Wave

It is the solely a preparation for the future.

In a society that only one medical student exist, he of course can rotate to any department he likes in a specified and limited period. But then as the number of medical students increase, usually we have no say about how we should be taught.

Take this hospital as example, In previous years, for getting some good cases, the senior students were hostile to the junior students. Well, because they took all the cases for nothing, because we the seniors are to be examined really, not the kids, because we want to learn more. These ideas were deeply planted in every senior students' brain.

As a result, the juniors had no chance to learn at all. I asked myself, what I have learnt from the junior clerkship in terms of medical knowledge? Perhaps nothing. The basics were not consolidated, which disabled further learning. How could a tree without roots to blossom?

You may wonder, without the teaching from professors, it would be hard for the seniors. It is partly correct because the professors are the people who own a lot of up-to-date knowledge in the field and they are always examination-oriented in their teaching. However, if they are not going to teach us on the most updated information and the most artistic physical examinations, they will lower the cut-off of the passing marks. To many of us, it will be good.

And for some students who know are active to learn, the change is the best for them. It is they who will finally contribute to the medical field, not the ducks who always relied on the spoon-feeding from others.

Change

Our internal medicine teaching has made a dramatic change this year. Be it good or bad, I am going to be one of the student who receive this kind of arrangement.

The original 6 weeks teaching in our teaching hospital disappeared, which converts to two other hospitals in Sheung Shui and Kwai Chung, altogether with the hospital at Tai Po for 3 weeks. We will be requested to appear throughout the week except the Wednesday, because the professors want to have teaching on this very day in the middle of the week during the general medicine module.

In view of it, I can foresee the differences in our ecological system.

First, the prestigious junior medical students will be able to enjoy more teachings from this hospital (which is not our hospital) in order to brush up their forgotten basic science and clinical skills. Well, they will benefit a lot.

Second, we the poor senior medical students will have a lot of cases awaiting for us to perform physical examinations. I am sure, we can get much more signs than we should in this hospital, where gangster fight for opportunities of physical examinations were common place.

Third, the doctors from the mentioned hospitals outside Sha Tin will hate our medical school a lot, for they take the teachings to the students for granted without paying anything but increasing working load!

Fourth, the transportation cost and the time cost of we the poor medical students would be too much to be measurable. For those who live in the hostels, they will still need a lot of time to go to the Sheung Shui hospital and the hosptial in Kwai Chung. Not to mention the remote Tai Po one. All we lack, to tell the professors the truth without making up any signs, are but money and time this year.

Considering all this, I think it is correct for our school to move on like this. I shall explain it in the next entry.

Pulse

My Desktop Computer got problems, and I found difficulty in deciding what to do. On the other hand, it was a good medicine management demonstration.

I have one Desktop Computer whose CPU had troubles, the technician told me that the CPU had no been produced for quite sometime, and if I have to repair it, the sum of money would be already adequate for me to purchase one new model.

I have one Laptop at hostel whose battery had problems. It could not be recharged to more than 30%, which was disabling because I was not able to carry it to the lecture theatre without the electric cables. I had tried to contact the producer who made the battery, and they told me again, well, the model was too old-fashioned and we stopped the production already (it was merely a 4-year time to be called old-fashioned).

So the management would be: first, buy a brand new Desktop Computer at home, which can solve the first problem but the second problem left untreated. Also, to invest around $3000 dollars for a computer which I seldom use this year (for I seldom go home), it was not so effective.

Second, put the Laptop back home and buy a new one to replace it. It solved two problems completely but it created a new problem: financial toxicity. A good Laptop is easy to come across but hard to come by. It was very difficult, if not possible to find someone that had a good longevity and good spec with economic price.

I had a pulse to buy a Macbook from apple.com with a click. The spec and longevity were both satisfying, but the cost was tremendous (around $10000). I told myself that I was still a student.

So the temporary measure was to keep everything unchanged (or until I got rich enough to buy new toys).

James

One day I met JC in the canteen.

He was always nice, asking me how I was going at the start of the tormenting refresher lectures. I had to tell him the truth that it was really harsh, taking me most of the time to revise. However, time was never enough.

As a very understanding person, he nodded and encouraged to me to try my best to learn. He was also a humble and true person. After all, I have seen so many people who achieve so much and then told their juniors that Medicine was easy and they should go and play. They are wrong.

Knowing that he will become an oncologist this July, I told him that it would be great to see him in the oncology ward here. "No, I will go to QEH for my career." JC replied. I was surprised. How on earth our Gold medalist would choose not to stay in this teaching hospital for academic activities?

He saw through me and went on."I can spend more time taking care of patients there."

Then I completely understand. He was not great because he knew a lot and made a James' notes for us. He was great because from the start, he knew where to go and how to get there. The key is to take care of our patients who are in need. I am sure that in the medicine interview as a EAS student, he told our professors that he wanted to take care of patients. And ever since, he stuck to this and got the momentum. He knew who he was (and he was not), recognizing strength and his weakness. Philosophy always emphasize the importance of understanding oneself (Know Thyself). He knows it entirely.

He is the glory of our medical school. I will always take his words in my mind in my career.

sapiens

The journey to Pattaya was never a waste, on the contrary to my previous thought.

Originally I planned to go to Angkor Wut for a few days, having no ideas or intent to go to Thai. Pattaya was just a name that I used to know, and I had wanted to spent these days in the historical wonders.

But then the time in Thailand gave me time to think, as Hume said: Leisure is the mother of philosophy. The Thai kept impressing me during the journey, the kind people and the cunning people were my inspirations in the trips. Many of them believed in the values of Buddha, but how on the earth they acted so differently? A man at the street gave us a good talk on how to take care of parents and get girlfriends but at the same time cheated us a handful of money. A driver of Tuk-tuk brought us to a famous temple and then carried us to a jewellery shop, for some reason.

And in Pattaya, you have the Walking Street, and you have the Sanctuary of Truth, which has been building by a tycoon for the sake of spreading the common value of Asians. Well, it is very difficult, if not possible, to define the character of Thai.

So as the common people like us.

Adele

The power supply partly recovered, but still, the band was not to play again.

We looked outside the pub. The neon lights of shops were still on as the raindrops kept falling. Some men stayed in the pub chatting with their girlfriends. Some decided to leave and walk with them without umbrellas. Some decided to leave them.

The reflections from the ground and the neon lights over our head were the only sources of light for the passengers. People were so clumsy walking, or running, on the streets. For once, they did not make any preparations in this walking street.

We also intended to leave, for the car was not far from the pub. BL was a bit drowsy that time, and EH suggested that when the rain became mild we had to go. I agreed.

Suddenly, I heard some music, which I was forced to stay. Annie the vocalist was asked to sing Someone Like You. Again, she sang so beautifully. Perhaps she was better than Adele the overrated singer.

But then I realized that it was not just Annie who sang. Some prostitutes sang along with her. That time I knew the emotions of the song. They knew it the most, and they sang about it. Perhaps they were not singers, they sang with their past bitterness and sorrow. "Nevermind, I will find someone like you......I wish nothing but the best for you......."

It is the weakest part of everyone. We were hurt by that person, but then when we were departed, we still wanted someone like that. Logically, we will still get hurt and have the suffering again. So we do never leave this cycle at all.

Band

Why particular Rolling Stone? I was not fond of this band. What attracted me was the music from the performing band.

Again I had to make myself clear that, when I got into the pub, I precisely told the staff: I just want some music. Seeing that we were but three males, the staff put us to the closest seats from the stage.

They were a 5-piece band, with a female vocal. They were playing some great classics with strong rhythms, which I liked very much. The vocalist was really good, with a beautiful and powerful voice. The songs were all from male singers, but yet she could handle them well. The other members in the band did their own instruments so well that it was a surprise for me to listen to something great in this very sin city. They played with heart and soul, which I can 

I had some thoughts that time. Well, what if the medband can play something like this in pub. Michelle will still be the vocal, JK the guitarist, Kevin the bassist, and I being the drummer.

Of course, we were not excellent in instruments. Instead of it, I felt that in these years what we have played, was not from the skills but from the inner urge. That's why we enjoyed it, and we did not care if the audience will love it at all. For some moment, I was lost that I did not play something I like. But then, you can't always get what you want. That's what the Rolling Stone told me.

The rain came so suddenly, strongly and vigorously. The power supply of the pub had gone, thanks to it. With nothing else to do, the vocalist, Annie came to the tables and talked to the audience. She was perhaps a part-time singer in this city for around 5 years. "You know, playing music was not the good way to make living." But then, she enjoyed it a lot.

That's why music brought her to her band, and her music to us.

Vice

The time we spent in Bangkok was as interesting as we did not do anything, therefore, I decided to talk about our journal in Pattaya.

Thanks to EH's swift drive, we arrived there in time. However, it was not a timely moment for us to visit there, for there was perhaps nothing to do in the day time, if you know what I am talking about.

Yes. Pattaya is not a city to visit in daytime. We could as well stay in our 4-star hotel for some gymnasium or swimming, but it was the night time that defined what Pattaya is, the sin city.

I still remember GTA 3 vice city, which is a video game I used to play when I was in secondary school. There was a long beach at the starting point. And I believe that, the 4-km convex beach in this city, was the origin of the game. In the night, the beach, and the whole city was fueled with testosterone and filled with prostitutes. We were all stunned (but not excited, please).

The most interesting point was that there was a Walking Street which was sponsored by SAMSUNG. Numerous disco and clubs were that, so were uncountable women and tourists. I had the chance to be invited to go to some exhibitions for some shows. I shall not elaborate what kind of show it was, because you can see all of them via the internet, and I leave it to your imaginations.

We three had made ourselves clean and clear that we only wanted to pay for alcohol and music, being tourists. As a result, we went to a pub called Rolling Stone. (to be continued)

唐人街

第二日，我們出發到曼谷的唐人街。

唐人街的存在其實是中國人的問題。美其言，海外華人喜歡居住在一起，互相照顧，有福同享，因此，上世紀甚至更早的時候，他們便於多個國家建立唐人街，實行中國式的生活。事實上，離國人於外邦多多行為不來檢，乞人憎不在話下，有時得罪當地社團，往往為當地增加不少麻煩，是以，當地政府都不介意華人自建城邦，稅只要交足，認真由你自生自滅。

現在唐人街更成為旅遊景點。無他，大部份中國人（包括大部份香港人）只愛旅遊，不喜旅行，對當地風土人情不求認識，只懂飲食男女，如果食的不是自己口味，便大大不滿。見有唐人街食肆提供黃河母親般親切的食物，就食慾大振，食後又如食家似的比較外地和國內唐菜的分別。頂唔順。

但正因為唐人街是一個十分封閉的地方，至今仍可見到不少國民甚至晚清的傳統。人的表情，人的談吐，和現在的中國比較，當然不同；街市，寺廟，拳館，細心欣賞下，歲月的足跡漸漸可見。我似回到百年前的中國，一個藍色的中國。

無怪唐人街是一個旅遊景點：我們都愛過那一個中國，那一個遙遠的中國。駐足一看，如時光倒流，我多麼想說我要回家了。

Bangkok

For the next stop, we left the sorrowful city by taking a safe fight.

There we went, the heart of Thailand, Bangkok.

It was quite late when we arrived, for the flight we took took off at five. Therefore, we rushed to our hotel, shedding off our luggage in the room. At the same time, we tried to meet up BL in the hotel, who was supposed to arrive from Hong Kong directly.

It was far from comfortable for us to get a place to eat, for some reason. Our hotel was a bit remote from the city centre, and we needed sometime to walk. If we opted to take a taxi, we would probably be stuck in the road for half an hour because the traffic was chaotic. To some extent, it was not different from what we saw in Cambodia. Somehow I felt that my road-crossing technique improved a lot after surviving these two cities.

This was a busy city, where there were so many people, so many vehicles and so many buildings. I did not understand why it was considered a place to have holiday, when I walked along the streets.

It turned out that we settled down in a shopping mall, having some expensive Thai food. It was not worth y of mentioning at all.

Nine

Let's put the heavy ideas aside, for some time.

Phnom penh is a city of simple design, most of the districts are rectangular and the streets are named with direction (northern and eastern) and number. As a result, the Lonely Planet said, it is a city with a sense of New York. It actually makes some sense. And moreover, the hotel we stayed had a name of a street: Hotel Nine.

The simplistic name gave a peaceful feeling for tourists like us when travelling in a sorrowful city. In the morning, the sunlight passed though the space between the green leaves on our face, thus we did not need a alarm. Freshening up ourselves, the breakfast awaited for us. The French boss would say hello to us, asking us where to go. It was a great morning.

Out of an instant thought, I feel that it is a good business to set up something like this in Cambodia. First, you do not really need to do a lot to run a hotel, once you have established adequately. You do not need to frequently re-decorate the rooms, and the food (which is in buffet style) could be decided by the customers themselves. All you have to get worried was the safety.

Secondly, you can train the local people to do something and at the same time, providing them job opportunities. They can ,as a result, learn and earn to sustain their livings. It is some a good way to help their families, and the city.

Painting

On the next day of arrival, we decided to have a ride around the city, As most of the tourists here do, we took the tuk-tuk to go here and there, which was full of fun, though sometimes dangerous. The drivers knew where to go as they spoke good English (which confirmed the information from Lonely Planet), and we did not need to get worried for losing our way.

Easy ride the day it looked, we did not feel the same. It was cloudy that day, our hearts shrunken, for the city of this country had a sorrowful history -- Forty years ago, it was where the killing started and it was where people lost their homes, lives and relatives.

The city looked peaceful, despite the chaotic traffics which was largely attributed to the lack of public transport and tuk-tuks. The residential areas remained a low density, where people would sit out and talk to their neighbors about the livings. I know, they would try to talk about something happy, notwithstanding the tough conditions nowadays with the financial tsunami and the political turbulence. We all only have tomorrow to live on. We are have.

It took us a few minutes to go to the S-21 Museum, where the agents of Pol Pot hold the so-called anti-revolutionatories. It was a school before Rouge Khmer, which was used as a killing place that time. The classrooms were made as places of interrogation. The fate of the majority there was either admitting themselves the criminals to the authority and then killed, or directly killed. Only the minority could escape.

Outside the classrooms, the wind blew and the leaves of the trees crackled fiercely and the rain came suddenly. Inside the classrooms, photos of the victims and the illustrations of killing were shown, on the floor the equipment was placed. We were horrified.

In the end of the corridor of the last building, there was a corner full of paintings by the students from the local and the Japan, which also suffered a lot from WWII. What I could see was the picture I saw in the city: the busy streets, the living areas, the big park and the walking people drawn using simple color pencils.

This was what the Cambodians dreamed of: we don't need any luxurious living, but please, keep the country peaceful and lives enjoyable. The kids here probably understand more life than most people in the world.

Justice

Do you know that, some of the leaders who destroyed the whole Cambodia during the reign of terror thirty years ago, were so far not received any sentence?

They said that, well, the Pol Pot was the leader who brainwashed us, and he ordered us to kill all the anti-revolutionaries, including the new-born who had the connection with their parents. Well, they asked for forgiveness. They asked for mercy so they can die with their terminal diseases.

It was the most challenging questions to all the people in the world: who to judge the moral cases? Jesus Christ? or everyone of us, according to Nietzsche?

The Christians could say, well, forgive them, for they are also the sons and daughters of God. If they slap you on the left, you let them slap you on the right. Does it mean that the rest of Cambodians should be slaughtered by their orders then?

Nietzsche said, well, judge them with our eyes, for God is dead, and we have no absolute rules to rely on but ourselves. We can see what to do and who to punish. Judgement is the answer from us to the world, which is also the only way to express our existence. Live as a Lion.

P.S. Indeed, there is nothing new under the sun. Do you know Judgment at Nuremberg?

Khmer

The first place we went to was the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, which was the capital of the south asia, when the Khmer was the ruling race a thousand years ago.

It followed a typical pattern of decline, as most of the nations do. They used to rule with their strong army, but they turned out disarmed themselves and recruit the Thai and the Vietnamese to carry out the military actions. The whole kingdom did nothing but only awaited for the colonization from the Western countries. In her case, it was the French who recognized this piece of land and planted their feet.

It in a sense restored the kingdom because they now had some protections from the European country. But then, after the second world war, it was the France who were so weak and decided to quit Cambodia, saying that the Cambodia had the right to rule themselves.

The rest was history. The Khmer Rouge dictated the country, killing everyone they did not like. The people who were left was not more than the people who were eradicated.

I had the chances to go to the museum and the killing field where the Cambodians decided to keep the most painful and sorrowful part of their bright history. The audio guide in the killing field was narrated by a local Cambodian who spoke English. So he said:

"We were angry not because we had such as terrible era from the Khmer Rouge, but because we Cambodians killed Cambodians."

He answered the people who refused to make museums for our Cultural Revolution and 4-6-1989.

Companion

It just took me a few hours to rush back to my home packing and then went back to the airport which was very close to where Jacky Cheung held his concert. Of course, the melodies and lyrics were with my heart.

EH is my companion. Without him, I was not possibly to have this journey, which was supposedly to be a so-called graduation trip. Luckily, he is a graduate this year with a prosperous career ahead. I cannot ask for more.

Indeed he is one of the few people in this world who could instantly recognize what I am talking about. After all, we invented the language for fun and has practiced it for many years. It has given us joy and leisure, making school life more enjoyable and less boring. Our language was artistic and yet weird. Sounds paradoxical, isn't it? That's why they are fancy about it but they can hardly learn it. Moreover, I realize that our language is not to be taught--you can only appreciate it only when we two are talking. There is no way to mimic. As a result, there is no one in the university who can talk so freely with me as EH talked with me.

Oh! How on earth there is someone who can share the same language and thought with you? It must be the blessing from the god of universe. We are all individuals in this world, with our soul set inside our skull, but sometimes, as Aristotle said, friendship is one soul in two bodies. I am fortunate enough, huh?