6 Months Later... and a Year Older

Time changes everything. It's free, but it's also priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it, you can never get it back.

Yes, I am finally back to pen down something on my now 'rusty' blog (in the metaphorical sense of course). How're all of you who have so faithfully returned repeatedly over the past 6 months to see if Yours Truly has put up some new post? I sincerely hope that all's well with you who are reading this, and if you share the same faith as I do, may the Lord do a good work in your life today! xD

This hiatus of half-a-year has given me time to reflect about the past year, about what I would resolve to change this year; as I experienced a major wake-up call, something I did not expect, something that made me realise how much I needed to get my life back into perspective. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and the past 6 months have given me time; time to reason, time to think, time to believe, time to mature, time to care, time to fellowship, time to pray, and most importantly, time to love. Also, there's just so much to thank God for, but that'll be for another post-to-come.

More significantly, as I'm writing all this down, I know that for better or for worse, I turned a year older 1 hour ago. My birthday wish this year is somewhat similar to what Solomon asked from God: a wise and discerning heart (1 Kings 3).

As I turned 23, I recalled something related to age (something medically relevant as well) that I read a while back, that might interest some of my more medically-inclined readers: the enigmatic but awe-inspiring story of Brooke Greenberg. Just like any other toddler, she likes to giggle and crawl around. She's 76 cm (30 inches) tall and weighs about 7 kg (16 pounds), but Brooke was born in 1993. At 18 years old, she's still trapped in the body of a 1-year-old due to a rare condition called Syndrome X (and no, it's not the Metabolic Syndrome that some of you know so well!). A doctor observed, "Her cellular age does not match her actual age." Some people believe that she's the world's first "immortal". It is really a medical mystery of this century!

I just ended my Paediatrics posting, and will begin my Obs & Gynae posting next week! Really enjoyed my Paeds posting thoroughly and no doubt am gonna miss it! I'm also blessed to have awesome subgroup mates! =D Cheers D,V,S & YP!

Yeah, so folks, this is Yours Truly once more, hopefully with more things to add to my blog in the coming weeks! Till then, take care y'all & God bless!! =D

*listening to City Harvest's God of My Forever*

~Tim~

This Makes Sense... Even Though I Don't Believe It!

While browsing through Facebook today, I couldn't help but notice a link that one of my friends from KL posted. He was actually linking what some other guy linked, which was a post about, well, I won't be a killjoy and spoil the fun... you should just read it yourself!

Disclaimer: Personally, I don't agree with what he postulated at the end, but the following is for entertainment purposes only. Here it goes:

The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term exam. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well...

Here is the "Bonus Question" on the exam: "Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?"Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.

As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different Religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell.

With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added. This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa (a girlfriend of mine during my Freshman year) that, "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you", and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over.

The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct...leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God."

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A."

In Memory of Those Who Perished 9 Years Ago On This Very Day

I can't believe it has already been 9 years since we witnessed the telecast on TV depicting the horror and shock that took the world by storm. The act of terrorism against the world's foremost superpower demonstrated not only the devastating effects of war, but also highlighted the fact that man, with all his hatred and vengeance, could lash out barbarically against another man (men) of another race. In monstrous acts like this, no party is truly the victor. All there is, or rather all that is left, are the charred corpses of human flesh plus the peril and anguish that comes along with it... and to what benefit? Yes, in war, it is true that if you don't seek to defend yourself or your nation, you seek only to accept defeat and loss of life, maybe even your own. Human nature compels each of us to defend ourselves when being assaulted or when our livelihoods depend on victory in war. But the real questions the world must ask are these: Do we need war and is it really necessary to produce the so-called "needed" changes on a global scale? Who truly benefits from war and are there any hidden motives and agendas behind each strike, be it ballistics or nuclear? All of us, as one humanity; as one mankind; and as brothers of one flesh... should ask ourselves whether there is a need to perpetuate the already growing tension among the races? Why is the notion or idea of world peace something idealists nowadays would dub as 'far-fetched'?

Think about these issues and make your own conclusions ppl! Oh and Selamat Hari Raya to all my Muslim friends who also happen to read my blog! =)

p.s. FYI for those who still don't know what I've been up to recently, here's a preview:

Well, basically, I've built 3 virtual cities on this new SimCity-like game called Cities XL, and I've taken many, many screenshots of 2 of these cities, just like the one you see above. This one's from the city I named El Grandios, and more pictures of these can be found by clicking here. The other city, The Ambrosia Islands, can be viewed by clicking here. Juz so you guys know, if I weren't doing Medicine, I'd prob be doing Architecture or City Planning for my basic degree lolz... Well, have fun with the tons of 'eye candy' you get from these two FB albums! Till my next post... Cheers!

~Tim~

How Being a Busybody Can Pay Off

I hope you guyz/gals don't get mislead by this post's title. It's juz that everytime I visit my blog, I am reminded how much I want to say here. Problem is, time is of the essence, especially when things are getting more intensive here in my Internal Medicine posting. Gonna pen down something here real soon hopefully, but it's prob gonna be during the weekend. This week alone, I have my MCR (which is in 9 hours time, man I gotta call it a night soon!), EBCP project, Long Case Discussion, etc... and I haven't started preparing my PBL presentation! Sigh, the things I sacrifice for the greater good of mankind! ~

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

From Surgery to Medicine

Ahh, seems like ages since I last blogged... Maybe, just maybe, the voice within me resonates to a frequency that shatters all desires and ambitions to just mindlessly blog like some people do on their blogs. Perhaps the perfectionist within me blogs, or at least tries to, about things or events that exemplify and amplify the quality rather than the quantity. Even more imminent is the knowledge that this semester of my 3rd year in MBBS demands an even greater need to excel and push myself harder to do well. It is probably for this reason that I missed out on this year's CF camp, which happened to coincide with my first day of my Medical posting. Disappointed as I was when I found out, I knew that this path of selflessness, sacrifice and integrity was my 'higher calling' to do something in this world.

Well, a week has passed since it all began. Just like that, Week 1 ended. But like many of my friends, we can agree that it was a good one, to say the least (they say that the first week is always the calm before the storm). As the mindset of my peers and I shift towards the other half of the Year 3 syllabus (i.e those who were in Surgery last sem, like me, would now be posted in Medicine and vice versa), we were given a brief overview of what was to be expected. Our group tutor was none other than Dr. Wong Yin Onn, who was renowned for his passion in teaching Internal and General Medicine. Many of us would agree that he is a doctor who commands respect, a physician who emphasizes on finesse, and who pushes us even further to think and correlate basic sciences with the clinical aspects of medicine. He mentioned that by the end of this posting, he hopes that he would have made us into better doctors for the future!

By far, I still miss Surgery. Last sem, my group members and I were under what many of our seniors said were 2 of the best teaching surgeons that Monash had employed. It wouldn't be wrong to say that both Mr. Farouk and Mr. Shwe had somewhat 'drilled' into us the general principles of Surgery, and it was fun learning from their respective perspectives. However, it is time to move on... Medicine should now be the focus of my attention!

Note to self: Push yourself Tim! You're halfway through MBBS, just another half to go! Just don't burn out along the way and as best as you can, maintain the exercise regime you've planned for yourself! Trust God and He'll do the rest, He'll provide and give you the strength you need!

~Tim~

Wisdom For Life

My siblings (JC & Eve) and I

AWESOME FRIENDS!!

Well peeps, it's been ages since I last penned down my thoughts on my blog... almost a good ol' 2 months! Let's juz say that for the most of it, I was pretty busy with end-of-sem assignments and preparing for my Formative Written and OSCE exams. It's been a good whole week since my hols started, and let's just say I have not been in Malaysia for almost the entire week; the reason being that I was in S'pore and Indonesia for my annual church camp at Batam Island.

Overall, it was a good and refreshing camp, and I got to do things I never did before: experiencing the thrills of cable-skiing and being on the receiving end of an hour-and-a-half massage at a massage parlour. Yeah, those 2 activities alone kinda burned a hole in my pocket, but thankfully, I still had some cash leftover in case of any emergency. Had an awesome time with my old church friends, and I got to know a few more peeps who made camp even more fun! =) Thanx esp to AWESOME friends Joanne Yan, Hoy Meng, Angie, and Matt Yeo for the memories!!

Now, for the real purpose of this post: to share with one and all what I learned from this camp (yeah, I'm sure you guys are all eager and waiting anxiously for this part! =p) Our camp speaker, Ps. Steven Tan, delivered his series of a total of 8 messages from the book of Ecclesiastes. Yet, he somehow managed to squeeze all those sermons into 4 consecutive days; meaning there were 2 sermons per day! They were unique in the sense that his first sermon was the Conclusion: Fear God and keep His commandments. Although the speaker went through each message pretty fast, he did state some points that made for some good food for thought. Below are the main points I extracted from the rest of the messages:

1. When it seems that God does not answer our prayers, it may be that He wants us to live with unanswered prayers (or rather the answer of NO or WAIT)
2. If God lays upon your heart to do something, just DO it (out of love)
3. We can make a significant difference not by doing just the significant things in life, but by doing the little things faithfully
4. A man's worth is determined by his worth in God's eyes
5. On the surface, a man who is wise will ultimately have the same fate as a man who is foolish
6. It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it
7. Sometimes, silence is golden: DO NOT utter meaningless words... just be still and know that He is God and He is in control
8. The right attitude is essential in whatever we think, say and do
9. DO NOT be a "stranger" in your own family
10. The end of a matter is better than its beginning
11. Never overestimate nor underestimate yourself - in everything we do, do in moderation
12. Make full use of every opportunity you get - you may not get a second chance!
13. Life doesn't meet all our expectations - we need to lower them a little sometimes
14. Unexpected things happen... expect them!
15. Live with a generous spirit - it can enact a chain of blessings to many people around you
16. Youths should "live for the moment"... but they will all be accountable to God eventually
17. Give yourself to worthy causes!
18. RWS - Relationship with/Walk with/Spirit of God --> Elements of a healthy Christian life