Hi guys!

Okay, I don't know how many more of you are actually looking into my blog still, now that it's been dead for some time. I have severely underestimated the toll of my busy schedule and the enormity of my laziness(the latter more than the former, if I were to be brutally honest with myself), to think that I could keep my blog going with regular entries. In fact, I was just going to let this blog die along with my past spur-of-the-moment ideas, when I realised that there were still people who were actually still checking in from time to time, hoping to find some new pearls of wisdom here(yes, all 2 of you, you know who you are, I love you!). So I have pulled myself out of my languid state and made a new pledge to keep this going.


I know in my previous entry, I mentioned I was going to talk about something close to my heart, but it's been so long, the time isn't so appropriate to discuss that particular topic right now(plus the fact that I can't quite remember exactly what topic that was). So I'll just do some rambling to get things going.


Life has been moving relentlessly on for me, as it has for everyone else. I'm still in the hospital, doing my rotations before I go back to the polyclinic. My baby has gone from lying supine to turning over to wiggling her limbs ineffectively about to leopard crawling to sitting up to creeping about and now to finally stand up and take tentative steps. In fact, she just has to learn how to stop properly now without falling on her knees, before she's officially walking.



There's a picture of her. My heart just melts everytime I see her. How can you look into such a sweet, cute face and say no to her?(I got a feeling I'm going to find out how not too far into the future)

Anyway, my family life's been great. My wife has stopped working, so she's taking care of our baby full time, and I finally get wonderful home-cooked meals when I come home. I thank God regularly for my family.

That's not to say everything runs smoothly. That doesn't happen right? But I don't really want to talk negatively in this, my first post in such a long time. Maybe later on, when I get into a melancholy mood, I'll share my misery with whoever is unfortunate enough to stumble upon my blog at the time.

So anyway, that's it for the update and re-introduction. You all can go out into the streets and announce to everyone, the linguist is back, and he'll(hopefully) have many many, uh, linguistic, things to write about, so do tune in regularly.

Seeya!

Man, it's been awhile.

I've just been going through life's routine, trying to keep everything going, and before i know it, one month has stolen away into the abyss of the past, forever lost. Just the mundanities of daily life are enough to occupy much of my time, until I barely have any left for other stuff, such as updating my blog. It frustrates me that those who do visit my blog(I dare not think of the numbers) have to contend themselves with old entries while they wait indefinitely for my new one. But I can only work within the limitations of the time given and the things I have to do.

Okay, poor attempt at an excuse for not regularly updating. It's a busy life, but I do still have some time to myself, and as much as I like writing, the thought of thinking up stuff to write that is interesting enough for people to take a minute to read is a bit daunting, and almost resembles work. Anyway, here I am again, and let's start with some updates.

I'm on leave currently, all the way till end of next week. Well-deserved, if I may say so myself. Got some activities lined up for my family, especially for my baby. She's gotta see the world, right? But I got to remember to rest too, seeing as my next break is probably going to be the end of the year.

My baby is getting cuter and cuter. I know, I know I'm not posting enough pics. I'm getting there, don't worry. She's smiling and laughing now, which is a sure cure for fatigue and depression. For me and my wife anyway. She still cries a lot, but that's okay. We tell ourselves, babies do that.

My wife's birthday is coming up. Planning to pamper her by giving her free rein for a day to do some shopping, her and about 3 billion other women's favourite pasttime. She knows our financial status, and she's the most sensible woman I ever know, so I think I'm safe from the likelihood of bankruptcy after that one day of no-holds-barred shopping.....uh, right dear?

Myself, I've been in the hospital for 2 months, going to another posting after this month, continuing my family medicine training. It is quite nerve-wracking, having to re-adjust to a new department and environment every 3 months, forging new friendships and all that, but of course the other side of the coin is, I don't have to stay too long if a particular posting is unbearable. It's been pretty fun in the department I'm in though. The registrars and consultants are nice and approachable, and my fellow MOs are easy to get along with. Made a few friends as well.

Okay, guess I'm more or less done with the updating. Going to write something close to my heart in the next entry, something related to my work, but which I hope you will chew on for thought, because I think it is a mindset that has to change.

Seeya.

Chloe

Well, here you are, adoring fans. Latest pics of my beautiful Baby Chloe! Shall not say too much, lest my beautiful literature steal the limelight from her. Enjoy!

Well, whaddaya know? I actually have survived 3 calls in the hospital, the last one being yesterday. The first 2 calls, I didn't have a single wink, but managed to get about an hour's rest last night. Seems to have made all the difference. The very fact that I'm here blogging serves testimony to the fact that one hour's sleep versus no sleep at all for one night makes a great difference to one's mental well-being.

Calls are still as harrowing as I remember them 3 to 4 years ago. The sense of uncertainty, the feeling of impending doom, it's almost more than my stressed little heart can bear. Good thing I'm only doing this for 2 years, then it's back to the polyclinics for me. Bwahahaha.

Okay, I seem to be ditching the cool, composed style of writing that I have been adopting previously(my own opinion, of course). Maybe it's the lack of sleep that's causing me to write like this. Looks like one hour doesn't count for much after all. But hey, it's MY blog, so I can write pretty much how I want. Bleh.

I realise my blog is a bit starved of photos currently. Will be posting soon. I'm just very uncomfortable with computers, even with simple things like transferring photos from camera to computer, but I'll get around to it.

Alright. enough of that. Time to go play my first DOTA game in more than a month. Till next time then.

My laptop crashed on me on Friday the thirteenth last month. Wondering if it's some virus at work. Probably.

Managed to get my hands on my sis's desktop because she is overseas for a year. She's going places in her profession. Good for her. Hope she remembers how she had a brother who guided her through her learning years, giving her valuable pointers in life(such as why ants love rainy days).

I've started my new posting in the hospital. It is really intimidating. It's like being thrown into the deep end of the pool without knowing how to swim. My first night call is coming up this Tuesday. I can just get a cardiac arrest thinking about it. Will write about the experience here if I should survive.

My baby Chloe is doing well. She had a flu with fever a couple of weeks ago, but she's recovered. Getting a bit more fretful than usual, but otherwise growing cuter and cuter each day. Wanted to post some pics here, but forgot to bring the camera. Next time.

All right, I'll stop here. The crippling fear of having to face Tuesday is causing writer's block.

Piracy

Piracy, make no bones about it, is very wrong.

The very concept of stealing an idea or a property or a right to something that belongs to someone else is basically stealing. In an ideal world, there should not be any such practice around.

Therefore, please understand that before you go on to read the rest of my entry, lest you misunderstand.

I would like to look at the topic of piracy from a different angle.

First of all, when we say piracy these days, we refer to the illegal siphoning of multimedia material such as movies and songs, and selling them without the consent or knowledge of the owner to the right of the said material. Needless to say, none of the profits will go to the owner.

There has been such a clamping down of such activities lately, as well there should, that you can see anti-piracy campaigns in the form of posters and radio and TV advertisements, and there has been a significant degree of success, in that you hardly see any of the previously rampant small shops without a proper name, interspersed among the shops in the HDB heartlands. In those days, you would be able to find a shop with no name, peddling hundreds of CDs hanging on the walls, with a healthy stream of customers browsing the many titles, in every small town centre. In some shops, blatant pornographic titles are displayed with unbelievable audacity, daring people to look at them. Now, it is a rarity to find such a shop, and even rarer to see that it still exists the next time you pass by the place.

I applaud the efforts. However, whenever I see a poster or advert that tells us to support the original stuff because piracy kills creativity, further elaborating that artistes will not survive in an age of unchecked piracy, I cannot help but stop and wonder.

Let us take the average Joe, in his early twenties. He just came out of his national service, just started work with a salary of $1800. After spending whatever he needs to spend(food, transport, splashing out to impress hot babes, etc), including saving aside a small amount of money, he is left with about $200 for his leisure. He goes to a CD shop and sees a couple of CDs he likes, and decides to buy them. That's $20 per CD. Then he goes to a video shop and finds a couple of DVDs that he likes, and decides to buy them, at $30 per DVD. Just like that, he has spent half of his leisure money for the week. He sees a DVD series that he likes, going for $90 per set, but well, he needs to ration that meagre $100 that he has left, so he leaves without buying the DVD set.

Please remember that a large part of the market for such products comes from students who only survive on pocket money from their parents.

Then we read in the papers about how this big movie star in Hollywood is being offered US$10 million per movie, or how this big TV star is being paid US$500,000 per episode, and how this other star is throwing tantrums because he is being paid US$2 million less than this other star in the same movie.

Maybe Hollywood is a bit of an extreme example, you say. After all, it is the premier centre for movies and TV shows. Let's come a little closer to home.

Recently I heard on the radio about the earnings of the top singers and variety show hosts in Taiwan, in terms of per annum. While the figures are not as fantastic as those of Hollywood stars, they still reach the range of millions of dollars, some going into 8-digit figures, if I remember correctly.

So now I wonder. Does this look like the artistes are coming anywhere near the realm of bankruptcy?

Now, some of you might argue that the examples I have listed belong to only the elite top of the crop who are immensely successful in the entertainment business. Then I ask you, why would anyone want to produce pirated copies of CDs by singers who are not famous or popular? Obviously piracy would affect the really famous stars the most.

Once again, I want to reiterate that piracy is very wrong.

But consider this: would piracy be so rampant if the prices of CDs and DVDs were more affordable? If the prices were, say, halved, would there be so many customers risking being caught by the hand of the law to buy pirated products, not to mention tolerate its inferior quality? In fact, would the profits of the entertainment industry even increase by the sheer fact that there are more buyers in the market?

Someone from the industry might argue, this is a case of supply and demand. Willing buyer, willing seller. True, he would be absolutely correct. Then I would say, in the anti-piracy campaign, focus on the illegal aspect of it, rather than putting up the unconvincing reason that we are killing off the poor artistes who would not be able to make ends meet because of the pirates.

I do not profess to know everything about how all this works, and if I have unfairly commented on any aspect, I would be happy to accept correction, but the almost obscene earnings of the celebrities make it very difficult for me to accept that the industry is doing everything they can on their part to stamp out piracy.

A day in the life

Indulge with me, if you will, as we consider a bit of mathematical logic.

The polyclinic doctor has officially 8 working hours on a weekday. This is divided into 5 for the morning session(8am to 1pm) and 3 for the afternoon session(2pm to 5pm). He sees an average of 60 to 70 patients each day. For simplicity's sake, let's take the number to be 60. If you do a basic calculation, that works out to 8 minutes for each patient. This does not include any toilet breaks, or the fact that the first patient is usually not seen until about 8:15am, when his/her casesheet has been found.

So let's break down these 8 minutes. In the first minute, the doctor looks at the casesheet, chops his name, and looks through past entries to determine whether the patient has any significant past records that may be relevant to the current visit. Then he calls for the patient.

In the second minute, the patient gets up from his seat to walk to the door of the room, knocks and enters. The basic greetings are exchanged, and he sits down. The doctor asks for the patient's complaint.

The third minute is spent by the patient on describing his complaint in detail to the doctor. This includes the doctor asking any question to clarify.

The next 2 minutes are spent examining the patient according to the complaints he/she has.

In the sixth minute, the doctor formulates a treatment plan and discusses it with the patient.

The seventh minute sees the doctor answering any queries the patient might have, before printing out the prescription and MC if any, or writing a referral if needed.

The eight minute is taken up by ushering the patient out, and pausing for a breather before going to the next patient.

Sounds manageable? To the uninitiated, maybe. But let's look at what happens on a typical day.


It is 8am in the morning. The doctor is sitting at his table. No casesheets have arrived yet. He looks at his queue in the computer. 5 patients registered in his room. The clock ticks.

It is 8:11am. Finally one casesheet makes its way to the doctor's table. He picks it up, sees that it is a patient who has a chronic condition(eg diabetes, hypertension), and is probably only here to collect his medicines. This should be a piece of cake.

He calls for the patient through the computer system. 10 seconds pass, before a knock on the door sounds, and it opens. An old lady walks in slowly. The doctor greets her while beckoning her to sit down. She greets back and takes her time to settle into the chair. The clock says 8:13am.

The doctor asks for any drug allergy, and then asks if she is here to collect her usual medicines. The lady, to the doctor's delight, says yes she is. The doctor proceeds to take her blood pressure. After that, he writes down his findings and starts prescribing the medicines. The clock says 8:15am.

"By the way," the lady suddenly says, "I have this niggling knee pain. I need some painkillers." The doctor stops what he is doing, then turns and examines the knee. The clock says 8:16am.

The doctor says he will prescribe some painkillers, and hurriedly prints out the prescription. As he is waiting for the prescription to be printed, the patient suddenly reveals that she has been having some cough, and would like some cough medication. The doctor makes an audible sound with his teeth as they grated on each other. He snatches the piece of paper coming out of the printer, and crushes it loudly, dumping it into the bin, before turning back to examine the patient again. Then he adds in the cough medicine and prints again. The clock reads 8:18am.

Quickly taking the prescription, he all but shoves it into the patient's hands. The patient calmly says she wants an appointment for the next visit. The doctor asks for her appointment card. She fumbles in her bag for a good 20 seconds before pulling it out. The doctor snatches it from her, writes down the details, and tells her to go to the counter for an appointment. The lady thanks the doctor, and slowly gets up to leave the room.

Then, the doctor's heart sinks as she turns back and says she forgot to ask for some eye drops, as her eyes are occasionally itchy.

When the lady finally leaves the room, the clock says 8:22am.


3 minutes above the target of 8 minutes may seem little, but please bear in mind that the doctor sees 60 patients a day. Do your maths.

Looks like this doctor has some catching up to do. Tune in to the next episode to see whether he is able to make up for lost time, or whether this ominously slow start is the herald of a long, long day.