Mind your language ..........

I was having my ultra sound scan at the Gleneagles Hospital when the Filipino staff doing the scan said, "Aunty, please turn around." I wondered with some amusement as to how I was related to her. I thought you might hear some food vendors calling you "aunty" at the market, but at a classy hospital like Gleneagles, staff would use more formal terms like "Mr. or Madam So and So. After all, my name was right on the computer screen! Now, even the foreign staff who are working in Singapore have caught up with our peculiar lingo. At least the Filipino staff was so much more
polite than the doctor - a Dr. Tan Hui Kian who came in to double check the scan. No, she did not introduce herself - I found out her name from the report. Instead, she came in and stared at me through her thick glasses for a little while as if I were E.T. from outer space. After a while, she said in a loud voice, "Peng".
(In Hokkien, meaning turn over). I guess she did not know how to use the word, "Please in Hokkien", which was why the word was omitted, making her sound quite rude and unrefined for someone so well educated. Then the doctor mumbled something in Hokkien which I thoroughly ignored. I guess little did she realise that the patient on the bed speaks more languages than she does.!

My primary school classmate, Jenny Moxey, a senior nurse, had visited me from London and had insisted on accompanying me to Gleneagles Hospital. She had asked to be allowed into the ultra sound room as she wanted to see the results. She was quite cheesed off by the rudeness of Dr. Tan, and the lack of EQ displayed by her when handling a patient.

I guess my best friend, Sim, was quite right when she said she somehow enjoyed the services of the public hospitals. Sim has been hospitalised in a few private hospitals and felt that many of the staff lack the EQ that is of such great importance when dealing with sick patients.

The other day I was taking a taxi, and told the taxi driver that now the Singapore General Hospital has improved tremendously as I was hospitalised there for a week.
"Yes, that was what I heard", smiled the taxi driver, "and that is good for our nation".

"Please consider the environment before printing this email."

" Please consider the environment before printing this email."

I was most impressed when I receveived an email from Joe Choy of Merlin Frame Maker
and Art Gallery Pte Ltd when I saw the above quote at the bottom of his email to me.
I wrote to ask him if he were an environmentalist or an animal lover. Joe replied
that it was sent by the National Parks Board.

Now, in sharp contrast, the new CEA which has devised standardised forms for all
agents have now come up with commission forms that are seven pages long. Before the change in rulings, most real estate companies use commission forms that are only one page long. Can you imagine what this means? Each time a sale, purchase or rental
deal is closed, there are altogether 21 pages that have to be printed. A set of 7 pages for the client, a set of 7 pages for the company, and a set of 7 pages for the agent for his filing and reference. Can you imagine how many thousand deals are closed in a day? How the heart of the National Parks Board must be bleeding.! Of course, they are the ones who take care of the trees, and know how long it takes for a tree to grow from infancy to adulthood.

I also love nature and animals and try to do my part by being vigilant in recyling of used papers, used bottles, cans, etc. But we need a concerted effort from everyone to help preserve the earth. I really hope the CEA will consider shortening
the words in the forms so as to reduce the number of pages. It takes only one hour
to cut down a tree but tens and hundreds of years to grow it to a dignified height.

My Thoughtful Friends......

 

Since my illness, many of my friends have visited me. Till now, there are some friends who have called to say they want to see me, and I will be making arrangements.

Eldest and second sister are surprised I have so many friends. Eldest sister is concerned I may be tired, but I love meeting my friends and appreciate their taking their time to visit me. Eldest sister shared with me that a relative from Kuching had stage one liver cancer, and refused to have friends to visit him for fear that his poor immunity might put him at a disadvantage. I reminded eldest sister that we all have different principles and outlook in life.

Many of my friends brought me books to read and tapes on Christian messages for me to listen to. I am grateful for their thoughtfulness. My friend, Geok Cheng, bought me a a book on "Hard Truths" by MM Lee Kuan Yew because she knew that I admire our great leader. Elsa brought me tapes on messages by her pastor, Joseph Prince. Rebecca Lee, a health enthusiast, brought me 8 books on health - from detoxification to eating the right food. My ex-student Alyssa, sent me a book on a testimony by Moses Ng, "Touched by a Miracle". Janice brought me a book, "Natural
Cures Revealed" when I was at the National Cancer Centre.

There are still many more other books brought by friends, and I know I have enough reading material to last me a year or two!

Friends - how they show their love and warmth when the need arises!