Just discovered that:
Somerset Maugham, Conan Doyle, Schiller, Smollet, Keats, Crabbe, Chekov and Rabelai were doctors....
Goldsmith got his degree from Oxford
and Goethe and CS Forester failed to qualify from their respective universities
So maybe there is hope left
and hats may cause baldness....maybe that is a fallacy but it suits my purposes for now....

I am looking over this post now..and it occurs to me..that there is a clean break of thought.
Maybe I am slowing beginning to understand why people find it hard to follow what I am saying
Or maybe not, let random thought flower and we shall coax the snakes out of their snake holes..ok that made no sense..but i have always wanted to use that phrase...let out my inner communist
like that time I wanted to pat Hans Blix on his head..i always miss all the fun..
but i missed out on Hans Blix...who stikes me as an exceptionally cute old man...
In the grandfatherly sense of the word....
Slightly more grandfatherly...then the famous Dr Mahatir..who is crucifying( how on earth do you spell that)...Rafida for her role in bringing in foreign cars...
Supply usually responds to demand( cobble together some economic theory). If the public want foreign cars, it is not the place of the goverment to coddle its own unpopular industry. If other choices are made so expensive, naturally everyone would buy proton...but if there is a free choice, and pple still buy proton..then you can vouch for the superiority of your product...
however, with that said, the free market economy in my opinion is slightly overrated...
but since anything i have to say concerning economics...comes from my uncle who believes that the western powers are out to enslave the world...and joseph stiglitz( how ever that is spelt)....I should stay silent....
i really do believe that if you want to change the world, you need to understand economics....my friends have been trying to teach me..but now..i need to sit down with a textbook and understand...
If i could get a second degree in something..it would be econs and history...
so many doctors, go spend years in africa...helping the poor..and they all say that it is the most rewarding experience of their lives...but if you really want to help pple, you need to eradicate the poverty
It makes more sense to clean up the water than it does, to treat pple for cholera..
According to the World health organisation, most of the childhood deaths in africa are aided by malnutrition...
And here, the link to economics....
we have a debt to pay to africa...and the other parts of the world that we exploited
( ok not us as in singaporeans..but those who once exploited africa, you know who you are:-)
with the same ease that we interfered with them, we have to rehabilitate them
giving money and loans...IMF and World Bank ways..do not seem to work..because opening up an economy without any of the pre developed fall back systems..is a road to disaster( stiglitz here)...but it makes sense...
and so much foreign aid that we give...does not combat the direct problem of poverty
for example some of saudi arabian aid( i dont know what percentage) is in the form of religious texts....ok...as much as i do believe that religion alleviates pain, food in my stomach would have a similar effect too..
and the only countries that are meeting their aid targets are those in scandinavia...
ok..america does give money..but it is not a significant proportion...
so much poverty.....and then there's disease..
AIDS that is ravaging the continent and creating so many orphans...
and stupid(childish but satisfying) drug companies which sell their retrovirals at ridiculous prices..these drugs can significantly reduce the mother child transmission of AIDS....
ok...the companies have bowed down to public pressure and sell them cheaper...
but even at cost, these drugs are too expensive....
and the governments are not helping either..Mbeki in south africa actually dared to question the link between HIV and AIDS...
If the leaders say things like this...how are pple supposed to respond...
AIDS is stigmatised and treated as if it is some kind of disease for those who made the mistake and thus must pay for it...
In asia, telling pple abt AIDS is akin to being ostracized...that sweeping statement is a little unfair to make..but then..why is it in singapore..the government is informed every time someone is diagnosed..how is that anyones business....
In Africa, so many people are dying of this disease...and things arent changing fast enough...
and there is the satisfying though of civil unrest..and civil wars..which make life worth living.. :-)
take a stroll in the Ivory coast..and try avoiding fighting rebels..

Basically, we need to develop a social conscience...
and I am going to really hope that no one reads this..
It's idealistic and rather naive...but I am going to 'stick my neck on the chopping block' to quote Subash and....
say that idealism has a place in the world..
because change only happens when pple dream of it...
I know that Africa has become a cause celebre of many people...I mean Live 8...I do not intend to rival the Bob Geldof publicity machine...and portray Africa as a dying, poor nation...
It is more about starvation and death...there is progress as well....it is not some cause to be taken up as and when we wish..to show that we have some kind of care for the rest of the world..
but honestly, we should do what we can to help..around us..in our communities.
For every starving african orphan, there is someone who needs help here...
so go out and help your communities....
next weeks topic will be...class based care differences in the singaporean medical system
to be awaited with bated breathe:-)

How can you not love her....I dont have the courage to put up Henry Ford hospital or My Birth...but go find them... 

16 weeks to go

Spent part of my day with aditi..she is such a darling...
and we both decided that since going away..we have become
1) Less scared of pple....now talking to randoms is really not a big deal..it used to be..
2) Less interested in what pple say abt us...since i dont see u ever...i dont see why i should waste my time on you
3) More confident as a result
4) Less judgemental than we used to be
5) Needing pple less...in the past..at least in JC..it was a calamity if there was no one to do things with..being alone was likened to being a pariah...
well now..i enjoy my lone time..and not needing pple to make things happen...freedom is a nice thing at times...and its nice not to need pple to make things happen..i can sort myself out and take care of myself perfectly now....
6) We have discovered our inner bitches...i know i have..since i dont feel the need to like everyone anymore...i still try..but i dont see it as a need....so...being mean..is easier now..:-)not sure if thats something to be proud of...that doesnt mean that i am mean to pple..more that i dont self censor anymore...

Ah.....more on my amazing life..and my life changing experiences..
well...most importantly..my skin..that took me weeks to tan to the right colour..is now the proud owner of 2 red mosquito bite splotches...I am not happy....
and the threading nazi overdid herself a little bit..cos there is now a cut above my eyebrow...so...my blood is red after all....

anyway...less interestingly...I went to court today...my sister...did an attachment with Subash Anandan and co...basically she is now Groupie no 1 and wants to be a lawyer..so all of ur are supportive of the latest career turn...
so..she dragged me to court...we were waiting from 8am ...the trial starts at 10...
and the same pple that were there the last time( been twice) were here today..
I call them my looney bins...cos all of them...could plead insanity..if the need be..
ok that was a mean thing to say..but they were so odd....like this guy who covered the death penalty, murder cases, capital charges, the PAP and his cat( i added the last one out of spite) in all of 10 mins...
thats looney bin 1
and then....2 tells bad jokes...and 3 doesnt talk...
I really wonder..why do these people go.....I can say that...if she wasnt interested in the law....i would never go to court...it feels so voyeuristic..like ur going into someones private space and watching them...when he comes in and looks for his family..i feel like i am interupting something private...what is it to me..if he is charged or not...i dont believe..in the role of concerned citizen...I will go to every session in parliament..if its an interesting thing that is being debated...thats the extent of my concern...I cant see myself as someone who is morbidly interested in trials....it isnt the rocky horror show..to gape at...its more a sad turn of events...that must be sympathized with..i mean...whether he did it or not...his family has been torn apart...

I have always been an abolititionist at heart...haha..stop the slave ships...
more that...I dont believe in the death penalty...for all the normal reasons first..but I think that we have a legal culture that errs on the side of caution...we arent too sure if he did it..but one life doesnt mean as much as the others we protect..tell that to his family..what is the real rationale behind killing pple for crimes...a deterrant is the one that is pushed down our throats all the time..but i personally believe that humans usually feel uneasy abt taking someones life...sure that there is a more eloquent way to put that...the distaste for removal of human life...and arent prisons abt reformation...is trafficking drugs such a heinous crime..that there is no salvation for it...and a state that sanctions killing of its citizens for crime has little moral authority...i know that it is tax payers money that keeps these pple alive....but that money can be found...society should not be abt condemnation but more....condusive to helping pple...with that said...there are some crimes so horrible that...i am torn..but Charles Manson and co dont come arnd every day

anyway..the psychatrists...two shrinks...one man...absolutely different decisions...the prosections guy..lets call him Dr D....was grilled at the stand today..and he looked so silly...
would not answer yes/no questions...and made the large mistake of writing in a report..that the patient did not qualify for the defense of diminised responsibility( the whole purpose of the trial..if the shrink tried the patients..we could save on an expensive court process)
yup...the patient said that he was seeing forms in the last interview and he did not follow it up..for some reason he was convinced that it wasnt delusion but hallucination..how did he know that with no evidence...
EVIDENCE BASED MEDICINE( feeling quite strongly abt that)..
didnt interview the parents..thought that modern shrinkology...( i refuse to admit that they might even be scientists...i'm think glorified witch doctors in most cases)
was based on the concurrence of childhood experience and adult action...
didnt read the nurses report properly..first rule in medical practice...always trust ur nurse...she/he sees the patient every day...and manages the patient...
and had to be prompted by the prosection a lot...
anyway...i was not impressed..but the defense guy was probably equally objectionable...
I do respect the profession..they have helped many of my friends...but..I dont know...

Phone call wakes nisha up from sleep...
Hello Nisha, do you want to teach...
yup..i thought that the gods of employement were making it easy for me by employing me before the job search has begun..prayers do get answered maybe..
then...she calls me back after getting me out of bed..and tells me that they dont need me today and that she will call abt tmrw..
that had better not be a brush off...
this bruises my fragile ego:-)..
back to looking for something more up my qualification alleyway.....i'm sure that everyone needs waitresses...esp intelligent ones like me..who can be counted on to drop something or burn someone
well...i am going to spend the rest of my day..in thoughtful reflection...
about the time i nearly got employed:-)
and do something useful and wholesome...like get a haircut
ah love.....
why is it so bloody hard to get a USEFUL, WELL PAYING job

Upstairs....
Run away from every one...
ie..going to spend the next few hrs pretending that i dont exist...
so might as well go on...its therapeutic
Bit worried abt it..dont really know how to react...sometimes you wish you had the foresight to make the correct decision....
actually very worried..cos its so surreal
he was fine a month ago...and now..he's in hospital and the doctors are hovering arnd him
and no one really seems to know what to do...
Life is what i know

Post about my new and exciting life...one more day to waste...then it begins...rolls eyes....
Slept a full night finally...no waking myself up at 3 in the morning to think philosophical thoughts....
this term...for some reason is called trinity....i come from a school where the terms have such beautiful names..michaelmas, hilary and trinity..
anyway....the aim of that...was to say..that the term was terribly busy and now the lull is anticlimatic...
anyway...and yeah..i wanted to use the word trinity in a sentence....
well....got an email from a friend..which was nice..and there is always Carlos..who emails junk to me in Spanish...he averages abt 3 to 4 emails a week...and sometimes more..you think that he would stop by now....but he doesnt...
For all i know..its probably junk from some junk machine...but i hold on to the idea that Carlos is some random nut who writes spanish happy emails to randoms...idealist..
i know that they are uplifting cos we translated one..just to see what it was..and it was abt leading my life happily..or something like that...with no link leading to available products...
so thats Carlos...
Ok..feeling guilty abt using the word'nut'...so going to say concerned individual:-)
god...will my eyes stop itching...a bit sad that i am so so terribly allergic to my dog....on antihistamines and drugged....not yet..but eventually...when i manage to sneeze for 10 mins in a row.
I have no philosophy left...what happens happens....Nietzsche..what doesnt kill you makes you stronger..had to put the name up there...cos it sort of sounds like mine! Machine made philosophy...
like this book where this guy straight out of a small village thinks that the dryer is an oddly shaped TV
Does travel really broaden the mind...if so...then why were the tourists we met...trying to decide whether the rooster crowing in the morning was taped or not..and the other guy he was talking to...was like...haha..its not taped...its a cock in an urban area...and he didnt mean to be rude..probably thought that it was a witticism.
Or does it teach you..that when someone comes over to talk to you...and goes on and on abt something or the other....then puts his hand on your leg...and continues to go on and on...that you should probably be leaving....and that the dilated pupils you see on the guys face..are not a sign of interest....
or how abt when someone sits you down..and tells you that the country is a rotten place..and how much happier they were when they were home...how do you respond to that
I am never going to be the traveller that i want to be...cos I still fear things...like I do still fear for my safety...when i let go of that...then I am going to Algeria....