convocation!

i've finaly truly graduated! wow! i can't beliv it.. i just cant cant cAnNot believe it!

how could it be?

today was a very happy day indeed.. this is the day when I received the most flowers, ever, in my life. wow... thanks to my belovd family.. n frens - kY, kkan, tee, er, patrk, liz, and the cute juniors. a lot of thanks to these special buddies, nvr forgetting kYin n su, for coming all the way here. haha, poor su -blur case. :p n also to frens who have taken the time to call up - uchen, yHar, aHoon, Richrd, ma, heng, and many more.. wow.. thanks! i'm really grateful! =)

afta taking pix ceremony from 12.15pm - 2pm, i was runnin al the way from Dewan Besar to our fac - we had oath taking ceremony there. Saya bersumpah.. oops.. we dun use such a convulsive word.. it was actuali, "saya berikrar..." hehehe... meeting my long-not-met coursemates was fun indeed.. some of them whom i missed so much.. aaahhh............ =)

life at work

perhaps i'll change my blog title to "Life at work" coz i'm finally working. i remembered when i went interview earlier, most ppl told me,"haiya.. small animal practice ar? no life man... " and i remember how i strongly swept that idea away with just 5 words, "it's a matter of priority."

question now is... how's my life. im living well.. in a land of strangers... but no fear.. coz i know that the Lord is with me. ;)

so far everything is going well... except that my medicine knowledge had really went down hill burying themselves. now im struggling to excavate them.. but so far doing ok. =)

convo coming next sunday... hmm... then i'll get my license.. and i can then call myself a TRUE VET.

oh yeah! imagine! 5 years for this day.... oh my oh my...

MV Doulos

Went to West Port to visit the famous MV Doulos this afternoon! Wow, it was a hot saturday, but many ppl crowded the floating book fair which is conducted, managed, maintained and organized by international volunteers- and i got a good harvest today. Praise Lord.

There are lots of books there - a wide range - includes animals (i wanted so much to buy an animal encyclopedia book there, but was budget tight, so have to hold back my dream), DIY books, mechanical and transports, world, languages, sports, motivation n leadership, religions, novels, children.. and all sorts! Though it was superb humid and claustrophobic inside, but i like it, coz i found what i wanted there. (tips! thr's a spot where you got cool air blowing down straight at you near the atlas area)

The best thing was, i believe the prices are standard - they're not hiked up by the taxes n etc. Bought 4 books, for only RM25.60! And one of it was "Window of the World" which is a thick hard-cover book telling n teaching abt the big wide world at only RM16!! I really really luved it! Goodness!

My recommendation? No matter how far, how humid, how hot the weather, GO GO GO!!! You can't miss this chance! The last time they stopped by Malaysia was 6 years ago! And the next time maybe 10 years.. or more.. we'll never know... So hurry up frens, grab this chance! MV Doulos, go go go! for more info, visit their website: www.mvdoulos.org.

Here are some pix... (there are more pix, unfortunately they're not in my camera, which means i dun have it with me rite now. so solee...)

sg trip

24-26june I went singapore. Heck, i've been to singapore more than a dozen times since small, so wat's the big deal with this? Well, the big deal is.. i was going with my frens! yep yep yep!

so on the first day we went to the thai market area (i forgot the name! can sumone help me wi this?), then went to check-in at a hostel in Geylang (hoo-hoo), National Library (which is so huge and grand, wow.. i'd luv to enter it jus for fun) and later went to Marina Bay had a super big bbq-steamboat thr. wow.. most of us ate til we tot our stomach will explode. N guess? I ate more than 30 prawns i think! n chen was there superbly de-exoskele (i know de-boning, skinning, but removing the exoskeleton, wat do we call?) for me. kakakaka..

then the next day was another fantastic one - sentosa. before this i've visited some "visiting singapore tips" - well they gave comments that there's nothing to see in sentosa, that it just exhausts your money.. but i realli liked sentosa! first we went to underwater worl, whic includes the dolphin show (which i tot they're slightly better than toffee's arts), thenwalked around snapping pix, go sea-swimming, then go watch musical fountain. Hmm.. it's basically a laser-projection show. Nothing much of fountain dancing to the music. I'd still recommend our very own Mines Wonderland if you'd reali want to see water-dancing. ;) N finally we went Clarke Quay and had a real walk thr...

On the last day we went Chinatown, Bugis walk and sumwhere.. which i cant remember the names. Hehe.. proved that i'm growing older - the lousy way. :P

Here are some pix to share. ;) wanted to post more, but blogspot's stuckup rite now. can't post. soleee..

Parents' wish

A reminder for myself and everyone... (for better view/effect, go to: http://parentswish.com/site02/index.html )

Pamela...

On the day when you see us old, weak and weary… have patience and try to understand us…

If we get dirty when eating… if we cannot dress up on our own…Please bear with us and remember the times we spent feeding and dressing you up.

If, when we speak to you, we repeat the same things over and over again…do not interrupt us… listen to us. When you were small, we had to read to you thousand and one times the same story until you went to sleep…

When we do not want to have a shower, neither shame nor scold us… remember when we had to chase you with your thousand excuses to get you to the shower…

When you see our ignorance on new technologies… Help us navigate our way through those worldwide webs.

We taught you how to do so many things…to eat the right foods, to dress appropriately, to fight for your rights…

When at some moments we lose the memory or the thread of our conversation, let us have the necessary time to remember… and if we cannot, do not become nervous…as the most important thing is not our conversation but surely to be with you and to have you listening to us…

If ever we do not want to eat, do not force us. We know well when to and when not to.

When our tired legs give way and do not allow us to walk without a cane… lend us your hand… the same way we did when you first tried your faltering steps.

And when someday we say to you that we do not want to live anymore… that we want to die… do not get angry… someday you will understand… try to understand that our age is not lived but survived.

Some day you will realize that, despite our mistakes, we always wanted the best thing for you and we tried to prepare the way for you…

You must not feel sad, angry nor ashamed for seeing us near you. Instead, try to understand us and help us like we did when you were young.

Help us to walk... Help us to end our way with love and dignity. We will pay you by a smile and by the immense love we have always had for you in our heart.

Dog-kick

It's just normal to hear the taekwando gurus talking abt side-kick, front-kick and turning-kick. OK, vets - they talk about horse-kick, cow-kick... deer-kick perhaps, but have anyone heard about dog-kick?

I usually bring my Toffee out for long walks, where he'll go wherever he want, whenever I permitted. After the long walks, once he reaches home, he'll routinely go "wash-wash" where I'll squat and check his feet and wash them. Yesterday I spotted some reddish spot on his right hind - seemed ulcerated. So I held it closer to my eyes to take a clearer look.

Suddenly I felt something hit hard on my face. For a moment, my sight was blurred. Confused. Suddenly I realized, "Toffee back-kicked me!" What's different from other animals' kicks were, he did not seem the least annoyed or cared about what I was doing with him earlier (other animals would have given warning signs before). OK, I understand, perhaps his right foot was in pain. The kick must have been a pain-reflex.

Just to prove myself correct, I took up his left foot, which was perfectly well. Surprisingly, he back-kicked again. Once, twice. All the same time he looked very relaxed.

I fell back, sitted, surprised, laughing out loud. I couldn't believe it! Toffee back-kicked me!

How dare him... grrr... ye watch out boy...

13dogs shot right in the owner's very house.

I read with dismay the news article from thestar, 30th june 2006, "Owner of 25 dogs tries to save pets from death".

Reportedly, the owner (Seremban) who kept 25 dogs in his own house, "defied a six-month grace period given to him to move the animals to another area". Seremban Municipal Council received a court order on Dec 20 last year to cull all 25 canines in the house. With the court order, together with four dog shooters from the state Veterinary Services Department and two police officers, they entered the owner's house and shot 13 dogs dead. The owner had tried to save his dogs, and managed to pack 10 of them into his car, but was not able to save the other 13. -thestar

Now my questions are,
- Is this the best way to cope with this matter?
- Why shoot to death? Why not a humane way? Shooting is in no way humane. NO WAY. no excuses. Do you kill a man (or cat) just because the man (or cat) scratches/ bites you?
- Why not catch and cage them, allow the owner to claim them later (as DBKL does)? or other ways? There could be other means of negotiations, such as asking for the professional negotiators' help, or animal shelters. Turning to violence and shooting should never have been an option.

- WHY CULL?
- Since the Municipal Council claimed that there were mounting complaints abt the dogs - where are the complaint letters? Black and white.

It crushes my heart to realize that in this time where we call ourselves "civilized" people, in a developing nation which thrives to be the global hub for education and technology, such cruel, merciless, inhumane shootings still take place, in the victim's home, right in front of their father (the owner) and other family members (other dogs). To make things worse, they are actually substantiated by the court. And a global hub for education? Think again.

What happened to our "Masyarakat Penyayang" campaign? Shouldn't the leaders (the court, Seremban Municipal Council, police and NS Veterinary Services Department) walk the talk? Show some example in the first place? I believe when Malaysians launched this campaign, the word "penyayang" did not only refer to the Homo sapiens species. It covers all living creatures, and what more, the man's best friend - dogs/canines?

It is disheartening and a public disgrace to learn that despite all the spites and cruelty that we, human beings, inflict unto the canines - who are not able to speak for themselves - they remained faithful and loyal always, entertaining and giving comfort to their owners whenever needed.

They had assisted much in the police forces, customs, saving people in rescue forces, helping physically and mentally-disabled people, and many more levels of people in our multi-racial society. In short - mankind needs canines.

I believe that it is now time that these canines deserve some care and love back from the society, especially the authorities. Stop discriminations. It blinds us. It hinders all kinds of progress.

The canines had successfully maintained their status as "Man's Best Friends", generations after generations. And I believe - forever more.

Last but not least, an applause goes to Independent Pet Rescuers and Malaysian Animal Welfare Foundation for the relief they provided to the grieving, distressed, heart-broken, tearful 66-year-old owner.

My sympathy goes to him and his children.

The heart of a man speaks thru his treatment unto animals. So is the heart of a nation.

Eng said: "My house became a killing field. There was blood everywhere. I not only lost my dogs but I also had to spend hours cleaning the blood. This is so inhumane. Those dogs were like my children." ~nst, 1st july 2006.