Rant of the day

Nurse : So what did you do with Mr X?
Me : We had to put in a central line. Where were you?
Nurse : I was on my break. You do know that he's on warfarin, right?
Me : Yes.
Nurse : And you still went ahead and put in the central line?
Me : Well, we had to (followed by elaboration about why we had to)
Nurse : You could have made him bleed to death!
Me : I know, but it's a risk we had to take. He NEEDED the central line.
Nurse : What's the point of having a central line if he's dead?
Me : If he didn't get one, he'd be dead as well.
Nurse : Well, all I can say is that you shouldn't have put the line in. It's a good thing I wasn't asked to do it 'cause I would have refused in view of the danger you put the patient in.
Me : OK. (Although what I was really thinking was 'you can't even put a bloody venflon in, who the fuck's going to ask you to put a central line in someone's neck? And who the fuck do you think you are to question my judgement when you don't even know why the patient needs a central line 'cause you were too bloody busy stuffing your face?)

If only one did not have to be diplomatic.

Kicik-kicik tak nak mampus...

I know I shouldn’t use the word stupid when describing the acts of others, especially when I disagree with those acts/thoughts. After all, they might be coming from an individual with a different take on life, one who sees the world through lenses that are different from mine.

But there’s stupid, and then there’s STUPID.

First of all, there’s Ms Munirah Bahari, the Vice-President of the National Islamic Students’ Association. The learned Ms Munirah has contributed to the debate on social ills by stating that ‘the white blouse is too transparent for (school)girls and it becomes a source of attraction. This could see them getting molested, having pre-marital sex and all sorts of things. It becomes a distraction to men, who are drawn to it, whether or not they like looking at it.’

I know some men are into the whole ‘schoolgirl’ thing, but I doubt men walk around schoolyards with a raging hard-on most of the time, just waiting to pounce on the unsuspecting girl when nobody’s looking. Oh, I’m sure there are a few perverts out there, but isn’t that why we have a police force? If Ms Munirah’s logic is to be accepted as fact, then most schoolgirls would’ve been molested by now by their male teachers at the very least. I mean, how are they to control their hormones right? It’s not as if God gave them a brain to decide on what’s right and what’s wrong.

‘All this leads to babies born out of wedlock and to an extent, even prostitution. This is the source of the problem, where we can see that schoolgirls themselves are capable of using this to attract men to them’.

The plot thickens! Those damn sluts...Wearing a white blouse for a uniform is the first step towards prostitution. And here I have been naively thinking that prostitution was mostly due to economic hardship that befell a unfortunate few, or women who have been trapped in a downturn with nobody around to help pull them up. My bad. It’s so obviously those damn blouses. I mean, here’s an ISLAMIC student leader at a NATIONAL level. She must have some evidence for all this right? I wonder what sort of research this girl has done prior to making such statements.

Idiot number two is Mr Ibrahim Ali, MP for Pasir Mas in Kelantan.

It was pointed out by a member of the opposition (I can’t remember who it was, to be honest) that whenever there are marital problems, Syariah Court counsellors tend to blame the women and that women are made to accept the blame. (The issue of the Syariah Court being biased against women is a long-standing debate that is still unresolved. How else do you explain the existence sexist laws e.g. that of the Kelantan state that classifies a woman as ‘abusive’ if she doesn’t sexually satisfy her husband? She might actually be jailed or fined if she doesn’t give him a satisfactory orgasm).

Anyway, in another moment of brilliance displayed by a Malaysian MP, Mr Ibrahim declared that ‘Such problems happen because women cannot accept polygamy. From a preventive point of view, what about doing a big campaign so that women can accept polygamy?’. Apparently, women should ‘understand’ that men still want to have fun when their wives are pregnant or when they had ‘problems’ once they’ve reached their 50s.

The typical supporter of such a statement would play the religious card and say that polygamy is allowed within Islam, all the while forgetting that polygamy is allowed only under special circumstances and that various criteria need to be fulfilled before it’s allowed. If Mr Ibrahim is unable to control his horniness and would prefer to stick his dick into any orifice that’s made available to him, he should do it in his privacy and not degrade the gender of his mother into one that only fulfils a sexual role. I can’t believe that he actually giggled when he was called a male chauvinist in Parliament.

So we have one extreme to another – if all men were like Mr Ibrahim and could only think with one head, then Ms Munirah might actually have a point in her statement. Thankfully, most men are respectful of the fairer of the species and can be remarkably devoted to them. Perhaps Mr Ibrahim should visit the ward that I’m based in at the moment – I have lost count of the number of devoted couples that have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversaries and still look at each other with nothing but love in their eyes.

In a sense, I pity him for not knowing such a feeling, but I am more pissed off with the fact that these two Muslims are happily going around making stupid statements that are bound to be linked to the religion. If speaking without thinking is a crime under Syariah law, these two should be stoned.

Return of the hat and whip

One of my favourite cinemas has finally reopened after a prolonged bout of resuscitation. Besides having a cafe that serves amazing coffee and tiramisu, the Tyneside is an independently-run little cinema in Newcastle that has been the source of Jo’s and my exposure to quirky and off-the-beat movies that don’t necessarily garner box-office success.

So it was rather odd that the first movie we watched was the latest instalment of the Indiana Jones franchise. But it was also rather fitting, given the fact that her admiration for Harrison Ford can be likened to Sweetie’s fascination with Ollie Bloom.

I can’t say that I was particularly impressed with the movie; in fact I’m still rather confused about some bits. In a sense, it was an enjoyable ride but I didn’t quite get the destination. Or maybe I was just being thick.

I must say this week has been quite a challenge to my mental faculties; not because of the complexity of the cases that I had to deal with but quite the opposite. The mundane life of the rehab ward will prove to be a challenge to any doctor at my stage I’m sure. I am sure that there was a point where I would have been quite happy to paint the walls of the ward just so that I would be able to watch it dry (I stole this line, btw).

I guess it doesn’t help when these periods are interspersed between more exciting activities. The weekend before involved going down south to meet up with Angah and Radzi, and (successfully) hunt for Sweetie’s birthday gift. Besides filling up on scrumptious, decadent meals in Pasha and Nobu, I also tagged along to a career talk that the company that Angah’s with organised in one of the London universities.

It was interesting to watch the pep-talk given by a seasoned pro. But it was more interesting listening to the students talk about the change in Malaysia and how everyone is heading towards a Bangsa Malaysia. After which they went into the lecture theatre and sat in 2 groups – Malays and Chinese. Perhaps part of their education should involve someone pointing out to them that walking the talk is more important than rhetoric.

On the choo choo

I have been browsing the net since I got onto the train, utilising my n95 to find out that the western world is still talking its mouth off abt Myanmar & not doing much abt it and reading emails and such.

Writing a blog entry seems to be the next logical step in my journey of belatedly discovering my phone's capabilities & I must say it's been a lot easier than I thought it'd be.

Nothing can quite beat a proper qwerty keyboard of course but I'm not complaining, especially whilst suffering from what seems like a hangover as well as a sore back. The disadvantages of night shifts!

Anyhow, it's the weekend & it's been a good week. Whilst the main attraction is with catching up with friends, it's almost scary how I've planned the trip down south around meals. It's a minor miracle that I've had the exact same weight for the past 5 years or so. Something must be working right!

Falling

Am smack in the middle of my night shift, but it would be grossly unfair of me to at least state in my blog that I fell off a plane last weekend. The fact that I'm still alive is indicative that the fall occured with a parachute attached to me, or to be more technically accurate, was attached to the instructor who was attached to me by a few metal clips.

I decided to go tandem skydiving primarily as a what-the-heck, do-it-while-you're-young kinda thing and the decision was helped by the enthusiasm of both Radzi and Shane. In fact, it was the former who arranged the entire drive down to Lincolnshire and who made the appropriate bookings.

The whole experience was rather surreal. I wasn't nervous (although the growling in my stomach indicated that on a subconsious level by body was trying its best to to maintain its survival instinct); in fact I remember being more nervous prior to riding one of the roller-coasters at Alton Towers. It was just before jumping off, when all I could see was the clear blue sky and 15000ft between me and solid ground, when I thought 'Oh fuck...'.

I must say that falling at a terminal velocity of 120mph has its moments (this being a rather massive understatement). The first thing that hit me was the cool climate up there, followed by the rather pleasant sensation of almost floating in the air (which is probably why Superman just loves to fly) whilst taking in the magnificent view of the horizons. I can only imagine how pilots or astronauts feel when they go up even higher. Part of me was mildly relieved when the parachute came off without the hitch, and from that point onwards it was just plain sailing.

I had the whole experience recorded on DVD as it's meant to be one of those once-in-a-lifetime kinda things, but I won't be surprised if I go up again, with Sweetie the second time round.

Praha

I think I have talked about the possibility of going to Prague with at least 8 or 9 of my friends, and nothing ever came out of it as there was always a delay somewhere or a lack of co-ordination or something or another. Rather unsurprisingly though, things proved to be a lot simpler with Radzi.

Me : Have you been to Prague?
Radzi : No.
Me : Nak gi?
Radzi : Jom!

And that was how we decided to spend the bank holiday weekend in what has to be one of the more picturesque cities I’ve ever been to. I must admit that i went into the Czech Republic with various negative connotations in mind, especially as everyone I’ve spoken to about Prague had warned me about the dangers of getting pick-pocketed.

That was rather unfair of me though, as the city that gave us Mucha and Kafka is bound to stir the imagination with its rambling streets, its hundreds of spires and the rather wonderful mix of architecture, from the gothic to the art nouveau. I was particularly impressed with the gorgeous stained glass in St Vitus’ Cathedral, which is no mean feat as after you’ve been to a few dozen of the cathedrals in Europe, you tend to have this ‘seen them once, seen them all’ kinda feeling, to quote Radzi.

The palace itself was filled with wonderful nooks and crannies, from the little display of medieval weapons (where we were able to fire crossbows ourselves) to the tower in which torture was meted out to dissidents of past lords and kinds. The latter proved to be rather disturbing (a feeling that was revisited when we accidentally walked into a shop selling live firearms, as opposed to the usual replicas that attract our eyes) and it did make me wonder about human nature and our thirst for the macabre.

Charles’ Bridge deserves its reputation, but the other area that struck me as being particularly beautiful was the Old Town Square; a hive of activity that was close to all the major attractions (including the ornate but rather liveless Astronomical Clock) as well as the pastry shop that was the source of all the tasty cakes that Karin used to bring back from her trips to Batislava. We did indulge ourselves a little when it came to food, from dining in the austere atmosphere of the elegant Kampa Park to soaking in the ambience of the Cuban cafe, La Bodeguita del Medio whilst going through a Romeo y Juliet each and clumsily adding to the graffiti on the wall.

Combine the above with blue, sunny skies, good company, the wonderfully efficient transport system (a relic of its communist history, methinks) and the general friendliness of its people, and you get a rather nice weekend trip away from Blighty. Definitely recommended, and like Barcelona, a place I wouldn’t mind going to again. The only downside is that you really, REALLY don’t feel like going to work again.

(I’ve spent too much time uploading pics onto Facebook, so I’m not going to bother to do so here)

Misplaced priorities

For reasons I can no longer remember, I used to think that Datuk Seri Rais Yatim was one of the more intellectual members of the Malaysian cabinet i.e. one of the few who did not go on record with remarks that made you want to crawl into a corner and hit your head against the wall repeatedly whilst muttering nonsensically. I was even quite happy to hear that he was appointed Foreign Minister in the recent cabinet revamp, thinking that he would be a good ambassador for our country.

I should have guessed that something was bound to go awry.

Ministry wants Local Women Going Abroad Alone to Get Family Consent

KUALA KLAWANG : Local women intending to travel abroad alone may need family consent in a bid to prevent them from being used as ‘drug mules’ by international syndicates. Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim said a proposal to this effect would be made soon to the Cabinet, following several incidents where women were used to smuggle drugs overseas.

Out of the 119 cases of Malaysian women hauled up before foreign courts, 90% were linked to drugs, he said. ‘Last night, my ministry, together with the Home Ministry, have jointly forwarded a report to the Cabinet on the matter. Both ministries agreed that factors like family, religion, immigration laws and preventative measures need to be considered before a Malaysian woman goes abroad alone’, Rais told reporters.

On the proposed requirement for family consent, he said it would enable the woman’s family to monitor her departure and serve as a preventive measure against her being duped by international drug syndicates – Bernama.

Hmm... where do I begin?

Perhaps with the fact that this decision was made without consultation with the ministry that deals with affairs related to women. I mean, if you’re going to devote an entire ministry (with a minister AND a special advisor), surely you would want their opinion on the matters that are under their jurisdiction, no?

One would also like to know what proportion those 119 represent. If 119 is equal to 0.05% of the women who go travelling alone, then the idea would seem rather silly as compared to a situation where it represents 95% of the group. And surely there’s similar data with regards to men travelling by themselves? Surely there are men involved in drug trafficking and therefore by this logic, all men should get letters of permission for foreign travel by their parents or guardians or whoever.

And what about cases of emergency travel? Or if the lady is estranged from her family? Or if she’s a widow? Are women to be beholden to the whims and fancies of the men in their lives?
This misogynistic behaviour is bound to receive its fair share of criticisms. Are we starting a slippery slope towards a society like that established by the Taliban, where women were not allowed outdoors ‘for their own good’? Or like that in Saudi, where medical treatment can only be given with the consent of a male guardian or where a girl who was gang-raped was punished to the full extent of the law because she sat in a car with someone from the opposite sex?

Surely more efforts should be placed on making society a safer place for the fairer of the species instead of coming up with more draconian measures on eradicating their civil liberties. Then again, this idea comes from a guy whose PhD was a critic on the negative role of the ISA, but has since changed his tune once in a position of power. So I guess civil liberties aren’t exactly on the top of his list of priorities.