| Dear all.
Sorry for being away for some time. Have been pretty busy with O&G. They have a peculiar rule that dictates people to start work at 6.45 in the morning and stay on till 8 pm.
Well, here are the updates.
30-31st May 2003
It's Pesta Kaamatan! Harvest Festival is here! All around Sabah you can find signboards screaming 'Kotobian Tadau Kaamatan' (Happy Harvest Festival). Kaamatan is the annual celebration of the Kadazandusun Murut community. Here in Sabah, all races join in the festive mood. As Kaamatan approaches, various districts will hold the Unduk Ngadau beauty contest to chose the fairest sumandak, and the winner will advance to the finals in Kota Kinabalu. There are two grand finals, one hosted by Pairin and the other by the government. I was in the midst of the crowd watching the KDCA Unduk Ngadau finals. Quite boring lah … so many people and the stage was soooo far away. And the weird hairdo made those lovely sumandaks look really old. Kaamatan is essentially a celebration of the sacrifice of Hominodun, a lovely princess who was sacrificed by her God-king father, who had to cut her into pieces to pray for good harvest during a bad drought. Her spirit subsequently blended into the paddy plant, and the Kaamatan has a Magavau ritual to reunite her spirit. Unduk Ngadaus are supposed to possess the good characteristics of Hominodun. As generations pass, the ancient belief has pretty much faded with time. But the spirit remains: Kaamatan being a festival to rejoice and give thanks for one's harvests in life, whatever they may be. It's like Thanksgiving lah.
I went balik kampung with my foster family during the second day of Kaamatan. There was a big family gathering in
Bundu Tuhan, not far from Mount Kinabalu. We had a real kampung-style celebration there. Was really honored when my foster parents introduced me as their 'eldest son' to the other kampung folks. Thank God that even though my own family is far away across the ocean, He provided me with one that is nearby.
5-6th June 2003
It's Church Camp! This time it was held in RasaRia Resort, a beautiful beach retreat 30 km away. Speaker was Pastor Paul Ang and wife (both imported from West), and theme was "Prophetic Fire" … hot hot! Had a great weekend of listening to sermons and hanging out with friends. Among important things learned was:
* Be a Thermostat, not a Thermometer: instead of complaining of things not going right, find some way to make things right.
* Praying prophetically means saying things that have still not happen as though it has come into being. Does it work? Emmm… but I think it's an untapped area of spiritual resources.
* Hanging out with energetic Young Adults can be really fun. Just try not to feel odd being the rare species of 'singles' surrounded by married couples. Got to know each other better.
1st July 2003
Am currently attending the SIB Likas English service. However when I am free, I would also go for the BM or Mandarin service, coz have some friends there, and to experience something different. I think SIB is a pretty good church. They manage to strike to fine balance between evangelical and charismatic. And every Sunday, the Great Commission is being reminded to all congregations. This is so that we do not lose track of His purpose while enjoying ourselves in the Christian Club.
Am joining the Young Adult cell group of SIB English. We named our group 'The
Anchor'. Anchor Beer sponsors our meetings with sepuluh tiga (just joking laa). Think it's a really great cell group. Our members are between ages 18 to 30. At the moment there are 3 young couples, one baby and one more in production, a few more future couples and a sprinkling of singles. Oh imagine the agony of having the married people pressuring you to 'find one also lah'. The best defense I found so far is 'so when are you going to make a baby?'. Anyway, we have lots of fun and fellowship together. Susan and Bobby cooked a wonderful Western dinner for us again last Sunday. Really appreciate their concern for 'single person eating outside all the time'.
The 100 Days Prayer is going on in Sabah. Churches come together every month to pray for among other things, unity of the churches, SARS and plagues, anti-corruption and administrative transparency, family values, economy etc. Besides that, those prayer items were also mentioned in each church's prayer meetings and Sunday service. If you think prayer meeting is boring, try attending one of those combined churches prayer. Went for one last week, and I tell you prayer can REALLY be exciting. The prayer mood that night was so powerful. And it's really good to see people of different churches and denominations coming together as a family of God and seeking the Father's heart.
Life has been pretty well. Whew, how fast time flies. It's July already. Two more months and it will be one complete year since I came to the Land Below The Wind. And we are now midway past year 2003 already. As I approach the end of Housemanship, and the first year in Sabah, I am challenged to ask myself: what have I done in the one-year here? Have I achieved the things that I came for? Have God changed me in any way? How have I grown socially, professionally and spiritually? And lastly, where am I heading, what is my direction? Where is my
PASSION?
It has been raining a lot in Sabah for the past one week. Rainy season is here. Sometimes the rain can go on from dawn till dusk. And the best thing is, there is no floods like those in KL. So, come to Sabah! Am still traveling on my faithful two-wheeler despite the downpours. Think it's due time to upgrade to a proper four-wheeler. Waja looks promising.
More doctors are coming to Sabah. During my time, there were only 9 of us from University Malaya. This year there are 14, about half are Sabahans. I think it's a really good thing for the state, to have her own children serving her people, instead of having to rely on imported players (some are really lazy). But sincerely I think that most imported doctors do not have the same burden as local bred doctors.
Still doing plumbing in O&G department. Pretty boring subject if you ask me. The scope is quite limited and most of the things are routine stuffs. In terms of management, the golden rule is "the Protocol is always right, unless overruled by Royal College Guidelines or specialists opinion (Grade C evidence, you know…)". So after some time, things become so routine and spinal-reflex, with very little room for creativity. Yawwwnnn… Oh, of course during those boring times, I always know where to find some entertainment. Just pop into the Labour Room and there will be lots of fresh and hot-from-the-uterus babies available for play. Hahaaaa… And the ever presence of cute, energetic and blur student nurses always lighten up a boring day.
8th July 2003
Went for SCUBA diving over the weekend. This time it is for the Advanced Open Water
Diving course. We did 5 dives in 2 days around Manukan and Mamutik Island. That includes Underwater Naturalist (great dive, identifying fishes and corals), Navigation (using compass underwater), Peak Performance Buoyancy (THE skill in diving: how to stay elevated and completely still), Deep Dive (18 to 30 meters), and Night Dive (yes, at night, with torchlights). Had a great company of crazy doctors. If you think seeing Nemo and friends in cinema is interesting, wait till you see the real stuffs under water. Awesome! Will be going to Sipadan Island for the REAL dive sometime in September. Our O&G Head is crazy about diving and is in the process of starting a dive club in Hospital. Whew! My next goal will be the Rescue Diver certification.
I am falling sick now. I think I caught a cold during the diving boat rides. What the heck, it's all worth it.
10th July 2003
Am really free these days. I am now in-charge of the Alternative Birth Center (ABC) located up the hill. Not many patients, maximum also 8 only. And most are long-standing patients, e.g. placenta
praevia. Basically, morning rounds means entering "condition same" and "continue same" into the management plan. Morning rounds can be completed before 7.15 a.m., leaving me with lots of time to play with the new babies that came along during the night, and taking them for a stroll in the adjacent garden. Then I go down at 7.45 a.m. for the departmental morning prayer (of course we pray for our patients lah… you think what). Best thing is, no MO or Specialist bugging you all the time, because they don't even appear up there. Any problem, just make a tele-consult and send the patient down to the main ward. That's why I can sit here and type now.
Went for a Combined Churches Prayer Rally last night. The event marked the midway of the 100-day prayer for Sabah rally. It's really wonderful to see churches of different denominations coming together to pray for a common cause. Best part is, it was held in beautiful Catholic Cathedral. Turnout was great. The meeting was conducted in 3 languages, cool! Was really surprise to see the Catholics worshipping with drums and electrical instruments, lifting hands in worship, and speaking in tongues! Things have really changed. The last time I went for a Catholic service, it was only sitting and standing in solemn still.
Am waiting for my placement notice. Still don't know whether will I be sent to the Districts, or kept in Queen's Hospital upon completing housemanship in 8th September. Anyway, I am still waiting to do my Paeds and Surgery postings. My medical specialist is encouraging me to take the MRCP as soon as possible, so that they can have enough medical MO next year when most of those fellas around now would have passed their Part 2. But, haiyo, still dunno whether my passion is in the field of Internal Medicine. Then again, no harm doing some extra studying, otherwise it'll be so boring. Expect to know my placement sometime next week. Will stay back in Sabah for the time being. My medical specialist
Dr. Lee Han Wei is boasting of "highest passing rate for MRCP in Malaysia", "reasonable workload with good training", and "where in Malaysia can you find 10 MOs in a
single hospital sitting for MRCP Part 2?".
Life here is pretty good really, not much dust like in KL. Yucks!
The pressure is mounting. When I
play with a baby in ward, the mother will ask,"Dr, sudah kahwin kah?
Cepat cepat kahwin lah. Boleh lah buat satu sendiri punya". Even the
nursing sisters and nurses are not sparing me... Help!!!
That's all for now. I need to catch Terminator 3, opening today.
Cheers,
Michael
Count your blessings!
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