D-day.....prelude

My feeling toward GE14 was complicated, after all those of years of frustration, I had given up hope that any miracle would happen…….Earlier this year, I was looking forward to the date of GE14, it would mean another trip up north for all of us. However I was wrong, the SPR had announced that the postal vote with be sent by post and we would have to sent it back to the returning officer before 5pm on the date of election. For a moment, something inside of me had urged me to fly back and carried out my duty, but it was not feasible as kiddo will be schooling and Xian is about to face his form 3 examination; it would be a unfair to the rest of the family if I fly back alone. So it was postal voting again for both of us. The registration was actually a painful one. Flipping through my passport was not enough to fill in the section of stay in Malaysia; the autogate entry[both in Malaysia and Taiwan] had left no stamping on the my passport. My reliable source was the airline company records. I took me quite sometimes to complete the registration.

I got the confirmation email about my application few days later. News regarding GE were starting to flood the media; all I saw was those old tricks…threatening about losing right, racist remark. Those all tricks had been working since my childhood, It had worked many times and I can’t find any reason that it shouldn’t this time, but there was this small flame in my heart that hoping for a change….

life of a developer....

It had been a year since I had dipped into the world of web developer...The progression was slow as I was stuck with the aspx way of retrieving data from database. I had written a wcf service but was unable to proceed as my NAS had an ARM processor and I was unable to host aspx....
I had read up a lot but was unable to make a good leap. I decided to use the html ajax php method. The project is to build a mobile EMR so that I can use mobile phone, tablet during my future medical mission. Well, it is more difficult than aspx and wcf but yet worth a try.
There were lots of resource over the net but the learning process was slow as I need to get answer from time to time by googling. The project was changed after a short while to a CPR recording mobile webpage. I got the inspiration from a local beef shop POS system which utilized mobile phone for counting how many plates the customer had consumed. A simple listview with a long list of button; just click the relevant items and sent...
I managed to get the listview working in 1 months and I was stuck with the datajson to php part.....There were a few technical details which is not mentioned over the net. It took me few weeks and I had completed module of ajax , json, php to and fro mysql server, the job was completed but there was another task waiting for me...

Since 1+ years ago, Ving was given the task of doing roll call in the church. The task is a complicated one as it involved counting the head not only during the mass, but also others activity. Name lists came from 4 different section in small piece of papers and she would need to enter the name onto the national roll call list over the net. If would often need 2-3 hours to complete the task. I had occasionally help her out and found that it could be done a more effective way….

The project started small with only one webpage and a database to manage…It later bloated up like a balloon….I gained many skills, techniques by googling…The task seems simple initially; chose date->chose gathering type->tick who was present from the listview-   >save[write to database]. 

However later I decided it should be reproducible; you can click the date and the data is retrieved so that you don’t have to tick the whole list again should you wanted to add or delete entry…

Then someone asked for a weekly statistic list…another one asked if visitor could be added…again someone asked  if visitor could be placed on the list for a certain period…so and so and so customization were requested…

Well…it took an enormous effort and time for me to coup with those requests… Now it served the whole church instead of our section…..

My next urgent task is to move it out from my NAS ...

let the nature do its job.....

The last few months was an agony not only for me but for my colleague. Our new head of department L had started to 'harass' the ED staff....

Nursing colleagues had been yelled and tagged with unpleasant word equivalent to 'no brainer'. Setting up rules and breaking them whenever he thought was suitable. Nursing staff had tolerated and eventually made complaint but yet the management had asked them to tolerate as L is currently the new kid on the block and the management wishes to rely on him for further advancement.

He had trolled the grey area and sometimes performing unethical acts which violated protocol. Events were reported but no action was taken.....

Nursing staffs are planning for a mass resignation in the near future and I am not happy looking at their plan....

It had been a comfortable working environment until the recent 6 months where L started to 'exercise' his power as HOD. K is one of the victim as L had been stalking him closely. 

I had been irritated but chosen to maintain a 'do nothing' posture....

backlogging....and conclusion of 2017

Appreciation was what I learnt during my last trip. Life was getting harder as the working environment became more hazardous. Interference was noted after Lem left. As the senior staff in our department, I was harassed less. A couple near misses that merely dragged me to medico-legal suit due to some reckless and unethical acts. I had tolerated such events and decided to do nothing…

A trip back to Malaysia was planned and it was a complicated one for me. I had not been having reunion dinner for over 10+ years with my parents and my brother. As our working force expended, this is the 1^st time in 10 years, I could be able to stay over Chinese new year eve.

The fly thru option was available for K city to Senai airport; it was my first choice but I had something to settle before I made the reservation – the overnight stay in sama-sama KLIA2. Unfortunately, it was not available at the time I did the search. Well, I had to give up the idea of getting fly thru but to do 3 separate purchases. KHH->Senai(fly thru), Senai->KUL, KUL->KHH. The interesting part was the price was NT10k less than purchasing a to-fro fly thru. I had noticed it sometimes ago and found that, the price of round trip from KUL to KHH vs KHH to KUL is different. You get a cheaper price if the initial departure city is KUL.

Well, I secured a room with the Plaza Premium lounge at KLIA2 gateway at the price of 1/3 of sama-sama (breakfast also included !!!).     

Despite of being disturbed on my job, I was struggling to learn JAVA; a tough task for a person with 70% of white hair….

the mission ...... impact beyond imagination...

The trip was a stunning one for me. Handful of team members, limited supply of drug. Poor lodging and the worst part, restriction of food, we were told that not to eat any food outside any food shop and only drink from bottled liquid. I had to refrained myself badly to laid my hand on whatever street food being sold. One of the team members was a lady pastor who had been there for more than 4 times, she told us that she had once eaten those food sold by seller along the roadside and she ended up sitting on the toilet for 2 days…… I had a mission to complete and I have no room for error so I told the local pastor that I would try those foods later when I go back to the homeland.

I had seen over 160 patients at the small village over the 2 days of stay. We had stalked the pharmacy around that area and grabbing whatever supply that they could provide us.

It was an amazing tour….I had learnt to appreciate what I have.

I left the team on D5, I travelled 140km to the local airport, took a domestic flight to N city and later hopped onto a flight back to HKG. While transiting, I had a deep thought about my journey and my future plan about serving the great one….

I picked 2 boxes of moon cake[black bean sand….my favorite] during my transit at HKG; the only prize that I got during the whole journey. I bought some gift for Xian and Yun on the plane. 

the mission.....A passage to .....

Unlike the previous few trip, I had lack the driving force to do drug preparation. The drug list proposed by me was being discounted and discounted….well, truly speaking, I don’t know what I could do with the limited stock..

I brought some of my stock and prepared for the impact when I arrived at my destination.

Malaria was one of the threats I am facing and since I am heading to the more secluded country side, I presumed I needed some prophylaxis. The choice from expensive Malarone to the cheapest doxycycline. Well, I opted for the later. I knew we definitely needed a lot of ointment but reluctant to do so as I was not sure if I would be stuck at the custom.

There were so many uncertainties waiting ahead and I was helplessly holding on with prayer. The day had come and I woke up early as I had an early flight to catch. It was not a smooth start. I discovered that I left out my phone after 1km away from my house. I driven back recovered the phone and noticed that my priority pass card was missing from my passport holder….

Well, everything was in chaos on my start. I left home 30mins late from my schedule after picking my phone with an eventful search for the card. Arriving at the airport and found that my PP card was in my wallet hidden slot, a relief but not good enough for a comfortable trip. The PP card would be a great tool on return trip as the transit time was more than 8 hrs.

The stopover at the HKG airport was a short one and I met my team 1+ hour prior to the departure….

the mission ..... pre flight

After 1+ years of burying my head like an ostrich, I finally decided to hit the road again for mission….

There had been invitation from time to time but I had denied them with lousy excuses. The decision was actually a conflicting one as Ving did not fully support my involvement.

After the Lanka, Ving had given me a go and an offer came in not long after that.

The offer came from the NGO which I had worked with few years ago in Satun.

It would be difficult for me to join the group on departure as they always use CKS as their departure airport. The departure time is always in early in the morning and arrival is late in the night. It would take me two more travelling day to complete the mission.

Luckily on this trip, they need to get a transit in HKG. I told the pastor I would get the flight ticket myself and I would meet them in HKG. The ticket was far more cheaper compare to the quotation from the travel agent. The visa part was a difficult part as I am not comfortable handing my passport to the travel agent and “mail” it up north for application. I did it over the net. The process was a tedious one, with all the detail to complete. I manage to do a full upload after a few attempts. The approval came few days later and I was all set to go….well, almost all set….