The prelude....

Well....well...well. I must admit that I have been out of cyberspace for a while. Had been quite busy lately with work at the office and home. Plus the fact that my company's ISO 9001: 2000 compliance audit will be due at the end of October. Seems the word "audit" had been giving us the jitters and cold feet every now and then. Since my department just had the survelliance audit in June, I only need to check and update my records from the June audit until October.

I have also been following the political developments of our country of late. I must admit that I have never been very interested in politics in the past, but it seems that the reports on mud-slinging, back-stabbing and character assasination among the political parties and politicians had rubbed into me!

But, frankly speaking, as a Malaysian, I felt sadden by the turn of events in this country. With the recent economic uncertainties and global crisis grappling us, the leaders should concentrate on steering the country out of these doldrums, but instead, they are more concern with their blickering and using intimidation tactics to clamp down on those who are merely trying to speak their minds and the truth.

We will see what will happen next.

Universiti Sains Malaysia.... APEX status

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my Alma Mater, Universiti Sains Malaysia was recently granted the APEX (Accelerated Programme for Excellence) status. Having graduated from USM some 24 years ago, I must say that I still have many fond and warm memories of those by gone days. Days of fun, lectures, tutorials, last minute rush to complete projects and assignments on time (skipping 1-2 nights sleep is not unusual), examinations blues (ha! ha!) etc, etc. Those four years in USM had definitely shaped my ideals and thinking.

But admittedly and regretfully, I have yet to drop by the Minden campus in Penang after the convocation. Once in a while, some news do tickle in here and there if I happen to chance on or meet one of my former uni-mates. May be I should take a trip down memory lane one day.

But still, kudos to USM! You have the greatest potential of achieving world class university standard!

Tinkle bells....

It's good to be back. We had a week of carefree holiday visiting my cousin in Sydney, Australia. It's still winter there, so the weather is brrr....brrr... cold. We were all bundled up in warm jackets, socks, shoes, gloves and scarves. My cousin booked us into old-fashioned hotel without any heating and you can imagine the layers of blanket that we had to cover ourselves to keep warm!

We planned to enrol Ruth in Year 10 in 2010, so we went around looking at the schools. Visited one catholic and two private schools. Ruth was very much impressed by the schools and expressed her keen desire to continue her studies in Australia. We got the application forms and will submit them in due course. Hopefully, she will be accepted.

We had the opportunity to view the Airbus A380 at Sydney's Kingsford Smith International Airport. Mate! It is huge.

We came back to clear some backlog at work and life's back to the normal routine. But the downside is, Ruth fell sick with sore throat, cough and flu. Visited the doctor twice and she's still on medication. Hopefully, she will recover soon.

Just news.......

Finally, the countdown. Last night, millions of viewers throughout the world were glued to the screen to watch the opening ceremony of the 29th Olympiad at Bejing's iconic "bird's nest" stadium. It was really a spectacular and sensational event combining the traditional, comtemporary and the modern. A dazzling sight to behold! Surely an auspicious occasion for China and the world. Hopefully, the Olympic slogan of "One World, One Dream" continues to remain a reality. For the next two weeks the world will watch in anticipation and expectation as the events unfolds as to which country will capture the most medals in the spirit of true sportsmanship and friendship.

Olympics aside, the whole of next week will be busy and stressful one for Ruth as she will facing the first round her second semester examinations. She had been faithfully doing her revision during the past three weeks and hopefully she will do well this round.

I finally delivered my talk on "Formation of a valid contract" yesterday. For the past month, I had been busy preparing the materials and I am glad that it's finally over. Thank God!

Farewell, Tipsy......

Last Thursay was indeed a very sad day. Our pet cat, Tipsy was knocked by a car, sustained serious injuries and died. When Ruth discovered him lying at the grass verge beside the road leading to our housing estate, he was already dead for several hours. The flies were buzzing around his body. We put Tipsy in a box and bid him farewell.

For two days, Ruth mourned for her favourite pet. She hardly had any appetite and was really depressed. Tipsy came into our lives about a year ago, as a stray kitten. We took him in, fed him and he really got on well with us. He would sneak into the house when the doors are open, climbed onto our sofa, waiting for a cuddle. Sometimes, he would wait at our main door step, waiting for us to open the door so that he could sneak in "invited".

Now he's gone. Just like that. Life's indeed fragile. The reality hit Ruth hard. I guess it's her first experience of facing the death of something she was really fond of. An experience that everyone has to face, sometimes, sooner or later.

Just me

It's been awhile. Neglected my blog. Kept busy with home and work. Well, these are mere flimsy excuses and not good enough reasons.

Admittedly, there are times when I ran out of ideas on what to blog. Life's became so routine and mundane. Everyday, there's talk on the increase in costs of living, food, groceries, petrol, etc, etc. And the "exciting" and "juicy" political scene unfolding around us. Sometimes, I do wonder where we are really heading.

But, life's realities lies ahead. Ruth will be facing the second round of her mid-terms in three weeks' time. It's another marathon for her to complete her revision on time. It also means more late nights. My annual mammogram check-up is coming up this Saturday. I have to finalise the preparation for my talk on "Formation of a valid contract" by next week.
Oops! It's time to quit pondering and get going!

A lesson...

I guess that I have alot to be thankful and grateful for. For the past month, since June, I had not been feeling well. Busy with work and home. Facing enormous stress due to my company's ISO 9001:2000 annual survelliance audit. Then, in the midst of it, I noticed that my heart "beating" very fast. I could almost hear the palpitation, which is worst at night. Some nights were so bad that I had difficulty falling asleep.

Desperate out of my wits, I consulted my doctor friend and she ran an ECG. The ECG showed frequent ventricular ectopics which sounded like a "big" and "frightening" medical term for a layperson like me. She referred me to a cardiologist in Kuching for further diagnosis. I flew to Kuching on Sunday and had the echocardiography, stress ECG and blood test done on Monday.

Finally, after battery of tests that lasted almost half a day, my condition was diagnosed as severe anaemic (iron deficiency) most likely caused by menstrual problems and symptomic ventricular ectopics precipitated by anaemia and stress. Both conditions are non-life threatening at the moment, which is, a big relief to me. Medications were prescribed.

Looking back over the whole episode, I must say that I learnt a very valuable lesson. In the past, I had been rather careless with my health, often turning a "deaf" ear to the advice of my doctor friend and family members. Life's short and fragile and I should learn how to contribute and count my blessings instead of just waiting to receive, whinning and complaining about my fate. It's only when one is close to losing something or someone precious that one learns to appreciate it more, and suddenly, some of the other most important things does not really matter. A simple, yet profound lesson.