Category Archives: Ponderings & Personal Development

Being fans and stans – drawing the line

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A.R.M.Y went wild when BTS members created their individual official accounts on Instagram. I was equally elated. Management was saying that it was an avenue for them to express their individual artistic elements and personality. Which is great!

Naturally, when you have more than 10M fans around the world, there will be toxic ones lurking around on these social media platforms. Trying to justify their digital presence and footprints as proof of fandom support. Some of my least favourite fans or fans include the;

Fanstagram creators

I am ok with fanstagram. These accounts tend to compile photos or clips from various resources and upload them on their feed. They tend to have names that resemble the artists themselves which are Ok, cool, it’s fine. To have fan account names like treatyoongiwithkindness or iamlikesugainreallife is to me, still OK. As it is glaringly a fan account. Recently though, I have discovered new accounts that take stanning too far. Out of respect, these accounts should not have the same profile picture as the original account. They also shouldn’t have account names that are similar to the original artists – where they are making changes only in a single alphabet or adding a few symbols on the handle. That is just rude digital mannerism.

The extreme OT7 supporters

OT7 without a doubt! But you shouldn’t go as far as criticising A.R.M.Y who may prefer to follow a few members on IG simply because they are keener to know the artistic progress of that particular member. As for myself, I am keen to know what RM and Suga are up to cause I love their work and persona more! does this mean I hate the others? Of course not. It’s just a personal choice I make so that on top of BTS, I could also see other people’s feeds that I follow on IG! It doesn’t help to make a post and compare the followers for each member. OT7 after all, have achieved more than 10M followers on their account- even if they’ve only posted one picture on their IG.

Media manipulators

Especially the photoshop experts. I totally get that we like to root for couples in the industry or wish for a couple to exist. It gets a little bit too far when you start editing images of stars that looks too intimate with each other. It’s just, inappropriate. I was stunned when I saw an edit of Jung Kook (BTS) and Rose (BP) on one particular IG account. It weirded me out. I wonder how these artists would feel if they stumble upon the images.

Digital mannerism, content plagiarism are things we learn as we go. It is difficult enough to abide to the rules in the academic world. What more within the realm of entertainment. Artists and fans needs to foster a symbiotic relationship to make it work for both parties. The artist in earning a living and the fans filling their void to become happy.

Unhealthy MInds

Posted in Everyday Life, Ponderings & Personal Development by

We tend to think that once we come across someone who has mental health issues, it would be manageable. We would be one of the few who knows how to go about it because we have read about it online and asked for expert advice. We would be empathetic and non-judgemental. We would be supportive of that person. This is mostly true but here’s a secret. That is only possible if the person in question is properly diagnosed by the doctors. Otherwise, trust me, it is quite a challenge.

I have had the opportunity to witness two professional colleagues suffering from the same medical diagnosis. Each of them of course, presented with different symptoms. One sought medical help and is under treatment whereas the other, well, we’re still in the dark of whether there was a diagnosis in the first place or if treatment is ongoing or defaulted. Each of them managed their mental health issues differently and it is the latter colleague that got me questioning things about life.

The Brain

Putting it simply, mental health issues stem from a problem within the brain. It could result from a structural defect, a transmission glitch or a hormonal imbalance. It disrupts the function of the brain thus its manifestations externally. Since the brain is the command centre of our body, it would be very difficult to control it if it goes haywire. why am I saying this? Because the contrast in behaviour is so drastic whenever the sick part of the person takes over. With reference to a person with bipolar here.

On good days, this colleague is a team player. A friendly and great employee. However, on really bad days – this colleague ignores everything. Work, courtesy phone calls, even when the big bosses call. Interestingly, this colleague seems to have ‘no insight’ that when you go M.I.A, it puts the burden of tasks and responsibility to another person on an ad-hoc basis. I couldn’t find a better word to ‘no insight’ but what I am trying to say is that when these people reach their weakest point – they are stuck in that hole and no amount of high office power could summon them out from the darkness. Unless they are on therapy and have learned ways to cope with the early signs of the condition. Otherwise, one would have to just wait for the phase to dissolve.

It would be easier for other people around this person to work around the problems, if they had known about the mental health issue. It’s like we could together anticipate when the next phase will be and that contingency plans can be implemented if the colleague goes M.I.a again. Otherwise, it would be perceived as just another worker being lackadaisical and irresponsible.

It did however made me realize one thing – that we are replaceable at work. No matter how important we are at work. If one day you end up in an accident and land in ICU, there will always be someone who is able to cover up for you.

Bultaoreune 불타오르네

Posted in Everyday Life, Ponderings & Personal Development by

I am enjoying virtual popcorn at the moment as I watch the drama unfold in the vaccine WhatsApp group. There seems to be a disagreement in terms of how the booster doses should be implemented swiftly in preparation for the upcoming state election. Currently, the plan is to conduct it like a drive-through with all Klinik Kesihatan contributing manpower for the purpose.

All is well until a decision came up abruptly of wanting to open the centre on the weekends. Mind you, the existing workforce at all KK’s are already stretched to the maximum as centralized Covid Assessment Centres (CAC) and Rapid Response Team (RRT) are still ongoing on top of running routine clinical services at their respective clinics. The workforce will be further burdened by the provision of teams during state elections due to commence on the 20th. The way I see it, medical front liners are already fed up with all the ad-hoc instructions and what felt like an unnecessary burden of work to the current ones they have.

It came to a point where a young medical officer pointed out the occupational hazards linked to the drive-through operations at the airport if the weekend plan was allowed to continue. It was a valid concern on top of highlighting the strenuous shift systems some medical personnel had to go through. After all, with the current opening of 5 days a week, not everybody is taking the booster. We are not achieving much on the weekdays, so there is a concern of why we need to open on the weekends. I thought it was a tad courageous for this young man to stand up to an experienced doctor.

Hence, the title of my blog post today – FIRE 불타오르네

A successful organization needs to have 불타오르네. But not just any 불타오르네. We want a bonfire, a campfire and a candle. In my clinical facility, I would describe bonfires as the young, junior doctors. Full spirited and passionate about their duties. Eager to learn everything. Motivated to help everybody at all costs. Ready to fight, ready to sacrifice. Ready to make a scene for the sake of their patients and themselves.

Candles are the seasoned, experienced doctors who would say, they have seen it all. They are stable emotionally. They keep on burning but not with rage. They are cool-headed that some may mistake as being lackadaisical or simply not motivated. But they are there to keep the fire burning and light up other fires as needed. However, if the wick becomes shorter and is not replaced with a new one, the spirit of Hippocrates may just die off without a trace.

I would describe myself as a campfire. In other words, I have learned how big my fire should be depending on the purpose. If my purpose is to cook a meal, it should be bigger. If my purpose is to keep the campsite lit and protect the campers from wild beast – it shouldn’t be that fiery. It is about knowing where to channel your effort properly. This is because, with time, I discover that not all patients want your help. They just need that vote of confidence to proceed with their health decisions which may not be aligned with yours. Especially in cases of end of life care. It’s knowing which battles to fight, and which to just let it be.

Perhaps I forgot to mention one more fire. It’s not a good fire but somehow it’ll find a way to exist.

BATU API

Look it up.

Malaysia, 2nd place in global ranking for Covid19. Syabas.

Posted in Everyday Life, Ponderings & Personal Development by

Malaysia is ranking second in the world after India for the number of Covid19 cases in the country. Honestly, everyone is suffering from a pandemic fatigue right now. Even the most law abiding citizen has had enough. If you ask me, apart from asking the people to abide to the SOP’s, the ones who should play an important role to make it happen without compromising the economic wheel of the country, are the bosses.

Boss kan yang decide how to run their place. Boss kan yang boleh buat decision pasal siapa datang kerja, berapa gaji bagai. Boss kan yang boleh pikir macam mana nak teruskan pencarian rezeki tanpa mengorbankan staff dan resources. Ni tak, asyiklah nak salahkan kerajaan. Cause you see the non managers in the company, they don’t make the rules. And yet they are caught between the fear of contracting C19 and losing their jobs. If they feel secure with their jobs, surely it allays part of their anxiety in facing the pandemic. Tapi tuhlah, we cannot expect everybody to play the game fairly. Sebab ada je yang tamak haloba.

MCO 3.0 was announced recently. It seems that stricter SOP’s are in place concerning the opening times of stores, petrol stations and other facilities. Even delivery services have a curfew to follow. Judging from the press conference, it seems that Malaysians still need instructions or command from the authorities in how to live in the new norm. Macam tak boleh nak inisiatif sendiri. When will they learn that in times like this, the world does not evolve around them per se… but it’s a social responsibility to keep all members of the community safe and healthy.

You can bring the horse to the water, but you cannot force the horse to drink it

You can put all sorts of SOP in place, but you cannot force the public to follow it – unless compounds are in place.

Royan Ramadhan

Posted in Current Events, Ponderings & Personal Development by

“baru tak raya, dah koyak”

Bet that is what every KKM personnel feels like saying to netizens. Yang kerja kat spital dah macam separuh mati, having to now make priorities tang siapa ada better chance of survival untuk get the resources, yang netizen mulut puaka masih tak faham bahasa. Suruh vaksin sebagai usaha tak nak.. semua pun Yahudi. Eyy.. aku pun dah fedap dah ngan Covid-19 taw.

Although in comparison to my colleagues yang kerja in intensive care all, kerja kat KK tak seberat tu – we are at war with mentality and the actions that come with it. We still participate in sampling and triaging patients for admission. We try our best to keep our patients from having to admit into hospital but the circumstances macam ada ripple effect to each other. Covid to them mcm tkde apa. Tapi percayalah.. bila dah mencungap esok kat wad, manusia yang kau maki tu jugaklah yang akan jaga kau. Yg akan make sure you dpt mengucap syahadah sebelum dikomakan. Sebelum di-intubate. Cause you might not wake up.

Malaysians have a big problem with their perception. Dahlah pemahaman tak seberapa, ligat plak media sosial. Tak ke sia-lan je natijahnya. In my psychology module, it takes a whole semester to just study about it. It is not as simple as I talk to you, you understand. I show you, you get it. There’s a lot of process going behind that less than one millisecond human activity.

Netizens know alcohol, arak is haram. Tapi ketum and rokok haram tak boleh accept. Is it because they are limited to what they learn from school.

Netizens know it is a big sin to mempersekutukan Allah. To them, syirik is solely bomoh who does rituals with smoke, chicken and yellow cloth. But wearing an amulet is considered okay. Could this be a culture thing? is there a discrepancy between religion and culture assimilation.

Netizens know that mahjong, Las Vegas or Genting is judi. But is unable to see that cuci duit, scratch cards is also judi. Perhaps they have not had enough experience or knowledge to identify those activities as such.

Belum lagi citer pasal yang maki segala jenis benda dia boleh maki. Education, economy, legislation, freedom of speech… fenin sis.