A Little Background Info
For you out there who actually want to know me (some people are just plain nuts ;)), here's the lowdown on me... heheh...
I'm from Penang in Malaysia. Some of you may know Penang as the Pearl of the Orient. It actually consists of the turtle-shaped Penang island and a chunk of the Malaysian peninsular called Seberang Perai. Penang's a great place to live. You have many shopping malls, computer parts are relatively easy to get and Penang food is, well, nothing less than legendary! Those are probably the reasons why Intel, Motorola, HP, Seagate and many other companies have manufacturing plants here. :)
Of course, the islanders and mainlanders always disagree about which is a better place to live - the island or the mainland. Personally, I believe if we were to cut off the island, they wouldn't last a week! :D
In any case, I'm neither living on the island or on the mainland of Penang at this moment. I'm now a few hundred kilometers south in the historical town of Melaka (used to be called Malacca).
As you can see, Singapore is a lot closer to Melaka than Penang. Heck... everywhere you go, you can bet on spotting Singaporean cars, especially during the weekends. For some reason, Melaka is quite popular with Singaporeans. Hey, if you are a Singaporean and make regular trips to Melaka, maybe you can help me pick up some stuff at Sim Lim Square? Singapore isn't as easy to go in and out as it used to be...
Anyway, as of this moment, I'm in the sixth semester of the Melaka-Manipal Medical College's MBBS programme. I have another three years more to go before I'm free to enter government service for another 3-4 years. Hmm... maybe I won't be that free after all... Ahh.. well, such is the fate of those pursuing a medical career here in Malaysia. :)
If you are a long time ARP visitor, you might recall that for the last two and a half years, I have been "incarcerated" in the tiny town of Manipal, India. That's the tiny blue dot down there on the map below.
This is where all students in my programme must go to for the first two and a half years. It's a small university township about 60 kilometres north of Mangalore, in the Indian state of Karnataka. This MBBS programme I have enrolled into is a twinning programme between Kasturba Medical College (KMC) in Manipal and the Melaka-Manipal Medical College. After two and a half years in Manipal, everyone goes to Melaka for the last three years.
My group with the Pediatrics HoD (Head of Department)
and a nurse at the T.M.A. Pai Hospital, Udupi
Why Are You Studying Medicine (Instead Of Something Related To Computers)?
Well, for one thing, I'm rather hopeless in computers. Honestly! Compared to many other people, I'm nothing more than an ignorant country bumpkin. :) All I have are curiosity and a modest writing skill.As such I need to have something to fall back against. So why not medicine? It's a very honourable profession and the job satisfaction is incredible too! If your computer fails, you can always junk it and get a brand new one. But such easy solutions are not always available to the sick. Only a doctor has the ability (and the license) to help such patients.
Just like everyone else, I have been sick before and I know the extent of relief and joy a person feels when he/she is healed of an illness. Although doctors have been maligned many times for being incompetent or materialistic, they are still the people who have sacrificed their lives to helping people and for each incompetent doctor, there are thousands of other doctors who have saved countless lives. As such, I have always aspired to be one of these doctors so that I too can try to help people live better lives.
If you are also interested in becoming a doctor, I congratulate you. Not because other professions are not as important or worthy but I think it would be correct to say that we need every single doctor we can lay our hands on. :) Understandably, the road to becoming a doctor is hard but I believe the rewards are greater still. That's why I'm trying my best to become one.
Larry Barber, Anand Lal Shimpi and yours truly, circa June 2000
So You Will Be Winding Up Adrian's Rojak Pot Soon?
Unless I kick the bucket or something "terrible" happens to me, I don't think so. I have grown to enjoy what had originally started out as something to pass time and now developed into a serious hobby. Therefore, I intend to continue developing Adrian's Rojak Pot for as long as I physically and mentally can. :-)
What Are Your Computer's Specs?
Nothing heavy-duty, I'm afraid. Just what I can currently afford. :(
- 750MHz AMD Duron processor
- ABIT KG7-RAID motherboard
- 256MB Crucial PC2100 DDR SDRAM module
- 256MB Apacer PC2100 DDR SDRAM module
- MSI Starforce-817 GeForce2 MX graphics card
- 80GB Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 80 hard disk
- 24X LITE-ON SMART-Burn CD-RW drive
- 16X LITE-ON LTD163 DVD-ROM drive
- Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy sound card
- 17" Sony E220 Trinitron monitor
- Accton Cheetah PCI Network Adaptor
- Realtek PCI Network Adaptor
In Memory...
Here's an early picture of my pet Labrador Retriever who unfortunately has passed on... May she always be happy, wherever she is...
Maggie when she was just a tiny little puppy!
