This may be my last entry for a while. I really should be setting up trenches and digging into books for my upcoming exams in September and going to general outpatient clinics next month. So it will mean less time looking at Japanese race queens and US cheerleaders in the foreseeable future.
I also want to keep up my monthly rate of whining about not having a girlfriend.
********
In recent weeks, there has been two major news stories about contaminated food. In Germany, nearly 2000 people were infected with E. coli from tainted vegetables. I'm not here to speculate which vegetables they were since nobody seems to know the source. Taiwan has been embroiled in a food fiasco recently, with harmful plasticisers being put in a variety of products, from food to skin products.
I marvel at the naivety of people who think this shouldn't happen in today's society. I like to say to those people to wake up, since this has been happening every since we started mass producing in the middle of the 20th century.
With an ever increasing population and the need to cut costs in production, multinational companies will find any way to cut corners, even if those mean less quality assurance. To boost the food production, society has been injecting all sorts of chemicals into animals and vegetable to maximise the yield. Unfortunately no food can escape a contamination scandal.
The first food contamination scandal I can remember was when eggs in UK were contaminated with Salmonella bacteria in the late 1980s. This carried on into the mid nineties, with the BSE scare which made everyone go vegetarian for a little while.
China are not exempted from this kind of controversy. Everybody who lives in Hong Kong generally thinks the quality assurance is China is very poor. How can you account for the fact that most pirated goods come from China. The mainland has been embroiled with the melamine dairy product scandal and a ton more scandals since. Generally, I don't really buy anything from China, even if it is dirt cheap.
From feeding animals antibiotics and chemicals so they can grow bigger to pesticides on vegetables to heavy metal contamination in fish and seafood, everything we eat has something we don't want in it.
You just have to accept - do you want cheap food or do you want quality assurance. You can't have both.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Monday, June 06, 2011
As plain as fish and chips
In the past few years, I've been more immersed in cooking and baking, now that I have more free time in the evenings and weekends. I should be studying but after spending nearly nine years working my arse off for my mediocre medical degree, I think I deserve the opportunity to explore other avenues of pleasure. Some of my friends and work colleagues may have noticed my new found choice of hobby, by the pictures I post up of my culinary creations or even sampling some of my experiments themselves. The most indirect way they have noticed my recent fascination in food is the increasing size of my abdominal girth and my ever expanding cheeks. Clearly it is easier to gain weight than to lose weight.
I have tried all areas of culinary cuisine, apart from Chinese since I have my parents who can provide many dishes in this area. From chicken tagine to miso soup and mostly everything in between, I've tried a fair few recipes with some disasters and some successes. I do go back to my roots (kind of) by trying out typically British recipes, which include fish pie, cottage pie and roast chicken.
Now for all those non-English people out there, I know British food has a reputation of being bland and unoriginal. Even though I don't like nationalism and patriotism, I think I need to stand up for the humble chicken pie and toffee pudding. British cuisine may not be as exotic as Thai or Indian, or as delicate as the French or Italian. It doesn't try to be that way. British food is simple food or what I like to call "comfort food". It's not for ordering at a fancy restaurant. It's suppose to be easy to make at home and fills up your stomach.
Neither do I like people calling British food 'roast meat and potatoes'. To the naive person, what they usually order in most British pubs and restaurants may be roast beef and potatoes with gravy but there is a wide variation of British dishes if you just explore. Calling British food just roast meat and potatoes is like calling Chinese food just rice and noodles, Italian food just pasta and pizza and calling Indian food just curries. Each cuisine has its own variation and it is up to the eater to explore for him/herself the diversity.
So please, give the humble fish and chips a chance. Just don't try the pickled egg.
I have tried all areas of culinary cuisine, apart from Chinese since I have my parents who can provide many dishes in this area. From chicken tagine to miso soup and mostly everything in between, I've tried a fair few recipes with some disasters and some successes. I do go back to my roots (kind of) by trying out typically British recipes, which include fish pie, cottage pie and roast chicken.
Now for all those non-English people out there, I know British food has a reputation of being bland and unoriginal. Even though I don't like nationalism and patriotism, I think I need to stand up for the humble chicken pie and toffee pudding. British cuisine may not be as exotic as Thai or Indian, or as delicate as the French or Italian. It doesn't try to be that way. British food is simple food or what I like to call "comfort food". It's not for ordering at a fancy restaurant. It's suppose to be easy to make at home and fills up your stomach.
Neither do I like people calling British food 'roast meat and potatoes'. To the naive person, what they usually order in most British pubs and restaurants may be roast beef and potatoes with gravy but there is a wide variation of British dishes if you just explore. Calling British food just roast meat and potatoes is like calling Chinese food just rice and noodles, Italian food just pasta and pizza and calling Indian food just curries. Each cuisine has its own variation and it is up to the eater to explore for him/herself the diversity.
So please, give the humble fish and chips a chance. Just don't try the pickled egg.
Friday, May 27, 2011
The green, green grass of home
I have been back at work for around a week, after having a staycation of nearly two weeks. I'm still at the stage of my career where I cannot store up my annual leave to take it all in one go. The longest time I can take is one week plus any extras I get if I'm on duty on public holidays.
Did I use my time creatively? Of course not. I spent most of my time festering at home, going on the Internet and sleeping. I was not productive, which meant I was not reading any books, studying any medical material or preparing for the two presentations I had to give when I returned to work. I give two reasons / excuses for staying at home.
1. My dad was away on a conference in Northern China, leaving my mum to take care for the two dogs we have. Naturally being a loving son, I had to stay at home to keep an eye on our two adorable mutts.
2. Since late April, the decorators have been disassembling our house to renovate certain portions. The smaller bedroom, the living room and the garage are getting a new look, meaning most of the furniture and items within those three rooms have been shoved into the two remaining bedrooms of the house. My bedroom looks like it belongs to an obsessive-compulsive patient, as most of the open space is occupied by small cupboards, dining chairs and storage units.
I will be thankful when the decorators leave. Not only is it tiresome having to wear slippers all around the house since most of the floor is carpeted with a thin layer of plaster dust, like a really sick version of an indoor Christmas, but I really don't like having all these items in my room. I do miss my open space, and so do my dogs since they have less floor to lie on.
I do miss the open space, which is a reason why I live out in the suburbs. It's also a reason why I don't go out that often. I don't really like the crowds of Hong Kong. All that jostling and pushing in the streets leads me to yearn for large pastures and wide fields.
Now I'm not only counting the number of on-calls I have left (five including the one I'm on now), I'm waiting for the decorators to leave so I can finally have my room to myself instead of sharing it with my parent's ornamental furniture.
Did I use my time creatively? Of course not. I spent most of my time festering at home, going on the Internet and sleeping. I was not productive, which meant I was not reading any books, studying any medical material or preparing for the two presentations I had to give when I returned to work. I give two reasons / excuses for staying at home.
1. My dad was away on a conference in Northern China, leaving my mum to take care for the two dogs we have. Naturally being a loving son, I had to stay at home to keep an eye on our two adorable mutts.
2. Since late April, the decorators have been disassembling our house to renovate certain portions. The smaller bedroom, the living room and the garage are getting a new look, meaning most of the furniture and items within those three rooms have been shoved into the two remaining bedrooms of the house. My bedroom looks like it belongs to an obsessive-compulsive patient, as most of the open space is occupied by small cupboards, dining chairs and storage units.
I will be thankful when the decorators leave. Not only is it tiresome having to wear slippers all around the house since most of the floor is carpeted with a thin layer of plaster dust, like a really sick version of an indoor Christmas, but I really don't like having all these items in my room. I do miss my open space, and so do my dogs since they have less floor to lie on.
I do miss the open space, which is a reason why I live out in the suburbs. It's also a reason why I don't go out that often. I don't really like the crowds of Hong Kong. All that jostling and pushing in the streets leads me to yearn for large pastures and wide fields.
Now I'm not only counting the number of on-calls I have left (five including the one I'm on now), I'm waiting for the decorators to leave so I can finally have my room to myself instead of sharing it with my parent's ornamental furniture.
Thursday, May 05, 2011
The bottom half of the internet
Many events have taken place in the past week: the royal wedding of Prince William Windsor and Catherine Middleton, the killing of Osama Bin Laden, the introduction of the statutory minimum wage in Hong Kong and Arsenal finally beating Manchester United to blow open the Premier League title race. I wanted to write about these momentous happenings but I thought better of it, as there are far too many opinions floating around anyway.
Everybody has an opinion of everything in the world, whether you think you do or not. Some choose not to express them, which can be a good or a bad idea depending on the issue that is being commented on. The people who do express the opinions have now more ways than before to make their ideas heard. I'm not just talking about the internet, with the comments section that appears at the end of an article and blogs, but other types of media want people to interact with them, such as the news asking people for pictures taken on the day of the royal wedding or radio programs who have listener phone-ins regarding whether it was lawful to the moral leader of al Qaeda.
For the most past, having this medium to express oneself creates more good than bad. The common person has the ability to influence events on par with the giant news corporations. Just look at the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia. The governments of these two Arab nations were not brought down by arms or companies but by the average Joe (or would that be Muhammed) in the street with Twitter accounts, Facebook messages and blog entries like mine, although they had much more influence than my blog.
Yet there is that minority who are no longer silent but start to type away in the comments section to prove to us they are either idiots, racists, fascists, xenophobes, etc. The internet and social media allow these people to have a voice, which is detrimental to the human race. Yet sometimes it is a good thing. If we didn't have these avenues for them to vent their spleen, we wouldn't know they thought Hitler was a hero, black and white people shouldn't mix or that the woman's place is at home. It does weed out these people into the open and gives us the opportunity to ignore them in the long run. If we didn't have these ways of people allowing to express themselves, they might try to express themselves in more physical rather than verbal ways. Think of the mass killing sprees that people go on - usually they had posted a video or a diary entry expressing their views.
You don't need to think of the bottom half of the internet as a place for lunatics or morons, just think of it as flytraps or a red flagging system to warn us of these idiots.
Everybody has an opinion of everything in the world, whether you think you do or not. Some choose not to express them, which can be a good or a bad idea depending on the issue that is being commented on. The people who do express the opinions have now more ways than before to make their ideas heard. I'm not just talking about the internet, with the comments section that appears at the end of an article and blogs, but other types of media want people to interact with them, such as the news asking people for pictures taken on the day of the royal wedding or radio programs who have listener phone-ins regarding whether it was lawful to the moral leader of al Qaeda.
For the most past, having this medium to express oneself creates more good than bad. The common person has the ability to influence events on par with the giant news corporations. Just look at the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia. The governments of these two Arab nations were not brought down by arms or companies but by the average Joe (or would that be Muhammed) in the street with Twitter accounts, Facebook messages and blog entries like mine, although they had much more influence than my blog.
Yet there is that minority who are no longer silent but start to type away in the comments section to prove to us they are either idiots, racists, fascists, xenophobes, etc. The internet and social media allow these people to have a voice, which is detrimental to the human race. Yet sometimes it is a good thing. If we didn't have these avenues for them to vent their spleen, we wouldn't know they thought Hitler was a hero, black and white people shouldn't mix or that the woman's place is at home. It does weed out these people into the open and gives us the opportunity to ignore them in the long run. If we didn't have these ways of people allowing to express themselves, they might try to express themselves in more physical rather than verbal ways. Think of the mass killing sprees that people go on - usually they had posted a video or a diary entry expressing their views.
You don't need to think of the bottom half of the internet as a place for lunatics or morons, just think of it as flytraps or a red flagging system to warn us of these idiots.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Dignity in dying
When you are studying medicine and particularly if you are an internal medicine specialist, you get drilled a lot about "quality of life". It's not about curing a disease or saving a patient's life. It's about the quality of life the patient will have after a doctor has intervened on him or her.
Being alive is not necessarily a good thing. As medicine and technology progresses, the life expectancy in the developed world is getting higher. The quality of life gradually decreases as you get older for most people, mainly due to age and the deterioration of the bodily functions but also due to the long term medical conditions people have. Society also suffers in the long term. There will be a higher percentage of elderly people living in society. The situation creates a burden on the public health services in recent years, as doctors have to treat their chronic and recurrent illnesses.
I know I have a tunnel vision view of the situation, since most of the elderly people I come in contact with have such medical conditions which require hospitalization. I know there are many elderly people who enjoy their retirement years, looking after their grandchildren or doing leisure activities which they never had time for when they are working. Yet there are a lot of elderly people who lying in beds in old-age homes, unable to feed themselves and requiring a nasogastric tube for nutritional supplements. They are unable to communicate to the outside world their bedsores are hurting or that they need to go to the toilet.
At this stage I would like to bring the people who advocate against euthanasia. Do they really think there is any dignity or quality of life in this kind of person - the bedbound, non-communicable, double incontinent, old-age home resident? I know doctors are there to save lives but we also have a duty to the people under our care to ensure they are comfortable and pain-free. Maybe death is a release for these kinds of people.
There is a whole spectrum of what the doctor can do to "hasten" a patient's departure. It can range from not actively investigating for a condition if you know that the treatment would be futile. Doctors often find some abnormality in blood results or radiological examinations, which will require further tests just to make sure what they mean. Most of the time elderly patients don't want to know or find the investigations too invasive for their liking to proceed any further. One step up from that is knowing what is wrong with them but finding the treatment to gruesome or harsh to endure, rather opting for "palliative" treatment.
Now we head into murky waters with the next phase, when an elderly patient is an acute deteriorating condition. Doctors often say in those conditions, that cardiopulmonary resuscitation (also known as CPR) or intubation is futile due to the patient's advanced age, poor medical history, current condition and grave prognosis. Doctors at this point usually talk to the relatives with these facts in mind and nowadays both parties agreed not to actively resuscitate the patient, issuing a "Do Not Resuscitate" (otherwise commonly known as DNR) order. This is very commonplace, especially for cancer patients and elderly patients.
The extreme of the spectrum will be euthanasia. Most people would have some idea of the policy in the Netherlands or have come across the news of the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland. Naturally some people are appalled we can do this to our fellow human beings but we have no problem putting pets to sleep or killing people in the name of war.
I think in the 21st century, when people are living longer with more chronic disabling conditions, that firm guidelines needed to be laid down for euthanasia. Sooner or later people will opt for this rather than wait for the natural death that will never come. There are those from the religious right who say that life was given by God and only He can take it away. However not all people believe in a religion and the arguments against euthanasia now have to be universal and appropriate for this day and age.
I think most of the rules for euthanasia are pretty self evident. The person has to be coherent enough to give the order that we wants to die and there has to be good evidence he or she gave that order. Often this is difficult for people who are lying on the bed, unable to communicate to the outside world. The problem could be circumnavigated by signing a piece of paper with witnesses or even better a video of them giving explicit instructions that they want to die if they turn into a vegetative state.
The other big rule is that they are either dying with very little time to live or that their quality of life is so severely poor that continuing living is equivalent to Hell on Earth. All of this is very subjective but there are some aspects we can put a rule or number on, like how long the patient has to live or which diseases we can allow the person to have to meet the criteria.
I know some people are appalled that a doctor can write about this subject but we are not making the decisions, the patients (or the patient's relatives) are. We just give the facts and often our opinions and it is the patients or their relatives that decide. I often come across a few relatives who insist on CPR, even though we know it would be futile. And in those situations, we don't say no - we actually respect their wishes and do what they ask.
We have to acknowledge the preciousness of life itself but also that there is some dignity in dying.
Being alive is not necessarily a good thing. As medicine and technology progresses, the life expectancy in the developed world is getting higher. The quality of life gradually decreases as you get older for most people, mainly due to age and the deterioration of the bodily functions but also due to the long term medical conditions people have. Society also suffers in the long term. There will be a higher percentage of elderly people living in society. The situation creates a burden on the public health services in recent years, as doctors have to treat their chronic and recurrent illnesses.
I know I have a tunnel vision view of the situation, since most of the elderly people I come in contact with have such medical conditions which require hospitalization. I know there are many elderly people who enjoy their retirement years, looking after their grandchildren or doing leisure activities which they never had time for when they are working. Yet there are a lot of elderly people who lying in beds in old-age homes, unable to feed themselves and requiring a nasogastric tube for nutritional supplements. They are unable to communicate to the outside world their bedsores are hurting or that they need to go to the toilet.
At this stage I would like to bring the people who advocate against euthanasia. Do they really think there is any dignity or quality of life in this kind of person - the bedbound, non-communicable, double incontinent, old-age home resident? I know doctors are there to save lives but we also have a duty to the people under our care to ensure they are comfortable and pain-free. Maybe death is a release for these kinds of people.
There is a whole spectrum of what the doctor can do to "hasten" a patient's departure. It can range from not actively investigating for a condition if you know that the treatment would be futile. Doctors often find some abnormality in blood results or radiological examinations, which will require further tests just to make sure what they mean. Most of the time elderly patients don't want to know or find the investigations too invasive for their liking to proceed any further. One step up from that is knowing what is wrong with them but finding the treatment to gruesome or harsh to endure, rather opting for "palliative" treatment.
Now we head into murky waters with the next phase, when an elderly patient is an acute deteriorating condition. Doctors often say in those conditions, that cardiopulmonary resuscitation (also known as CPR) or intubation is futile due to the patient's advanced age, poor medical history, current condition and grave prognosis. Doctors at this point usually talk to the relatives with these facts in mind and nowadays both parties agreed not to actively resuscitate the patient, issuing a "Do Not Resuscitate" (otherwise commonly known as DNR) order. This is very commonplace, especially for cancer patients and elderly patients.
The extreme of the spectrum will be euthanasia. Most people would have some idea of the policy in the Netherlands or have come across the news of the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland. Naturally some people are appalled we can do this to our fellow human beings but we have no problem putting pets to sleep or killing people in the name of war.
I think in the 21st century, when people are living longer with more chronic disabling conditions, that firm guidelines needed to be laid down for euthanasia. Sooner or later people will opt for this rather than wait for the natural death that will never come. There are those from the religious right who say that life was given by God and only He can take it away. However not all people believe in a religion and the arguments against euthanasia now have to be universal and appropriate for this day and age.
I think most of the rules for euthanasia are pretty self evident. The person has to be coherent enough to give the order that we wants to die and there has to be good evidence he or she gave that order. Often this is difficult for people who are lying on the bed, unable to communicate to the outside world. The problem could be circumnavigated by signing a piece of paper with witnesses or even better a video of them giving explicit instructions that they want to die if they turn into a vegetative state.
The other big rule is that they are either dying with very little time to live or that their quality of life is so severely poor that continuing living is equivalent to Hell on Earth. All of this is very subjective but there are some aspects we can put a rule or number on, like how long the patient has to live or which diseases we can allow the person to have to meet the criteria.
I know some people are appalled that a doctor can write about this subject but we are not making the decisions, the patients (or the patient's relatives) are. We just give the facts and often our opinions and it is the patients or their relatives that decide. I often come across a few relatives who insist on CPR, even though we know it would be futile. And in those situations, we don't say no - we actually respect their wishes and do what they ask.
We have to acknowledge the preciousness of life itself but also that there is some dignity in dying.
Thursday, April 07, 2011
Road rage
I have been back at work for the past week after being on leave for about ten days. I didn't really do much. Most of the time was spent online and watching old episodes of "Mock the Week" and "QI". I must really spend some of my waking hours doing something positive.
I have been transferred to a new hospital which focuses on convalescence and rehabilitation. Many other colleagues says the working hours are supposed to be easier but I just find the work just as gruesome as ever. At least there are fewer calls to have - just the four per month.
After spending most of the time at home during my staycation, I'm now back to driving to work. I've been driving regularly for the past year and half, so I hope I have enough experience to comment on other road users. I'll leave my thoughts about BMW drivers to another day but I do have many complaints about other drivers.
The main complaint I have is other drivers not using their indicators, either to change lanes or when they are turning. I know it is a minor thing to focus on but I really do not like drivers who don't indicate when they changing lanes or when turning right / left. It is such a small task to be performed yet there are those out there who don't do it. Not only it is an inconvenience to other vehicles but it can also be a hazard.
Another irritation I have is people jumping the queue. You know the scenario - you're lined up in traffic when some git drives in the exit road or adjacent lane to cut the queue. I really do hate those people. They intentionally do it because they know they can get away with it. My dad those it often and when I'm in the car when he does it, I chastise him until we get to our destination. Thankfully he does it less, or at least not when I'm riding with him.
To all drivers, there are other road users. Just because you own an expensive car like a BMW 5 series doesn't give you the excuse to drive like a prick.
I have been transferred to a new hospital which focuses on convalescence and rehabilitation. Many other colleagues says the working hours are supposed to be easier but I just find the work just as gruesome as ever. At least there are fewer calls to have - just the four per month.
After spending most of the time at home during my staycation, I'm now back to driving to work. I've been driving regularly for the past year and half, so I hope I have enough experience to comment on other road users. I'll leave my thoughts about BMW drivers to another day but I do have many complaints about other drivers.
The main complaint I have is other drivers not using their indicators, either to change lanes or when they are turning. I know it is a minor thing to focus on but I really do not like drivers who don't indicate when they changing lanes or when turning right / left. It is such a small task to be performed yet there are those out there who don't do it. Not only it is an inconvenience to other vehicles but it can also be a hazard.
Another irritation I have is people jumping the queue. You know the scenario - you're lined up in traffic when some git drives in the exit road or adjacent lane to cut the queue. I really do hate those people. They intentionally do it because they know they can get away with it. My dad those it often and when I'm in the car when he does it, I chastise him until we get to our destination. Thankfully he does it less, or at least not when I'm riding with him.
To all drivers, there are other road users. Just because you own an expensive car like a BMW 5 series doesn't give you the excuse to drive like a prick.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Reflex charity
Christchurch - 21st February 2011
Haiti - 12th January 2010
L'Aquila - 6th April, 2009
What have these places and dates have in common? They were major earthquakes that have happened in the last few years. Yet most of them have disappeared from most people's minds, especially to one person who I was catch a lift who totally forgotten what had happened in Christchurch just under one month ago.
I'm using this point and the recent earthquake in Sendai to emphasize what I call reflex charity. Most of us don't think about the disasters in the world until it is staring us in the face and affecting our own lives. Only when it is in the news do we feel compelled to do something about it and not at any other point in our lives.
The case in point is the Sendai earthquake recently. Most of us acknowledge that it is a disaster and send our condolences and prayers to the people in the area. But what are most Hong Kong people concerned about from the Sendai earthquake? That Japanese milk formula powder will go up in price or even worse not become available, despite a whole range of other choices available. We also have the media scaring us into the belief that the radiation will be swept from Japan to Hong Kong from the exploding nuclear power plants. We have this belief from the media, despite the facts...
1. Sendai is more than 3000 km away from Hong Kong.
2. Radiation is not "contagious" although there is a rare possibility radioactive particles could be deposited on objects such as food and clothes.
3. Authorities would obviously check most imports for radiation.
4. The prevailing winds around Japan will tend to blow the radioactive particles towards the Pacific Ocean.
I hate this kind of reflex charity. People from these disaster stricken areas will have to live on through the hard times, long after the camera crews have gone home. Remember the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami? Touristy areas such as Phuket will recover quickly but impoverished areas such as Indonesia, which have had numerous earthquakes since, still have yet to recover.
Everywhere there has been a major humanitarian crises. Barring earthquakes, there are other natural disasters. Remember the 2008 Cyclone Nargis which swept Burma and killed more than 100 000+ people. Do you really think the military junta will be helping the impoverished there? What about human rights disasters such as the ethnic cleansing that was going on in Darfur, Sudan.
And don't get me started on other humanitarian and natural issues. People in the developing world are constantly dying from hunger, poverty and diseases. We constantly are demolishing are earth and wiping out species just so we can have a better lifestyle.
What I am trying to stay is we really shouldn't have this reflex charity. We really shouldn't need TV charity programmes such as Comic Relief and Children in Need to constantly remind us about giving to the needy. We should be doing this on a regular basis. I know a great deal of my friends are quite well off and can afford to give a little bit to charity. What everybody should be doing is just setting up a Direct Debit or whatever else you call it. Just donate a little bit of your money to a charity of your choice every year. It doesn't have to be a lot, just a little bit will be nice.
Because charity shouldn't have to be a knee jerk reaction, it should be a constant action all the time.
Haiti - 12th January 2010
L'Aquila - 6th April, 2009
What have these places and dates have in common? They were major earthquakes that have happened in the last few years. Yet most of them have disappeared from most people's minds, especially to one person who I was catch a lift who totally forgotten what had happened in Christchurch just under one month ago.
I'm using this point and the recent earthquake in Sendai to emphasize what I call reflex charity. Most of us don't think about the disasters in the world until it is staring us in the face and affecting our own lives. Only when it is in the news do we feel compelled to do something about it and not at any other point in our lives.
The case in point is the Sendai earthquake recently. Most of us acknowledge that it is a disaster and send our condolences and prayers to the people in the area. But what are most Hong Kong people concerned about from the Sendai earthquake? That Japanese milk formula powder will go up in price or even worse not become available, despite a whole range of other choices available. We also have the media scaring us into the belief that the radiation will be swept from Japan to Hong Kong from the exploding nuclear power plants. We have this belief from the media, despite the facts...
1. Sendai is more than 3000 km away from Hong Kong.
2. Radiation is not "contagious" although there is a rare possibility radioactive particles could be deposited on objects such as food and clothes.
3. Authorities would obviously check most imports for radiation.
4. The prevailing winds around Japan will tend to blow the radioactive particles towards the Pacific Ocean.
I hate this kind of reflex charity. People from these disaster stricken areas will have to live on through the hard times, long after the camera crews have gone home. Remember the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami? Touristy areas such as Phuket will recover quickly but impoverished areas such as Indonesia, which have had numerous earthquakes since, still have yet to recover.
Everywhere there has been a major humanitarian crises. Barring earthquakes, there are other natural disasters. Remember the 2008 Cyclone Nargis which swept Burma and killed more than 100 000+ people. Do you really think the military junta will be helping the impoverished there? What about human rights disasters such as the ethnic cleansing that was going on in Darfur, Sudan.
And don't get me started on other humanitarian and natural issues. People in the developing world are constantly dying from hunger, poverty and diseases. We constantly are demolishing are earth and wiping out species just so we can have a better lifestyle.
What I am trying to stay is we really shouldn't have this reflex charity. We really shouldn't need TV charity programmes such as Comic Relief and Children in Need to constantly remind us about giving to the needy. We should be doing this on a regular basis. I know a great deal of my friends are quite well off and can afford to give a little bit to charity. What everybody should be doing is just setting up a Direct Debit or whatever else you call it. Just donate a little bit of your money to a charity of your choice every year. It doesn't have to be a lot, just a little bit will be nice.
Because charity shouldn't have to be a knee jerk reaction, it should be a constant action all the time.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
A modern day Chaplin?
When I'm not on call, I catch up with a lot of British TV. My current fad is watching "Fast and Loose". From the creators of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" and "Mock the Week", it's a bit like the former program. Fans of the American version of WLIIA will be happy to see Wayne Brady in "Fast and Loose".
One of the highlights of "Fast and Loose" is the interpretative dance segment performed by David Armand. In this section, Armand mimes a song using its lyrics as the inspiration and the other comedians have to guess what the song is, without listening to the song itself.
If you don't know who David Armand is, one of his most famous interpretative dances was at the Secret Policeman's Ball 2006 for Amnesty International. During that event, he mimed the lyrics to the song "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia, who later joined him on the stage - first singing and then miming the words herself.
He does the same in "Fast and Loose" using such classics as "Eternal Flame" to modern day hits such as "Hit Me Baby One More Time". You have to watch it to fully appreciate the comedic value plus the entertainment on show.
I know I might court controversy by comparing him to a great comedian such as Charlie Chaplin in my blog entry title but the comparisons are worth noting. Charlie Chaplin was famous for using physical gestures and facial expressions to get his comedy across the the audience. David Armand uses the same techniques in his comedy routines. Armand may never get to the same level of fame or fortune as Chaplin but his technique with the great master are quite similar.
But you have to see it to really believe it...
One of the highlights of "Fast and Loose" is the interpretative dance segment performed by David Armand. In this section, Armand mimes a song using its lyrics as the inspiration and the other comedians have to guess what the song is, without listening to the song itself.
If you don't know who David Armand is, one of his most famous interpretative dances was at the Secret Policeman's Ball 2006 for Amnesty International. During that event, he mimed the lyrics to the song "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia, who later joined him on the stage - first singing and then miming the words herself.
He does the same in "Fast and Loose" using such classics as "Eternal Flame" to modern day hits such as "Hit Me Baby One More Time". You have to watch it to fully appreciate the comedic value plus the entertainment on show.
I know I might court controversy by comparing him to a great comedian such as Charlie Chaplin in my blog entry title but the comparisons are worth noting. Charlie Chaplin was famous for using physical gestures and facial expressions to get his comedy across the the audience. David Armand uses the same techniques in his comedy routines. Armand may never get to the same level of fame or fortune as Chaplin but his technique with the great master are quite similar.
But you have to see it to really believe it...
Sunday, February 06, 2011
A mid-life crisis?
I think I reached a point in life when a significant amount has already gone past by me and I haven't achieved much. It was my 30th birthday recently. It was supposed to be a free evening for me but unexpectedly I was asked to be on-call when the original doctor reported in sick. So I was spending my birthday making sure people were kept alive, at least until the next day.
That day seemed to sum up my life. I'm now thirty years old, still a virgin and single (in the order of priority I think are important). Most people I know are in the process of becoming specialists by taking their exit exams, are married or in the process of walking down the aisle and some of them even have the cheek of bearing children. To top it all off, my younger brother has just proposed to his girlfriend, thus making me look like the older brother loser that I probably am.
It's often hard not to compare to your friends and colleagues, but it is difficult to ignore when they post that they've passed their exams in their Facebook status or display fifty photos of their daughter from exactly the same angle on Flickr, despite the fact that they already uploaded photos of her doing the exact same a day before. I often thought I should emigrate to somewhere to avoid comparing my own life to the life of my friends but I would suffer the same problem elsewhere and my own friends' life would haunt me over the medium of the Internet.
Look, I'm trying to correct these things. I know I'm not going to accelerate my career path anytime soon, so I just try to ignore what my other doctor friends/colleagues are doing. I just wallow in the truth that in six months time I won't have to be on-call ever again or have to work during weekends. That is some small comfort to me.
I try to ignore that people I know are having kids, even though it is nearly impossible to do so. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for these couples. Yet honestly I really cannot picture them having sex. Not that it is totally gruesome but they are just some of the most conservative people I know. Sex for them would be a chore to get to a baby, not something wonderous and enjoyable.
Most of the time, I think they would do the task missionary style and have it done with in five minutes. I don't think the female part of the couple even orgasms.
I'm trying dating websites at the moment but the ones in Hong Kong are not very good. They offer very minimal service and if you want to get much better coverage, you have to pay exorbitant amounts. Only one website seem to be adequate, meaning I have had one correspondence. The others are just not worth it.
The options at work are not that great. I've only met a few ladies I would like to date. Yet it is often so hard to engage whether they are interested in you or not. I have one in mind. We often chat over the Internet but I don't know whether she likes me or not. I probably wimp out and won't ask her out on a date, primarily because I don't know where to take her or what to do on a date. That's how pathetic I am.
That day seemed to sum up my life. I'm now thirty years old, still a virgin and single (in the order of priority I think are important). Most people I know are in the process of becoming specialists by taking their exit exams, are married or in the process of walking down the aisle and some of them even have the cheek of bearing children. To top it all off, my younger brother has just proposed to his girlfriend, thus making me look like the older brother loser that I probably am.
It's often hard not to compare to your friends and colleagues, but it is difficult to ignore when they post that they've passed their exams in their Facebook status or display fifty photos of their daughter from exactly the same angle on Flickr, despite the fact that they already uploaded photos of her doing the exact same a day before. I often thought I should emigrate to somewhere to avoid comparing my own life to the life of my friends but I would suffer the same problem elsewhere and my own friends' life would haunt me over the medium of the Internet.
Look, I'm trying to correct these things. I know I'm not going to accelerate my career path anytime soon, so I just try to ignore what my other doctor friends/colleagues are doing. I just wallow in the truth that in six months time I won't have to be on-call ever again or have to work during weekends. That is some small comfort to me.
I try to ignore that people I know are having kids, even though it is nearly impossible to do so. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for these couples. Yet honestly I really cannot picture them having sex. Not that it is totally gruesome but they are just some of the most conservative people I know. Sex for them would be a chore to get to a baby, not something wonderous and enjoyable.
Most of the time, I think they would do the task missionary style and have it done with in five minutes. I don't think the female part of the couple even orgasms.
I'm trying dating websites at the moment but the ones in Hong Kong are not very good. They offer very minimal service and if you want to get much better coverage, you have to pay exorbitant amounts. Only one website seem to be adequate, meaning I have had one correspondence. The others are just not worth it.
The options at work are not that great. I've only met a few ladies I would like to date. Yet it is often so hard to engage whether they are interested in you or not. I have one in mind. We often chat over the Internet but I don't know whether she likes me or not. I probably wimp out and won't ask her out on a date, primarily because I don't know where to take her or what to do on a date. That's how pathetic I am.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
A new life
For the past four weeks, I have been slowly adapting to a new life in my new hospital's Department of Medicine and Geriatrics. After staying six months in my previous hospital's Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, it has been difficult changing ways. I used to be in a relatively small department in a small hospital. Now I'm in a large department in a very busy hospital.
Slowly but surely I have been getting use to being a internal medicine resident. I am thankful that there have been a number of changes which occurred before I came which makes my life a little bit easier. Firstly I only have to do a ward round once in the morning and that is it. Sometimes doing an afternoon ward round doesn't help and should only be done if there have been any new cases or changes. Secondly there are protected hours for the doctors on-call to sleep, otherwise they would never sleep.
At least the people are nice here, when they have a chance to speak to you. I'm grateful that my seniors are not very harsh on me when I make mistakes or ask for help/advice. I'm learning a lot and I hope most of it stays in the brain.
Slowly but surely I have been getting use to being a internal medicine resident. I am thankful that there have been a number of changes which occurred before I came which makes my life a little bit easier. Firstly I only have to do a ward round once in the morning and that is it. Sometimes doing an afternoon ward round doesn't help and should only be done if there have been any new cases or changes. Secondly there are protected hours for the doctors on-call to sleep, otherwise they would never sleep.
At least the people are nice here, when they have a chance to speak to you. I'm grateful that my seniors are not very harsh on me when I make mistakes or ask for help/advice. I'm learning a lot and I hope most of it stays in the brain.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Busy at Christmas time
I'm currently on leave from work until after Christmas. I still have plenty to do over the next week. I've got two presentations I have to prepare which will be presented next week. Also I have to sort out my Annual Practising Certificate so that I can continue practising medicine and I have to sort out what I'm doing in the next three months at the next hospital - especially my car parking space.
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My brother is back for the Christmas holidays. My mother asked me to take my leave from work at this time of year to be with my brother but to be perfectly honest, I don't know why she asked me. I don't talk to my brother much and I don't need to go out with him. Also he's pissing off to see his girlfriend in Malaysia after Christmas is over and his girlfriend is visiting us afterwards as well. Sometimes I do feel like an appendix - an useless appendage which nobody notices
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I still hate weddings. At first I do get annoyed when friends don't invite me to weddings but in the end, I'm grateful I don't have to go. I just find it miserable and depressing all the time. Perhaps it just reminds me of my own martial status, the fact the weddings I have been to have been filled with doctors talking about boring doctor stuff or the whole sycophant affair is not benefiting the bride or groom but everybody else's benefit which I hate about weddings.
I just like to say a big 'Thank You' to all those who don't invite me and a big sorry to those who do for being such a miserable git.
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Well done to AP McCoy for winning BBC Sports Personality of the Year. He's getting some due recognition for such a marvellous career and year, after winning the Grand National. I would have voted for Phil 'The Power' Taylor or Graeme McDowell. Amy Williams should also get a special mention as well.
I loved AP McCoy's last words to Cesc Fabregas in his thank you speech. I think he echoes every Arsenal fans' thoughts when he said it.
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My brother is back for the Christmas holidays. My mother asked me to take my leave from work at this time of year to be with my brother but to be perfectly honest, I don't know why she asked me. I don't talk to my brother much and I don't need to go out with him. Also he's pissing off to see his girlfriend in Malaysia after Christmas is over and his girlfriend is visiting us afterwards as well. Sometimes I do feel like an appendix - an useless appendage which nobody notices
========
I still hate weddings. At first I do get annoyed when friends don't invite me to weddings but in the end, I'm grateful I don't have to go. I just find it miserable and depressing all the time. Perhaps it just reminds me of my own martial status, the fact the weddings I have been to have been filled with doctors talking about boring doctor stuff or the whole sycophant affair is not benefiting the bride or groom but everybody else's benefit which I hate about weddings.
I just like to say a big 'Thank You' to all those who don't invite me and a big sorry to those who do for being such a miserable git.
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Well done to AP McCoy for winning BBC Sports Personality of the Year. He's getting some due recognition for such a marvellous career and year, after winning the Grand National. I would have voted for Phil 'The Power' Taylor or Graeme McDowell. Amy Williams should also get a special mention as well.
I loved AP McCoy's last words to Cesc Fabregas in his thank you speech. I think he echoes every Arsenal fans' thoughts when he said it.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Dumbed down news
Two recent events have made me thing the news media has dumbed down in recent years.I was on holiday in Koh Samui when Prince William announced he was going to marry Kate Middleton in 2011. Let me state I am happy for William and Catherine. Naturally this piece of news is a delight to hear and I wish them all the happiness in the world.
Yet can I move on after this announcement was finished? No, I couldn't since the media was relentlessly following this gold nugget for the next few days. The only news channel I could receive whilst I was in Koh Samui in my resort was BBC World News. I know the Beeb would report this piece of fact as the priority news bulletin, since it concerned the BRITISH Royal Family. Yet I'm disappointed how they treated this piece of news like a piece of tabloid gossip. Just read out the fact that Prince William and Kate Middleton are going to be married next year and move on.
But the BBC couldn't move on. I think they used every single reporter that was available to cover this story. From the University of St. Andrews, to RAF Anglesey to Kate Middleton's home to Kenya, there was constant speculation and gossip of what essentially what I class as a non-story - it doesn't really have an effect on the normal person and doesn't concern the long-term stability of the world. I'm very disappointed with the BBC News. You would think the BBC News, with its reputation of impartiality and credibility would now stoop so low to cover this story as a major news item. I know it is a piece of good news but really, after the first 24 hours, the Beeb should move on.
(Before you point it out, I know there is an irony of me writing about a non-news story which should be covered as news.)
The other story is Barack Obama getting a split lip in a Thanksgiving basketball game. The same rules apply with this story. It is a non-news story that has no major effect on the world or me.I honestly think we as a human race have dumbed down enough to consider these two events as news. We should take a bit more interest in politics and economics but instead we are more concerned about celebrity weddings and world leaders getting injured. Doesn't this reflect the times?
Sunday, November 07, 2010
I believe Stephen Fry is right...
Stephen Fry, acclaimed emperor of Twitter and aficionado of all things great and beautiful, recently got into trouble with the opposite sex by claiming that women do not enjoy sex. That statement seems ironic coming from a gay man, which has been pointed out by critics. "What would a gay man know about women and their sexual desires?" cried out feminists.
Yet I believe Stephen Fry is right, in some sought of way. There will be women in the world who would have a sexual drive which would put rabbits to shame. On the whole though, women are less sexually driven than men. I don't blame women for that attitude, since it is just the way they are wired. In all species, it is the male who tries to sow as much as seed into as many females as possible, so they have to be as sexually aggressive as they can. That is what their genes tell them to do. For the females, their chromosomes tell them to pick the best suitors with the most desirable characteristics - strength, intelligence, etc. So females have to be selective in choosing their partners and tend to hold out until they are absolute certain their partner is the best.
Nonetheless, shouldn't humans have progressed to the stage where they shouldn't be listening to their DNA and control their own lives? Yes we have but still women still have a "conservative" view on sex. As I stated before and I will state again, women then to attach sex with love, which I don't believe is true. You can have sex without love and love without sex...
Sex with love = the perfect relationship
Sex without love = one night stands, prostitution, fuck buddies, etc.
Love without sex = Most marriages after a few years
No love or sex = single
For most men, I am frustrated there are fewer women who have the same attitudes towards sex as I do. In UK and US, the situation is better. There are ways to link up with people who like straight cruising or fuck buddies or one night stands through reliable means. In Hong Kong and I reckon most other Asian countries, the attitudes towards sex is still in the Dark Ages. Trying to link up with a lady who likes sex as much as I do is nigh impossible.
Of all the ladies I know in Hong Kong, I can only think of two women who I reckon will like sex as much as men do. One is a doctor and one is a nurse who does wear very sexy clothes outside of work.
Yet dressing up sexy and being interested in sex are two different things. For some women, dressing up sexy is not an indication they want to have sex. Sometimes they want to feel powerful, that they captivate men and put them underneath their thumb just because they are showing a bit of skin. Other times, they just want to spite other women by attracting more attention from men.
Before you say it, I'm not frustrated about women having these attitudes towards sex. I'm just frustrated I can't find the women who have the same attitudes towards sex like I do.
Yet I believe Stephen Fry is right, in some sought of way. There will be women in the world who would have a sexual drive which would put rabbits to shame. On the whole though, women are less sexually driven than men. I don't blame women for that attitude, since it is just the way they are wired. In all species, it is the male who tries to sow as much as seed into as many females as possible, so they have to be as sexually aggressive as they can. That is what their genes tell them to do. For the females, their chromosomes tell them to pick the best suitors with the most desirable characteristics - strength, intelligence, etc. So females have to be selective in choosing their partners and tend to hold out until they are absolute certain their partner is the best.
Nonetheless, shouldn't humans have progressed to the stage where they shouldn't be listening to their DNA and control their own lives? Yes we have but still women still have a "conservative" view on sex. As I stated before and I will state again, women then to attach sex with love, which I don't believe is true. You can have sex without love and love without sex...
Sex with love = the perfect relationship
Sex without love = one night stands, prostitution, fuck buddies, etc.
Love without sex = Most marriages after a few years
No love or sex = single
For most men, I am frustrated there are fewer women who have the same attitudes towards sex as I do. In UK and US, the situation is better. There are ways to link up with people who like straight cruising or fuck buddies or one night stands through reliable means. In Hong Kong and I reckon most other Asian countries, the attitudes towards sex is still in the Dark Ages. Trying to link up with a lady who likes sex as much as I do is nigh impossible.
Of all the ladies I know in Hong Kong, I can only think of two women who I reckon will like sex as much as men do. One is a doctor and one is a nurse who does wear very sexy clothes outside of work.
Yet dressing up sexy and being interested in sex are two different things. For some women, dressing up sexy is not an indication they want to have sex. Sometimes they want to feel powerful, that they captivate men and put them underneath their thumb just because they are showing a bit of skin. Other times, they just want to spite other women by attracting more attention from men.
Before you say it, I'm not frustrated about women having these attitudes towards sex. I'm just frustrated I can't find the women who have the same attitudes towards sex like I do.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Dating
I went out for a date on Thursday night. It is only the second person I went out with a date with. The girl I went out with, we had three dates before deciding that our relationship wasn't going to work out for various reasons and we ended the relationship amicably.
This time, the date was arranged by an English radio programme, which would be highly unusual in any person's life. All we did was have a nice dinner together. I think the date went well from my perspective. Yet I have no idea if she thought the same as well. I'm just a bad reader of women in general. I think the major sticking point is the age difference. She is older than me. I don't find that a problem (which may mean I'm desperate) but I think this issue stuck in the back of her mind.
Generally I find it difficult to find dates. I have very selective criteria. I do want to date somebody with a Western background, which limits my options in Hong Kong. I find Hong Kong dating websites not generally helpful. They usually have to pay a fee to use their full services, which is annoying and their scope is limited. I may even have to resort to asking my friends for suggestions.
There must be a way for somebody like me to find a date, isn't there?
This time, the date was arranged by an English radio programme, which would be highly unusual in any person's life. All we did was have a nice dinner together. I think the date went well from my perspective. Yet I have no idea if she thought the same as well. I'm just a bad reader of women in general. I think the major sticking point is the age difference. She is older than me. I don't find that a problem (which may mean I'm desperate) but I think this issue stuck in the back of her mind.
Generally I find it difficult to find dates. I have very selective criteria. I do want to date somebody with a Western background, which limits my options in Hong Kong. I find Hong Kong dating websites not generally helpful. They usually have to pay a fee to use their full services, which is annoying and their scope is limited. I may even have to resort to asking my friends for suggestions.
There must be a way for somebody like me to find a date, isn't there?
Monday, September 20, 2010
Professional hatred (part 4)
Accounting / bankers / stockbrokers
If you have anything to do with finance, I hate you. I just think you are the parasite sucking on the life blood of the earth and draining the world of any vitality it once had. Your primary aim in life is to make more money. You just don't want to make money to buy a house or a car, or to fund your parents' retirement or your children's future. Basically you are driven by greed and no other motive, which I think is dangerous. In my mind, you will do anything and screw over anybody just to squeeze out that net profit, even if it means selling your own grandmother.
Not only that, you make finance incredibly difficult to understand. Once a upon a time, what you did with money is either spend it or save it. Now you have to invest the money you earned into a whole variety of schemes - shares, bonds, options, real estate, etc. Where did the habit go of just paying for material goods, like bananas, shoes and screwdrivers?
As it turned out, those bankers didn't really know what they were doing. Lending money who couldn't possibly pay it back? Please, I don't have an economics degree and I could have told you that was a bad idea. Worst of all, once the governments bailed out the banks, those in the banking system did sod all. Bankers didn't apologize for what they did and did nothing to help out the economy either. They still got paid the absurdly humongous wages they have and even had the cheek to have bonuses as well.
Society should revert back to a system where people should be rewarded for their usefulness. People like farmers who provide food, nurses who provide health care and police officers who provide protection. These jobs are vital and we would miss them. Kill a million bankers and you would bat an eyelid.
At this point I should point out I'm a socialist. Even though I am paid quite well as a doctor, I accept that I will be taxed quite heavily to contribute to society. Actually when I saw my tax bill for the upcoming year, I frightened my dogs when I shouted out the amount. I accept that taxes are necessary to pay for many things, and actually it pays for my salary. However I don't like people who avoid paying tax. That is where my hatred for accountants come in. Most of them I believe (which I know is not true but please satisfy my ego by continuing this line of thought) try to help their clients avoid paying tax. If you don't contribute to society, you should get anything out of society.
This is where I don't like my uncle. According to my father, he doesn't pay tax in Hong Kong since his business is in China. I don't know if he pays tax in China but I'm suspecting he really doesn't. And he still lives in Hong Kong, sending his son to school here and using the health care system. Even though he's a resident here, I still believe that is wrong.
I know he is my uncle but that doesn't make him immune to my vitriol. The same applies to my brother and a number of friends who work in the finance sector. I love my brother very much but I hate his job as an employee of UBS, another bank who had a bailout. I am jealous of his wages and his benefits. I have the capabilities to become a banker. Yet I don't have the soul for the job or rather I do have a soul which I am unwilling to sell to the devil.
Gordon Gekko once said, "Greed is good." If that is the case, why is greed one of the seven deadly sins.
If you have anything to do with finance, I hate you. I just think you are the parasite sucking on the life blood of the earth and draining the world of any vitality it once had. Your primary aim in life is to make more money. You just don't want to make money to buy a house or a car, or to fund your parents' retirement or your children's future. Basically you are driven by greed and no other motive, which I think is dangerous. In my mind, you will do anything and screw over anybody just to squeeze out that net profit, even if it means selling your own grandmother.
Not only that, you make finance incredibly difficult to understand. Once a upon a time, what you did with money is either spend it or save it. Now you have to invest the money you earned into a whole variety of schemes - shares, bonds, options, real estate, etc. Where did the habit go of just paying for material goods, like bananas, shoes and screwdrivers?
As it turned out, those bankers didn't really know what they were doing. Lending money who couldn't possibly pay it back? Please, I don't have an economics degree and I could have told you that was a bad idea. Worst of all, once the governments bailed out the banks, those in the banking system did sod all. Bankers didn't apologize for what they did and did nothing to help out the economy either. They still got paid the absurdly humongous wages they have and even had the cheek to have bonuses as well.
Society should revert back to a system where people should be rewarded for their usefulness. People like farmers who provide food, nurses who provide health care and police officers who provide protection. These jobs are vital and we would miss them. Kill a million bankers and you would bat an eyelid.
At this point I should point out I'm a socialist. Even though I am paid quite well as a doctor, I accept that I will be taxed quite heavily to contribute to society. Actually when I saw my tax bill for the upcoming year, I frightened my dogs when I shouted out the amount. I accept that taxes are necessary to pay for many things, and actually it pays for my salary. However I don't like people who avoid paying tax. That is where my hatred for accountants come in. Most of them I believe (which I know is not true but please satisfy my ego by continuing this line of thought) try to help their clients avoid paying tax. If you don't contribute to society, you should get anything out of society.
This is where I don't like my uncle. According to my father, he doesn't pay tax in Hong Kong since his business is in China. I don't know if he pays tax in China but I'm suspecting he really doesn't. And he still lives in Hong Kong, sending his son to school here and using the health care system. Even though he's a resident here, I still believe that is wrong.
I know he is my uncle but that doesn't make him immune to my vitriol. The same applies to my brother and a number of friends who work in the finance sector. I love my brother very much but I hate his job as an employee of UBS, another bank who had a bailout. I am jealous of his wages and his benefits. I have the capabilities to become a banker. Yet I don't have the soul for the job or rather I do have a soul which I am unwilling to sell to the devil.
Gordon Gekko once said, "Greed is good." If that is the case, why is greed one of the seven deadly sins.
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Professional hatred (part 3)
PR / Ma
rketing / Advertising
The sophisticated science fiction author H.G. Wells once said that, "Advertising is legalized lying" and I'm inclined to agree. I can't stand anybody who works in the field trying to portray something that isn't there or more likely trying to hide the truth from being known.Ever since the growth of media and the need to sell material items, the role of public relations has essentially made people not what they are.
Let's take a recent case study. The News of the World, one of the most trashiest tabloids (I'm not even going to call them 'a newspaper') in Britain, has recently published a story that Wayne Rooney, the England and Manchester United football star, had sex with a prostitute whilst his wife Coleen McCoughlin was pregnant.
Firstly to continue my hatred of tabloid journalism, this is a story that nobody needs to know. Not the general public, not the football fans, this is a private matter between a husband and a wife. The News of the World are just wasting everybody's time in order to sell newspapers by publishing a non-essential story.
However it has come to this stage where footballers and any other stars are required to be portrayed as wholesome members of society in order to sell products and remain in the spotlight. This is where the PR / marketing parasites come in. They have been whispering in Wayne Rooney's ear that essentially he has to be something that he really is not. I'm not saying I approve of Rooney's behaviour but if PR / marketing didn't exist, there wouldn't be such an outcry of this story. We would just leave Wayne and Coleen to sort out their own problems.
The same idea applies to any other major celebrity. I don't care if Tom Cruise is a crackpot who believes in Scientology and is married to somebody more than 15 years younger than him. If he makes good movies, that is all I care about. I don't really care if Amy Winehouse is a drug addict either. It's her choice and if she dies - so be it - but if she kicks the habit, good for her. I don't care if my local politician is gay/lesbian/black/white/rich/poor, as long as he/she can do the job honestly (which would rule out Tony Blair).
And to be honest, I wouldn't buy Twinings tea just because Stephen Fry advertised it. Nor would I buy an iPad just because Stephen Colbert whipped the device out of his suit pocket at the Grammys. I buy products because of their use, not because of their association.
Which leads me to advertising. I don't mind inventive TV adverts, which are mini films in their own right. The advertising I most hate is the inaccurate use or misuse of science in their campaign.
I have long hated any adverts selling formula milk. Any TV advert seems to claim that the formula milk has added substances to help children be smarter, forgetting to add the fact that most of these substances do occur naturally in your diet and there is no need for supplementation. Also advertising seems to portray drinking these brands of formula milk will instantly make your kids brainier, without mentioning the need of a stimulating environment, good schooling, an appropriate social group and parental involvement.
I often thought that parents should be drinking formula milk more than their children, since obviously they blindly follow anything advertised on TV.
rketing / AdvertisingThe sophisticated science fiction author H.G. Wells once said that, "Advertising is legalized lying" and I'm inclined to agree. I can't stand anybody who works in the field trying to portray something that isn't there or more likely trying to hide the truth from being known.Ever since the growth of media and the need to sell material items, the role of public relations has essentially made people not what they are.
Let's take a recent case study. The News of the World, one of the most trashiest tabloids (I'm not even going to call them 'a newspaper') in Britain, has recently published a story that Wayne Rooney, the England and Manchester United football star, had sex with a prostitute whilst his wife Coleen McCoughlin was pregnant.
Firstly to continue my hatred of tabloid journalism, this is a story that nobody needs to know. Not the general public, not the football fans, this is a private matter between a husband and a wife. The News of the World are just wasting everybody's time in order to sell newspapers by publishing a non-essential story.
However it has come to this stage where footballers and any other stars are required to be portrayed as wholesome members of society in order to sell products and remain in the spotlight. This is where the PR / marketing parasites come in. They have been whispering in Wayne Rooney's ear that essentially he has to be something that he really is not. I'm not saying I approve of Rooney's behaviour but if PR / marketing didn't exist, there wouldn't be such an outcry of this story. We would just leave Wayne and Coleen to sort out their own problems.
The same idea applies to any other major celebrity. I don't care if Tom Cruise is a crackpot who believes in Scientology and is married to somebody more than 15 years younger than him. If he makes good movies, that is all I care about. I don't really care if Amy Winehouse is a drug addict either. It's her choice and if she dies - so be it - but if she kicks the habit, good for her. I don't care if my local politician is gay/lesbian/black/white/rich/poor, as long as he/she can do the job honestly (which would rule out Tony Blair).
And to be honest, I wouldn't buy Twinings tea just because Stephen Fry advertised it. Nor would I buy an iPad just because Stephen Colbert whipped the device out of his suit pocket at the Grammys. I buy products because of their use, not because of their association.
Which leads me to advertising. I don't mind inventive TV adverts, which are mini films in their own right. The advertising I most hate is the inaccurate use or misuse of science in their campaign.
I have long hated any adverts selling formula milk. Any TV advert seems to claim that the formula milk has added substances to help children be smarter, forgetting to add the fact that most of these substances do occur naturally in your diet and there is no need for supplementation. Also advertising seems to portray drinking these brands of formula milk will instantly make your kids brainier, without mentioning the need of a stimulating environment, good schooling, an appropriate social group and parental involvement.
I often thought that parents should be drinking formula milk more than their children, since obviously they blindly follow anything advertised on TV.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Professional hatred (part 2)
Recent events have brought up some another profession I despise...
Tabloid reporters
I respect most reporters who uncover stories of corruption by government officials or tales of deception by big companies. I have great admiration for the journalists who go to dangerous spots in the world like war zones or areas of high crime to highlight the plight of the oppressed and the underrepresented.
There is one branch of journalism that I don't like: the tabloid news. Basically they publish news which will make them the most money, rather than news which should be relevant to the people reading or watching it. They drum up ridiculous stories, such as celebrity gossip. I can't stand celebrity gossip. There is a primetime half hour show on TVB Jade, the local Chinese channel here in Hong Kong, devoted to stories about popstars and soap opera actors. Thankfully the evening news is on the other channel at the same time, sparing me from having to watch that trash.
There is also news that is totally irrelevant and doesn't have an impact on me even in the slightest. Such stories include, "I found a picture of Jesus on my toast!" and "Tortoise found with two heads!" These stories have a definite interest but they should displace the economy or the war in Afghanistan or the plight of flood-stricken Pakistanis from the front pages. These are stories that swarmy git Piers Morgan would put on the front pages of the newspapers during his time as editor of "The Sun" and "The Mirror". If there had been a face of tabloid journalism, his face would be it... and I would never get tired punching it.
There is one aspect of journalism that I don't like. In the recent tragedy of the Hong Kong tourists dying in Manila, I was really pissed off when journalists, with their microphones and cameras surrounding the survivors like a pack of vultures. All they wanted was to get the story but would they consider their feelings? These people have gone through the most horrific trauma of their lives, being shot at and seeing their loved ones die right in front of their eyes. At least give them a day or two before asking them how they feel (which is a bit obvious).
Tabloid reporters
I respect most reporters who uncover stories of corruption by government officials or tales of deception by big companies. I have great admiration for the journalists who go to dangerous spots in the world like war zones or areas of high crime to highlight the plight of the oppressed and the underrepresented.
There is one branch of journalism that I don't like: the tabloid news. Basically they publish news which will make them the most money, rather than news which should be relevant to the people reading or watching it. They drum up ridiculous stories, such as celebrity gossip. I can't stand celebrity gossip. There is a primetime half hour show on TVB Jade, the local Chinese channel here in Hong Kong, devoted to stories about popstars and soap opera actors. Thankfully the evening news is on the other channel at the same time, sparing me from having to watch that trash.
There is also news that is totally irrelevant and doesn't have an impact on me even in the slightest. Such stories include, "I found a picture of Jesus on my toast!" and "Tortoise found with two heads!" These stories have a definite interest but they should displace the economy or the war in Afghanistan or the plight of flood-stricken Pakistanis from the front pages. These are stories that swarmy git Piers Morgan would put on the front pages of the newspapers during his time as editor of "The Sun" and "The Mirror". If there had been a face of tabloid journalism, his face would be it... and I would never get tired punching it.There is one aspect of journalism that I don't like. In the recent tragedy of the Hong Kong tourists dying in Manila, I was really pissed off when journalists, with their microphones and cameras surrounding the survivors like a pack of vultures. All they wanted was to get the story but would they consider their feelings? These people have gone through the most horrific trauma of their lives, being shot at and seeing their loved ones die right in front of their eyes. At least give them a day or two before asking them how they feel (which is a bit obvious).
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Professional hatred (part 1)
There are some professions I despise. Mostly it is a generalized stereotypical hate, born out of their reputation than actually meeting anybody in that career path. Yet I have met some people working in these areas and they just confirm my prejudices. They are blood sucking parasites and their cull would benefit society. I apologize for any of my friends who are in these jobs. Once you are outside work, you're generally a good human being. Once you start talking about spreadsheets and euros, you start to become a prick.
Lawyers
Generally I haven't encountered a real lawyer. I met some law students whilst I was studying medicine and they seem OK. It's just the one's who seem to represent the scum of the earth and bill their clients into bankruptcy I have a problem with. One of those law students (who was pretty fit) justified to me that everybody has a right to representation. I tend to agree with that (and not because she was fit). But the lawyer also has a right to refuse to represent the client. I generally couldn't represent the client knowing he or she was guilty.
Also lawyers are the ones who make the law so monumentally difficult to understand that you need to employ a lawyer just to get past the contents page in the law books. If the law was much easier to understand, most people would respect it more rather look at it as some secret code ruled over by an occult society.
Right-wing politicians
I think most of the general population hates politicians. Actually I tend to think most politcians are decent folk. Yet it is the ones who come from the right wing who irk me. Most of the ones from the left wing tend to enter the field so they can do some general good. If you think of all the prominent politicians who have done good in the world, they tend to have left wing politics. Naturally there are socialist leaders who haven't done that well, such as Josef Stalin.
Most of the right wing politicians come into the field to protect their own - the businesses - and nothing else. These are the ones who tend to abuse their power by employing their friends and family into prominent positions. These are the ones who are the most likely to put everything they use on expenses and get the taxpayer to pay for their holiday in the Caribbean.
Before you ask, I am a socialist / left-wing favourist. I do acknowledge there are left-wing politicians who perform these heinous crimes as well. Yet in the grand scheme of things, it tends to be the right wing politicians who seem to come out of these scandals smelling of shit.
Anyway, I do have more professions I hate but I think that is enough bile for one blog entry...
LawyersGenerally I haven't encountered a real lawyer. I met some law students whilst I was studying medicine and they seem OK. It's just the one's who seem to represent the scum of the earth and bill their clients into bankruptcy I have a problem with. One of those law students (who was pretty fit) justified to me that everybody has a right to representation. I tend to agree with that (and not because she was fit). But the lawyer also has a right to refuse to represent the client. I generally couldn't represent the client knowing he or she was guilty.
Also lawyers are the ones who make the law so monumentally difficult to understand that you need to employ a lawyer just to get past the contents page in the law books. If the law was much easier to understand, most people would respect it more rather look at it as some secret code ruled over by an occult society.
Right-wing politiciansI think most of the general population hates politicians. Actually I tend to think most politcians are decent folk. Yet it is the ones who come from the right wing who irk me. Most of the ones from the left wing tend to enter the field so they can do some general good. If you think of all the prominent politicians who have done good in the world, they tend to have left wing politics. Naturally there are socialist leaders who haven't done that well, such as Josef Stalin.
Most of the right wing politicians come into the field to protect their own - the businesses - and nothing else. These are the ones who tend to abuse their power by employing their friends and family into prominent positions. These are the ones who are the most likely to put everything they use on expenses and get the taxpayer to pay for their holiday in the Caribbean.
Before you ask, I am a socialist / left-wing favourist. I do acknowledge there are left-wing politicians who perform these heinous crimes as well. Yet in the grand scheme of things, it tends to be the right wing politicians who seem to come out of these scandals smelling of shit.
Anyway, I do have more professions I hate but I think that is enough bile for one blog entry...
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Cause and effect
I don't listen to much music anymore. Most of the time I download radio programs and podcasts, nearly all of them coming from the UK. One of the radio programs I like is "The Infinite Monkey Cage", a BBC Radio 4 program mixing science and comedy. One of their episodes was science and religion - always murky waters to dive into. The priest who was representing religion believed that science comes across as having all the answers. The scientist representing, eh, science (a bit obvious - he wasn't exactly going to be representing religion, was he?) replied that science doesn't always have the solution and that is why there is science - to look for the answers. That same concept applies to medicine. Doctors and medical experts don't always have the answers but we continue to pursue for the answer.
I don't think the main population realize this concept. They believe medicine is this magical science, that one pill will cure all illnesses and doctors are wizards who can miraculously make people better. Yet it is not like that. The miracle should be the human body, which can repair itself despite some horrendous injuries and damage. Most of the prolongation of life expectancy is not due to the invention of antibiotics & medication or the advancement of medical technology but due to the improvement in hygiene and sanitation.
The main parents' question, "Why did my son/daughter get infected or get this disease?", doesn't have a real concrete answer. Yet there are a lot of questions they ask which is borne out of not stupidity but ignorance or the lack of proper education at school. Why don't you use antibiotics in this viral infection? My child has had a fever for two days but it isn't down yet - why? Is there any particular brand of formula milk which will make him cleverer, prevent him from getting infections or make him able to fly? Why can't parents remember the time when they were children and constantly having colds and runny noses all the time?
Clearly what is needed a change in the education system. More of this basic information should be taught in children at an early age, along with social issues such as what is a government and why do we need to pay taxes, etc. If we had education like this, I would see less cases of kids coming in with a gum infection because his mother did not bother to brush his gums every day but every week.
********
Still looking out for potential girlfriends. Just hoping one of the beautiful women from TVB Pearl News to notice me. Keeping my fingers cross. There are a few cute ladies who I am working with. There is a fellow Family Medicine trainee who is cute but she is one year senior than me (not, should I emphasize, one year older than me) - don't know how that will work. There is also a cute student nurse working in the paediatrics ward. The paediatric doctor I'm working with is also very cute. I love her look with the those secretary/librarian glasses.
I shouldn't mention anymore - she could be reading this :P
I don't think the main population realize this concept. They believe medicine is this magical science, that one pill will cure all illnesses and doctors are wizards who can miraculously make people better. Yet it is not like that. The miracle should be the human body, which can repair itself despite some horrendous injuries and damage. Most of the prolongation of life expectancy is not due to the invention of antibiotics & medication or the advancement of medical technology but due to the improvement in hygiene and sanitation.
The main parents' question, "Why did my son/daughter get infected or get this disease?", doesn't have a real concrete answer. Yet there are a lot of questions they ask which is borne out of not stupidity but ignorance or the lack of proper education at school. Why don't you use antibiotics in this viral infection? My child has had a fever for two days but it isn't down yet - why? Is there any particular brand of formula milk which will make him cleverer, prevent him from getting infections or make him able to fly? Why can't parents remember the time when they were children and constantly having colds and runny noses all the time?
Clearly what is needed a change in the education system. More of this basic information should be taught in children at an early age, along with social issues such as what is a government and why do we need to pay taxes, etc. If we had education like this, I would see less cases of kids coming in with a gum infection because his mother did not bother to brush his gums every day but every week.
********
Still looking out for potential girlfriends. Just hoping one of the beautiful women from TVB Pearl News to notice me. Keeping my fingers cross. There are a few cute ladies who I am working with. There is a fellow Family Medicine trainee who is cute but she is one year senior than me (not, should I emphasize, one year older than me) - don't know how that will work. There is also a cute student nurse working in the paediatrics ward. The paediatric doctor I'm working with is also very cute. I love her look with the those secretary/librarian glasses.
I shouldn't mention anymore - she could be reading this :P
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Insurance and financial plans
There are a number of jobs I hate, which will be a topic of a later blog entry. One of the people I hate are those trying to sell you insurance or financial plans. I have been ambushed three times and have been asked out to talk about buying a financial firm's scheme to make money for me and more importantly for them. When they approach me, I'm just too nice to turn them down. I smile politely and answer their questions. Now I just resort to not taking their calls. Thank goodness for caller ID.
I just want to say this to all people who have to sell stuff like this. If I wanted a financial plan, I would have bought one already. If I needed insurance, I would have already acquired it. I don't need to buy something I don't need or have no intention at buying at this moment. I'm not reliant on my parents or anybody else for money and vice versa. I'm quite happy to stay with the Hospital Authority for my health needs at the moment. If I die, it would be a travesty (in a financial sense) to my family.
So please, stop pestering me.
I just want to say this to all people who have to sell stuff like this. If I wanted a financial plan, I would have bought one already. If I needed insurance, I would have already acquired it. I don't need to buy something I don't need or have no intention at buying at this moment. I'm not reliant on my parents or anybody else for money and vice versa. I'm quite happy to stay with the Hospital Authority for my health needs at the moment. If I die, it would be a travesty (in a financial sense) to my family.
So please, stop pestering me.
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