Never in Sibu

I took this photo when my wife came to visit Singapore in 2008. We were sitting at the last row of a double-decked bus in Sentosa. This open top bus was incredible. Imagine the great feeling of open air view and gush of wind, blowing onto our face. It was really fun.

I never saw a double decker before till I reached Singapore on a fine morning for my interview in National University of Singapore. I was such a 'katak di dalam tempurung'!

If you ever been to Sentosa, do try the experience. It's one of a kind pengalaman.

Putih (White)

Ever wonder where our nasi putih (white rice) comes from? If the white pepper comes from black pepper after being soaked and bleached to peel off its shell. If the Michael Jackson can become a orang putih (fair-skinned person) after being transformed from a very dark-skinned guy.

Why, of course. nasi putih comes from nasi hitam (black rice).

Kacang putih comes from kacang hitam!

Gone mad after knowing Italy lost so badly

Have a nice weekend, everyone.

Rojak

I know when you looked at the title, the gooey sweety goodness of a delicacy come into mind. The picture shows my wife's self made asam-kuah rojak. Not sweet, bit of sourish, nutty, crunchyly delicious.

I had some discussions with my current universities trainees on their industrial training. They make a lot of effort to complete their knowledge. But with wrong approach.

First, I asked them a question. When your blood is taken, what kind of results do you expect? Not surprisingly, they can't answer it accurately. It is universal. Everyone treats industrial training as something that has to be done. They forget the essence of the experience. Just like rojak. Most people perceive it as sweet, with lots of cucumber and fried tofu, food. I told them if I'm a towkay asking the same question, how are they going to stand out among hundreds of applicants? Sadly, they are exactly the same with the rest of the graduates.

I told them since they had handled hundreds of blood samples, I expected them to say at least "I want to know my blood glucose level, my cholesterol level in my FLP profile, the level of ions in BUSE, and uric acid in the RFP profile" Sweet and simple. At least they show their most basic understanding of a medical diagnostics lab's function.

Working life is cruel. We just have to redefine our learning process to have a better employability particularly in this country, Malaysia. Sooner or later, almost everyone in the street will be holding a Masters degree. Already, many degree graduates in Sibu are loitering around the house with no job to sustain them. Except for their PAMA (PAPA & MAMA) allowances.

UPU results

The UPU results 2010 is finally out. Congratulations to all who succeded in their applications. To those who couldn't enter universities, it's not the end of the world.

I remembered vaguely when I knew my UPU results in 1999. 11 years ago. Those days, Internet was not as canggih yet. Hotmail was still very new at that time. Computers and handphones were hardly within anybody's reach. But I recalled calling the hotline several times to check my status. I got my fifth choice. UKM. Program Biologi Sel dan Molekul. What was that? It took me many many years to understand what I had enrolled myself into.

It is the beginning. A new whole chapter of your life. Enjoy it..

Last few working days in Singapore

Sometimes, I miss my days in Singapore. Absolute freedom, big paychecks, no worries, many opportunities to go for conferences, research life. Sigh.. I miss the little white mice in my previous lab..

I left Singapore for good to start a family. Almost everyone including my Singaporean boss, collegues, family members, friends reckoned that it was a very bad choice. But I had decided to be a maried man. It had been a year with no kid running around the house. And without a kid, a marriage is incomplete.

Like tens o f thousands Sarawakians crossed the Causeway to Singapore to earn an honest living everyday, I followed the rat race too. I missed waking up at 5.30am, took a bath and walked to a nearby coffee shop for breakfast. Walked few kilometres to the Immigration checkpoint, boarded a bus, checked through Singapore Immigration, off to the bus again and lastly onto a MRT train to Outram Park station, where I used to work in Singapore General Hospital.

I pondered a bit during those few last days earning the dollars. What if..? What if my business fails, what if I can't earn enough to feed my family, what if I didn't reach my goal, what is this and what if that..















But in the end, I said a little prayer to my Lord. I left everything in His hands.

Que sera sera

Whatever will be, will be....