Penang Vacation and Graduation Day

I know it's a bit basi dy, this whole graduation day stuff but i dont graduate from medschool everyday..so i just have to write about it here. Bear with me people.

I was more excited about my family coming to Penang than the graduation ceremony itself. Mind you, sepanjang 2 tahun lebih belajar kat Penang my family has never come to visit, takde beza pun dengan belajar obersi. I iz very independent you know.Dulu datang Penang pun angkut barang sendiri takde maknannya makbapak nak hantar depan pintu.

So when they finally teringat that they have a son studying in Penang and he's graduating, they decided to do rombongan to Penang for the first time ever. There's a lot of much cheaper accomodations in Penang but i made them booked 3 rooms at Equatorial to sort of made up for neglecting me these past 2.5 years. Besides, the conferring ceremony was held at Equatorial so might as well..

-le parents

-L-R: neglected son, dentist to be,SPM leaver aka ex Coffee Bean worker,overweight architect,mommy dearest. Not in picture: youngest sister 

They only stayed for 1 night in Penang so itinerary dipenuhi dengan sight seeing dan makan. We went to Balik Pulau for durian, then from there drove straight to Feringghi, made a pit stop at Straits Quay and went to Kapitan for world's best cheese nan. Owh and we had lunch at Lineclear Nasi Kandar.

Luckily eldest brother has been to Penang many times so he acted as the tour guide. I cant be the tour guide due to my extremely poor sense of direction and also because my 2.5 years in Penang only revolved around 5 places- home,hospital,college,Gurney and Tesco. 

The conferring ceremony was on Sunday. It was nothing special, really. Because our college are so heavily influenced by Irish traditions, the graduation day for our college was nothing like other local uni. There's no gamelan, istiadat itu ini,hanky-panky and stuff. It's very simple, and fast. Sebab satu batch ada 100 lebih orang je, so the ceremony lasted for about 3 hours++.

-morning of graduation day

-no,im not tall. My parents are fun-sized.

-graduands with lecturers and Irish delegates

-with Gembo, ex INTEC classmate. One of the award receiver on that day.

Sadly, i had to leave early. It was a Sunday so my parents and brother have to go to work the next day. So takdelah lepak lama pun and i didnt take much photos with friends or lecturers. Takpelah kang banyak sangat gambar syahdu pulekk nak meninggalkan rakan kolej.

Hope to see you guys soon, fellow doctors!

Tweet

Dr Muhamad Hatim Abd Razak, MB BCh BAO

Alhamdulillah.

I have passed my final medschool exam. So sementara belum conferring ceremony ni kiranya im unofficially Dr Muhamad Hatim. Wah taip ni pun rasa poyo melampau geli geleman aku heh. I used to get irritated when people called me doctor before this, ye lah sebab kau tu dah lah medical student yang tak seberapa pastu orang panggil doktor tak layak woih, besides i dont want to jinx it. Dahlah ada blog readers yang mistakenly thought that im a houseman. Gila houseman mana update belog seminggu sekali.

This whole journey in medschool was fun. The first 2.5 years in Dublin was the best, didnt really studied much...most of the time was spent travelling. Sila jangan contohi ini. Lepastu balik Malaysia buat klinikal hampir depresi sebab susah.

Im thankful for wonderful friends that i have here in Penang. In fact none of this would be possible without them. Kalau tak sebab study group yang bermula last menet sebelum exam (again,sila jangan contohi) tak mungkin subjek medicine dapat habis cover sebelum exam.

-komplilasi nota hasil study group yang gigih.

Special thanks to my housemates Amir and Thariq who put up with my asshole-y behaviour throughout this whole 2.5 years. I've a tendency to become a full blown asshole when im depressed. 

And trust me,i'm depressed like all the time.

Also to Marsh,Dyla,Elia, Haleem, Reen and others who were with me through thick and thin and thanks for not judging when i let lose in the karaoke room.

And to my wonderful parents yang sembahyang hajat dan berdoa siang malam. Mama siap puasa on the day of my exams.Orang yang ambik periksa ni pun tak puasa dan sembahyang hajat segigih tu T_T . Medschool is 60% knowledge and 40% pure luck. And to get that 40%, you need your parents doa and redho. So thank you Mama,Ayah. 

To the lecturers,doctors and even patients who have taught us so much. Some were nice and motivating while some were sarcastic,garang melampau and borderline annoying. But whatever it is thank you for your time and ilmu.

Last but not least, my family. Starting with Opah and Atuk for their unconditional love, for making it easy for me living far away from Nilai. My siblings, cousins (who are more like siblings to me) pakcik dan makcik-makcik yang awesome who treated me like their own child. Thank you for your endlesss support and for your doa.

To my awesome classmates who pushes me to be better in my studies and in life. We did it. Now let's catch up on some sleep. 

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Tweet

The Perks of Being A Wallflower

Nowadays it is very hard for me to find time to read non medical books. Dahlah takde time, harga buku di Malaysia juga adalah sungguh menghiris perasaan. Back in Dublin i make it a habit to always have at least one novel on my nightstand. Jadi sebelum tidur boleh baca at least 2-3 pages untuk menaiktaraf penguasaan Bahasa Inggeris sebab 2 tahun setengah duduk negara omputeh kalau English tak improve baik kau balik study dekat Nilai je.

And since final exams baru habis beberapa minggu yang lalu i thought maybe it's about time i do some non medical readings. So last week i went to Borders and get a copy of this;

I dont normally do books review but this one is an exception. Everyone needs to get a copy of this. The story revolves around a socially awkward emotionally troubled teenager named Charlie. Penceritaan adalah dalam bentuk surat yang ditulis oleh Charlie kepada seorang 'kawan'. Im guessing this whole writing letters to a friend is his psychiatrist idea since Charlie expresses himself better in written form.

If you by any chance took a course in Psychiatry or Psychology pembacaan novel ini akan membawa anda ke tahap orgasme berganda as you try to figure out what the hell is wrong with Charlie and what had actually happened when he was a kid. He gives hints in his letters but never a straightforward answer which makes it even more interesting.

Bahasa yang digunakan adalah sungguh simple yet very effective and beautifully written. Senang nak paham untuk kita-kita yang English koyak ni. Lemme share with you some of the excerpts from the book;

"I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them"

Here's another one;

"Sam climbed in the back of the pickup, wearing nothing but her dance dress. She told Patrick to drive, and he got this smile on his face. I guess they had done this before...Anyway, Patrick started driving really fast, and just before we got to the tunnel, Sam stood up, and the wind turned her dress into ocean waves. When we hit the tunnel, all the sound got scooped up into a vaccuum, and it was replaced by a song on the tape player. A beautiful song called "Landslide." When we got out of the tunnel, Sam screamed this really fun scream, and there it was. Downtown. Lights on buildings and everything that makes you wonder. Sam sat down and started laughing. Patrick started laughing. I started laughing. 

And in that moment, I swear we were infinite."

It took me only a bus ride to KL from Kuala Kangsar and one night in a hotel room in Malacca to finish the whole book.

Why i board on a bus to KL and how i ended up in Malacca is a whole different story but the point is once you read this book, you'd want to finish it. Towards the end of the book i cried a little. Not like when Dumbledore died kind of cry but still, it affects me emotionally to a certain extent. 

They made a movie based on the book. And im glad Stephen Chbosky who is the author of the book directed the movie. One of these days imma find it online and watch the shit out of that movie.

"we accept the love we think we deserve"

Everyone go get yourself a copy of this book. Now.

Tweet

Weeks of Torture Is Over

This past few weeks have been hell. Exam 4 subjek hardcore dengan minggu pertama written papers back to back setiap hari rasa macam nak terjun jambatan. Exam paling susah sepanjang medschool so far. But to be honest its getting more susah each semester. So i should probably take some prophylactic antidepressant before next semester start.

This is yours truly room during study week;

This is after i did my laundry and decided no time should be wasted on folding clothes.

I was a total mess. Mentally and physically. See that orange thingy on the study desk? That is Loreal Men Expert serum or water or whatever they call it - my last effort to keep myself somewhat presentable. Tidur 4 jam lepastu bangun tepek Loreal Men dengan harapan wajah bersinar ala Aaron Aziz sambil tepek sambil nyanyi lagu Muara Hati feeling sangat pffft. Dahlah horror gila minggu exam terbangun setiap 2 jam lepastu menggelabah tengok jam takut tak sempat study 30 juta chapters yang tinggal.

Pernah tak rasa tertekan sampai tiba-tiba develop migraine lepastu rasa nak give up dan berhenti belajar dan mulakan bisnes cupcake atau jual tudung syria dekat facebook? I feel that every single day ketika minggu exam. My parents hope and doa are the only thing that keeps me going.

Diet ketika exam week consist of mostly fast food. Simply because it's fast. Nak lipat kain pun kurasakan membazir masa apatah lagi nak ke kedai makan order tomyam tunggu 20 minit. Jadi penyudahnya McD drive thru ataupun pizza delivery sebagai alternatif. 

Lepastu kalau order Domino's boleh keep track order online. So sambil tunggu pizza sampai target habiskan baca beberapa page lecture notes. Sungguh efisyen di situ.

Ada satu hari je tebiat gila tiba-tiba teringin masakan sendiri. Kau mampu mengidam masakan sendiri? Masterchef pun tak sekonfiden ni. Jadi goreng bihun bodoh, rencah guna bebola dan fishcake sahaja sebab tak mampu nak beli ayam akibat bajet burst buat bayar Mcdonalds dengan pizza sepanjang minggu.

Tapi serius time-time exam memang akan mengidam benda pelik-pelik. Tambahan pulak tak dapat balik beraya lagilah perasaan membuak-buak nak makan makanan dari rumah. Termimpi-mimpi dapat makan gulai lemak dengan sambal tumis. 

Habis exam bergegas balik kampung hari Sabtu dengan harapan dapat makan sedap. Setibanya di kampung this is what i found under Opah's tudung saji;

Sambal sotong dengan gulai lemak ikan rebus.

Omaigod rasa nak nangis. Macamana opah tau dah berminggu mengidam nak makan sambal dengan gulai lemak?? She gets it right every single time. Soulmate betul.

My boo doing her thang.

Siap mengadu nasib tak dapat balik raya makan spaghetti dalam bilik sorang-sorang like a total loser. Terus dihidangkan minum petang kuih bahulu raya haji. 

Terharu.

Tweet

Wash This When Dirty

Lama sungguh belog ini dibiarkan tandus. Sejak sebelum end of block exam O&G haritu memang takde mood nak update. Sekarang tengah study leave 2 minggu sebelum finals. Ya, 2 minggu untuk cover Public Health, Paeds, Psychiatry dan O&G. At this point i'm just thankful that i still dont have any bald spots.Yet.

Students and exams are like Paris Hilton and STD. Inseparable i tell you. Jadi redho sajalah but at times i do miss those moments when life was so much simpler.

-awesome instruction i found on one of my shirt

And as usual when i'm all stressed out i'd go to youtube and watch ridiculous videos. So, my top pick ridiculous video of the moment is this;

'Ahkak' tudung pink muka iras Didie Alias. 

Tweet

Roti Tahi

When it comes to eating out im not fussy. At all. The place could be next to a huge longkang but as long as they serve good food, i can always pretend that im in Venice. Besides, for a student who survives on 700 ringgit per month the 'ambiance' of the restaurant is the least of my concern. Asalkan sedap dan MURAH.

Being attached to the inspectorate unit of the district health office, i had a chance to tag along the health inspectors during restaurants inspection. Nasib baik pergi restoran-restoran besar jadi takdelah horror sangat tahap kejijikan dia.

And most importantly tak pergi restoran yang selalu dikunjungi untuk dinner. Kalau tak memang puasa seumur hidup lepasni akibat trauma melihat kekotoran makanan yang dimakan saban hari.

The first restaurant that we went to was a chinese restaurant that serves dim sum. Masuk-masuk je semua pelanggan menjeling curious apahal restoran ni nak kena raid ke apa, terasa macam artis pulak jadi centre of attention. Tempat makan dia bersih dan proper tapi sebaik melangkah ke dapur nya, terserlah kejijikan di situ.

-but this is actually not that bad. Ada group lain yang pergi tempat 20 kali lagi jijik.

-mesin mengadun doh dim sum di tepi longkang kecil yang airnya mengalir tenang. Wow,sungguh kembang tekakku.

Salah satu syarat untuk restoran ialah tak boleh letak food dan utensils directly atas lantai. At least kena ada alas. Tapi kalau setakat alas dengan bakul lubang-lubang cenggini baik tak payah.

-pinggan mangkuk yang telah dibasuh. Siapa dapat pinggan bawah sekali mesti ekstra sedap sebab ada jus lantai.

And these sengkuang ada alas tapi dengan air bertakung di sekeliling, tidak hairanlah jika percikan jus lantai akan menambah perisa kepada sengkuang tersebut. Pisau yang digunakan untuk memotong pula memang dah marinate siap-siap dengan air lantai.

Selain dari air jus lantai, aroma dari tong sampah tak bertutup berdekatan tempat memasak juga menyumbang kepada rasa lazat yang membangkitkan selera pelanggan. Maka tidak hairanlah golongan sampah masyarakat semakin berkembang biak. Bak kata pepatah purba; you are what you eat.

The second restaurant that we went to was a Thai restaurant. Pernah makan situ dua kali sebelum ni. Gulp.

Nasib baik tahap kebersihan dia tak berapa teruk,74% tahap kebersihan. Kira not bad la tu. Cuma some minor offence saja seperti;

-sudu garpu ditos di atas longkang. (patut sedap kedai ni)

-longkang tersumbat dengan air yang bergenang jernih.... NOT.

-menggunakan chopping board kayu

Sepatutnya semua premis makanan perlu menggunakan chopping board plastik as it is easier to clean. Chopping board kayu ni bila guna lama senang pecah-pecah. Jadi serpihan kayu dia tu ke mana perginya kalau tak straight ke tembolok pelanggan? Lepastu kalau ada crack dekat chopping board tu memang 7 generasi bakteria boleh hidup bermuafakat di dalamnya.

Seronok juga ikut pemeriksaan macamni. Baru kita tau tahap mana kebersihan restoran di Malaysia ni. Kalau restoran mahal pun macamni rupa dia apatah lagi restoran kecil-kecilan di tepi jalan. And dont think that fast food chain semua bersih. Ada jugak yang dah berapa kali diarah tutup sebab terlalu disgusting.

And the health inspector telah mengkonfemkan cerita tentang roti canai tahi yang femes di Penang ni. Its not an urban legend,ia kisah benar.

Ceritanya begini;

Di negeri Penang yang diberi jolokan food heaven ada sebuah gerai roti canai tepi jalan yang pemes (nama gerai terpaksa dirahsiakan atas sebab perundangan ecewah). Ive been to that place at least twice (but obviously takkan pergi dah lepas ni). Satu hari,sedang melayan pelanggan yang berasak-asak si penebar roti canai mengalami sakit perut yang maha dahsyat. Beliau bergegas ke toilet yang berhampiran. Selepas melepaskan hajat dengan tergesa-gesa beliau menyambung pekerjaan beliau selaku penebar roti canai yang disegani ramai.

Tiba-tiba seorang pelanggan komplen, "eh apasal roti canai aku bau taik?" Rupa-rupanya si penebar memakai cincin ketika menebar roti canai beliau. Dan cincin tersebut tidak ditanggalkan ketika beliau berak. Sedikit 'mash potato' beliau terpalit di celah-celah cincin tersebut. Maka terhasillah resepi unggul; Roti Tahi.

Sekian.

Jadi kesimpulannya di sini, jika anda kaya sila lah makan di hotel kerana kedai tepi jalan adalah sungguh disgusting. Dan jika makanan anda berbau tahi, most probably ia memang mengandungi tahi. True story.

Tweet

Check Teloq

Actually rotation Public Health takde la se-bizi rotation yang lain tapi belog jarang update sebab masa banyak dihabiskan buat benda-benda yang tak berapa berpekdah. 2 minggu ni spend masa dekat district health office,klinik kesihatan,klinik 1Malaysia dan klinik desa dalam daerah Seberang Perai Utara.

-motif gambar tidak diketahui

In case you dont know already, i stay in Penang island.Maknanya 2 minggu ini terpaksa ulang-alik melalui jambatan untuk ke seberang which is a pain in the arse. To be honest all these visits to food lab and clinics were actually quite boring. Home visit untuk prenatal care pun takde buat apa sebab patient segan tak bagi student lelaki buat physical examination,last-last student laki semua lepak living room tengok re-run konsert final Kilauan Emas.

-ekspresi interested yang penuh kepura-puraan

Paling menarik mungkin  waktu ikut Unit Sekolah klinik kesihatan untuk bagi suntikan kepada pelajar tahun 1.Siap terjumpa sorang budak yang muka macam familiar rupa-rupanya duduk satu resort dekat Pulau Perhentian tahun lepas.Random sungguh jejak kasih.

Budak lelaki ramai yang kurus kering tapi yang perempuan pulak ramai yang sedikit overweight dan menjurus ke arah childhood obesity. Walaupun sedikit gempal tetapi comel melampau. Terus berangan kalau ada anak purposely nak bagi dia montel. Note to self: let someone else raise your future kids.

One of the boys said to me (in the most pekat Utara slang); "Abang, kami tak takut kena inject tapi kami tak maw kena check teloq"

-_______-"

Tweet

Sehari Feeling YB Di Kampung Orang Asli

You know you've made it in life when people show more concern for your weight gain rather than the unfortunate living condition of the orang asli. Suck it,Aishwarya Rai.

Kalau nak diikutkan status penduduk Malaysia, orang asli ialah golongan yang paling layak digelar bumiputera. Thay have been living in this country since forever. It is sad that we, fellow Malaysians know so little about them.

Sebelum lawatan ini, memang i myself stereotyped orang asli as people who lives in the jungle,sumpit binatang etc. Little that i know those days are long gone. They are actually a community yang struggling to keep up with urbanisation. Dulu orang asli ni bebas nak bercucuk tanam kat mana yang dia suka. Now, semua tanah ada geran, dengan sawit plantation being set up around their area. Justeru diorang punya sources jadi limited. In a way, they are actually forced to keep up with modernisation.

And judging from what we saw, they are definitely struggling to keep up with the rest of us. Most of them education level paling tinggi tahap secondary school, dan rata-rata student tahun 5 cuma hafal sifir up to sifir 4. Some cant even spell their own name, which is really sad.

Given the short time spent there, i know that we cant do much difference pun. But we tried to contribute something jugak for them. On the last day there,waktu pagi di spent dengan penyerahan sumbangan dan sesi ber-bonding dengan orang kampung.

Bila sembang-sembang dengan mereka ni baru kita sedar yang masyarakat orang asli ni sebenarnya dieksploitasi oleh banyak pihak dari parti politik hinggalah ke tokeh estate. Tak tau apa masalah dengan diorang punya meter bekalan air, tapi bil air orang asli adalah lagi mahal dari bil air di Penang. 

Ada yang tunggu masa nak kena potong. Kalau kena potong jawabnya memang minum air sungai yang penuh pampers bayi. Most of the women work in an estate nearby, earning average 300 ringgit per month. Pengangkutan pergi balik kerja ialah trak pikap yang disumbat berpuluh orang di belakangnya. Layanan yang lebih hina dari pekerja asing.

Kebanyakan mereka dah di convert to Islam. Tapi yang mengislamkan orang asli ni tak buat follow up. Jadi banyak yang islam tapi tak pernah sembahyang pun and tak tau basic agama. Dahlah basic agama tak diajar dengan lengkap, lepastu dengan kesempitan wang lagi..kalau mubaligh Kristian datang tolong memang sah-sah ramai murtad. Time tu baru kau nak menggelupur salahkan dakyah kristianisasi. Pelik jugak duit zakat banyak-banyak ke mana hala dia.

Lepas serahkan goodie bag dan beras plan seterusnya ialah nak buat informal motivational session with the school kids. Tapi memandangkan banyak masa lagi, kitorang satu group lepak dekat pondok depan rumah Pak Dolah.

One thing about orang asli is, they might not have much. Tapi once they accept you in their kampung they'll give you the best treatment they can offer. Ada satu rumah tu siap bagi kitorang souvenir. Sanggup dia selongkar rumah carik apa barang perhiasan yang dia boleh bagi. 

-sorang satu dapat. Terharu ;)

Yang isteri Pak Dolah pulak siap bentangkan tikar atas pondok untuk kami berbaring-baring. Siap dengan bantal. -____-" Segan gila hoi tak pasal menyusahkan bini Tok Batin.

Tak cukup dengan tikar bantal, hidang pisang pulak.

Dan air kelapa.

Dah macam bercuti kat Hawaii baring-baring menikmati angin sepoi-sepoi language sementara menunggu pukul 4 untuk aktiviti bersama kanak-kanak sekolah. Sambil tu mengasah semangat kesukanan dengan bermain gusti lengan lawan anak Pak Dolah.

We were expecting around 20 kids only sekali dekat 60 orang datang. Rasa nak pitam sekejap.

-antara yang paling awal sampai.

I took a group of standard 5 students. Basically takde buat apa pun,just sharing session tanya cita-cita masing-masing dan tunjuk pada diorang yang tak mustahil sebenarnya berangan masuk universiti. Banyak bantuan disediakan untuk anak orang asli kalau diorang nak sambung belajar tapi masalahnya kanak-kanak ni kurang dorongan. Sebab rata-rata makbapak pun tak habis sekolah. Jadi kepada kaunselor-kaunselor yang nak mengubah nasib anak bangsa,sila apply untuk bertugas di sekolah orang asli.

I have never given any motivational talk whatsoever jadi sedikit cuak di situ haha. Susah ok nak handle budak-budak sekolah ni semua nak tarik perhatian dahlah attention span masing-masing tahan 30 saat je, syabas kepada guru-guru sekolah yang berjaya menahan diri dari melempang anak-anak kecil ini.

At the end of the day i know that we didnt do much. 3-4 hari dekat kampung orang asli ni is hardly enough untuk membuat perubahan yang signifikan. I really hope those who work in Jabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli berusaha keras untuk tolong mereka ni. Dan ketua-ketua agama Islam pun harap dapat beri lebih perhatian pada masyarakat orang asli.

Bila dengar ada yang bercita-cita nak jadi pilot, doctor, cikgu  macam sedih pulak bila mengenangkan takde support system yang bagus untuk mereka ni and the fact that we didnt do much to help them. 

We were suppose to teach something to this community and turned out they are the one giving us so many life lessons. And for that, i will be forever grateful.

Tweet