My Near-death Experience Part 2 - 48 hours post trauma

I walked away from the crash site after making sure that all my belongings were taken out and the tow truck safely pulled it out. making the police report was quick and the officers were being very kind to me as well.

i spent the rest of the day hobbling around the hospital as each step aggravated the glass cuts on the sole of both my feet. it wasn't a busy day and I couldn't get anyone to replace my work for it was a public holiday and too many people are out-station. Not only that, I know that the responsibility was on me to make sure that my patients are doing well and that I don't compromise my work standards and the patient care.

thus i was praying very hard for a good call and it was relatively good actually. i managed to rest and there wasn't much trouble in the wards. i was very touched by all the people calling and messaging me, asking about how i was doing and all the good messages on facebook.

the next morning i woke up to a very beautiful morning. the birds were singing so sweetly, the colours of nature so vibrant and the air felt so fresh and sweet. I resolve to be a much better daughter, sister, friend & doctor. Even with the bruises, cuts, minor sprains and PTSD flashbacks, I felt great about life. Thank you very very much for your prayer and good wishes.

My Near-death Experience Part 1

I thought I would lose my life yesterday in a car accident. I thought I wouldn’t be walking the face of earth and see the people I love and care about. Why?

Around 7.30 am on Monday morning, as I was driving back towards Diamond Cove, I over-steered on a bend on a slippery road (rained the whole night before) and before I knew what happened, I lost control of the car. My steering wheel started spinning on its own and my brakes didn't work.

This is the first time I experienced hydro-planing, the sensation of skidding and swerving without any control on puddles of water on an old, trunk road lined with a thin layer of water. I wasn’t going very fast by Malaysian standards but my little Myvi is probably too light for stability and thus I started spinning and the no matter how I tried to control the steering wheel, nothing seemed to work.

My mind went numb and I was in a shock. A few milliseconds later, my car hit the banks of the road and went into a ditch lined with soft grass. I thought the grass cushioned the impact and preserved me from further damage. I landed side-ways and was hanging in my seat with the left side of the car smashed in and all the side mirrors smashed.

My only thought at that time was that I must get out from the car. Trapped on all four sides, I tried the switches and the mirror actually rolled down. I switched off the engine and as passersby approached, they helped pulled me out of the wreckage.

I turned back and gasped at how my car looked. I could see the entire undercarriage as it landed partially on the roof. Some of the kind people helped to right the car so that I could take my things out as I called my friends for help. Some folks actually recognized me from the hospital as many people stopped by, some to offer good advice while others to take photographs of the incident and even of me shuddering by the roadside.


To be continued….

My Utopia

The first word in my title : Dreams.


Dreams maketh the man and not the other way round. After an inspiring message from my senior pastor in the last Sunday service of 2008, I've moving towards a closure to the turbulent year of 2008. Coincidentally, my personal driving force seems to echo the ethos of Obama, the very Agent of Change. I believe that dreams drive a person on, insofar as changes to oneself and a nation urges us forward and gives us the practical and realistic impetus to act upon our lives.



I am a dreamer. I love to visualize and IMHO, without vision, would perish. Some people said that a planner might be too rigorous, too systematic in his or her life. I beg to differ..dreams offer a form of structure, a clear framework of the direction that we are taking. Of course we cannot have a tunnel-like vision but we should allow our dream to evolve, to take a broader and flexible shape as we mature in life. That's the beauty of the sermon that I heard today, the inspiration of today's blog entry.










I believe too that each of us can be an agent of change, hopefully for the better. Changes can sweep an individual, a community and even a nation. Changes move our spiritual, mental and physical inertia into fruitful energy. I detest inactivity unless the rest is purposeful. A purpose-driven life is one that brings about transformation all around our oikos (Greek for community).



The idea that each of us are destined for greater things and could be agents of change inspired me that we should not be contented to think of only what we can achieve today, but what we can achieve in the future. Tangible advancements in various civilizations shape the current world.Although individual heroes stood out throughout history, the mark of civilization is when the whole collective, united community reaches a golden era for that particular point in time.



That's why I visualize the future..how the subsequent generations would define this current generation. Are we going to be the generation of selfish overachievers who grabs at every opportunity without a thought to the downtrodden, or a generation of magnanimous and noble people whereby in each heart resides a generous and tolerant spirit?

The greatest advantage of the information revolution is the way the current generation utilizes technology and information. This age of discovery heralds in many forms of excesses and crimes but if with the grace of God and people who could rise above mediocrity and self-absorption, I have great faith that we would leave a giant footprint in the history of mankind. We could help, inspire, motivate, encourage more inventions, good-will and love in an egalitarian society. Somehow grandiose aspirations but surely, something, somehow, somewhere, the goodness would reign again and hope prevails.

Lofty dreams ahead or realistic goals?

As 31st Dec draws nearer, most people will begin to think about their new year’s resolution. I have to admit that some of my previous 'wishful' resolutions revolved around falling in love properly, having cute kids, building a stable and successful career and becoming financially-free by 35 year-old. Very tame and soppy isn’t it?





Well, judging from what’s been happening year in and year out, I’ve decided to ditch all my previous resolutions out the window and revamped my entire wish list.












Here goes my proper resolution for 2009 (and what the heck, maybe the entire decade!). For the first time in my life, I could actually, possibly achieve some of it.


1. Run a half-marathon by mid-year without stopping and within decent time

2. Climb Mount Kilimanjaro within 2-3 years and then to Everest Base Camp

3. Become a surgeon (and probably a world-famous one not long after that)

4. Live as a missionary doctor in somewhere amazingly obscure

5. Stop procrastinating (and I am serious about it)

6. Take absolutely stunning photographs with my own dslr camera

7. Be less bossy AND definitely less of a perfectionist (hey, I’m still a nice person)

8. Travel around the world on a back-pack and my saxophone

9.Take good care of my parents and siblings (life-time goal actually)

10. Produce, write and sing/play on my own album (preferably jazz-themed)

So, all the best in your new year resolutions!

Getting into the Spirit..another community message from yours truly

It's the time of the year again. We know it's almost the end of the year when:

1. the lights and trees are all up
2. numerous malls and street decor with non-specific themes
3. the people all rushing to buy gifts for one another
4. massive queues near ATMs (to coincide with the year-end bonus)


Yeah, Christmas-time is here and we could really feel the atmosphere chilling down to tropical 'winter wonderlands'












Judging at how warm our country is, the closest we get to winter are the massive shopping malls and offices. After all, people dress up very warmly to work just because the air-cond are on full blast. One of my Christmas wish list is that we go back to environment conservation and work towards reducing the need of air-cond in buildings or cooling down buildings using renewable energy like solar power, etc, etc...

Another item on my wish list is the use of plastic bag in our community..or rather advocating the use of reusable bags like paper bags, rattan bags, cloth bags, etc in shopping. If each of us bring our own bags when we go shopping, i think we will go a long way in this aspect. After all, each plastic bag is very harmful to the environment and dangerous to marine creatures. So be nice to nature, bring your own bag out and say no when the salesperson hand you a plastic bag k?

Another amazing thing is the profusion of Christmas decor all over Malaysia and Singapore. I am not sure about other capital cities but this is quite confusing to a lot of people who don't celebrate Christmas. I know the decorations are really wonderful and they do bring about the atmosphere but how about the true meaning of Christmas? Anyway, I appreciate all the hard work and creativity that go about in setting up the scenes..they are truly ingenious work of art and I appreciate and applaud them. It's just that sometimes I wish a few scenes from the Bible are included in the Christmas decor so that we are reminded of the true Meaning.

If not, pretty soon, people will forget that Christmas is one of the holiest season in the calendar, commemorating the birth of our Saviour and reminding us that we are forgiven and beloved. It is a season of love, forgiveness, peace and good-will.

Anyway, God bless all of you in the special season and may love, forgiveness and peace prevails!