeding and more importantly the Malays and the Bumiputras should start to learn to not being timid when it comes to academic revelation. Don't just standing at the corner and hope somebody will notice you. For instance, in dentistry if one would ever desire to do postgraduate study in competitive fields namely Orthodontic and Oral Surgery he should endeavour to get an extra qualification such as M Orth and MJDF respectively (even though in many cases it is not necessary). And don't accuse anybody who had the opportunity by having a back pass entry or sensationally make known as 'cable'.

Of course the government cannot just simply give a leeway in term of candidate selection. Selection-wise, it has to be thorough and merit-based. PhD is not an easy task. I happened to have known many candidates and figures telling how pain it is to complete a PhD. It is surely not for a faint of heart!

So, the issue of the 'truly deserved one' to be left out is totally out of question. And another reinforcing point of why the government spends a major sum of money to the development of the PhD holders is that we need more people who are able to give opinions and researches towards national development. In fact, we still lack of PhD holders as relatively compared to our southern neighbour, Singapore. And yes, the idea of sending more of these candidates to do PhD abroad is such a welcoming verdict. Not just we can learn a new system of education but also to be able to mingle with international community, the latter which can be beneficial to establish a slap-up human capital.

Again, the national development is an obligation to every citizen of the nation. No matter which parties you voted to, you have the right to take part of this opportunity. The only mark that left is are you willing to work hard or just standing at the corner waiting for the prince charming to come and spoon feed you? 

                                                     

Cleaning out my closet

The packing is almost done now. The more we packed the more things popping out. Those three jumbo luggage seems as if they can't contain much further. The fillers are as good as the over-stuffed curry puff freshly tossed from the hot oil. Regurgitated and stout. Only the luggage are not as mouth-watering as the curry puff. Perhaps, you may wondering what's going on with me and the curry puff idiom. Yes, I'm missing and craving of my mother's curry puff badly. Enough to make me went out looking for it and realized how awful the taste was. Sigh.

Last Friday we have said goodbye to the Voltron aka our beloved Myvi car. So long but not too long. Voltron on its route to Port Klang. We won't be seeing him in a week as the shipping officer told us. He sounded promising until we had a tête-à-tête with a dental technician during luncheon telling her shipping container came after a month. Hmm.. What would I do without my car then as my mind boggled with creative ideas of how to get to the locum without a car. Thought for later, I guess.

So, as I finishing the allegedly last thing to pack thinking there would more to come, I lose my concentration in the middle. The Wimbledon Tennis and the World Cup are too good to be missed. And the presence of an eager crawler climbing every mountainous knapsacks and luggage makes the effort to pack a bit sluggish. In a good way of course. With that, I have to set my pen off as the battle between Tsonga and Murray is about to take place. There goes my packing again! Haih..

Checklists to Check-out Part II

Most of the time that I remember in vivid while in Sabah is the time when I spent with the Borneo squad. Oh, how I missed the good old days. I still recall the time when the founding member of the Borneo squad commencing their first baby step to the big land of Borneo. Before I forget, the founding member of the Borneo squad are the trio of Ilham, Azmi (Jimok) and me. The duo - Fairuz (Apai) and Ema was not in the picture then yet as their date of report duty was a month away from us, their journey which I'll tell later.

So, there we were, the trio at the LCCT all prepared for the departure. The family members and close related personnel were all there giving their last farewell to the trio. There were moments that I thought 'are we going for Hajj or Iraqi's war or something?'. Some were sinking into tears if not sobbing in silent. And for the first time the families of the trio were united under one roof. If only there were a family day contest at that particular time in LCCT, I think Jimok's family would easily took home the champs as he brought a battalion with him to the airport.

Being a wet-behind-the-ear traveler cum working adult, I couldn't help myself to bring a larger than life luggage. As much as I hate to admit it, the thing that brings out the worse in me is when it comes to pack stuffs. I just simply couldn't pick any clothes or trousers or under garments to pack and I would end up packing the whole things. It was kind of embarrassing when seeing people who travel so lightly as if they have nothing to pack and nothing to worry about. And with that thought I was all engulfed with the apprehension of winning the biggest luggage contest. But, surprisingly, bear in mind that I was totally relieved when seeing Ilham's and Jimok's luggage was nothing less than my luggage size. At last, I was not alone!

As we approached the most scornful local airlines in history of aviation, Air Asia counter, I prayed that our luggage won't be too over limit. Yes, I expected some over limit in my calculation, perhaps it would go around RM 50 or so. No, I was dead wrong thinking that Air Asia would be generous to us. Alas. There went my one week locum money as the curses to Tony Fernandez continued to mount up.

                                                     Kota Kinabalu

I was nearly blind upon disembarkation from the belly of the plane. The unusual brightness of the sun in this Borneo land was killing. The heat was so piercing I had to squint my eyes. But, the blinding process quickly reverted when I saw a magnificent view of the Tanjung Aru stretch beach. The blue green multi-tonous South China Sea seemed as if there was an enormous flat crystal spreading the entire view. And that was the moment I think I had a head over heels with Kota Kinabalu.

House hunting was another significant chapter for the Borneo squad sojourn. Every pages of Daily Express and Borneo Post would have at least a circle or a tick or a fancy bold with colourful highlighter. All for the sake of finding two decent houses and most importantly the cheapest in the market. One for Jimok and I, and one for Ilham. But, the luck was not on us and after spending some times running and chasing after house agents we could only found one decent apartment. And it was at the upper most floor of four tiers apartment. No lifts whatsoever. For the record, most apartments or condominiums in Sabah are not furbished with lifts and if one happen to have the eyes of observant one will see that there are not much of sky-scrapping apartments or condos in Kota Kinabalu let alone the entire Sabah. The policy I learned later in life proven to be very beneficial to keep in shape.

So, before finding a new house for Ilham, she had to be a squatter at one of senior's house and we had to bear commuted to work en-route to pick her up. Utilizing Mazharul as a supir in his car, we survived the first one week. But then, an expected event changed the whole plan. Mazharul was reassigned to Likas Hospital and every morning he had to leave his house early to get in time and not to get caught in the congested traffic. And we as regular  hitchhikers were forced to get up early in the morning as he routinely would dropped us at Luyang Clinic on his way to Likas. Thinking that the arrival of 45 minutes before 8 was not an option, we had to find solution. We had to find a car!

                                              A New Car

By unanimous decision of three, we went to Perodua retail center in Api-Api. And after a long deliberation of whether to buy a new model or a second hand car, we came into solution, we agreed to take home a brand new Myvi. But then, there was a glitch. Who is going to pay for the car down payment?

Everybody literally was broken. Jimok and I had already chipped in to pay for the 2 +1 advanced house rent. So, technically we both broke. Ilham as she relied solely on her not very much pocket money couldn't make it to the rescue. And suddenly as in possessed by ghost embodiment, Jimok and Ilham gave me a glance. A dazzling glance that denoted an evil thought.

"I thought you still have some saving from the locum?" Ilham uttered sheepishly, tongue in the cheek.
"Yes, I still have some of it" I retorted exhaling deeply.

The truth was, I also thought the same thing. All this while I always dreamed to have a car of my own. Since I had some saving and enough to pay for the down payment why didn't I do so. So, there it was, I took home a brand new Myvi for which had become an official transport for us three. The happiest purchasing I had ever done!

                                                 The Duo 

A month later came the duo, Apai and Ema and the rest of the UKM clan. I was hardly knew both of them as they hailed from the other side of the town. I first met them also at the sacred LCCT. Pushing the big fat luggage, made me smiling reflected my time a month back. Apai was a loquacious guy. Ema on the other hand managed to double it. She could talk like nobody business and still had more. But she seemed to talk around the people that she knew. Shy, perhaps. And knowing her now, she is totally the capsize of the 'shy'!

There were a lot to tell about this duo and the rest of the story but I find a drainage in my mind now. Perhaps, some other time will do me some good to write.

So long for now from Ilham and me ~

Checklists to Check-out Part I

i.   Climbing Mount Kinabalu and made it to the top......................... Checked

ii.  Water rafting in Kiulu and Padas river......................................... Checked

iii. Weekend pastime in Mamutik island............................................ Checked

iv. Wobbling on the infamous Tamparuli bridge................................ Checked

v.  Scrutinizing pygmy elephant in Sukau, Kinabatangan.................. Checked

vi.  Laughing over the gringos all mesmerized of the long-tail macaque in Sukau.............. Checked

vii. Weeping in remorse over the near death boring expedition to Sukau.............. Checked

viii. Dinner in revolving restaurant in Kota Kinabalu that costs an arm and a leg................... Checked

ix.  Medical camp in deserted island of Jambongan and jungly ghetto of Serudong Laut... Checked

x.  Barbecuing in the most modest manner in Jimok and Apai's nest in Semporna......... Checked

 

 

 

 

Hey people, I'm on air!

This morning I woke up with a massive stone on my head. To get up from the bed was like pulling a thousand chariots. Listlessness in the air. I had a Monday blues. Only this time it was not Monday but Friday, instead. As the mixed feeling of going to work or staying home took on the battle in my head, I heard my wife muttered about something. Sleepy headed, I started to grumble.

"Did you say something just now?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.
"Yes dear. I think, you've got a radio talk today!" she retorted making her way out of the room to make a breakfast toast.

Oh, how on earth I could forget this. I have prepared everything for the talk. The questions, the answers, the shirt and the necktie (yeah, as if there would be any audience to watch the talk. It's a radio talk for god's sake!) were all checked the night before. I just simply should have not forget about this but I did. Alas, lately my memory didn't served me very well.

In a flash I jumped out of the bed forcing myself to go to the bathroom. As I experiencing the quickest shower in my life, I couldn't stop thinking of how would the talk be like.Would the deejay understands me, or would I talk through the ear phone or microphone. I was lost!

Then, there it was. I was standing in front of the Sandakan FM office chaperoned by Sister Latifah (sister denotes a rank to act as a chief of nurses). I was invited to sit at the waiting lounge furbished by an old TV and a faded sofa set. Neither tea nor refreshments were served made me bored to death. So, me being genius, I went forth to switch TV channel as the TV displayed boring commercials of the TV 1. Hoping to get some updates on the FIFA world cup of ESPN or Star Sports turned bitter when all buttons displayed only RTM-related channels.
Suddenly, I realized that this was RTM office after all, therefore it owned by government. Of course, the TV would only showed the RTM channel. Silly me!
As I tapped my forehead in disappointment I could imagined how these people would laugh at me, a fool with TV, as I pretty sure my action has been caught by the surveillance camera somewhere hidden in the room.

The talk went surprisingly well. I talked about Halitosis and stuff to fulfill the radio's weekly health program slot. The deejay seemed fun but freaking bubbly. No blaming here, it's part of occupational hazard I guess. In the end of the day I think doing this talk is rather joyful and I kind of like it. I'm a talker in nature so the talking was not very much intimidating to me. So, there it was, a glamorous closure for my service in Sandakan and for Sabah generally.

What's next in my plan. TV talk, perhaps?

Family's Day Out

Bored stiff with the same ambience in another killing weekend, last Sunday we decided to try something less usual. The idea literally came while we were having our awful Sunday breakfast at Ajmeer (the local Mamak restaurant near the downtown). Ilham and I had roti canai and chappati respectively and ended up cursing in despair of the dreadfulness the curry dipping gravy possessed. For the record it's not the first time we were having breakfast there. And all this while the taste was not as agonizingly appalling as the last Sunday. So, as we finishing, we swore we won't coming back.

Left in displease and remaining hunger, a brilliant idea popped out from Ilham's mouth. 
"How about we go picnicking?"
That sounds wonderful as we were seldom to go out enjoying the nature. Plus it would put a smile on Chanchan face as he is a true blue nature's lover. Since the maid has taken her weekend off and Ilham was not really in the mood of cooking, we bought some fast foods to take away.

So, as the rest of the story goes, pictures below would tell better. Oh, by the way, the picnic spot was taking place at the Sandakan's hill within the large compound of Agnes Keith House and English Tea House.

P/s: You may notice how gleeful the little chappy at the most bottom picture having his day out!

Glee and Its 'Uglee' Side

Glee is undeniably a phenomenon in TV now. Everybody watches this musical series of colourful youngsters. From the beauty queen cheerleader to the bubbly gay chap to the delinquent Trojan hair-cut lad, all are the ingredients in this spicy, exaggerated high school drama.

If anybody asks me of whether I'm a fan of this series, I would say no. I'm not a fan but literally I would watch this series whenever possible. I won't put on reminder to remind me of when Glee will be aired or something. In fact, the reason why I watch this drama is primarily because I have to find another alternative to all medical-related series in TV. Literally, I've been sick to death watching these kind of series such as Grey's Anatomy, House, Trauma, Scrubs and the latest the bold and not too beautiful bunch of nurses in Mercy.
I seriously need a break. The last thing that I need to see on TV is another work and sick people. This may sound snobbish and uncouth but if anybody is in my shoes they probably understand of how my ground would feel like. Furthermore, the emerging of these handful series are nothing but to disseminate false dream within students and parents thinking that working as doctors can be as glamorous as Dr Derek Shepherd and Dr Gregory House as in Grey's Anatomy and House series respectively.

By telling this it doesn't mean that I have converted and become a number 1 fan of Glee. No! As I made myself clear of where I stand in the first paragraph, I like to give some opinion regarding how far Glee fanaticism has taken its toll on Malaysian viewer. Recently, I've seen a commercial in TV about a bunch of Glee's fan impersonating characters of the show to the extent of having a contest to pick the best Malaysian Glee's impersonator. Surprisingly, some of the contestants are coming from walk of girls in veils and a large number of young kids at the age of 5 to 6 years old.
What a shock!

Suddenly it raises several questions in my mind that firstly, is sense of shame has faded from our women makes them shamelessly dancing like crazy only to prove how precocious they are. And secondly, what on earth are those parents taught their kids in home. Are they seriously encouraged their kids to dance and sing to the point of it's okay of being fanatic to these kind of show. It shocks me to also see some public figures giving an all-out support to their children doing the lustful Beyonce's signature buttocks dance.
What are they thinking?!

To me it's not a fault to watch these light shows as long as one be able to draw a boundary between reality and fantasy. Parents should also monitor their children and discourage them to be such a fanatic on anything they see on TV. Such an unfortunate thing when at the end of the day you realize your children singing a flawless note of Glee's song but demoting in blank to recite Al-Quran!

It's Chanchan Way ~

It's such a magnificent morning in Sandakan. I couldn't recall when the last time I woke as early as this morning. Yesterday, after lunch, as I was preoccupied preparing myself back to work I noticed something out of ordinary. I couldn't hear my son, Chanchan @ Achan, exulting in jubilant or blubbering asking for someone to carry him around. Bear in mind, the sound of silence in my tiny house is no longer considered as normal!

Being an apprehensive dad, I couldn't help myself to go out and looking for my son. He was neither to be found in the living hall nor the maid's room. As I was searching I glanced something through the corner of my eyes. Oh, there he was sleeping like a dormant bear in winter in the balcony of the house. I was laughing to myself. Silly me, of course he was sleeping. It's his sleeping time after all.

But only this time he'd changed spot. No longer in silence, air-conditioned room with blanket all over. It's au naturale time. Even the deafening sounds of hole drilling down stairs didn't moved him. What a boy!
 So, as we stepped out, my wife 'shussh' me the the index finger on her mouth with all intention not to wake him. Yeah, as if our foot steps sound would wake him from his slumber land!
 

Gaza and Peace!

I watched local TV news yesterday and for the first time in my life I was outraged by the headlines. Hoping to get some updates regarding local and global news I turned out waiting for 20 minutes just to get to the other news that not related to the coming-home celebration of the 6 peace activists. All of the sudden, these previously unknown 6 fellows became the national hero. For the 20 minutes long there were interviews not only from the activists but almost all of the related family were being interviewed. The father proudly telling the press that he willingly encouraged his son to go on another peace expedition while the mother sinking in tears telling how his son survived the Israeli's detention. Not to mention, some other additional figures trying to say something that I'd already lost my interest and patience.

It's not a sin to do such an honour but it rather be realistic and not just another publicity to attract people to buy the newspaper. For instance, when the reporters and media addressing the peace activists as wira-wira negara (national heros), I was choked thinking that what achievement these activists had done to get such recognition. They didn't even landed on the Gaza strip and giving out the aid for which I believed the mission of this humanitarian convoy. So, basically they didn't achieve anything but to get hijacked and captured by the condemned Zionis soldiers at the Gaza's offshore. By saying this, it doesn't mean that I despised the peace activists, no, I truly respect them and love them as a brother. We have to see in the bigger picture where celebration of the coming-home activist only just doesn't cut it. What we have to see and tackle here is how Malaysia can play a role to stop Zionis terrorism. Well done to the Malaysian government when the Dewan Rakyat unanimously approved a motion strongly condemning the Israeli military attack on Gaza bound-aid ship Mavi Marmara on the 31st of May 2010, yesterday.

As we Malaysian stands strong on our policy of no diplomatic ties with Israel, we have to make sure this policy to be thoroughly done. I read on yesterday's news of the Sun mentioned that Malaysian ports still receiving Israeli cargo vessels since 1998 and named several ports such as Port Klang, Penang and Pasir Gudang as their major stops (read here). Even though the ships didn't carry the Israeli's flag and setting up the shipping line with a completely different name its still free as a bird to use our ports for trading. It would create an odd impression as if we are just condemning on the Israeli's hijack in offshore Gaza but we forget they are already hijacked our ports as a wolf in sheep's clothing.

I attracted by the speech given by the head of the Malaysian peace activists, Shamsul Akmar Musa Kamal quoted that the celebration was rather overwhelming for them as the mission was not accomplished.It was a very down to earth statement and they didn't even aware that such celebration would be thrown to them. Funny enough, the TV 3's cameraman also had to report on what he'd undergone while in capture. I seriously thought that would be a reporter's job!

So, as we see the second half of the Rachel Corrie journey cruises, the truth is the real journey of fighting Zionis is yet to be over. The Rachel Corrie and several other Gaza aid flotilla has helped us to open up the world's eye that has been engulfed in silence for so long to see the insolent act of the Zionis. At last we have got a shoulder to lean on even though I'm afraid to say this, that the shoulder could be to too fragile to lean on. But I'm optimistic!

'When you attack Black people, they call it racism. 
When you attack women, they call it sexism.
When you attack homosexuality, they call it intolerance. 
When you attack a Country, they call it treason.
When you attack a religious sect, they call it hate. 
When you attack Jewish people, they call it anti-semitism.'

 I would rather be an anti-semitic if that what it takes to stop Zionis!

Top 3 Blogs

Currently, I'm reading on blogs from these 3 extraordinary bloggers. They are Jauhar Kalam, Indexed and Maami's Weblog.

These blogs are independently written in such a beautiful way the words could possibly described. For instance, Indexed shows us how fun it is to play with indexes to describe satirical metaphors and coincident similarities. The topic in Mathematics that we once despised has been redefined its existence to the more lively one.
Genius! 

Maami's weblog on the other hand elaborates on the life observation from an Indian writer's point of view. This blog is enriched with powerful words and well-cooked story lines that moves every readers until the end of the line. Highly recommended for those who wishing to ensharpen their skills of the language. The major turn off is that the writer sometimes quotes some dialogue from the Indian language that makes you sort of have to guess the meaning of it as no translations are provided. But, hey, to me this blog is still the bomb!

Jauhar Kalam is a blog of inspiration. I have to admit the reason I started blogging is primarily because of this blog. Hailed as an English-educated elitist, the writer of this blog shows us how intricate it can be when dealing with the English words. Yes, the writer has the tendency to use words that sometimes are superior than ordinary. Full with humour and witty sarcasms, it's the blog of wisdom but be prepared to gobble for dictionary to look out for something out of ordinary!

Oh, ya, before I forget, check out my virtual pet at the extreme left of the blog. And don't forget to feed them by clicking at the tank.
Have fun!

Farewell and Be Well..

Last couple of weeks we had a farewell ceremony in KP Sandakan. The theme was especially to celebrate the departure of one of KP Sandakan's dental officer, Dr Elizabeth to Bintulu, Sarawak. She has been in Sandakan for quite some times, along the way she had helped us a lot during our commencement as district dental officer almost a year back.

Thinking that this ceremony would be the last for us to meet with Sandakan's dental personnel we decided to buy a pair of chocolates cakes from the only decent cake house in town, Secret Recipe. So, I assigned one of the DSA (dental surgery assistant) to slice the cakes according to the number of people attended. Satisfied with the reply and enthusiasm showed by the DSA, I went to front row allocated for the officers to proceed with the ceremony's itinerary.

After all the prayers, the anthems and the pledge carried out we were ready to listen to our boss, the Sandakan's in-charge dental officer to deliver his speech. As usual he begun his speech addressing the wrong person with the wrong name. Typical of him but it was fun and hilarious. He is a nice and approachable guy. Prior to the ceremony he asked us
"So, when you guys are leaving to UKM?"
"Not UKM boss, it's UiTM!" I retorted.
"Oh, really? I thought you are going to UKM" he nodded (for the record we were already told him about this for almost hundreds time).
So, I thought by this time he would get it right but only to discover how forgetful he was. Yes, he asked us again the exact same question during the feast. Since he was the boss I had to refrain myself from showing my annoyance and retorted the same answer as in broken record.
What a special guy he was!

After the speech I was approached by our second boss, the one who in-charge of the clinic. She revealed to us that the farewell ceremony was also to celebrate both of us. That didn't surprise me at all. For the record, somehow I knew all about this farewell thing. Thanks to my wife's assistant who also happened to be a gossip lover. Plus, the gifts at the front were too much to be given to only one person.

The highlight of the day was each of the celebrated had to plant plants as a symbol of remembrance. The agricultural activity took place at the small soil spot in front of the clinic under the hot flaming sun. The spot called Nostalgic Park blazingly officiated by the big boss.

So, after the eventful agriculture it was time to gobble up. The foods were rather a bit superficial to me. The noodles were slightly below the par and my eyes were looking for the cakes that we bought. Not that I wanted to take back what I gave but it was more like appetizer to eat something sweet before hand. Couldn't spot any, so I thought perhaps the cakes had an overwhelming fans out there, I tried the not so good-looking if not good-tasting of the small-sliced cakes. It took me by surprise that the taste of the cake was so darn good as if it came from the Secret Recipe. To reward my curiosity I asked one of my colleague of where was the taste-good cake came from.
"Yus, this is the cake that you bought. The Secret Recipe one!"
I was stunt. How a beautiful cake could be turn into something beyond recognizable. Yes, I was asking to cut the cakes according to the number of people attended but never occurred to me that they would ruin the texture and aestheticism of the cake. Too bad!  
Perhaps I should give more detail on how to handle such a beautiful entity.
Suddenly it reminded me to the story of my mother in-law which shared the same story line as mine.

Samurai Bamboo!

When I came to my rest room after doing the out-patient clinic today I realized something was not in place. My personal organizer and several letters of mine and Ilham were not as in before. Even though the mess was not as in typical burglary but it was enough to catch my attention. My eyes are true blue CSI's magnifier. I could tell if somebody had relocated my stuff.

So, there it was, before seconds I realized that my precious sunglasses were gone. My moods were suddenly down in the dumps. What an event to kill my joy! If only my curse could be turn into a stone, surely there would be a new mountain suddenly appear in Sandakan!

It was not the lost that I really concern about but it was more to the sentimental value of the sunglasses possessed. The sunglasses were given as a token of something significant from my wife. That was what matters the most in concordance of how comfortable the sun-glasses was to me. Having said that, I have to pay some tribute to my late Titus sunglasses which has served me loyally and protected my eyes from the flaming sun of tropical.

The suspect of the crime was no doubt one the today's patient. Our rest room is not furbished by door. So, when patients or stuffs having back and forth the hall way, the person who happened to be in the room will be so visible and everything within the room is also be seen. It's worse when patients are also using the hall way as their  nature to see and stare. Such an annoying thing when we were relaxing or taking 5 while being scanned by those people. It's really an act of viper in one's bosom for the ungrateful people who steal from people who helped them. I will totally going to do dental extraction without anesthetic on this type of people if caught red-handed by me stealing!

So, in the end, to prevent my eyes from getting burn from the Sandakan's flaming sun I decided to buy a new sunglasses stats. It was not an easy task as I really have to go around Sandakan town to find a decent spectacles shop. I ended up buying the Samurai bamboo-made temples sunglasses with a controversial unnamed price.
Yeah, at last I'm satisfied and contented!

Annoyed..

This freaking aphtous ulcer in my mouth seriously has taken its toll on my gratitude. I couldn't eat without the agonizing pain creeps in my sensory system. What an annoying small thing! I wish it will go away quickly.

Robin Soderling ~ The New Paladin

In earlier post I predicted Roger Federer would win the battle between him and Robin Soderling despite the fact that I supported Sorderling. So, by law, technically I was not that wrong. Plus I also presumed the battle would take at least 4 sets of play and I scored that right too. But in any ways, Soderling won against the number 1.

By winning this Quarter-final, Soderling has become the only player who beat the king of clay and the world number 1 in back-to-back Roland Garros. He will meet with Tomas Berdych in Semi-final which I think will be an easy pass for him (3 straight set I presume).

So, big alle to Robin Soderling. You'll be my favourite to win this year Rollland Garros to beat Rafael Nadal in final.
Go Go Soderling!

Roland Garros, Paris 2010

It's in the middle of Roland Garros Championship in Paris now. Oh, how much I missed Roland Garros as much as I missed Paris. The weather, the people, the language, the croissant are the most unforgettable elements of Paris. So, yes, Paris is by far my favourite city of all cities I have visited.

I'm typing while watching the Quarter-final between the best player of all time, Roger Federer and the rising star, Robin Soderling. My support goes to Soderling even though I knew Federer would have no problem to finish the game at least in 4 sets (bear in mind that Soderling had once defeated the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal in last year Roland Garros).

Men's tennis to me is more stable in term of ranking position. It has been a while since we see Roger Federer in the top tier,  Rafael Nadal the number 2, and Novak Djokovic the number 3. Perhaps, guys have more focus and determination as compared to the ladies. I'm not trying to be sexist or something but if you could see women's tennis the ranking position is always changing. You could see Ana Ivanovic in this week top spot and seeing her again in the number 23 two weeks after. Believe me or not, the ladies are suffering from the inconsistency of play. They are more vulnerable to double faults and handful of unforced errors especially while in distress. I totally agree with one of the commentator quoted that tennis is more than physical sport, it's a mental sport.

Oh, my God. I really have to drop this down. You should see this point where at the third set, Federer 5 and Soderling 4, at 40-40 when Soderling managed to put away Federer's return by a lop ball, Federer amazingly managed to get the lop ball and sending it back to Soderling. It's Soderling win at the end but regardless of point this is what tennis is all about. Full with magical Midas touch. I'm blown away. What a show!

So, as this year's Roland Garros is almost reaching its verdict there are loads of casualties seen. Victoria Azarenka's lost in the first round followed with Maria Sharapova defeated by the infamous come back of Justin Henin are all the highlight of the major. Too bad, despite superb performance by Henin, she also headed home early. With Sharapova not in the Quarter-final, it's ashamed there's no darling left in women's tennis. All left with super muscular chicks such as Samantha Stosur, Fracesca Schiavone and Serena Williams. Too bad for me, at least. Sigh!

This year (Roland Garros) I think Nadal will claim his another Grand Slam title. The epic final I presume will be between Nadal and Federer. Women on the other hand, my pick is Serena Williams who will be facing Francesca Schiavone.

Until then, so long Roland Garrros 2010 and I hope I'll be there for next year.
Wimbledon 2010 is coming!

I came, I saw and I'm glad!

I just came back from my third time or perhaps the last journey of Telupid and Tongod. As the name may sounds strange it has nothing to do with the Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean! Both Telupid and Tongod are the small town within Sandakan province and they are not depicting a single-merged town. Telupid is two and a half hours driving distance away from Sandakan while Tongod is 45 minutes driving distance away from Telupid.

Since the lack of government dental officer is still a lingering issue, it is Sandakan's prerogative to send out their officers to do the out-station job on rotational basis. It is not something that I or perhaps other colleague willingly to put on our calender of event as I pretty sure that nobody are fond of this out-station thing. As a matter of fact, going to both places are not as if we go to the hype and cool urban city such as KL or JB. And the idea (more to implementation, though!) of must-be-having an overnight stay in petit and fusty lodges in Telupid makes my head spinning asking for beheaded. Perhaps I'm too much with the discouraging idioms it makes my juniors scare to come and work in Sandakan. But, hey, every place has their own signature. Just don't look at the world through the rose-colored glass. Be young and bold!

We stayed in Queen Alice Hotel in Telupid. Yes, the name surely sounds funky even though I didn't even have a slightest clue who this Queen Alice was. The room was relatively small and musty. The space was matter-of-factly modified from the back garage of the terrace shop. Intriguingly, the owner didn't even remove the garage roller shutter, well, I guess he was trying to preserve the au naturale of the room.
Perhaps, I'm too exaggerate and asking too much from a small town like Telupid. But, sincerely I'm not intended to patronize or condescend anybody. I just want to highlight about the experience we have been through  and how privilege we are to work in this beautiful part of Borneo.
 'Palis-palis' as what local says to deal with something that they don't want to occur.
 

 

Telupid wooden dental clinic

Tongod on the other hand has 'less' to offer. The town or perhaps it is a misnomer if not overwhelming to say that Tongod is a real town. A row of terrace shops was all about Tongod. Too odd to be true but that was the fact about Tongod. But, ironically, the health clinic was as good as Sandakan's. Spacious and large the Tongod health clinic was also furbished by government quarters that was way better than 'Layang Apartment' the so-called Sandakan's government quarters. They even had a volley ball court!

Tongod Health ClinicOne row-shop town (Tongod)

Since I was there, I couldn't refrain myself from having at least a lunch in the town. Despite the thought of cholera wandering around my head, the hunger was more killing. So, we stopped by at a decent halal restaurant (the halal was a big question mark as I spotted Dutch courage empty bottle all around the restaurant). But there were none in the restaurant so that relieved me very much as I consoled myself that perhaps they (the bottle) came from the gloomy pub at the other end. I bought the lunch for the team thinking that Dutch treat won't do anybody good as it was a middle of the month. Furthermore as an officer I could score more on the daily and food claims.

p/s: You may notice that at the last paragraph I wrote a couple of idioms involving the Dutch. If you are a British-educated you may catch the meaning in instance as these idioms are originated from the English people. I accidentally bumped into these idioms while I was looking for Dutch Lady milk, though!

Selamat Hari Mama

Being the youngest child in the family is not easy. Most people will say you are the spoil-brat. Your wish will be granted in a second etc. But least will say that your life is going to be miserable and hard. Yes, it is hard to be the last one at least for me. Even though I am not really the youngest child technically as I had a little brother. He died of tragic motorcycle accident way back in year 2000. That was a grieving year especially for my mother. I remember when she was bursting into tears the night of the tragedy. I never seen she cried so hard the way she did that night. She lost her precious diamond that would never be found again.

And now me being the the last one. Not that I loath the hierarchy tier but the fact that I have to be the youngest one as a result of loosing my brother is too disturbing. I loved being the second youngest and I loved to have my little brother around because I know my mother's love is the sky. Limitless and endless. But in the end, who am I to tell The Almighty not to take my little brother away...

So, as this year Mother's Day I have some stories to tell about my mother. It is true when people say what comes out from the mother's mouth are genuine wish (doa). I find it totally unfeigned. When I was a small kid I was a bit petit in size as relatively compared to my elder sister. There were three of us in the house when everybody went to work. My elder sister, myself and my little brother. My eldest brother was not in the picture then as he was grown up and attended boarding school. My sister was well known of her strong head and fierce. Yes, fierce is the word. And her favorite word back then was 'bully'. As the eldest in the house she self-appointed herself as a chief of both of us. We were given house chores such as washing dishes and hang the wet clothes and even go to the market to buy her favorite asam. As a result of not obeying her command, she sometimes would do everything to make us regret for being disobedient. She would locked us outside just to make sure her asam was there at that particular time. We, being a small kid and scared the most that we could do was cry our lung out. And when my mother back from work, she would say this consoling words "Don't worry Didi (after my nickname), your time will come when you will be more superior than your sister and have a better job and she will be embarrassed for what she did to you"
And yes, my mother's spell worked as what I become today. I still love my sister though.

There was another story involving my late father and my mother. When I had my UPSR result and it was quite a good one I must say, my mother decided that I go to the religious boarding school in Seremban. My father was quite skeptical about this whole idea of sending me to the religious school thinking that I would end up being an ustaz. And after a long discussion before dinner and had dinner and post-dinner discussion again my mother reached her temper and put her feet down and said "I'll ensure that Didi won't become an ustaz after he finished his school!"
And so it was, I am not destined to become an ustaz but in-stead being a dentist. Tongue in the cheek I once asked my mother about why was she specifically wishing me to not being an ustaz, while she better of wishing that I would become an ustaz and at the same time being a dentist. And she replied, "Oh, I was too furious to your father back then and all I imagined was that you become a dentist!"

Oh, my jaw dropped. My mother had this me as a dentist imagination since I was still standard 6!

So, this is me wishing all mothers in the world Happy Mother's Day especially to my mama Hamimah Muda mother of myself, my mother in-law Che Husna Azhari mother of my wife and my wife Ilham Wan Mokhtar mother of my son.

You are the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us deserts us; when trouble thickens around us; still will she cling to us; and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the cloud of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.

Postcard from Melbourne

Well well, I'm so over the moon at this particular time. Thanks to the lovely letter that brought world to both Ilham and I, also happened to be the letter that we have been waiting for almost a year. The thought of we'll be coming home for good is undeniably a smell of thousand roses. Anyway, I am home (Sandakan) and everything is back to routine. Not that I'm too excited with the routine I must say but the feeling of being home is priceless. Ilham, baby Achan and I just have got ourselves back from a long hibernation. One week of Ikhlas's wedding preparation and another one week of the wedding itself we had a family vacation a week after, yes, the three of us.

I still remember Ilham once said to me during our first delayed honeymoon to the UK last year that I would totally addicted to travel. Knowing that it was the first my extra-country sojourn I was a bit apprehensive and had loads of uncertainties went through my mind. Never occurred to me at that point that I would go browsing around for another cheapest flight tickets in any time soon. But hey, suddenly I realized that we have just bought a non-refundable return ticket to Melbourne!
Melbourne it was!

This time around we decided to fly with Singapore Airlines thinking that we could make a transit in the world famous Changi Airport. Perhaps, some shopping for Chanchan would save the trouble of waiting for the next flight even though his mother was more enthusiastic about it. Changi Airport as expected was nothing short of remarkable and enormously huge. The distance between Terminal 2 to Terminal 3 simply could make an average Joe like me gasping for steps while stumbling upon the retail terraces which were all over the place. The in-flight meals were totally a major turn off for Singapore Airlines. The Muslim meals were so horrendous I'd rather eat the throw pillow! But despite the hiccup, the Singapore Airlines remained an airline of hospitality. The cabin crews were full with smile and kind of cute too! (caught red-handed by my wife while staring at one of the stewardess handed out the bizarre cabin foods). Not that I was all mesmerized by the pan-Asian look of the stewardess but the way she handed me the meals was so quick I couldn't even make a sound to stop her to skip the course. Sigh!

One thing I noticed that even though the batik ensembles of the cabin crew were much or less the same with Malaysia Airlines (MAS), personally I think MAS has it better in term of design and pattern. The round necks of Singapore Airlines ensembles were just as awful as the meals.

We stayed in Hotel Sophia right in the heart of Melbourne downtown. Not so luxurious hotel I would say but the room itself was surprisingly comfortable. The hallway was relatively narrow as Chanchan's pram failed to get through it without hitting the snag. Bounded posteriorly by the majestic Etihad Stadium also laid the vital junction station of Skybus, the Southern Cross Station. Skybus is the most convenient transport to get to the downtown from Tullamarine International Airport. Thanks to Melbourne's straight forward public transport system made discovering its delight easy in just a couple of days. The only thing that I regret the most was the fact that I had forgotten to bring along my sport shoes which seriously came in handy when we had to walk for miles from one point to another. The weather was too good to be wasted on the train. Even Chanchan had a chance to get some nap while we were wandering around the city.

We had our breakfast on the first day at the end of the block cafe called Hudson Cafe. This is the place where I never thought I would fall in love again with the almond croissant. For your information, my first crush with the almond croissant was when we (Ilham and I) were in Paris. The almond croissant was so good we decided the Hudson Cafe would be our official breakfast cafe in Melbourne. Believe me, it was godsend! The texture was so incredibly soft and on top of that the almond essence filler seriously would make any taste buds singing the world.

We've been to the Melbourne's Aquarium to see Chanchan all fascinated with hundreds of friendly two-legged penguins. Since Phillip Island was way too far to reach, all three of us could only watching the penguins behind the thick aquarium glass. But Chanchan seemed content and that all that matters. We went to get some academic books in the University of Melbourne book store. I was looking for Oral & Maxillofacial Radiology books but it was a bit pricy I had to give way to Ilham to buy her Special Need Dentistry pocket book. Perhaps, some other time will do me some good.

There was a vast different in public transportation service between Melbourne and KL. I also noticed the same view when I was in the UK. The buses or the train in both Australia and UK were very particular and concern about their special needs passengers especially those with wheel-chair and prams. Not only they concerned but the implementation worked as well. The concrete curbs between the waiting area and the buses doorway were specifically designed to meet the need of the special needs where the level of the two of them were at the same level. The interior seats also were so flexible to cater the needs of the special ones by flipping or pushing the seats upward to make room for wheel-chair or pram without compromising the way or the crowd. It is something that hard to see in our country.

Oh, due to the need that I have to publish this post at this particular time, my pen meets its last chores. Please bear in mind that this post is a draft I've been waiting to post for months after I came home from Melbourne. A bit delay in progress. 

Dental Postgraduate Studies Dilemma

Doing a 2 year program would only entitle you to get 3/4 of the specialist allowance in the civil service and technically you can’t call yourself a specialist. Even in developed countries being a specialist is not just getting your 2 year postgraduate degree/training, it would take years and years of study/clinical internship for you to be acknowledged as a specialist.
Scholarships for dental postgraduate studies in the past years are scarce in comparison to our medical colleagues. Dentists in the civil service fret for not being able to secure the measly amount of scholarships given out per year. Some do get scholarships but do not get a place in university (think of Orthodontics, specialists who do braces, in Malaysia would only accept 4 candidates, 2 in Universiti of Malaya and 2 in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia). Some who are lucky enough may get to pay (or paid by somebody else, cue mommy and daddy). To get study loans is also possible, though financing a postgraduate study in dentistry is not that cheap.
Local universities charge between RM100k to around RM160k for a 4 year clinical program. As what Universiti of Malaya is charging, a dental clinical postgraduate degree costs around RM103,816 for 4 years as of this year. Compare that with a medical postgraduate degree costs only RM10,180 for 4 years.
So it’s no wonder the amount of scholarships for dentists per year is small compared to our medical colleagues.
I can see private medical general practitioners studying for their MRCP exams while doing their locums and continue their specialist training later on, but for dentists it would be a very big sacrifice indeed.
Suddenly it makes me think that the overrated dental treatment fees are such a non-sense issue as being a dentist or dental specialist worth every penny that one could ever ask for!

Career Enhancement

I've been reading on post out posted by a friend of mine in FB. It is an interesting topic about the promotion of dental officers in Ministry of Health from U41 to U44. A sensational topic I suppose as he has got more than 15 comments already, an indication that the topic is truly heart touching (for me whoever has more than 15 comments on a single post out posted in FB is considered as hot topic). Yeah, coincidentally I also have been thinking about the prospect of a dentist or dental officer has in Malaysia. For now there are four major streams in my mind that most dental undergraduate would work with.
i.   Ministry of Health (MH)
ii.  Ministry of Higher Education (MHE)
iii. Ministry of Defense (MinDen)
iv. Private
Well, I won't be too much stress on the two latter streams as Ministry of Defense (MinDen) requires one to be bound to them by giving early undergraduate scholarship to be put on one-way ticket train.Perhaps it's a bit too harsh and correct me if I'm wrong but somehow I see MinDen as a rigid ministry in term of human resource for which they don't really permeates influx or eflux of other ministry member to them. For instance, a dentist from MH would face a hard time to change ministry to work under MinDen. But, shame on me if I put all the blame on MinDen as I see there is another strong reason why switching ministry is a tough process to get through. Perhaps, the existing ministry or especially MH purposely to put such hurdles so that the eflux won't be too significant!
Career enhancement for MH personnel as the Prime Minister proposed weeks ago seems a candle in the dark. Even though the pathway is far from ideal but the concept is undoubtedly a well timing. The new pathway has been specifically designed for medical officer, dental officer and pharmacist which carries the rank starting from U41.
Firstly, the new scheme reinforces on the duration of one tier to be promoted to another tier or so-called time frame. Interestingly, the time frame has been fixed in such a way that for U41 to become a U52 it takes precisely 12 years. This particular duration applies only for non-specialist path. The specialist path on the other hand shows a better prospect with a shorter period which takes only 9 years to become a U52. There is a major flaw that associates with this kind of pre-fixed duration path which is the Penilaian Tahap Kecekapan (PTK) is going to be undermined by the system. Plus, the fixed 2 year duration of U41 to U44 seems kind of absurd to me as one has to be confirmed in service in order to enjoy the tier elevation and the process of confirmation is a long process that would take up to 3 years.
Secondly, the new scheme fails to give an express promotion for the officer who showed a great and excellent record in service. University system is doing better by giving a more open promotion for the lecturer specifically to enjoy an express promotion. For instance, a grade 45 lecturer can go up to VK7 under extreme special condition. Even though the case is under extreme special condition but at least there is a chance for one to go for it.

The Convivial First Day..

I remember my first day at the workplace. Do you?

I was a student then. Bored stiff of my remaining year 5 clinical sessions in which I didn't have anything left to do except inventories and gossiping around I took up a part- time job or called locum sensationally by students. The word locum was not a sensational word as it has been widely used for many medical and dental practitioners. As a student we were prohibited from doing so in the name of professional integrity which of course I was fully aware of but yet the serious financial constraint had taken its toll on me on that particular time. Alas, economically.

The clinic was located at a residence in a leafy area of Sentul downtown. As I walked in to the first floor I saw a pretty tight collection of desks and chairs, lots of color-coded paper and stacks of medication-labeled boxes. An assorted group of women were behind the insurmountable waist height desks. One engrossed by a hand-phone lingered with fancy girlish tinglings , a pen hanging from her fingers. She looked up, a twinkle in her eye and a curl to her lip. There was another with a tea glass in her hand circling what I thought was coconut water. A whiff in the air told me it was creosote and a child screaming next door confirmed my pre-diagnosis. There was a cheerful elder lady greeting me at doorway as if we have been friends for years. The gang seemed bohemian, clever and fun. I was bitten but I was hooked to their sense of wit and openness and warmth.

After a brief introduction of my room and some other things whereabouts I managed to catch a few names of the staff; the hand-phone girl Asmah who later became Mek Semah, the tea glass girl Ida and remained as Ida and the bubbly elder lady Kak Sadiah-cum-dental-assistants-supervisor who later developed her underground name, Taliban (a discreet pact between Mek Semah and Ida) for her strong opinions about almost everything. The owner of the clinic was such an amiable lady. A BDS holder herself she had a scarce gait that made her a bit unique in a way. Well, I'm not going to elaborate more on that hence I'm sorry.

There it was, the clinic was quite spacious in size. The waiting place was as good as the other clinics who charged quixotically RM 100 for only consultation. Not that I say this clinic didn't charge for its consultation but it would rather more lesser than RM 100. Even though the seats for patients were adequate to keep every patient comfort while waiting to get drilled or jabbed but in any given school holidays or most Mondays one would not be able to even see the floor rugs! It was as if I was doing an out-patient in government clinic only locum required one to do most of the treatment stats.

The first time communicating to a real patient in clinic was still a vivid reverie for me. Being a wet-behind-the-ears fresh graduate made me a bit sluggish to bloviate facts that I so used to regurgitate in the form of essays during college time. Locum somehow taught me how I could communicate with patients in such a way that I couldn't get in government clinic. I could explain from ABC treatment options to rather more cutting edge technology all around. Yes, honestly I would be able to do the same thing in government clinic but what abstain me to abide were the times and the thought of worth doing it. The times were remained the major obstacle to deliver primary health promotion when one has got dozens of incoming cards (represented the patients awaiting ques number) to be finished before lunch time. Subsequently these would lead to another different entity that made every government dentists second guessing themselves whether or not some treatments to be given to the patients.

There are a lot of factors contribute to these kind of quintessential act and the critical part that are always undermined by government turns out to be the most essential one. The cost of some treatments in dentistry within government sector are surprisingly ludicrous. For instance, the ceiling cost for molar root canal treatment (RCT) is only RM 4 regardless of how much times and difficulties to put on such a delicate work. Not that I want you to imagine how hard it is to do RCT as not everybody is a dentist. What I'm trying to pull here is what the impact of these low cost treatments will do to patient's perception. The patients won't appreciate the value of the treatment and in fact will still be bigotry in a balloon of stale thinking that dental extraction are the biggest breakthrough in history of dentistry.

Believe it or not this trend will continue as a dim spotlight within a fire house, not enough to shine but simply cannot be vanished.

Perhaps the greener grass beckons?

Jambongan in Perspective

Last week I had such a blast weekend. I was being 'selected' to go to a super rural place somewhere deep in Borneo jungle in the name of Medical Camp. The truth was, I was not being selected based on any SKT or academic or being-the-best-dentist-around reason. It was purely and utterly because it happened that I was the only male dentist and nobody seemed like to care to go (understood as the rest of the dentists are female and no one had slightest sense of adventure). Not that I full with adventurous spirit or eagerly to go or anything, I just stucked in the middle of statistical ratio of lack of male dentist in Malaysia and global I guess.
So I went.
The place called Jambongan in up north Borneo, it was an island as I could see in Google map. According to my mother in-law Jambongan had some similarity with Zamboanga which meant 'Jambangan Bunga' or a bouquet of flowers in Zamboangan aboriginal language. Yeah, I could see the similarity there.
We began our journey by hitting one of the Sabah's riddly roads. Composed by natural potholes that made every tires gasping to blow it was a mind-boggling to imagine how these people surviving every other day to even walk on it. Shame on Sabahan's politician for not making proper roads or highways for people who voted for them. I didn't think that people would mind so much to pay the tolls provided the roads were good and free from potholes. But in the end of the day politician will always be politician. Always keep their heads up and resist to look down despite being stumble at every points.
Eventually, we arrived at Paitan jetty after having a waggly body massage all the way. As you can see on the extreme right of the blog page, the dusty roads were so terrible that made the driver went blindly to go forth. Luckily, our driver was an expert of the roads and could even predicted which corners that he could go over taking. But as much as I despised the roads, I enjoyed the bumpy roller-coaster that made me feel like part of Eco Challenge drivers.
From the Paitan jetty, we took on a speed boat and attained Jambongan 45 minutes later. I must admit, for somebody who loved out-doors and physical activities so much, boat riding along the Jambongan river must be a super compelling and intriguing experience one could ever ask for. Sorry for the extreme right picture as everybody was given butts as a result of major amazement!
Jambongan itself was nothing short of remarkable and overwhelming. The beach was so picturesque that I even managed to pick couples of alive clamps within seconds I set my foot on the white shiny beach sands. The shells and corals were great and dozens of lanky coconut trees waving as if two lovers at far were about to unite after so long adjournment.
I met several cool guys while I was in the island such as Dr. Kelvin (didn't realize he was a MO until we reached the island) and some teachers who took me by surprise that most of them were from West Malaysia (orang Semenanjung we called them here). I had a good time chatting with them while being served a local food siput sedut of the ocean version. Oh my.. seriously I was stunt to see how casual they were while eating the 'thing' as if it was a goreng pisang (fried banana). Since I already mentioned about it might as well I go with description. As everybody knew how was it like for siput sedut of the river version (RV) morphologically, the ocean version (OV) were only slightly bigger in size. There was one major thing that differentiated between RV and OV which was the OV had a single claw projected out from the shells once its cooked. This claw was very important during serving as it acted as a tool to pull the filler out of the shells. Despite being called siput sedut the OV didn't really carried its name well. In stead of being sucked to evacuate the filler as in RV, the OV on the other hand needed to be pulled out single-handedly. To me the name was rather a misnomer if not totally true. As for me, after being persuaded and threaten that they will leave me in the island if I didn't eat it, I did and it was a pleasant surprise for me that the taste of the 'thing' was nothing like I imagined. The taste was good and it had a strong taste of cuttlefish. I ended up finishing the rest!
I asked one of the teacher about how they filled up the gap between after school and the next day. The answer was simple yet so powerful almost shaken the inner core of me inside out. NOTHING. Seriously?!
How could one survived and at the same time keeping the sane on par when there were no at least some entertainment or rather social activity to be done?
Well, I guess this was the major turn off for me. I could not at all living in such places that offered me no life. Call me town boy or spoiled brad or anything I didn't care. Bravo to the lines of dedicated teachers. I raised everything up for them.
So I think I got all covered up for now. See you in next writing!