Reflection at the end of the year 2013

Coincidentally, with the closing of 2013, three things ended.

First, is the closing of the year 2013. Like always, it has been a wonderful year. In fact, it is better than the year before. I count my blessing on that.

New acquaintances, new connections, new things to look out for in life. Most of it involved life adjustments - or work adjustments.

It's hard to spell out success stories. Success has a different meaning in different people.

In an academic world, being able to publish in high impact journal is one. For others, landing a huge research grant is also considered a success. For some, one grant is not enough. The more grants under your belt, the higher the status you attained, the more important you are among the research fraternity in the faculty.

The more grant the person bagged, the bigger the ego is. Psychologically, it helped with the confidence. But, having too many to juggle at one time - it seems a bit daunting. Not to mention distractions it may create to throw you off from your focus.

Completing a manuscript for publication - still brings a sense of satisfaction for most. Though it is the only paper for the entire year - and its publication is still pending for approval.

Success has different measures for different people. Nevertheless, you should not belittle others no matter how small their success measure is compared to yours.

The new year opens a new book for me to write on.

The end of a career for a teacher

How often do we feel when a teacher who had taught us before retires? Not often. Many teachers come and go, but we are not bothered with that. It’s a life cycle, we say. And it is a norm for people to move from one place to the other.

Not this teacher of mine. He will still be a teacher to me though I have been elevated as a colleague. He is an Orthopaedic surgeon, a professor. His sudden email informing of his retiring after serving 20 years in the faculty came as a sudden shock.

Let me tell you why he deserved to be reminisced.

Clinical teachers are usually dogs. They bark at any moves that is not in tandem with their teaching of clinical physical examination. They will, without hesitation, use the bell of the stethoscope like a hammer on the mindless palpation of an abdomen.

Prof PKL is not like that. Though he might be old school, his attitude is not. He is the scaffold that helps students to right what is wrong. He is what facilitation really means. He gets the students to think.

Most importantly, he inspires students. Several of them are now his orthopaedic apprentice.

It is usual for students to get playful at times. It may be irritating to the teachers involved. But handling them should not be rough. Otherwise, the same attitude will be returned to you. Play along with them, slowly and gently coaxing them to get into the real business. This needs patience.

Prof PKL is a patient man. Though we were wrong, he never let out hurtful words, in his anger, to us. He just kept quiet. His ears were red. And we know what that means. We could expect what is next. Surprisingly, out prediction was wrong. In his repose self, he did not get mad. He spoke when everyone was ready. When he spoke, it was civil, with authority and just. No parang wielding moment.

Well, he will remain in my memory. A living example of how a teaching doctor should carry himself.

The end of a loving wife and mother

This is another shocking news for a colleague - and all of us known to him. His wife has passed away. I shall not focus on the disease here.

From what I have gathered, it was quite a sudden demise for him. For the past two weeks, the family have been battling the disease and thinking of ways to treat it. The diagnosis came as a sudden. Prognosis was quite poor. The surgeon in charge whispered to him that she might not make it out of the operating theatre.

Worth it or not, it is still an attempt. She consented.

I imagined myself in his shoes. It’s unbearable. Yet, he was so calm and composed. His children were calm too. They seemed to have accepted it.

In fact, he has kept it a secret from the faculty - only to confide it with certain people. Imagine his mind worrying of his wife at home, and to carry on teaching the students.

Reflection point

The point for reflection is, as we are nearing the end of the year 2013, we must cherish whatever we have right here and right now. At any point in the future, we all will part.

So, take off your eyes from the FB page - if it leaves you fuming mad after seeing the statuses.

Stop paying attention to the WhatsApp messages on your phone.

Play with your children.

Kiss the hands of your parents.

Go for a movie with the family.

If your shift has ended, end it right there and then. Let someone take over it. Your shift now is with the family waiting at home.

May you have a wonderful year ahead. Happy new year!

Kelantan revisited

It has been two years since I left Kelantan. To say the least, it has been a memorable 4 and half year in Kota Bharu and Kubang Kerian area.

We had been contemplating and finding reasons to go back to Kelantan. Just visiting the famed Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah does not justify as our cause. To get our keropok lekor and keropok segera stocks does not qualify too. Finally, we gave ourselves the reasons to go when we were invited to attend a wedding of an extended family member in Tanah Merah. We felt a sense of relief.

We stayed in Perdana Hotel, which was prebooked online. Like a child with his childhood friends, Perdana Hotel has grown together with Kota Bharu. The hotel has seen the ups and downs of the town - being in the downs for several years - before undergoing renovation in the last few years to emerge as a beautiful butterfly. Without hesitating, my next stay in KB would be Perdana Hotel. 

Kota Bharu is similar. The town is not the same as the Kota Bharu that I know of in 2007. Obviously, the new Kota Bharu is the real "New Town". Rubbish and overfilled bins are not too many to be seen any more in the main town. I used to remember rubbish overflowing the bins greeting me in the evenings as I was returning to my home in Panji. Not anymore. The bins are still there, but it was not overflowing. The roads were resurfaced. Muddy shoulder of the roads that collects the monsoon rains is a thing of the past.

The completed flyover that connects Kota Bharu and Pasir Mas is ready. The traffic jams caused by the construction is gone. Traffic is smooth in front of KB Mall, the road to Wakaf Che Yeh and into Tesco KB.

Though my anxiety has disappeared with the disappearance of the gridlock that usually strangles the Sultan Yahya Petra road, there are still some pockets of brake-slamming-points in the town itself. This may be overwhelming for the first time drivers in Kelantan, enough to raise a point or two in the blood pressure gauge. But, for locals and localised outsiders, it is normal. You can expect a motorist to stop unexpectedly at the shoulder of a straight road - usually at famous eating points and banks - just be aware of this and slowly signal your way out to get to your destinations. Please do as the Kelantanese do - do not honk! If you honk, it is a tell-tale sign that you are not a local. Either way, folks are just as quaint as they are - forgiving you as the unknowing outsider or forgiving you as it is not your fault to stop suddenly at the roadside looking for food or cashing out some pitih.

Food - among other things - is what Kelantan is rich for. For me, the  Tom Yam here is among the best in Malaysia. I am not familiar with Kedah, but I am sure that the Tom Yams of Kedah is among the best in the region too. We owe this to the Siamese ties established in the northern states of West Malaysia with the neighbouring south Thailand. The Tom Yams in Sri Chieng Mai and Four Seasons restaurant is still a hot item and will remain to be.

Wakaf Che Yeh too has seen changes. If you have time to shop for bargain priced contemporary Batik designs, here is the place to be. The best part is, the market is all surfaced with tarmac, making walking a brisk and pushing the baby's stroller effortless. Surely, rainy season is not a hindrance. If you still prefer the modern air conditioned building, Bazar Buluh Kubu is a better choice. But, most of the items here are "executively" priced. Otherwise, the preferred option for most people is the Pasar Siti Khadijah, which is just next to the Bazar Buluh Kubu.

Among the food that I would look for in Kelantan is the Keropok Lekor and Sata. I would not think of another place to look for them except in Pasir Puteh - Besut border (Kelantan - Terengganu border). You know that you are in the "keropok lekor zone" when you keep seeing the "Keropok lekor" signs on buildings along the stretch of roads. Again, it would be tormenting for first timers to pick and choose the keropok lekor stall to stop at. My pick - the stall right at the border of Pasir Putih - Besut. Choose the one that looks like a modern looking store with racks of fish products. The lekor processing area, where the women folk tirelessly rolls the fish paste  to make keropok lekor is visible at the side of the building. The lekor here taste fresh with more fish than flour and is very soft.

Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to bring the lekor home without risking it to spoil in room temperature. Vacuum packed keropok lekor may be found in one of the many stalls. I know for sure, in Kuala Terengganu, you can request for your keropok lekor to be vacuumed packed.

For sata, I would prefer the wooden hut immediately before the bridge at Kuala Besut, if you are coming from the Kelantan side. You can see heaps of skewered Sata on the grill, ready to be barbequed. This great local finger food normally cost One Ringgit for three pieces.

Obviously, Kota Bharu and Kelantan has seen changes over the years. For me it is one of the places that will entice you to come repeatedly to rediscover with a different perspective.  

On Sydney

We just returned from Sydney. It was a short yet a nice visit. If Malaysia is truly Asia, then I would think that Sydney is truly Australia.

 

Sydney is not the capital of Australia. Canberra is. However, Sydney is the biggest city in Australia.

 

To get into Australia, you would need a visa to enter. Please refer to the Australian Immigration website to check for any restrictions that may apply. For a Malaysian, they are two routes for visa application. You can either apply for the e-visa that cost only AUD20 or pay AUD 120 for the conventional visa application. The latter is much more detailed and you will spend more time filling it. The process is simple and user friendly. The system will respond by emailing you the approval letter once you have cleared immigration. That easy.

 

The cheapest route to Australia from Malaysia is still by using the AirAsia. A direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney is available. The flight took about 8 hours. The time difference between KL and Sydney is about 3 hours.

 

We stayed in Devere hotel. It was a good location, very near the Kings Cross train station and the bus stops right at the hotel. Taxis are aplenty. For those that partake revelry, Kings Cross is probably the place to be. There are plenty of bars in the vicinity. Strip bars and adult shops are also there. I was concerned with the location of the hotel at first when the first taxi driver who took us from the airport to the hotel advised us not return home too late at night, especially during the weekend. Passing Kings Cross might not be safe as the place get a bit rowdy and feral with people fuelled with alcohol. In such instances, using common sense is the ultimate weapon to avoid oneself from getting into trouble.

 

Generally Australians are very nice and a friendly lot of people. They have this civil pride which I think is exemplary. They care for their environment. They are aware of their surroundings. They help as they need to, regardless of skin colour and creed. They are truly civic minded. I am quite ashamed to say that Malaysians are not as friendly and as helpful as the Australians.

 

In Malaysia, people honk in anger when you cross the zebra crossings. Whereas in Sydney, the pedestrian crossing the zebra crossing is given the priority.

 

In Malaysia, rubbish is left after the street vendor ends their day business. In Australia, the vendors maintains their surroundings, keeping the place clean as usual after ending their day.

 

In addition to that, I remembered seeing a man picking up litters on the road and put it in the rubbish bin. That happened at Queen Victoria Building. In Malaysia, that is seldom the case. I do still see a higher level of civic mindedness in Kuching though. Most of the time, Malaysians feel ashamed , or rather shy to pick up litters from the road and place them in the bin. The usual comments I frequently hear are, "It's the job of the rubbish collector or the road sweeper" or "We pay our taxes to the government, so the road sweepers are the ones paid to collect rubbish". That is the kind of mentality affecting the society now.

 

Oddly enough, I have seen Malaysians who have returned from developed countries brimming with proudness that they had lived "overseas" and telling everybody how clean it is in those countries, but at the same time, littering unscrupulously on the streets. How shameful! It seems like those years in the developed countries did not developed them well enough.

 

In Malaysia, thank you is only offered as they are told to, usually in hotels. But in Australia, people appreciates others more. I remembered when the passengers at the end of bus yelling "Thank you" to the bus driver at the end of our destination - Bondi Beach. Everyone appreciates the bus driver. May be that’s the reason why most bus drivers in Malaysia are rude and in the hurry at all times, critically when you are in the midst of disembarking the bus. They are an unappreciated lot. If only Malaysians can appreciate this part.

 

Word of thanks is offered almost at all times, as long as there is a human interaction that is fit for appreciation.

 

When asked for help for direction, I still remembered the elderly gentleman, in his suit, walked us to the road that leads us straight to our destination. He was patient in trying to explain the direction to us. We felt sorry for taking some of his time.

 

Well, there are many places of interest in Sydney and its surrounding. Getting around is pretty easy with the extensive transportation coverage. If you plan to stay there for a week, purchase the MyMulti2 ticket, which is enough to get you around places of interest. It is convenient that way. Please check out the link here.

 

The stations (bus and trains) can be downloaded in the PDF version. If you wish, you can also download the app "TripGo" on your smart devices that tells you real time on your current location and gives you an idea on how to get from point A to point B, by using public transport.

 

Some of the places that you should not miss are Darling Harbour and its vicinity, Sydney Harbour and its vicinity, Blue Mountains and the nearby beaches (Bondi and Bronte Beach). Be sure to see a Kangaroo or a Koala bear in any of the wildlife parks around - Wildlife enclosure at Darling Harbour, Taronga Zoo and Featherdale Wildlife park. It is a missed opportunity if you had not the chance to see animals unique to the Australasian Continent such as the wallabies, the platipus, wombats, emu and the cassowary.

 

Please note that some of the tickets are cheaper when purchased online.

 

Not to worry much though, once in Sydney, you can easily find a map that list out all places that you should visit. One brochure that I find useful was the "Sydney by foot" from the hotel. It gets you to all the "must see" places on foot.

 

For the shopaholics (and Malaysian), I would suggest that you go to The DFO Homebush and Birkenhead Point Outlet Centre in Drummoyne. I could not figure out why, or if the things here are cheaper, but Malaysians seems to love these two outlets. Most probably, Malaysians find it convenient to have household items and "branded" clothe wear under one roof. We were lucky that we were in the  Christmas holiday season. There was a sale of household items at the basement of the beautiful Queen Victoria building. Another important tip, visit a country during the festive seasons to get a bargain. 

It was memorable given the limited time and unintended happenings - little one was down with fever on the 4th day of visit. I would consider to come back again some other time to make up what was missed in this inaugural visit.