Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Fire Drill in my Workplace



The time was 3.15 pm.
The chemical store room in Cytology Unit was found ablaze.
API! API! was shouted.

Everyone was stunned. And stopped working and prepared for the worst.
The Fire Safety Coordinator found out about the incidence and a quick call to 3005 (Helpdesk) was made at 3.16 p.m.

Fire Wardens were quick in action. Everyone was asked to evacuate the building as soon as possible in an orderly manner.

We gathered at the designated place and head count was done.












The sun was blazingly hot. I sweat like being in a sauna!





The rescue team from FABER gave us some briefing.

The whole department's staff were there. Nobody's an exception.

Anyone who was found not to participate in the fire drill will be given disciplinary action.


Introducing the staff of Biochemistry staff in Hospital Sibu. Your glucose, eletrolytes, FBC, BFMP, and God-knows-what-else tests' results depend on them. Don't play play...

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Starting salary of Pegawai Sains in Malaysia

I'd worked as a Pegawai Sains (Kimia Hayat), Scientific Officer (Life Chemistry) literally with a starting salary (including allowances) of RM2782.97 per month. I'd seen quite a number of Scientific Officers who have just graduated from local government-sponsored universities recently. They are between 22 to 24 years old. Interestingly, mostly graduated from National University of Malaysia (UKM).

Compared my salary to a medical officer (doctor), it's roughly RM1200 less. But my job is not a 24/7 work. It's 8 to 5, Monday to Friday, mostly paperwork and almost zero stress.

Every year the Scientific Officer is given an increment of roughly RM100 a year. By the time these Officers reach 30 years old, one can easily take back home RM3500. Assuming an Officer is promoted to higher grade, C44, the salary increment can be as high as RM1000 per month.

I'm probably the oldest Scientific Officer working for the government with a fresh graduate pay in Malaysia. Sadly, the work culture in our nation is, to my opinion, unacceptable. There is too much NATO (No Action, TAlk Only) in any government offices in this Bolehland.

My job is to make sure every single blood tests done in the hospital conforms to international standard. When doctors look at the blood tests results, they can be assured that all efforts are made to churn out such quality performance.

However, there are other categories of Scientific Officer in Malaysia such as Microbiology, Physics, Genetics, Embryology and Zoology. Of which the starting pay is more or less the same as mentioned above.



Thursday, February 17, 2011

Do you want to be a Stay-at-Home Dad?



I wakes up at 7.05 am every morning. So does my toddler. The day starts with the child running around, grabbing comb and throwing it away, grabbing a key and chewing it, throwing away every clothes he sees.


Darrien's pacifier of which the nipple was hardly sucked on.

Many girls or working 20-something mothers wish to be a Stay-at Home Mother. Any Asian guy out there who wants to be a Stay-at-Home Dad? Did I hear a faint Yes? Hear it first hand from me. Don't even think about it! Hahaha... Just kidding.

As many jobs out there, Stay-at-Home Dad is a form of job. It's a hard job. Don't think that life is easy without traffic jam, punch card, office politics, never ending piles of assignments and dealing with difficult boss and clients.

The amount of laundry to be done is exhausting. The child's loud cry, keeping the house clean, cleaning up the child's mess, cooking meals and keeping myself sane are no easy tasks, trust me.

On Saturdays and Sundays, when my parents are not around, I admit I count the hours when the next adult is at sight of the baby. So that I can grab a meal, have a bath and just simply relax from all the constant whines and cries.

But I believe all the smiles the toddlers give us. Hugs. Seeing him doing a new thing that makes us say "WAhh.." Looking at his angelic face when he sleeps does make me proud to be a Dad.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Darrien is 15 months old

My toddler passes his 15th month of life today.



He has been trying hard to help me. He's been bringing my work bag around the house.



And his own traveling bag too.



With his mighty hands.

He has busy hands. Keys, pens, pencils, small books, everything seems fascinating to him.



His vocabulary is still limited. "Turtle, Papa, Mama, Dog, No"

He loves to shake with adults. Even strangers.
He can wave goodbye. Still no sign of flying kiss yet.
He drinks from his sippy cup, drinking cup and bottle.
He likes to sit on my helmet, stool, vacuum cleaner, box, table and even my stomach.



What a big boy he is turning into!

Monday, February 14, 2011

RM85 worth of Nokia 1280


iPhone

I would love to have iPhone. But being a parent with government pay, I can't afford to have one. Sniff... Son, if you read this post in 25 years from now, buy me one. The one that I can touch touch screen, watch movie and take HD movie.


These days, students in Malaysia are using handphones with names which I can only find in the medical laboratory. Nokia EV71, Nokia CEX2 , Sony Ericsson Spirochetes, Nokia C3 (cervical vertebrae?)




Sadly, my old handphone malfunctioned after serving me for the past four years.


My new Nokia 1280

Handphone is a necessity in our lives these days. So, I get myself a new calling machine. I expect it to last at least 5 years. Hey, I'm Foochow mah. Every cent counts.

I will not let my son to have a handphone. Not at least until he's 21 years old. On second thought, maybe not until he earns a decent income and buys one himself. Ten years from now, pornography in handphones will be too common. MTV, camera features, movies and God-knows-what-else in handphone are simply bad for the young minds.



By the way, I never have one handphone with colour screen before. Sniff..

Sunday, February 13, 2011

I hope my son can talk to me about everything

The number of suicides that are reported in The Star a few days ago is worrying. Especially among the school-going youngsters. Take for example, 17-year-old Sally Lee. She left a suicide note on her Facebook wall. Days later, she fell off from the second floor of her school. On average, two persons commit suicide daily in Malaysia.

After all these years of nurturing, she walked out from her Chemistry lesson and jumped just like that. One can imagine the mess she had created on the ground. According to my Church's theology, suicide is a serious sin. Who are we, the gifts of God, to take our own lives? Does she think of the consequences of her actions?

Doesn't she have any avenue to talk it over? Any friends, relatives or even her own parents?

Personally, I can't really talk to my parents heart-to-heart. It's too emotional. We have different views on almost every aspects. Such is my upbringing. That's too bad. Then again, that is what Chinese parenting is all about.


Yet another bruise.

I want my son to be able to ask me anything at any times. No boundaries.

"Daddy, I kind of like this girl. She's beautiful and I like to talk to her. I want her to be my girlfriend." Naturally, in the Land of Foochows where I grow up, such question will be answered with threats, loud screams and quarreling. Conversations will end up with confusions and frustrations.

For me, I'll reply "Good for you, son. I never see a girl walking in my school except for those bad mouthed cikgu. Being in relationship takes a lot of time and energy. Had you read Men Are from Mars and Women Are from Venus? Girls are different from boys. What do you do when a girl calls you in the middle of of night, crying? Worse, she'll call you again, crying her heart out, at 3 am. Every other night for one whole week! She might scream at you for a minor reason for certain time of the month for girls have much different sets of hormones. Are you in that phase of life? Maybe we should concentrate on Bernoulli's stuff for now?"



How would you reply back?

Friday, February 11, 2011

Toddler Dicipline

I confess that I yelled at my toddler once. It was loud. As a consequence, he cried his heart out. I was trying to get him to sleep. I had switched off the light. As we were lying down, my toddler came up to me and scratched my face. It was really painful and it got me fuming mad. Since then, I realised what I did that night was terribly wrong. Or is it?

Toddler discipline involves teaching without overwhelmed emotions. Neither it is a form of punishment or "hitting back". Currently, my toddler's main caregiver is me (as well as his sleeping partner). I should understand his character and guide him with compassion and full of patience.


Look, Dad. I'm can climb.


The occupational hazard of being a super climber.

My 14-month toddler loves to explore new things and new corners. He'll open every drawers and cabinet doors. He'll grab every single things that his hands are able to reach. I always say a firm "No". He seems to understand but being "defiant", he starts to shake his head and utters "no, no, no". The moment I stopped him from grabbing an item, he'll go "no, no,no" as if telling himself not to do so.


I'm Darrien, a window opener.

Some parenting sites suggest telling the toddlers "no" when they misbehave and spanking to teach children to be afraid of their parents. My wife has been telling me that I had been too "soft" with my boy. My nanny told us before that she used to take care of a toddler who will hit his head on the wall when he's frustrated. She said the most probable reason for his behaviour was due to his father's attitude. He'll blame himself for everything that the toddler did wrong.

Being a disciplinarian rather than giving in to every of my boy's requests most probably is the way to go. Amy Chua's screaming at her little daughter however was frowned at. However, I agree with her Chinese parenting which involves parental authority, hard work, discipline, screaming and caning.



Those were our way of lives that mould us who we are today.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Meal Times for 14-Month Toddler in Malaysia

These days, I check out a lot of parenting websites in the Net. "Making food enjoyable" by Dr. Norimah caught my attention today.

These are her tips.

Let your child feed himself with his own special set of child-friendly utensils.


My toddler sat on a IKEA high chair while holding his own set of plastic utensils

Don't let mealtimes drag on and on - 30 minutes is good enough.

Don't force, threaten or bribe your child to eat. Instead, be patient and encouraging.



Most of the time, my son is very cooperative during meal times

The nutritionist also emphasized of having enough fats for the toddlers. Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids are the recommended essential fatty acids. The intake should be 27-38 grammes per day. It's said that the Omegas ensure proper brain and central nervous system development.

Let's have a look at his Nestle's Nan 3 Pro label.


My son drinks at least 36 ounces of milk per day with estimated 42 grammes of fat. That's more than the recommended 38 grammes per day! But my son doesn't look fat. Probably he burns too much fat with all running and climbing around the house.



Does he look fat?

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Thank you for your Birthday Wishes



My Streamyx was down for the past few days. Much to my dismay.

Please accept my gratitude for all your birthday wishes. I checked my Facebook account awhile ago and seeing 32 persons' wishes on my account, I felt blessed. And having an average of 20 persons a day checking out my blog, my BIG thank you to all of you.


A year had passed. My boy's look during Chinese New Year 2010 (above) and this year's Chinese New Year (below)

Happy Chinese New Year!