If u plan to raise a child in Australia..

..or maybe any anglo-saxon country..
..or even in Malaysia (come to think of it)

don't name your child Sarah!

In my tutorial group of 16 people, of which half are guys..
there are 3 Sarahs! 3/8 chance of having a person named Sarah.

And in my bible study group last year..
there were 4 Sarahs!

And there is normally a Sarah or two among the nurses on the wards
which always results in me being "perasaan" (aka overrating self) when I hear "Sarah"

At least atm, I'm the Asian Sarah.

:)

It's now time to...

...buy chocolate bunnies and eggs!

The true Asian in me would only buy today when it's heavily discounted :)

Privileged

Having just completed my neurology term, I must really say that I am very privileged to be under my team. Even though I am just a lowly medical student and the bottom of the food chain, the registrars and intern have invited me to join them for lunches & even...."shout" (Australian lingo for buy) me lunches numerous times. And my registrar even bought me a box of chocolates! (It should be the other way around!)

The best part is that after work one day, they even asked me along to Bankstown (which is a good 40 min drive away) for Pho (Vietnamese beef soup) because our intern who's Viet recommended it.

Although I did walk around this term feeling like the biggest idiot as my neuroanatomy is not great, I've learn from this team about the personal side of medicine and working life. How connections and rapport with consultants must be developed.

And I hope I don't look that old, because I have been mistaken as the neurology registrar (not even an intern or resident!!!!) by a consultant... ^_^

***************************

There's new experiences everyday, some which are surprisingly delightful others which require another step of endurance.

Just can't put it in words.
Circumstances I would never have chosen or wished upon others even, yet somehow falls into place in His sovereign rule and wisdom.

Pleased BUT...

When the first winds of dissent blew at the BERSIH and HINDRAF protests, we Malaysians were still skeptical if BN will lose its 2/3 majority. Even as a facebook group was set up, still I didn't think it was possible.

I am especially pleased that Hindraf leader and ISA-detainee M Manoharan, on a DAP ticket, obtained 12,699 votes to win with a 7,184-vote majority. In prison, with no campaigning!
Again, I respect people who dare to protest and even go all the way to prison when they could be comfortable as rich Indian lawyers.

Now, it seems that BN will retain 2/3 but barely survive.
(*update...seems like BN only has a simple majority! for the 1st time in history!! Unbelievable!)

Who would have even imagined Lim Guan Eng being Penang CM? Or Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Selangor & Perak be under opposition leadership?

Unfortunately UMNO (United Malays National Organization) has not lost that many seats and the biggest losers are MIC (Malaysian Indian Congress) and MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association).

Even as smses are being sent by Christians all over Malaysia because there's a sense of change, an electric atmosphere of both hope for a new change and fear that the current government will sow racial tensions.....

But we have woken up. Hopefully a change for the better!


Malaysians, pray pray pray.

This is groundbreaking!!

I am going to have RSI from repeatedly reloading Malaysiakini every 5 minutes.

So many big guns are going down in a blaze. This is something new, almost revolutionary for Malaysia!!! I am glad though that some really big fish have finally lost! Enough with the cracked highways and collapsing buildings!

But will this polarize us by race even more?
As much as I respect people like Lim Kit Siang, Tian Chua, Teresa Kok...can Barisan Rakyat be united enough to change Malaysia?

Will this be for the better?

I pray it will. Join me in prayer. :)

Anyway, it's time for

some non serious fun...(at my expense).

So, a few weeks back, during ward rounds a patient needed a new cannula. Of course no med student will not pass up the opportunity to poke patients so I went to get the equipment and set it all up.

Slowly but surely I put it in and a tinge of red flashback appeared. Success......

...until I fumbled around the kidney dish, looking for a cap!

You'd have guessed by now that I did not have a cap! And by now the blood was pouring out of the beautiful cannula I put in.
What's even better is that since it was a ward round, 2 registrars and my intern was there!
Of course they saved me by dashing to get a cap in the end, but not till there was a 30cm diameter of redness on the patient's sheets. Which was matched probably by the redness of my face.


Anyway, a obligatory picture of IMU seniors in Sydney.
We are surely growing in numbers as more uk people head over.


There's another fun experience of being a simulated comatose patient for the AMC exams, but that's for another day.

Election

With the minimal knowledge I have in marketing, what I do know is that advertisers often have a target audience and thus place advertisements accordingly.

Which is interesting but not surprising that on the webportal of Malaysiakini, there's an advertised link for migration to Australia. Maybe the rational is that people will get so sick of the current situation in Malaysia and thus, viola, they will click on the link.

I wonder how many of us who formerly professed our desire to serve God still care about the going ins and outs of the country or are we more busy finding ways to advance our careers? Or even merely the best sale, stuff to buy, places to go?

With the election heating up, there's so much to read, to know, to follow.
The injustice, corruption, increasing restriction of religious freedom.

But, I will not say anything because I don't have the right to, until and unless I turn the tide and choose to return home. I cannot write proudly and patriotically like Crz. Cuz he has chosen to stay back.