Tuesday, October 24, 2006

回来

Dying, death and to die

我以为我就快要死了。

我望着前方的镜头,同学们正要拍摄大合照。我感到晕眩心悸,我很清楚感觉到心跳的每一下挣扎。大伙儿兴奋的找位子,礼堂一片闹哄哄,在我的耳际声音就像退潮的浪慢慢在褪开,我的脑袋一片空白。极度疲倦,眼前的一切开始变得很陌生。意识一点一滴的在抽离,我知道我的时间要到了。我牵动嘴角,努力的挤出一丝笑容,这应该就是我的遗照吧!

321… 咔嚓!

一片黑暗。







那是一个很沉很沉的觉,梦里无光,没有景物,没有声音,没有知觉,什么都没有……直到我睁开眼睛。白,空白的白,脑袋僵直。我感觉到手指的移动,忽然间一切又回来了。我张大眼睛,看到白袍,护士,我才知道自己在医院里。

三天后的下午,我出院回到家里。家里没人。我独自坐在空荡荡的房子,望着墙壁发征。半晌,有人转动匙孔推开门走了进来。我抬头一看,是我的屋友。例常的问候和寒暄,但我对眼前的这个人却感到无比的陌生。

离开了现实那么久,我还是很难相信自己回来了。我走进房间,床上有一摞待处理的文件,地上有一箩上星期未洗的衣服。我望着书桌上堆积的课业,发现自己落人一大截。我不在的日子,世界还是继续运行,地球不曾停止运转。我有种莫名的失落。我翻开书本,想开始学习,但我读不到两行字思绪就飘远了。我为什么还要读书?就是为了赶上进度吗?为什么我还要回到以前那种庸庸碌碌的生活?忙碌一生最后也是两脚一蹬,那么这些辛苦又有何意义?我很迷惘。或许我根本就不应该回来?

我喉咙发干。我走出房门想到楼下喝杯水。下楼的时候我忽然有个念头,如果我现在失足滚下去会怎么样?我突然很想重复这一切好让自己回到以前,回到我昏迷的那一天,那么我就永远不用再回来了。死亡,是那么的平静安详,无牵无挂。当我的意识逐渐抽离,我感觉到自己再也不属于这个世界,我已经没有什么好担心的了。那种感觉是那么的平静、安详。世人无知,对死亡充满负面联想,每每谈死色变。我是个在亡门前转个弯又回来的人,我现在却好想回去



i'm supposed to die tonight

[Intro - 50 Cent]
Ahh man
You know where the niggas be at right?
Take me to 'em
[Chorus- 50 Cent]
All through the hood, I keep hearin' niggas sayin'
I'm supposed to die tonight
niggas come put a hit out and they talkin' like the sh*t okay
I'm down to ride tonight
We crawlin, whip stolen, AK loaded
I'm down to ride tonight
We smokin', straight locin', locked and loaded
Somebody gon' die tonight
[Verse 1 - 50 Cent]
This is nothin' new, I been in the position before
Grandma crib, niggas outside of her door
Different day, same sh*t, old mac, new clip
Thirty two hollow tips, gloves, no rubber grip
I'm a boss, but niggas never show no respect
I catch 'em slippin', I have 'em tongue kissin' my tec
Wanna come test me, pussy boy don't try
Police responds, never fast enough, the shots fired
Don't be stupid, find out who you f**kin' wit son
'Fore we find out where ya b*tch gets her hair and nails done
Its elementary, life is but a dream
You know row, row ya boat, your blood forms a stream
After you get hit, you shoulda thought about the sh*t
You took that paper, you take a life or ya life get took b*tch
Sometimes, I sit and look at life from a different angle
Don't know if I'm God's child or I'm Satan's angel
[Chorus - 50 Cent]
All through the hood, I keep hearin' niggas sayin'
I'm supposed to die tonight
niggas come put a hit out and they talkin' like the sh*t okay
I'm down to ride tonight
We crawlin, whip stolen, AK loaded
I'm down to ride tonight
We smokin', straight locin', locked and loaded
Somebody gon' die tonight
[Verse 2 - 50 Cent]
In 2002, if you asked me to make a wish
I simply woulda wished that my music would be a hit
Big said damn, niggas wanna stick me for my paper
And pray for my downfall, I understand it all
But me, I'm a little more flashy a nigga
So chances are, I'ma have to blast me a nigga
I'm on that keflon vest sh*t, that wild wild west sh*t
And eighty one 1 carrot stones in my necklace
I shine so hard, I make mothaf**kas wanna kill me
Every projects and every hood I go, they feel me
Know it sounds like rap, but this sh*t is real B
I don't talk that rich sh*t, but nigga I'm filthy
When I come out to play, had my mom been with me
You could bet your bottom dollar that revolver with me
Homeboy, frontin' on me will shorten your life span
Hold the mic with my left, the knife in my right hand
[Chorus - 50 Cent]
All through the hood, I keep hearin' niggas sayin'
I'm supposed to die tonight
niggas come put a hit out and they talkin' like the sh*t okay
I'm down to ride tonight
We crawlin, whip stolen, AK loaded
I'm down to ride tonight
We smokin', straight locin', locked and loaded
Somebody gon' die tonight

Tales From the cubicle no. 10

Sitting here as a patient in the cubicle no.10, I began to see the medical world in a completely new light, a world so different from that depicted in all my medical textbooks. Here, I see all kind of people wandering in the ward with their own agenda. A distinct advantage of being in the A&E ward is that people normally don’t bother to disguise themselves in front of dying patients so I get to see their true colours.

I spent most of my time with bunches of nurses around so I shall start with them. To my surprise when I first met one of the senior nurses there, she knew exactly everything about history taking. It then dawn upon me that doctor are not the exclusive holder of the knowledge of clinical examination as the nurses and other health professions also go through the same pre-clinical and some clinical curriculum. Ermm, I shall not take lightly of my fellow nurses next time when I started working.

However there are a lot more things that nurses can do far better that it makes the doctor pale in comparison. IV infusion supposedly should be an elementary task in clinical practice and yet the cardiologist that did this to me in the second day really sucks. He tried three different spots on my left arm, without the swipe, and finally managed to shoved the needle into my dorsal vein. I was already half dead by the end but he just simply ignored my agony. Worst still the needle was later proven to be a failure by the radiologist so I have to had another infusion done on my right arm. Until today there are still bruises on the three spots of my left arm and none on the other. In contrast the nurses are really skillful in this and a whole host of other primary care and I shall praise them for their superb technique. There is only one complaint during my first night. I was constantly being waken up for blood pressure monitoring and transfer to the rapid transit admission ward. Why do they want to deprive me of my slow wave sleep while it is the time when physical repair most needed… Now only I know what do they meant by “ we need to keep you overnight for (constant) observation”…

And there are the housekeepers that in charge of all the meals and cleaning tasks. The one that I first meet seems always grumpy because of the never-ending work and I was a bit frightened to ask for anything at first. Anyway after several meals I began to know her (mood) better and I can see that she is getting along well with other patients and nurses. However she is always the busiest figure in the ward working incessantly from the moment she steps into the ward. Patients eat three meals a day and she have to know who require a special diet, who is fasting etc. at her fingertips. One thing patients are quick to notice the who’s who in the ward, as long as they are not unconscious. Then they will know who to direct their request to whenever they need something. Sometimes I think they will rather all patients are comatose, then they don’t need to feed them and be sure that they won’t create any problem at all.

The assistants on the other hand are there to assist in the running of the hospital. They bring patients to various tests, dispose the clinical waste and manage the supplies. When it’s time for my CT scanning the guy just popped in and put me on a wheel chair. I don’t know is that a routine or a policy to use wheelchair for fetching patients because in my case I obviously still can walk. I understand that they trying to save time for the imaging process. However I felt slightly disempowered sitting in a wheelchair. Not that I am fussy about the hospital procedures but the feeling just strike me. In the past when I was reading the sociology textbooks I always wonder why people are so finicky and concern about all the small details in the patient-doctor encounter. Who on earth will care about things like gender inequality when they are very sick? Well now I know the answer.

The doctor above all is the people that care the least about the patients. They only come in at their own sweet time, make sure that you are not die yet, take the history and do whatever they need and then leave all the patient care to the nurses and housekeepers. Sadly enough despite all the sociology textbooks have been harping on to treat the patient as an individual, To them I am nothing more that a living pathological specimen lying there awaiting to be salvaged. Having taken all they want, they will just analyze your history and try to find out what’s wrong with you. If they are uncertain they will rush you to all sort of uncomfortable even painful tests. I think they just get a kick out of solving a jigsaw puzzle and if the puzzle is too badly torn (because of the illness or iatrogenic), they will just discard the puzzle and go for a new one. Just happen that I was reading a book by Michael Sparrow about tales of a country doctor. He was advised by a senior surgeon that “you will never become a good surgeon, or even a good doctor, until you have filled an entire graveyard with your mistakes.” (p114). So this is the kind of words they whisper outside the ward, I started to feel a strong distaste for doctors despite the fact that it is my future career also.

And the patient at last. The only poor fellow in the hospital who is only asking for a good night sleep and peace of mind. Unfortunately his peace is often disrupted by those uncaring doctors and overcaring nurses. Sometimes I think that excessive medical interventions are causing more harm than good to the patients. My neighbour next bed was suffering from a reaction from the penicillin administered. Starting from an arm fracture he ended up worse than when he first came in. Quoting statement in the critique of biomedicine: half of the drugs prescribed in the hospital are used to correct the side-effects of the primary medication, it appears to me now it is true that more people are suffering from iatrogenic effect of medicine…

Despite all the conflicting agendas of four groups of people, I still think that everybody enjoy staying in the hospital though. As a patient I am having a good break as I am momentarily excused from my duty and responsibilities. This is termed the “sick role” in sociology which a lot of busy people like me are more than welcome to take up the role for an occasional break in the hectic life. I am just carefree of my own illness as the doctors will take care of them. All I do is just sit back and relax, meal will be served at regular time. Strangely enough I had been having the most high-cholesterol food in my life in this 3 days despite I had informed them of my hypercholesterolemia.

There are no free lunch in this world though. Later in the day a lady came to me claiming to be an officer from the patient account department. I had been expecting the bill since my first day and finally the doom came. To my delight I was charged at the same rate as the Irish which i dunno what it means but i supposed is a good thing. Anyway I don't care and I just want to enjoy my holiday wholeheartedly until I was discharged.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

The Golden Law (of Sarcasm)

Murphy’s Law #28: If more than one person is responsible for a miscalculation, no one will be at fault.


When I first saw the poster of the Murphy’s Law in the tourist centre of the Cliff of Moher, Galway, I was very impressed by those witty lines. I was amused and at the same time applauded the wisdom of the author for making such insightful views of life. To a certain extent, the laws are very true albeit in a cynical way. And sadly enough, I had just verified two of the laws in person today.

There was more tension in the air in my third meeting with Michelle, just as I expected and prepared for. However one thing that never cross my mind is how many people actually involved in this. She wasn’t the person that did the sum. Somebody did it and there were somebody else who were in charge of the inspection. There were a whole host of parties involved and I had no idea who shall be responsible to this. This only complicated the whole thing and there was no point confronting Michelle because she seriously doesn’t know anything. Looks like I had been blaming the wrong person.

But this time she seemed to be outraged, due to my allegation. She must be thinking that I was trying to find trouble with her. However she managed to keep her temper and dealt with me composedly, even when I pointed out the fact that my housemates did not incur the same charge as I did. Murphy’s Law #30: In case of doubt, make it sound convincing.
Instead she tried to convince me that the charge was probably not put down in the sheet so my friends did not notice it. She noted quickly that I did not have evidence. She is smart.

In the end of the day, I had to give up because of the insurmountable technical difficulties with evidence. I went back home staring at my poster and pondering. I love my poster but I would not want to be part of the depiction. So smile… because anything than can go wrong, will go wrong…



张智成-莫非定律
专辑:listen to me

friday night
就在这城市
上百万人次,
努力摆脱小寂寞
这是joe
那是jane
随机认识
如果没感觉还有下一次 ha
每个场景都太类似
开始觉得没意思
不如呆在家里
喝挂自己
港剧日剧韩剧 discovery
眼睛酸好过大家抢帐单
有预感
今晚好象会有些不一样
你被安排坐我对面
oh my god好亮
控制住 huh
不要连waiter都把我看穿
你的意见并不多
一开口却都和我相反
爱情观
价值观
波斯湾
av女优宠物电玩
没有一样我们一样
重点是我喜欢怎么办
爱上你的 baby 你没有反应
你动了心 honey 她爱理不理
谁也躲不开
爱的
莫非定律
你要放弃
还是要好好珍惜
帅哥爱上恐龙
美女独守闺中
网友一定超重
期待一定会落空
这世界充满了这么多不完美
为甚么还要继续做梦
你说你认识的男生都一样
下半身思考上半身智障
吓我一跳
我的下半身从来都不会思考
该不会有甚么故障
这个joe不断附和你的意见
那个jane频频对我抛媚眼
简直浪费我宝贵的时间
我好想为我刚才的臭屁道歉
爱情没有谁会赢
而且永远不公平
有感觉不玩也不行
无法抗拒say
may i love you
yes i do
莫非定律我很甘愿
闭上眼睛 baby
想象去火星
告别地球你是唯一的移民
剩下这一夜谁陪你等黎明
你最珍惜就是你最爱的心
那天joe告诉我说
其实jane并不是很适合她
所以在他们两个人发生一夜情过后
就不再联络
之后就在聊天室上交了很多很多的好朋友
结果
他终于找到一个很适合他的女孩子
所以他就想说约她出来
看看长什么样子
很神奇的就是
这个女孩子竟然就是jane
难道这就是就是
莫非定律
爱上你的 baby


Tuesday, October 17, 2006

The Confrontation -- Preview


日有所思:三顾茅庐,必有所得,此乃史典所鉴。今日一役若不胜反败的话,我会一把火把整个茅庐给烧掉。

I verified with two of my housemates and they all confirmed that they were not charged for apartment cleaning. Now it is quite clear now UCC accommodation is lying!! I am going to confront that idiot Michelle to get back my money. But first I have to prepare my words lest the last Wednesday event will recur. Plus I need to get someone that is firm and articulate to back me up.

I demand an explanation for this.

I verified with my all housemates and there is no such thing as an apartment cleaning charge.

It is clearly something wrong now.

You might want to tell me what is actually going on now.

You should be the one to produce the evidence that this charge exist, if it does exist at all.

At first you said there is a cleaning charge and then you tampered with the database in order to cover up the whole thing.

Are you trying to fool me?

I am taking this very seriously. I consider this as a fraud.

You can deny it but I warn you, things can get really nasty when I make a report to your superior or even to the garda.

Your integrity is really questionable.

I will lodge a complaint against you and your company.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

The conspiracy

Medical Indicator: Paranoia is an excessive anxiety or fear concerning one's own well-being which is considered irrational and excessive, perhaps to the point of being a psychosis. This typically includes persecutory beliefs concerning a likely threat, or a belief in a conspiracy theory.


In this post-911 era, virtually everything can be turned into a conspiracy. Some Americans truly believe that the 911 saga is just one of the plots of the Washington government as a grand excuse to invade Iraq and then take over the lucrative oil export. On the other hand, there are the Arabic people that firmly think that 911 never happen before, “what you saw was actually the media tricks, a prefect wield of Hollywood technology to create a scene to the whole world, a scene that never exist.” “All media lie,” is his conclusion, which inevitably makes his words become a lie as well as the interview was shown in the CNN.

So, back to the deposit matter. I confronted Micelle the first time to no avail. However based on what my other friends told me, I strongly think that there was something fishy. So I went back to the Spires to check on the database. The receptionist seemed a bit uneasy when I make my request, and he straight call his manager to deal with me. Hmm, strange enough, as if you don’t have the authority to access the database. The manager came swiftly and showed me the database. There was a prominent comment left on ALL of my housemates’ entries that our apartment was allegedly left dirty, but no detail of what type of cleaning available. The second strange thing that I notice was that among all the people that were charge for cleaning, only our entries were left with comments. Too conspicuous that it became suspicious. When I questioned her about the amount charge for cleaning, she simply showed me the book of accommodation regulations citing the charge liable for cleaning an apartment, meaning that I could had be charged more.

My second attempt to uncover the truth was in vain. I was so disappointed. The manager must have tampered with the database to create the false evidence… wait a moment, I should have check the date the database last modified. Aiya! Now I lost the only piece of proof. I am afraid that I have to accept the reality now. Although everything looks kind of fishy, it could be also because I am being paranoid. I remember an old folk story [亡斧臆邻] about a guy that suspects his neighbour stolen his axe. Whenever he sees his neighbour he feels that he is hiding something from him. Until one day when he finally retrieves his axe, the very acts and gestures of the neighbour are no longer dubious. By the way, why would all these people gang up just to cheat my 25 euros? that doesn't sound reasonable.

So should I believe in their story despite all the weird, dodgy things? Or should I believe my gut instinct instead?

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Between Excuse me and Thank you


After staying one year in Ireland, I gradually assimilates into the western culture by picking up some common greetings. Every time I meet somebody the conversation will invariably encompass a few phrases of excuse me or thank you. This way of greeting has been working fine all the while until something happened today.

I was supposed to reclaim my deposit from The Spires as there is some miscalculation in the refund letter that I received. The refund is 25 euros less than what it is supposedly correct figure. 25 is not a small sum that I can just close my eye and ignore it. So I decided to demand for a pay back for the discrepancy.

After making several visits to The Spires, the final outcome turn out to be null. I was told that the 25 euros charge was on the database but not put on the letter. W-t-f. When I went to Micelle, the manager, to ask for an explanation, she simply replied me everyone was charged for that.

I was so disappointed when I walked out of the University Hall reception,. When I think back I felt that something was very wrong. In principle that is clearly her fault and she owe me an apology and she didn’t say so. Plus, There is no way apartment cleaning could be that pricey. I think I was cheated. However I ended up saying thank you to her when I left the reception.

I think something is lacking in my greeting style. I am always in a polite and friendly situation but now this is a different context. I am fighting for something and Excuse me and thank you do not seemed to be the most appropriate phrases to use. Or not sufficient I would say. Yea, something of stronger emotion and more aggressive should be added to my vocabulary. Then I have the inspiration.

From now on my amended expression will be:

Excuse me… sorry to bother you.

FUCK YOU… for messing up the whole thing.

Thank you… for your help.

That’s the word between Excuse me and Thank you.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

厚黑

Daily Thought: Winners are willing to do what losers won’t (by David)


Zack challenged people to kiss the birthday girl by volunteering himself to do it first. This trick works because we admittedly don’t have to courage to do that. Everyone has different consideration on kissing while it is arguably a socially acceptable act. You can't dispute the rule, can't object the game and perhaps you just cannot escape. So inevitably every guy on the spot except the bold one became a loser. But think back, does the embarrassment really matters a lot?

In the real world that is what it takes to become a winner. A thick face and a sheer disregard of people's opinion and the social norm. 脸够厚,心够黑。 This is theory of success written by 李吾宗。In this era of globalization you can't always resort to the excuse that “this is not our norm”. If that is the rule, accept it and play by it. Only the winners are willing to do what losers won’t. The same goes for love life as well. If you are not bold enough to show your love, how can you impress your gal amongst other guys? If Romeo never dare to elope with Juliet, there won’t be any legendary love story evolved. Sometimes you just need to do something radical to accomplish that, notwithstanding the associated risks and ribbing from others.


刘墉说过:贞操就像盒子的锁,挡得了君子,挡不了小人。——《你不可不知的人性2

在人生的路上,君子永远只能是Losers.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

行善

Daily Thought: He who waits to do a great deal of good at once, will never do anything.

勿以善小而不为;勿以恶小而为之。善恶非一日之寒,秋去冬来旷时寒流方能成冰。行小善,积大德,日子有功,涓涓细流可以汇成汪洋,孜孜滴水可以凿穿石壁。

佛教最基本的教育就是诸恶莫做,众善奉行。我以前常想行善是长大以后的事。等我做了医生开始赚钱,我就有很多行善的机会和本钱。甚至是隐姓埋名一次过捐一大笔钱,那才比较可观。

不过想想,如果我平日都没有回应我的恻隐之心,我怎能期待自己长大后会忽然变成善长仁翁呢?行善是一种习惯,需要培养和坚持,而不是被动的等待机缘。这就是Joe的签语饼告诉我的话。



Sarcasm

Daily Thought: One need a considerable understanding of the cultural background to understand sarcasm.

Sometimes I find it hard to catch the jokes or sarcastic remarks uttered. People thought that I am stern and serious which maybe cause me to be devoid of naming games or mockery. Or because I don’t know how to respond accordingly thus practically I am not a fun guy. I guess I may be just a bit less intuitive in ribbing but now I think there are more cultural reasons to that.


Ford Prefect is the alien from Betelgeuse in the sci-fi “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. He looks just like an ordinary Earthman with normal appearance. One thing is that after staying on earth for 15 year he still quite often fails to notice sarcasm unless he is concentrating. Not that he is unintelligent or have not master the language, he just don’t have the cultural background of a human to comprehend the apparent opposite meaning of Arthur’s words.

Bearing Prefect’s image in mind, now I think I am just like an alien trying to blend himself with the environment, attempting to make sense of jokes and sarcasm. I still thought that “Loser” is nothing more than just “a person that lose” until I check the dictionary to find out its derogatory connotation. And I always have to refer back when reading Scott Adam’s comics.

Implication: When learning a new language, you can always gauge your cultural understanding by reading the jokes section.


王力宏 - 不可能错过你

口白:
can you speak english?...那讲中文...
可是我的中文也不太好...对...
而且你的笑话我都听不太懂....不好意思

有时候只需要 一首歌就能 让我自在
忘掉要排队 空气湿答答 店员很坏
就是这个时候 有一朵玫瑰在我心盛开
就在这个时候 阳光跟着撒下来 看见整个城市 在恋爱

不可能错过你 缘份这件事有够奇怪 我不期待 却偏要来
不可能错过你 爱情总叫人迫不及待 多么愉快 自由自在
(我就是自由自在)



Monday, October 02, 2006

我和紫阿姨有个约会

我和紫阿姨在Main Rest 道别。今天是她逗留在Cork的最后一天,她即将乘搭下午的飞机回新加坡。

紫阿姨前个星期到来这里。因为外面旅馆昂贵,所以便暂时下榻在我们的居所。为表谢意,她决定煮一顿晚餐给我们。我临时有事离开,没有口福。但紫阿姨决定待我回来时进行另一个聚餐。她的友好程度已超过了初次见面相识的阶段。后来她留下了一封感谢函,里头夹着一张50大钞,而信件内容充满神话(神的话语),我才明白她的意图原来不是那么简单的。

她是个zealot. 此行送儿子前来读书,她仍不忘要向两个见面不到8个小时的陌生人传教,她的热诚由此可见一斑。第一顿晚餐她就祭出圣经故事来开始她的游说。两晚过后连Julian 都有点不敢恭维了。星期日那天,我们决定派Sean 去推掉这场约会。 结果下午他带着大包小包回来,说是紫阿姨招待我们的。这些东西还附带着来自天国的讯息——教堂弥散的时间。礼物攻势,我两年前也领教过这招。我虽然两次都没有和她正式会面,但她的盛情却令我永难忘怀。

临行前她不忘再三叮咛我要赴约。她说:敞开你的心去接受这神圣的礼物,不要一下子就否定。我想要解释一番却不得要领。在紫阿姨的面前我只有点头的份。

我和紫阿姨有个约会,那是一场我不会赴的约会。