Reasons for a vocation

Ms Arivalagan is studying to become a doctor and she gave up a well-paying job to do so. She also decided to sacrifice some years for the degree. Her reason is to make the lives of people better through this vocation of hers, and it is this that heartens me.

I have learnt a lot from my seniors in my journey as a teacher. I am aware that there are trainees who choose to teach for worldly and monetary reasons. These people are the black sheep in my book of vocation seekers. They will be banes for our young when they graduate, or rather, if they do.

Reading about her worldly friends who advise her against following her dream of being a doctor just makes them seem repulsive to me. They cite her as being "naive" and far from having seen the "real" world. She may be naive but she is at least taking the step to see the real world, and not staying in her comfort zone like they are. The real world is not made up of multi-national corporations and high salaries, but human communities filled with love and charity, amidst different social rankings. Thus, go for it Alicia!

On the contrary, I am absolutely indignant with a doctor from China who treats the death of her patients lightly. She actually was happy that the worsened condition of her patient had happened during her day off and she implied that she would rather not be there at her patient's side should he die. It smacks of irresponsibility. To make things worse, she rejoiced in the death of a patient which had occurred, as it enabled her to have a lighter workload.

She then fervently denied her involvement in these comments after they were pervasively revealed on the Internet and the hospital authorities found out about them. What do you expect from such a coward? She dared to make those comments and then when she got verbal attacks for them as well as found out, she quickly disassociated herself from them. I am glad that she has been degraded to another department. She deserves to be.

I don't think she deserves sympathy for the job hazards she has to go through. I have friends who are doctors and though their sleep patterns are affected due to the nature of their job, they are compassionate towards their patients. Some of them are working mothers too. There is no excuse for this doctor from China. She may be honest in giving those comments but it is not appreciated where human sensitivities are concerned. Perhaps other doctors do feel the same way but they know better than to reveal their true feelings to the public! It is not being hypocritical but being sensitive to society, by the way. After all, they are serving society.

Self-attention does lead to relationship problems

TalkBack is a chatroom where Stompers congregate to talk about everything under the sun. One of the topics was the types of girls men should avoid when looking for a partner. The _Redeemer warns against going after social butterflies and princess wannababes.

In return, Blackened rebutted him with the question of why they must be avoided and stated that there is nothing wrong with them being popular in the social circles. She went on to state that these lifestyles of theirs should be respected by their male partners.

I am also a female and I disagree with Blackened. Such women are mostly interested in drawing attention to themselves and this will create a rift in the love relationships they have, since they tend to put their male partners as second to themselves. Their male partners will feel neglected and arguments will surface in the relationships.

Insincere marriage plans

An Indian IT engineer pleaded for mercy in court when he was convicted of molestation. He had thought a woman walking towards him in the early morning was a prostitute, and he kissed her. That means he had not only molested her, but had also insulted her. What kind of story is this? He told the court that he is getting married in 5 months' time. If he really loves his fiancee, he wouldn't have kissed another woman, even if she was a prostitute. That is already cheating on her feelings.

Looking after our parents is a duty

This topic is especially poignant with me because it was an expression of feelings between my mum and I before she died. Thus I cannot comprehend how there can be a law to do this, as mentioned in a letter in the New Paper.

I remember my mum insisting that I greet everyone we come into contact with. I did it begrudgingly when I was younger but now as an adult, I do it naturally. If I find it tedious, I give at least a smile. My parents did a good job in bringing me up, and they used the cane as one of their methods. I see most parents of today not daring to use it for fear of abuse. If the aim of its usage is to discipline the kid and change him for the better, then it is certainly not abuse. Some parents also naively believe their kids' lies against the teachers' words, and as a result, malign the teachers. Due to such lenience, it is no wonder that the children will not think that looking after their aged parents is a duty. These parents who fear doing the right thing, have caused Singapore to have no choice but to impose such a law.

Abuse In Tampines

The abuse is by a woman on a man who lives with her. It is especially horrifying because it is done in public and not in the confines of their home. She chases him along the common corridor with a cane, orders him to kneel down and apologise, and even to sleep without a shirt outside their home, and does not give him food at times. She is older by a decade.

The man refuses to leave her and claims he loves her very much. At the same time, he cries after he is mistreated. His emotions are causing him to let himself be ruined at her hands. I hope his tolerance level is tried so badly that he runs away from her.

The woman is obviously beyond help. When people tell her off, she blames the man for being useless. What if she were the one being abused? Women are supposed to be more loving than men. Here is an atypical example which really disgraces we women. She has shamed the man so badly by doing all these to him. Any men would have retaliated long ago. This is reminiscent of another woman who kicked a man in the groin at the roadside. The men are not children and yet they willingly allow themselves to be abused. What hold do these women have over them??

The irony is that even the woman's son disapproves of her actions. Does she still think she is doing the right thing?

A long-awaited get-together

It was so amazing how God allowed me to go for Ascension sunset mass by cancelling my lesson. A good girlfriend of mine, Mich, managed to catch me after mass for dinner.

She gave an update on the happenings in her life and it was then that I realised that I have not really spoken to her for at least two months! I didn't even know that her nature of involvement in church had changed.

She being a teacher-in-training, made it so easy for me to share my teaching-cum-tutoring stories with her. It was truly a meal of kindred spirits. I felt blessed being able to do so.

I agree with what she said about being thankful for friends who don't drift apart and are there for you even after not having met for a long time. My close girlfriends make me feel this way about our friendships. Even my best girlfriend and my god-daughter cause me to feel this way too. :)

Caring doctors to my family.

A doctor wrote an article on how he gets distressed when his patients ignore his advice for cancer treatment. He explained that it is because he cares for them. I am reminded of the doctors that have attended to my family members over the years.

My dad has 2. One of them is our family friend and the other was recommended by him. Both are caring towards us. They anticipate our needs and cater to them with their assurances.

My mum had 1. She went beyond the mile to send us encouraging messages of hope and strength, when my mum was dying. We still keep the messages.

I have 1. She makes me feel that she is more than a doctor to me, as she asks after my parents too. I feel so cared for by her that I decided to give her a gift last Christmas. Thanks, Dr. Koh!