Malaysians and Therapists

Listening to people crying while telling their life problems and stories on Prof Muhaya's session on Ikim.fm, i couldn't help but feeling that our Malaysian people are in a serious need of trained therapists (psychologists).

But nowadays therapists can't really survive in our country, mostly because of the social stigma. People don't want to be labeled as 'insane', or 'crazy', or 'mentally disturbed', just because of several visits to their therapist's office.

This taboo leads to severe depression among our people who cannot channel their problems to the right directions. Instead, they keep their problems to themselves or open up to someone who can't offer much solution. Not a good one, at least.

As muslims, of course the first one to turn to in the time of need is to Allah. That's what makes us different from the Europeans or Americans who mostly don't have much beliefs in diety. But professional help is also crucial. Trained therapists are experts in the sciense of psychology, which i think, is the one you should see to seek advice.

I however believe that our religious leaders (ustazs) can and should play some role in helping the matter at hand. Generally speaking, people trust their Ustazs and regard them as people who can offer spiritual advice when it comes to worldly problems, such as problems in marriage, or between siblings and friends, or even in work place.

But in order for this to be a valid alternative (if not to replace it all at once) to seeing a therapist, our Ustazs should also prepare themselves with some knowledge of human psychology, and must abide fully to the discipline, rules and guard lines of a real therapist, such as the doctor-patient confidentiality etc.

Thus, as those who interact with other people for a living, med students and religious students alike, we should really prepare ourselves with people skills. Learn how to talk to them. Know what interests them and what is off limits. Try engaging in their daily activities and discover what their common problems are.

What is the use of getting full marks in exams if we don't know the first thing about a good public relations?

Thermometer or Thermostat?

Are you a thermometer or a thermostat?

A thermometer can only measure the 'temperature' of a society, without being able to change their condition. People like this usually love to criticize and judge, but do nothing to make a difference.

But a thermostat, on the other hand, is not only able to analyze the atmosphere, but can also make some changes to it when necessary. People like this realize the importance of doing something in order to make an impact.

So, which one are you? :)

Lighter burden or Stronger shoulder?

Unlike humans, Allah will never place a burden on someone greater than he can bear.

Thus, whenever we face a challenge, put faith in ourselves that we are capable of overcoming it. We just have to be patient, try harder and know where to look for solution.

A locksmith will never create a lock without its key. Similarly, for every difficulty that we have, Allah has already created a solution that we will find eventually.

Pray not for a lighter burden, but rather for a stronger shoulder.

:)

Brotherly Love

ما أعطي بعد الإسلام نعمة خيراً من أخ صالح، فإذا وجد أحدكم وداً من أخيه، فليتمسك به - عمر الخطاب

"There is no higher blessing -besides the blessing of Islam- other than the blessing of having a pious brethren. If any of you finds affection from your brother, hold on to it tightly." -Umar al-Khattab

"Tidak ada satu nikmat -selain nikmat Islam- yang lebih baik daripada nikmat memiliki sahabat yang soleh. Jika kamu dapati kasih sayang antara kamu berdua, maka peganglah ia dengan erat." -Umar al-Khattab

Poem for single Muslims

O single Muslim!

How chaste are you!

While others engage in haraam and fulfill their desires,

You shun the many calls to sin,

For fear of the hellfire!

O single Muslim!

How modest are you!

While others are ‘alone’,

They loose their fear of Allah,

But alone or not, you lower your gaze,

Refusing to look at haraam!

O single Muslim!

How sensible are you!

While others waste away their hours watching bollywold flicks,

You spend it worshipping Allah,

Fasting and increasing in ilm!

O single Muslim!

How devoted are you!

While others memorize lyrics to the latest songs,

You make an effort to memorize duaas and Quran!

O single Muslim!

How upright are you!

While others foolishly throw Quran and Sunnah to the side,

You strive to learn and implement them both into your life!

O single Muslim!

How blessed are you!

While others gossip,

And partake in useless matters,

You spend your time reflecting,

And preparing for the herafter!

O single Muslim!

How aware are you!

While others fall for the first person who plays the sweet card,

You know the tricks of shaytan,

And remain constantly on guard!

O Single Muslim!

How steadfast are you!

While others loose their modesty and dignity along the way,

You remain chaste and honorable, 

And your sabr only increases each day!

O single Muslim!

How fortunate are you!

While others rack up sins for forming illicit relationships,

You gain reward from Allah for your trials and hardships!

O single Muslim!

How intelligent are you!

While some make marriage their ultimate goal,

You know it’s only a means,

To reach the final abode!

O single muslim,

How wise are you!

While others desire spouses,

With only beauty and riches,

You desire an upright person,

With good character and religion!

O single Muslim,

How successful are you!

While others spend their time in grief,

Regretting their foolishness and haste,

For your steadfasteness and patience:

Allah grants you one of His most righteous slaves!

And O single Muslim,

How honored are you!

While others who lived in sin,

Will be humiliated on Qiyamah,

You will be granted honor and shade,

On the Day when there is NO shade,

Except under the throne of ALLAH!

#copied from Tumblr.com

Building bricks

In biology, we are taught that healthy cells make a healthy tissue. Healthy tissues make a good organ. Good organs make a properly functioning system. And finally multiple functioning systems make a perfectly healthy human being.

Similarly, developing a great ummah starts from the very basic stage, which is creating a great individual, which in turn, creates an exemplary muslim family. When these families live harmoniously with each other, it constitutes to a great society, and finally, an outstanding nation.

Just like the building bricks. If each individual brick is strong and perfectly shaped, it'll make a beautiful building. If it is made from defected bricks, there's no doubt that it'll result in a crooked wall that will collapse at any time.

It's simple math. When you make yourself better, you make the world better too. It all starts from ourselves.

As the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy put it, "Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

Be the change you want to see in this world. Personal growth is always intentional. Nobody improves by accident.

Quoting John Maxwell in his book, 25 Ways to Win with People, “Making yourself more valuable is not an entirely selfish act. When you acquire knowledge, learn a new skill, or gain experience, you not only improve yourself, but you also increase your ability to help others.”

Good VS Evil

The battle between good and evil is an ongoing process, whether we realize it or not.

Unless we tame it with taqwa, the human soul is certainly prone to evil. And with Satan's persuasion, wrongdoings are made easy. But with continuous soul purification, it will willingly bow to Allah's command.

When we feel gratified doing good things or uneasy when doing bad things, it indicates that we still have a healthy soul.

But when maksiat has no effect on you, then beware of Allah's wrath, as it is a clear indication that you are dead inside.

Although guidance is purely Allah's right to give it to whom He pleases, we as His slaves must persistently ask for it. And the effort towards change is mandatory; for Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in their hearts.

F.O.C.U.S

What's the main difference between the light from a light bulb and a laser beam? What gives laser the ability to cut through stuffs, from cornea to steel, but not ordinary light?

Focused & amplified.

Yes, that is the power of focusing. Similarly, if we want to be good in something we do, focus is a must.

A focused person is more determined and motivated, thus amplifying his ability and capability to succeed. But in order to be focused, we first have to eliminate all the external distractions.

Muslims are obliged to practice the focusing skill at least 5 times a day. Through meditation which our daily obligatory prayers provide, we repeatedly exercise our mind to repel all external thoughts that might interfere with the process of remembrance of Allah.

If we really make full use of this regimen which is provided for us, focusing on other worldly matters would be easier.

Quoting Brian Tracy, "The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire, not things we fear."

Helium balloon

A balloon which is filled up with helium could soar high up in the air. But if you fill it up with the air from your lung instead, it would just fall down to the ground.

Why? It’s simple. Because the difference lies in what’s within.

Just like us humans. From the outside, we might look the same. But the inside is what makes us unique and different from each other.

It is the internal aspect that determines whether an individual crashes down into the valley of disgrace or soars high up towards greatness.

So fill yourself with positive values, and don’t contaminate it with insignificant things that might decrease your value.

Keep going up, up, to the sky! ;)

Bird's-Eye View

Human eyes, although amazing, are often limited. The binocular vision does give us the ability to estimate depth and distance, but it's not as wide as the monocular vision; thus limiting us to perceive a panoramic picture.

Thus, for birds of prey such as eagles and owls which have limited binocular vision, they would have to fly high to be able to see more clearly.

Hence, a bird's-eye view is an elevated view of an object from above, with a perspective as though the observer were a bird.

An open mind enables us to see a certain issue from a more holistic view, revealing an expansive point of view, without neglecting meticulous details in the process. It is ridiculously crucial as to make just and sound judgments.

Without it, we would be like a small bug creeping on a beautiful lawn, failing to see the breathtaking reality.

****

I'd like to humbly invite you to my newly-developed blog, Bird's-eye view (Tumblr). It's easier for me to update some short thoughts, or great quotes. I'll still be updating this blog, if i were to write some long and serious stuffs. And feel free to follow, bookmark or link it to your blog; i'd appreciate it very much (^_~)

Gay Imam

Everyone now is talking about how oxymoronic the 'British gay Muslims seek Islamic weddings' issue is. It sounds weird, i agree.

But it's funny how everybody is freaking out about it, but never offered even a single solution to this malignant problem. This is a very delicate issue. Gay muslims, they do exist in our community, whether we want to believe it or not. So we're looking at an inevitable problem here.

Islamic scholars, especially, must not condemn, but find a way to deal with these people. Guide them to the path of fitrah. It's a challenge. A new one, perhaps.

In what way, u ask?

There's counseling, group therapy or support group, like those of AA meetings, where they support each other to go back onto the straight path. Literally & figuratively ;p

It is proven to be working, unless if those people are planning on using it as a dating service to meet fellow gays ;p

And if u're looking for a more extreme approach, there is an illegal method used in the US where they force homosexuals to sit n watch gay porn & simultaneously giving them nauseating agents. So that the gay thoughts will be linked to nausea inside the brain. It's called 'conditioning'. But i wouldn't recommend that ;p

I've read a scientific article on the presence of 'gay gene' in The Best American Scientific Writing 2006.

They argued whether gayness is contributed by environmental factors alone or occurs genetically or hormonally inside the mother's womb.

This is very important. If it is proven scientifically regarding its presence, then the Islamic scholars should start discussing on how to be 'a good gay Muslim'.

It's not bullsh*t. They have scientific evidence to support their theory.

If u study medicine you'll know that everybody is female by default. Then there's this hormone which stimulates the formation of male genital organs of the baby (fetus). If the hormone is somehow insufficient, for example, it'll reduce the masculinity of the baby (fetus).

It'd be like any inborn errors (e.g kecacatan anggota). It's not fitrah, for sure. But still, it happens. If he accepts his fate with sabar and redha, Allah will reward him paradise.

So similarly, maybe homosexuality is just one of Allah's ways to test His slaves. To see how they react to his 'abnormality'. Whether to refrain themselves from it or to fall into temptations. If they abstains and stays on the right path, they will be considered as 'good gay muslims' and Allah will also reward them paradise.

Another example is sex maniacs. Hypersexuality is a valid medical condition, categorized under psychological disorders.

So, say if a muslim is unlucky enough to be tested by Allah with this condition, would it be logical to condemn him? Or to say that the condition doesn't exist because Allah has made everything according to fitrah?

What we should do is guide him to channel his sexual desires to a halal way. For instance, a spouse. Or if she can't meet her husband's sexual needs, ask him to practice polygyny.

********

In the US, homosexuality has been recently excluded from psychiatric textbooks. It is no longer considered an abnormality that needs to be cured by therapies or counseling sessions. That's just politics, if u ask me.

Time to shift your paradigm. Invent new methods of approach. Didikan agama is crucial, no doubt. But the presence of this 'Gay Imam' we've recently heard of, just proves that people do not necessarily become gay due to lack of religious knowledge.

Don't only judge or condemn. It's like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it brings you nowhere.

Nauseous or Nauseated?

What's the difference between the word 'nauseous' & 'nauseated'? They are often used interchangeably, but they actually differ in meaning.

• Nauseous = nauseating = causing nausea = memualkan.

• Nauseated = feeling sick = rasa mabuk / nak muntah.

So, it's incorrect to say, "I'm nauseous," (unless of course, if u really are disgusting. hehe). I'm nauseous = saya memualkan.

Correct usage:

• I feel nauseated. (Saya rasa mabuk / nak muntah)
  

• There's a nauseous/nauseating odor in the room. (Ada bau yang memualkan dalam bilik)
  

Same goes to "I'm bored." Some Malaysians say "I'm boring" when they actually meant "I'm bored." Unless...

******

Also, in pronouncing certain words with the letters 'mb' like bombing, plumber, climbing, the correct pronunciation (not pronounciation) is to make the 'b' silent.

• Bombing = bomming
• Plumber = plummer
• Climbing = climing
  

Western Dining Etiquette - UnIslamic?

I have met several individuals that criticized those who follow the 'western' dining etiquette, calling them 'un-Islamic' or 'westernized' because they put the food inside their mouth using the fork on their left hand, instead of right, which is, according to them, more 'Islamic'.

It is an understandable, albeit unacceptable misconception among Muslims. Most probably due to the misinterpretation or generalization of the hadis (narrated by Muslim), "Eat with your right hand."

As un-Islamic as it sounds, the Mufti of Egypt, Dr. Ali Jumuah said in one of his fatwas that it is alright to feed yourself with your left hand if both hands are occupied, as in eating using fork and knife. The problem is only when one uses his left hand when his right hand is empty.

It's based on the hadis reported by Imam Ahmad, that the Prophet used to eat from both hands alternately, where in his right hand was a cucumber while in his left hand was a watermelon.

So similarly, when both hands are occupied with a fork and a knife, do we really have to defy the standard dining etiquette and switch them just because we think that it is 'more Islamic' (when it's actually not)?

Some might say that they don't see any problem with switching the fork and the knife.

Well brother, Islam is not exclusive for Arabs.. Or Malays. They are thousands of Westerners who are muslim too. We might not think that it's a big deal. But there are some Westerners who feel very strongly about having to change the way they eat.

Islam did not come to destroy any customs or traditions. So as long as they do not contradict with Islamic laws or value, they should not be abolished or prohibited.

So the only remaining question is, "Does putting one's food into his mouth using the left hand while the right hand is occupied even contradict any Islamic moral code?"

No!

=)

Was The Prophet a Pedophile by Marrying 9-Year-Old Aisyah?

Pedophile is an adult who has sexual desire for children or who has committed the crime of sex with a child.

In answering the issue on whether or not our Prophet s.a.w. is a pedophile by marrying 9-year-old Aisyah, several points must be included:

-First is the fact that Aisyah has already hit puberty by the time she married the Prophet. So as far as the syariah is concerned, he did not break any law at that time.

-Also by definition, according to Microsoft Encarta Dictionary, puberty is defined as 'the stage in human physiological development when somebody becomes capable of sexual reproduction.' So he even did not defy the very definition of puberty given by modern-day linguists.

-Secondly, we cannot simply judge the customs of the Arabs 1400 years ago based on the present day's standard. The culture was different back then. Proof?

• Before Aisyah was married to the Prophet, she was also engaged to a guy name Jubair ibn Mus'ab before they broke it off. So, this is a clear indication that marriage in early age is NOT something bizarre during that time as it is also done by several people other than the Prophet.

• Also we can see from sirah nabawiyah that the enemies of the Prophet tried very hard to destroy the reputation of the Prophet. They accused him of being a sorcerer, a magician, a liar, a fabricator. But NEVER once we heard they call him a pedophile. This is clearly because the Arabs 1400 years ago see this as something normal, otherwise this would be a very perfect opportunity to destroy his reputation in a blink. But they didn't, because it's irrelevant.
  

-We can also see some evidence from the sirah regarding the maturity of the 11-year-old Aisyah when she was accused of being unfaithful to her husband in the famous story of hadith al-ifk. These are some quotes of Aisyah proving how mature she was in dealing with such a difficult situation:

• “I know by Allah that you have heard these rumors, and that these rumors have settled in your heart and soul and you have believed it already. So if I were to tell you that I’m not guilty, you wouldn’t believe me. And if I were to admit to a crime that I did not commit, then you will believe me and think that I did it. So all I can say to you is what the father of Yusuf said. ‘Patience is beautiful.’ And Allah’s help is sought concerning what you describe.”

• “I turned around on my bed. Allah knew I was innocent of this charge and I knew that Allah would reveal my innocence. However, wallahi I never thought that Allah would reveal Qur’an concerning me. I thought myself far too low in the sight of Allah, that Allah would speak about me. Rather, I was hoping that the Prophet might see in his dream something that would declare my innocence.”

-Would you ever guessed these came from the mouth of an 11-year-old girl? Our daughters or sisters during that age will be still playing with barbie dolls or collecting cute stickers.

-Also, not long ago, about 80 years back, it's not unusual to hear our great grandmother got married in young age of 15 or 16. So why should there be any shock when it happened 1400 years ago?

-Even the customs vary in different regions of the same country. For example, today in Egypt, the average age of women getting married is 25-28 in downtown part. But in rural Egypt where they have no carrier to pursue, they get married even earlier, say, 16-20.

-So there are just too many aspects to consider in determining whether something is acceptable in a particular society or not.

-BUT, if we still wanna measure this up using our modern day standards, come take a look at some of the examples of legal ages of consent in different countries around the world:

• Australia: 16
• Bulgaria: 14
• Canada: 16
• China: 14
• Czech Republic: 15
• Germany: 14
• Japan: 13
• Mexico: 12

-Not much of a difference from what happened 1400 years ago, eh?

Why the Prophet stayed married to 9 wives while Muslims are allowed only 4?

Why did the prophet die leaving 9 wives, not 4 like other muslims? Is he above the law? And was it out of lust?

*******

Why 9?

-Yes, our Prophet did die leaving 9 wives. Throughout his life, he had 12 wives. Namely:

• Khadijah bint Khuwaylid
• Sawdah bint Zam’ah
• A’ishah bint Abi Bakr
• Hafsah bint `Umar ibn Al-Khattab
• Zaynab bint Khuzaymah
• Ummu Salama
• Zaynab bint Jahsh
• Juwayriah bint Al-Harith
• Umm Habibah
• Safiyah bint Huyay ibn Akhtab
• Maymunah bint Al-Harith
• Maria the Coptic

- When the Quranic verse that says - a Muslim should have a maximum of 4 wives - was revealed, our Prophet had already had 9 of the wives, whom he married between the age 53-60, except for Khadijah.

-As a consequence, other Muslims who had more than 4 wives at that time had to divorce some of them to reach the max number of 4.

-But as the case of the Prophet, he couldn't divorce them because Muslims are prohibited to marry any of the Prophet's ex-wives, because the wives are their mothers (hence the term Ummul Mukminin) according to surah al-Ahzab: 6

النبي أولى بالمؤمنين من أنفسهم وأزواجه أمهاتهم
"The Prophet is closer to the Believers than their own selves, and his wives are their mothers."

- So the Prophet had no choice but to keep all 9, as not to be cruel to them. Because the ex-wives of other Muslims can always remarry, but not the Prophet's ex-wives. The syariah cannot contradict itself, because it came for the benefit of humankind, not to harm them.

- But right after that, another verse was revealed, prohibiting the Prophet to marry any other women, or to change any of the wives:

"It is not lawful for you (to marry other) women after this, nor to change them for other wives." (Al-Ahzab 33:52)

- So that's the story behind why the Prophet kept all of his 9 wives till the day he died.

******

Was it out of lust?

- The Prophet remained monogamous for 25 years with Khadijah. And after she died when he was 50, he still remained unmarried for 2 years.

- While the 'cool thing' among Arabs during his time was to marry a virgin, all of the Prophet's wives are either a divorcee or a widow, except for Aisyah r.a.

- So if he really was a lustful person, the reasonable thing to do is to marry virgins instead of divorcees or widows. But he didn't.

- There were reasons behind some of the marriages. I will continue the stories in my next post insyaAllah. Keep reading (^_~)

In the mean time, read this post on the Prophet being a pedophile by marrying Aishah.

Bedside manner

Doctors often talk about patients as if they're subjects of discussion, but we always forget that they're also humans.. With feelings and emotions..

Dr. Jerome Groopman M.D in his book 'Second Opinion' told about how a doctor asked his colleague whether is it a 'good case', referring to Groopman's sick child.

So try to master not only clinical skills, but also people skills =) It's what we call 'bedside manner', which is the attitude and conduct of a physician in the presence of a patient.

Would u rather be treated by a world-class physician with poor attitude or a fairly good doctor with world-class attitude? =)

Stethoscope

When i talked about doctor's malpractice in my last post, believe it or not, all doctors, without any exception, are included. The only difference is, to what extent?

There are 2 types of errors in medical practice; errors of ignorance (mistakes we make because we don't know enough), and errors of ineptitude (mistakes we made because we don’t make proper use of what we know). And i personally think that most malpractices in hospitals are because of the latter.

You can't boast and say that u NEVER did such thing. Lemme give u a simple example.

A stethoscope.

Do u know how many diseases can u get from a stethoscope?

Almost every doctor in a hospital, or a clinic - regardless of what disease does the patient have - will use the stethoscope to check your blood pressure, heart sound, breathing sound, bowel movement sound etc. The stethoscope is pressed onto the patient's sweaty chest, and then transferred to another patient without any prior cleaning and disinfecting.

This is what Atul Gawande in his book 'Better: A surgeon's note on performance' emphasized on. Simple things like washing hands and disinfecting surgical instruments.. and a couple of other things that may have been taken for granted by doctors.

That's why Dr. Robert S. Mendelsohn; a medical heretic who was actively criticizing the practices of modern medicine, talked about the 'compulsory ritual' performed by doctors - which is using the stethoscope unnecessarily, just to make the patient 'feel good' about themselves, that they are being taken care of by the doctor.

While in fact, sometimes the use of stethoscope is of no significant importance. On the contrary it could even transfer some infectious diseases from one patient to another.

There's a lot we are still to learn. Even when u feel that u're the best doctor in town, or a top student in your class, there are still things that u are yet to improve.

Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make it all yours. (^^)

Asian & Caucasian

Alhamdulillah just arrived home yesterday from our family holiday in Phuket. People there are soo nice and polite. Dealing with local people here, i can see now why Kuala Lumpur was once labeled the 3rd rudest city in the world!

Also my paradigm also shifted. I used to think that mat salleh are the most polite people in the world. Maybe God wanted to show me that there are some undiscovered jewels in other places, and what do u know... There it is, just beside Malaysia (^^)

On the contrary, i can see some very rude white people who were there in Phuket.

********

First when we were on Maya Beach, my sister walk beside a white woman when she heard her saying, "I hate Muslims," then walk away.

Then again on the boat, when our tour guide handed out sliced watermelons to us and said that they are for the monkeys on the beach, an Australian guy said, "Which monkey. That monkey??" pointing at a handicapped Arab who was with us in the boat! Gosh, he kissed his wife/mom with that mouth? Grrr~

Also when i was at the Premium Factory Outlet in Phuket, when i entered the Quicksilver retail shop, again, an Australian guy were looking around and then said to me, "Everything is medium and small size. This is all fucked up!" Well, maybe it's something common to them, but to say that to a total stranger is kinda rude. At least for me.

And before our plane back to Singapore took off, the stewardess asked a Caucasian male behind me to wear his shoes during take off. And he replied disrespectfully, "Are you kidding me??" But not knowing it was a rhetorical question, she replied politely, "No sir, i'm not kidding." (LOL)

**********

But i totally respect the local people there. They did not even once, raised their voice. On the last day when i went shopping, i bargained a T-shirt with the Thai salesgirl. I insisted on 270 Baht (that's RM27 to us). So when i paid 300 Baht she told me that she doesn't have a small change, and asked me is it ok to settle down to 300 Baht.

I said no. I want the 30 Baht (RM3! haha soo kedekut). After a long argument, she just went away to get the small change and then said in a disappointed voice, "Aiyaaa, why you do thiss.. You so handsome.."

Hahaha (^^) That was as rude as she can be!

At Maya Beach, where Leonardo DiCaprio shot his movie Za Bitch (The Beach). hehe


At Premium Factory Outlet in Phuket.

Melayu = Me-layu??

I just got back from two different car companies yesterday. One was Mutiara Motors Sdn. Bhd. (a large Malay car company in JB) and another one was Sri Kasa Sdn. Bhd. (kedai kereta Cina tepi jalan aje), and i saw a HUGE difference on how they do business.

Not to belittle my own people, but the Malay salesman was kinda unprofessional, unfriendly, cold, 'kerek', and to a little extent, rude. He put very little effort in convincing us to buy the car and talked to us like we're kind of people who can't afford it. It's like, "Alah kalau ko tak beli pun ramai lagi customer lain yang nak beli."

I was a little bit sad when we came to another car company later on, seeing the Chinese salesman who's very polite, friendly, answering to every question we asked, and his effort in convincing us to buy the car (which is in a SUPERB condition, by the way, compared to the one at the Malay's company) was really OBVIOUS.

What makes me even sadder is the fact that Malays ALWAYS play the 'sesama Islam' card to attract muslim customers. Come on lah, change your business attitude and then, and only then, talk about Muslims' obligations!

Not only in car business. You name it. From grocery stores to multi-million businesses, where are we compared to Chinese people?

Not to generalize. But majority of them fits the stereotype. Like at my father's company where there are Malays and Chinese working together. Unnecessary MCs, late attendance, early parting, slow work, unwillingness to learn new things and to do something that's out of their job description... ALL MALAYS! (-_-)

Come to think of it, how did we become like this? We have Islam and the hereafter to boost our motivation to work every day. But still.. sigh~

My dream car, Audi TT.

Oh, the Chinese salesman was kind enuf to let me daydream in this car. Jangan syarikat Melayu, nak sentuh pun dia dah pandang slack. Ugh~

The so-called excellent med student

Most malpractice in hospitals begin with the medical students' attitude in med school. Although some are 'excellent' in their exams, sometimes they lack the very basic common sense one should have.

Let me give u an example. A couple of years ago when we were doing a medical check up session in Malaysia Hall Cairo, i saw an intolerable attitude of some of the med students there, which was 'taking things for granted'.

All med students should know, that there are specific instructions to use the lancet; a needle-like object used to prick a patient's fingertip for glucometer purposes. The new ones should be differentiated from the used ones, indicated by the position of the 'cap'. Here's a picture:

A picture, showing a used lancet (left) and a new one (right).

So when i tried to compress the plastic garbage (where they throw away those lancets among other things) to give more room, my hands were pricked by several lancets. And when i checked inside it, most lancets were thrown away without their respective caps!

The caps were put there for a reason, people! But when i asked who left the lancets naked, this one friend said to me, "Alaah takpelah, bukannye ada apa pun. Nanti buang jugakk."

Can u imagine??!

This is a LETHAL mistake. I'm not exaggerating. You're working with blood here. Imagine if some of the patients have, say, Hepatitis B, or even AIDS, i would definitely get it too! Coz i was freakin' pricked by their lancets!

Guys, I'm not the only one at stake here. Garbage collectors and innocent bystanders are also involved.

This 'endah-tak endah' or 'melepaskan batuk di tangga' attitude is what leads to bigger malpractice in the future, where lots of bigger things are at stake.

Yes, today it's a 'small' thing like this.. But when habits become attitude, who knows what else he would have done?

This is some of the things that Dr. Jerome Groopman feels strongly about. He even wrote a book titled 'Second Opinions' where he narrated some of the stories which involve some of huge complications caused by doctors who took things for granted, just to get a (i'm quoting) 'good long sleep'. He's the author of this must-read book, 'How Doctors Think'.

Oh, i have a collection of all of his books. Thanks to a friend in Cardiff who is kind enough to buy them from me from amazon.co.uk and refused when i wanted to pay her back. Jazahallahu khairal jazak ^_^

Gosh, u guys must be soo jealous at me rite now~ LOL (^_~)