Definition of stupid

It will be interesting to profile these anti-vaccine and pro-home birth no-doctors-around people. Their social standing, demography and all that. I wonder if they have the same mistrust to other professional bodies. Do they build their own houses? Grow their own crops? Assemble their own cars?

I don't debate about these things. Apparently they came from a group of traumatised people. They were traumatised by someone's child who reacted severely to vaccine and traumatised by someone's unpleasant labour experience. They feared and so they Googled their own alternatives.

Elsewhere, we studied our ass off understanding vaccines and O&G. We know nothing is perfect and thus we try to our best so that the worst doesn't happen.

Till 7pm

In Egypt, we play a lot of waiting game. The game ranges from a few minutes to hours. You'll be okay so long you have the contact number of the person you're waiting for and you have a book to study while you wait.

I'm getting better at this game. Except when I play it with a Malay then I'm more likely to quit and stop waiting. A Malay polluted by Egyptian's bad behaviour is a disgrace to our nation, as an expat that is not what is supposed to happen.

---

Today's Ortho with Dr. Ahmed Khetb. He taught my class last July and I remember him to be tough built like a bodybuilder. Today he seemed thinner. Maybe it was the shabby effect of his coat, but I hope he's doing fine.

As we walked to the Ortho Trauma Bay, a secluded place with no signage, he turned to me walking beside him and said

"You have been here nearly 7 years, so you know that Egyptians are disorganised and uncivilised. The place we are going to will be hectic and disorganised. I know you are more organised so I am sorry we didn't become like you yet." He smiled.

---

Our doctors always ask us if we enjoy our stay in Egypt and I will enthusiastically say I do, I enjoy staying in Egypt very much. And they will be very surprised and exclaim "Why? Egyptians are bad!" Dr. Hala Mohsin of Paediatric the other day was so surprised she interrogated me further.

If we are discussing the behaviour of people, I think it is unfair to say Egyptians are bad when there are very kind Egyptians as well. For me, people are either good or bad, not distinguished whether they are Egyptians or not. We have bad people in Malaysia and every part of the world.

At the very least, I like how staying in Egypt has matured me. The good things they do teached me to become that as well, and the stupid things they do will be a reminder for me to always avoid. Socially, I like how Egyptians have free-flow of prayers for the next person.

I learned how to survive in the least ideal circumstances, how to and how not to treat a person, and how to and how not to handle a situation. I learn new things from the different doctors I meet and I appreciate these experience very much. Writing down their names is for me to always remember to pray for their well-being.

Once I leave Egypt, I hope to meet again; next time with me as a respectable doctor in this career.

Dog Days

When it comes to animal, my principles are pretty straightforward. We are all creatures of the one God and we all have our own purposes in life, thus I believe no harm would come if we don't trespass each others boundaries. If a suspicious stranger is in my house, I'll stab him first then question, heh. So I think it is understandable for a grizzly to eat lost people in the woods or for a shark to bite should we come too close.

And as humans, God gave us the privilege as khalifah that entitle us to govern and do good and justice to all living creatures, among other more tedious entitles. We have responsibilities on them because that's one of the reasons of our creation.

Principally, I have no problem with coming near a dog. There are dogs everywhere on the street in Cairo and I walk normally if I see them in my path, but I don't make an effort to pet them like I would a cat. They are strays, their teeth might graze me and I'd rather spare myself the painful rabies shots.

That being said, I also don't make much effort to walk far away from the dogs I encounter. I just make sure they're not within lick distance to me out of the possibility of having to wash myself properly as per decreed, and I doubt I'd find a clean soil here in Cairo.

Come to think of it, I walk farther away from horses and likes than I do dogs because I learned the hard way that a horse's snot has the worst malodorous stench ever.

There are dogs I'm curious of. Kimi the three-legged collie who I helmed as the resident dog of our faculty, I wanted to pet her but again I had doubts about finding clean soil here so I didn't. I simply kept eyes on her.

But I think, if one day she comes near me enough, I'll probably give her a pet on her head and say "Good girl". Let's pray she doesn't lick me then (again, clean soil. I should buy one of those clay soap.)

---

We stay away from things we don't understand and fear and this fear may lead us to our fight or flight mode. Irrational fear leads to hatred that saw the inhumane treatments to the dogs on the street.

So first! There's the understanding of the whole shariah thingy behind interacting with dogs. If you get that, there shouldn't be any problem. Find out what Islamic scholars are saying about the issue of interacting with dogs. As a follower of Imam Syafei, I respect and stick with his views and I don't twist around to follow other imams' view because I don't fully understand the fundamental of their arguments to play around with.

Once you understand shariah and the nature of dogs, you shouldn't be scared of dogs and will treat them accordingly.

---

There's John the normal-legged collie my kid sis keeps in the backyard of our Klang home. Mom has been vocally against it, but I defended John when I saw him for the first time two weeks ago.

I argued that as a lost dog who resides in our gated backyard and can jump out anytime he wants but still choose to hang around, it means he had gave up searching for his owner and had taken a liking to us. It was too late to throw him out now, he will definitely come back. Now it is up to us to be kind to him and make sure he has food, clean water and a shelter from the pelting rain.

Mom was still not happy, but John stayed. And kid sis build him a shelter after I pointed that out so we're all good. That idiot anyhow went and kept some of John's food in the fridge and that made mom angry, but kid sis was on her own on that. Who in their right mind keep human food with animal's food? You don't even mix cooked and raw food in the same setting.

Not very bright that kid sis, I guess I am at fault for being born before her and taking all the smart points, bwahaha. Am I concerned she reads this and storms at me? Nope.

I have concern however whether the whole taking-John-in was shariah-compliant, and I am more concerned of the whole clean soil thing, because I have doubt about my kid sis's stand when it comes to anything shariah. But she told me with a doubtable tone that she wears a glove when dealing with him.

I took her words for it.

Tough Love

During the break, we had a discussion about justice and human rights that stemmed from the quote,

"Fiqh menjauhkan manusia daripada manusia dan manusia daripada tuhan."

It was a rather heavy discussion to be written back, and I am exhausted from cooking dinner and washing the carpet after a 7 am - 4 pm class today. So I'll just jot down the principles I used during the discussion.

I believe human are social creatures with the need to band together when presented with a common ground. Similar taste in music, race, fellow countrymen, practicing the same faith, classmates, whatever it may be. From here will come preference and to a degree, favouritism.

In life, we have give and take. Islam teaches us that each relations will come with it rights and obligations. Family have rights obligated from us and we from them; our neighbours, our friends, our fellow Muslims, our fellow human, etc. Each with a different level of obligations and therefore preference and favouritism.

To conclude, "If I treat everyone the same, who will I treat special?"

So when we talk about injustice, whose law are we judging injustice by? In this world of diversity, you cannot make a judgement without considering circumstances involved, namely the culture and religions. This needs a degree of understanding or perhaps benefit of the doubt and tolerance.

And then we have the perspective we use to deal with a subject. Adjectives are really just two faces of a coin. When I was a fresh first-year in Egypt, I considered the Egyptians brash and uncivilised. Nowadays I can see them as out-going and brave, and the change in perspective made me calmer and able to live within the community and this prevented me from stabbing their kidneys every time they cut queues auscultating the patient. 

But then again, this is just my stand. You can keep bashing everything that doesn't comply with your worldview, but no opinion and no one is definite.

---

Because of this, I didn't feel anything when something happened in our class today.

We had an afternoon lecture for two hours straight. The subject was equivalent to teaching Electrical Engineering to us medical students. It was, simply put, beyond demanding. But thankfully, the lecture was in English.

Our doctor gave a 20-minute break before he starts the next hour-and-half lecture. We groaned but we stayed, using the break to discuss the earlier lecture.

Break over and the doctor continued his lecture... in ARABIC. I tried my best to follow the lecture despite my inner self kicking a tantrum. It was a hard subject even in English! It was one thing to just grasp the subject and another entirely to decode the Arab into English while grasping the fast-paced lecture. The fact that it was 3pm and we had class since 7am definitely added to the mental exhaustion.

But I stayed mum because if there is one thing I noticed about our lectures, it is that they are human and they get tired. When they get tired, they use Arabic more than English. The seniors before us endured classes in Arabic and see them now all shiny and lovely living the life as respected doctors.

So I didn't complain and doubled what was left of my focus.

After class, my friend told me why the doctor used Arabic throughout the second lecture.

During the break, one of our diligent Egyptian colleague approached the bench because he didn't understand something from last week's lecture, a topic that was fully grasped by us Malaysians.

The doctor asked him didn't he understand last week, and our colleague admitted he didn't really understand because doctor used English.

My friend continued with a sad expression that our doctor preferred the Egyptian students more, despite his very garang reprimanding them every single time each of them arrived later than the start of the lecture.

"He scolds them because he loves them. And he taught in Arabic because he loves them."

Oh, okay. That explained stuffs. It was at our expense, but it was for the benefit of others and I could see how he came to decide to do that.

I left the lecture hall feeling lighter than the resigned feeling endured throughout the lecture. It felt good to unravel the mysteries of life.

Dissecting STEP 2 - Prologue

Disclaimer: I promised beloved Fatimah Che Rahimi to share something from our last Friday's STEP 2 - When Mecca Meets Medina with Pak Utih. But truth be told, as one of the committee I spent my time between running around doing whatever God knows and slipping backstage to make sure the guys didn't screw up (okay this sounds so conceited, haha). The only time I was in the hall trying to listen to Pak Utih's talk, my mind was running ahead of me.

Regardless, I want to share something. So bear with me.

The Cool STEP 2 Clan

The first objective of STEP 2 was to enlighten the participants on the differences between guys and girls so as to be better prepared at dealing with the opposite gender.

This is important because whether you like it or not, the opposite gender is a part of your daily life. From your own family members to the people you work with and those patients of yours. If you don't know how they generally work, you'll end up baffled and to a greater extent, stressed and unable to come to terms with the verse that Allah said how He created us in different genders to complement each other.

Puhlease, I'm Not Getting Married Anytime Sooner

Last year's STEP, Dr. Harlina Haliza Siraj said there are three categories of male:
1- your family members
2- your brothers in Islam
3- that special someone
each with their own unique ways to deal with.

So don't limit your scope that When Mecca Meets Medina is all about knowing the opposite gender in order to better deal with when you're married. Heh. Yes you will probably get married one day insha Allah, but there's more to life than getting married. #BukanKahwinJeBest, iye dop? Haha.

I like to quote Dumbledore, "First you have to know, then understand, and only then there will be acceptance" or so he said to Harry at the end of The Fifth Harry Potter Book.

Understanding; Towards Efficiency

Understanding is important for efficiency, which according to Community Medicine means the capacity of proper utilization of the available resources to achieve the operational objective. Guys have their own strengths and limitations, so as girls. Understanding these will better help us measure our expectations and tailor our strategies accordingly.

Some may say I am manipulative, heh. But that's just another way to depict our isti'ab dakhili (What the heck is this, you ask? Go figure, haha!)

As the big sister, I can't boss John around the same way I boss Melle around. Melle will probably comply no matter how I exert my dictatorship but John will rebel just to make a statement. In the end, all I wanted was for John's all-rounded well-being but if my method is wrong, none of us will benefit.

(And I will lose. This is unacceptable because I like to win. Haha.)

Some Guys Can Shop, Some Girls Can Read Maps

Like medicine, there is a whole range of spectrum for a disease clinical picture on a patient. A diabetic patient may present with mild disturbance of vision or Random Blood Sugar above 300mg/dL and comatosed with diabetic ketoacidosis. And in life, just because I am a girl doesn't mean I hit like a girl. (It is amusing that guys and even girls have recently taken the habit of calling me "akhi/bro".. but I feel like hitting them all the same.)

Splitting people up into guys and girls doesn't mean they are equally categorized. (Or is this the right moment to throw you a fact that "there are three types of people on earth: Guys, girls and Hana"?) Stop for a moment and throw away the generalizing dimwitted "All guys/girls are the same" mentality.

Girls are generally better at being domestic, but I am not at par to the average of them. I know for fact that Abang Effy is better domesticated than I can ever be. On the other hand, you can depend on a guy to not get you lost but trust me when I say I am awesome at directions while some guys have directional dyslexia, haha.

Subhanallah, Allahu akbar! These distribution of attributes should open our eyes to appreciating individual traits and respect each person as his own unique self. John will always be John and James will always be James and Hana will always be Hana, and each of us can be a better us. I am forever thankful for my parents for treating us siblings differently according to our personalities.

Give No Excuses To Be Weak

"I'm a guy, I don't do multitasking."
"I'm a girl, I can't help that I say something but mean something else."

Let's live in harmony and not play the blame game. Generally knowing how each gender works, their strengths and limitations is not for laughing in amusement, and then that's it. It is not how good you are, it is how much better you are becoming. A Muslim is a better person than yesterday!

So use those knowledge to improve yourself. You know your own strengths now, so figure out how to use them for the sake of Islam and the betterment of ummah. You know your own limitations now, so figure out how to overcome them also for the sake of Islam and the betterment of ummah.

Guys can slowly start to be expected to multitask while girls can slowly start to mean what they say. Life is a journey of self-improvement. Hehe.

May Allah ease us in our path to become a better person solely to please Him. Allah ghoyatuna, right bros and siss?

---

What are those gender differences? Well, that's for another post... maybe. See ya ;)

Bear That Pain

When we were doing our debate thing, they gave us a motion that required us to dig into the private health sector of America. It was a cool experience, conflicting actually, because mom works in the private health sector so I wasn't thinking objectively.

Anyway, let's put that aside. Post debate, I was Wiki-ing Justin Bieber and he mentioned something negative about USA helth sector, which would have been a point for our coolness should we used it.

Bieber has said he is not interested in obtaining United States citizenship and has criticized America's health care system. Praising Canada as being "the best country in the world", he cited its health care system as a model example.

And then there's that scene in CSI Miami season 9, when the guys interrogated a Mala Noche member. Leuitenant Caine shot his shoulder to bring him down and Wolfe pressed on his wound to make him talk. The guys got what they wanted and left the thug to be apprehanded.

He yelled his cut of the bargain, "Where's my hospital?!" to which Caine replied, "You ain't got the insurance."

Heh. The private health sector in USA is sad.

So They Are Gentlemen

I was reading something (inappropriate, considering our last viva is tomorrow) and there was a scene where the girl got off her shift at 11pm. She was going to walk home alone when her supervisor saw her and he thus offered her a ride. She politely refused, but the stoic snobbish worship-me-you-heathen supervisor insisted because- oh what the hell, just read the lines and you'd see what I mean.

After a moment of what seemed to be painful internal debate, Sasuke scowled and walked over to her. "I'll give you a ride." He said gruffly and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"No, it's really o-okay--"

"Don't be stupid." He snarled. "Do you want to be assaulted?"

"Wh-why are you offering?"

Scowling, he buckled his seat belt and replied, "Because Itachi would kill me for letting a girl walk home alone in the dark at eleven o'clock at night."

My jaw dropped. All this while I was under the illusion that girls-should-not-walk-alone crap was all in the overprotective Messiah-complexed Malay's mind and severely concocted in our community here in Egypt. I didn't expect the same sentiment to be entertained by a Canadian, even calling it "gentleman"ly.

Gentleman by vitellan on Deviantart.

So this.. protective sentiment has to be the common sense, eh? Totally got past me, so is my common not mainstream then? I am sorely misguided... 

Okay don't bite me, I've enough ant bites to fear anaphylactic shock already. I take my leave now. Bye.

"J'aime votre sourire."

Will you smile at me when you see me walking down the street?

Because simply; smiling is sunnah, and you do know me at the very least. Can we not greet each other just as it is without either one feeling flirted on, if that's your cause for reservation.

Because we can freely smile at patients to give them something other than our health messages, and we can freely smile at the cashier for wrapping up our purchase. At the barista and cook who whipped out our coffee and burger. At the buildingkeeper each time we exit our respective buildings.

At practically anyone in spite not even knowing their name.

That's the difference between us and machines. We have courtesy and we don't buzz silently in ignorance.

Let's try again next time we pass each other down the street. Or maybe the smile can be substituted with a short wave of salute, a "yo", or a simple nod. Let's not pass by like the other doesn't exist.

P/s: It's a small sign of The End of Days when "assalamualaikum" is only used among people we know.

Gotta Love A Guy Who Reads Carnegie

Dr. Maha asked us whether we attended and understood the Professional Lecture yesterday which gathered all students from Group 1 till Group 10. Class chanted in unison yes but we didn't understand the lecture.

Dr. Maha naturally asked why.

We told her because the lecture was in Arabic.

She asked why haven't we asked for Dr. Madiha to speak in English.

We told her because we sat too far from the stage to tell the doctor ourselves. (The answer made me think she would think us Malaysians as too obese to walk over a few meters because our feeble joints couldn't bare the weight.)

She asked why didn't one of us walk down to the front and ask the doctor.

We rationalized that we do understand a little Arabic and we were trying to understand the lecture. Dr. Maha asked whether we stayed through the two hours and proudly we replied yes.

"You just missed an opportunity. If I were to spend two hours and understand very little, it would have costed me a lot."

Demands and Needs

We all have needs and it truly is our choice whether to express it as our demands or not. Doing so will turn the need into an efficient need, something we might get because we asked for it.

But not all what we demanded is really what you need; I daresay it is just a superficial part of something deep. Like people demanding a tertiary care center which caters for their dysfunctional liver from Hepatitis B virus infection when really what they need is a primary health center to provide vaccination against the virus in the first place.

Sometimes you don't get what you asked for, but have faith that Allah will always give you the best. He had created us and written down our journey back to Him, so who would know better about what we really need other than the Creator Himself?

The Lost Opportunity

I don't know whether speaking up will ever be what Malays are known for. Arabs are always brave and straight-forward, like one of the group leaders popping in the middle of our lecture asking about his forgotten practical book. Had it been a Malay I bet he would wait outside till lecture is over, then discreetly sneak in (and turn the place upside down looking for his book when really, someone had passed it to the janitor for safekeeping.)

Notice how we barked most online but offline we tended to be meek and sheepish? How it's so easy to discredit a person on your Facebook wall than say it to his face? We've become a passive-aggrasive society and I can't see a good end to where this leads us.

Changes begin with ourselves, that means no longer using lazy nor sore throat as an excuse to not speak up, Atiqah. May there be no lost opportunities after this and no regrets for the advantages we took for granted.

So what is it that I need? I need a husband as stated in a couple past post haha cough syrup and maybe get down with a comprehensive Life Timetable as well as getting back serious on track. Studying the bulk of Community Medicine while not forgetting Forensics.. anyone realizing we're four weeks away from End Round Exam?

And obviously to stop stalking on a certain Danny at our school..It's my pastime nowadays but can you really blame the Script-ed girl? Haha.

P/s: How To Stop Worrying And Start Living by Dale Carnegie.

The Heavy White Coat

"Everyone of us has a cemetery in his name. Where he buries the patient he has killed either by ignorance or negligence. So if you don't know, say "I don't know" and don't kill patients. Because you are going to be asked one day about each patient we lay our hands on. This is the first thing we'll be asked about. Because we are responsible for them. So please, I hope everyone of us will have a very few number, or not at all, in his cemetery.


The other thing, always remember that this white coat is a very heavy coat. Full of responsibilities, full of duties. So I hope that everyone of us who has this white coat will deserve to have it. Thank you."

Dr. Sherif Soubhy Fam
Consultant paediatrician
Vice director of Imbaba Fever Hospital, Cairo

Sharp points for a reality-infused day at the Fever Hospital. We went there for our fourth visit in Community Medicine round and I suppose it was the best visit so far, the most informative with Dr. Sherif showing us the ropes around the uniquely designed hospital.

I can vouch that paediatricians are gentle people with soft-spoken words with students, patients and staffs alike. One of my favourite traits about him is that he walks long paced and real fast, unlike the lagging Malaysians behind him. I hope that taught us a lesson to value time more and stop wasting time drawling on the road, duh.

Oh oh, spot Roy!

The Fever Hospital is actually a compound of houses horizontally spread out to minimize cross-infection. The departments are allocated by diseases and not by surgical or medical means.

"Our average number of outpatients is 1500 patients per day. But it depends on the season. On 2nd October 1982, we had 5000 patients. It was hectic and terrible, I can't forget."

Respect and Insubordination

Earlier on, Dr. Sherif told us about the problem with implementing some of the crucial policies for infection control is because of insubordination.

"Yet doctors are the worst people to obey rules. They think they are superbionic. They think they know everything. They are fighters, opposers of everything. And by knowledge, they can fight everything."

Which I believe applies to every rule-breaking occasions in this world. When you think you're on top of the world, you'll disregard whatever God is saying. When you think you know everything, you'll look down on everyone else hence the lack of respect in this world and what more tolerance to other people.

There were times when we respectfully disagree with a senior or an elder (what more among us peers?), where no childish name-callings involved. Times when we agree to disagree. I have always been the person to defy people older than me, but we still live happily because we value the relationship and respect we have for each other. I'm seeing less of that nowadays and daily prayed I'm not one of the contributors for the flaws I see.

I am not against ego, but I believe we should all have an accurately sized one.

Today is My Last 20

1) Sleep well

When you slept for two hours that night, of course you will sleep in and rather in-deliberately missed the 10am appointment. Nevertheless, a 12 o'clock one works out either way.


I blame jet-lag.


2) A Limitless brain is fun

You know how they said, an expert is someone who can simplify the most complex of things? Well as I faced the doctor and had her explain the precautions of taking ICS to me, my inside gleed with the feeling of an oral pseudoexaminer.


3) Sensitivity

"Pa, who's that?" referring to the amiable man greeting my dad, mentioning something about being at the hospital for some diabetic drug. I remembered scrutinizing his physical and decided no, he was not diabetic.

They had a rather long talk while mom filled my prescription.

"He's a sales rep. I didn't know him, but he remembers me."

I think mom chortled.


4) Medical students have among the worst patient compliance

Singulair is easy enough; just pop once at night. But when it comes to two puffs daily of inhalation, it takes another level of diligence.

Thus the turbuhaler lays still in my backpack. Sorry mom self, I'll take it tonight, promise.


5) Maples and Transformers on iTunes!


Do you know, Maple Thief edition is on iTunes? It's less exhilarating than the real MMORPG thus less addicting, making it the better choice for me. And Transformers 3 whipped up a game as well with equally amazing graphic and I am smitten!

I am now not using my iPod as a writing aid, I am now playing games instead. Just until I am bored, really. (Favourite things to do nowadays last for a short one day the max. I study myself, the stats are rather accurate.)


6) Study before you take a leap

I have a book on stocks that dad told me to read before I take another step forward. Problem is I haven't even finish the ones I'm reading and there's three lining up and I haven't started yet on the PDF files we have..

Somewhat troublesome, but here's where prioritizing comes in handy.


7) Twitter kills Blogging

Ideas run low and most of them made up of 140 characters, not much for a dignified blog post. Maybe it is for the best; after all if you have nothing matured, age-appropriate nor thought-provoking (in my opinion) things to share, might as well keep it shut till next time.

Meanwhile, use the time to hone an admirable brain and enviable thinking process. And get ready for Ramadhan :D


p/s: Cool HP PC yeeha!

Proud #2

I believe everyone is mouldable into a relatively better person than before. We are gifted with immense potentials, limitless should I say. We just have to believe in ourself and give it a shot and who knows, maybe you'll even enjoy yourself doing so.

Of course, it requires that we know that person enough to know which criteria to build, his capacity and also degree of tolerance. This is to ensure the developmental process can be proceeded with fluency; this stage is crucial for the betterment of our generation.

And it helps to start with something easy at first, so that you'll be all smiles and thrilled with the success and may that keeps you fueled for the next challenge and insyaAllah, more successes.


Tonight, I declare one mission accomplished.

Malaysian Wedding 101

"Do you have any tradition in a wedding reception? Yes? Like what?" Dr. Sherin Wehfi of Pharmacology practical asked the class last Saturday.

"Kompang," the boys chanted.

"What is kompang?" She asked further.

Chip who was sitting in front row made beating gestures with his hands.

"You beat your wife?"

B*** Has a Fetish for Baju Kurung

It is the common cold season now, and due to the rhinovirus's multiplicity of antigenic type of more than 100 serotypes, it is highly recurring. Impressive pesky creatures, aren't they?

2010/11 is my immunocompromised year yet. Weak.
Whatever happened to my Muwasofat?

And today, we meet up with one of their latest victim.

My YM Status: Sume orang qiam malam ni ye mohon THE REAL Awesome HotStuff sembuh, okay thank you.

Awesome HotSuff: do u have to announce everything on YM
Awesome HotStuff: =________=

Awesome HotStuff: babaii nak tido muah!
Awesome HotStuff: go annoy someone else
Atiqah: :x
Awesome HotStuff: shoo shoo!

Won't End Here, Though

When you don't have much, you should at least appreciate the minute cluster you have.

If you can't handle her at her worst; or in this case the most annoying time, you sure don't deserve her at her best; at her most patient. Regardless of your physiological state, there is a thing called time-out. There is not ever a valid reason to blow up.

We're not getting back to where we were, are we? Last time I can still say I'm friends with you, but I can't now, can I? I'll miss us dearly.

Allah will give you a better friend, as He will for me, though I doubt I can get a friend greater than you. For the times, fun and lessons; thank you. I will grow up this time.

To not Breed Prejudice

aka Day 1 – A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.

Hi it's Atiqah with Bebah.

It's winter now in Egypt but we're all heated up with the recent harassments subjected to our sisters when commuting through certain areas in broad daylight. Among the circulating advices is to be constantly vigilant and acutely aware of your surroundings.

So that you are able to recognize friends from foes, be quick and reflexive should that elbow-jab is needed that instance.

---

The other day I was walking back from Imarah 11 and yes I was alone until a small kid fell in step with me and smilingly asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Nur," I smiled back most probably due to his petiteness (and yes, politeness). Ammar and I chatted as he walked me around the corner and we parted with the courteous let's-meet-again wave.

Most people will just walk by curious kids like 8-year-old Ammar here and ignore his questions and I understand the safety reason behind it. But when you're paranoid of everything, you'll be prejudiced and will miss out the fun and excitement that usually come along.

Bro Fadel Soliman once told us to "Never generalize and be objective. You may find good allies in some of them". And judging out of suspicion is depriving yourself from good things from happening.

So the neighbours might be a little bit taciturn, but if you approach them they are more than welcoming. We have Amm Mahmoud in front of the imarah, and the baker is protective when one of the girls last year ran for cover into his bakery. Give it a try now, why wait until you need their help then?

---

Another advice is to not walk out alone, and this one brother already warned "Lepas ni aku tengok ada budak perempuan jalan sorang, aku sound..."

Haha, now that's even scarier than the Arabs ^^" A bit difficult for me but I'll try my best.

---

151210

ok jaga diri elok2 yer... ingat orang tersayang...


201210

awak saya pernah nampak gak.. jalan takde musyrif
iskh3
jaga diri betul2..

We fortunately live in a caring community. Need more reasons to take better care of yourself? ;)

Belajar dari Sejarah

Yesterday we had our very first Cairo Annual Meeting (MTK) with this 20-minute opening speech by our president which sounded more like a policy speech and blurred I was with the speed he was going, I only realize so when he came to his fourth point.

He gave up to seven points; the fifth which was similar to one of the male candidate's manifesto and this nose sniffed a subtle campaign there, haha.

Also we had seven motions, all with varying degrees of priority. If you read what Abang Hafiz wrote in his blog, he opened up a different perspective on the urgency of such motions, which brings us to one simple question: What is the function of a motion?

Speaking of motions, some were polished version of what was previously brought up in previous MAT. Like Nasrullah and his establishment of PERUBATAN Cawangan Kaherah (PCK), Afuza and his formation of smaller organization by university, Chip and his PERUBATAN headquarter which was what Chairman Rahim of Alexandria will bring upon the meeting there.

Which shows it pays to learn from the past and other people.

The debate that ensued was pretty much amusing. Having been to mega meetings ever since I was in first year, yes I can pretty much surmise these people have matured since though it was the same old same old people who walked up the isle to speak.

When I asked this to a fellow representative, she replied that she had the same idea, so why go up front? Which brings us to another question: What happened to proactivity and creative thinking?

One moment that had me in giggle was when one female senior refuted a younger male senior when he objected the establishment of PCK on the basis of this same motion was objected during the Annual General Meeting (MAT) of President Kadir's reign. She reminded me of an older sister reprimanding a misbehaving brother with a full smack up his head when she said, "Tahun berapa tu *****??"

It was then November 2008. That meeting was my first ever assignment, pardon the immaturity.

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When we talk about the past, there is no footsteps better to be followed but that of Prophet Muhammad's. His life and sayings plus the Quran make one complete life manual where you refer to regardless in times of lost or not.

Pinjamkan Tangan, Teluskan Hati

Once the team wrote this news about our junior was forcefully evicted after a break-in orchestrated by their own landlord.

One of the students related to this issue commented that we misquoted a certain fact.

I asked him what it was. He told me, "kata wartawan carilah sendiri kehkehkeh".

I laughingly said he was being sengal. He said he was serious.

I am sure I violated every ethics on triple-checking every fact obligated for reporters when I decided to leave the news be, but h*ll.

Let me tell you. When you involve yourself in any organization, there is no such thing as being a one-army unit. Either you help everyone out, go through with your suggestions instead of mindlessly commenting or just keep silent and give us that pat on the back we sorely need.

Why not lend us a hand and 'bersama mediaPERUBATAN'? Sorry we're (ME!) not doing our (MY) job well, but that comment can seriously be less than preferable.

Let's just do our job sincerely and play our part to the utmost extent.

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When anyone greeted me anytime with "Sorry to bother you, you must be busy" personally I was mortified. What was I busy with? Was it something petty or something that will make a change pleased by our Lord?

If I am not and was free, why did this happen? Was there someone out there cramming her time to make room for me to idle around?


p/s: Or can I thank my superior time management? ;)
(Adeh nak jugak budak ni sengal2)

XX Individuals

are generally confusing. One simple thing could lead to a whole dimensional spin. One individual is highly different from the other; even one that usually take sarcasm wittily could be easily offended by the next occasion.

Plus they have imbalance of every physiological aspect thus the crankiness and every thing thrown to the wind (literally and figuratively).

Curious by-passer will probably try to dig the underneath, learn to be understanding just to be exasperated by the degree of difficulty. Civil war will erupt and silence is more damaging than thrown punches.


Patience is essential.

I'm one of them, yeah.. so all the above apply to me, too. Ouch.

All the best.

p/s: The flu has rotten my brain. Must have sinned loads prior to this, alhamdulillah still given time to repent. Urm, bye.

Pelaburan terbaru Beit Bonboni

Sayyeda Zainab, 16 November - Hajat ahli rumah Beit Bonboni untuk memiliki mesin basuh automatik pada tahun ini terkubur tatkala LE1500 terpaksa dilaburkan dalam sebuah peti ais yang baru berikutan peti ais lama mereka memberikan perkhidmatan yang mengecewakan.

Pelaburan terbaru Beit Bonboni

"Ada masalah dengan frost system dia," keluh Wan Nadiah Wan Isa ketika ditemui pemberita di Sambutan Aidiladha Imarah 9 pada 10 Zulhijjah yang lalu. "(Lauk) Ikan-ikan yang kami beli berenang di dalam peti ni." Benar seperti yang dilaporkan, kelihatan bongkah-bongkah ais yang besar di ruangan atas peti ais lama tersebut menyekat pengeluaran makanan beku sekaligus memudahkan ia rosak.

Membandingkan dengan ruangan atas peti ais berjenama W. Alaska yang baru tiga minggu dibeli, beliau jelas berpuashati kerana makanan beku sebanyak 14kg yang dimuatkan sekadar memenuhi satu pertiga daripada kapasiti maksima. "Padahal nak tayang peti ais besar je," ujarnya berseloroh.

Ruangan atas yang boleh memuatkan hampir 50 liter

Pelajar tahun 5 perubatan Universiti Kaherah ini yang gembira menyambut Aidiladha disamping tiga lagi ahli rumah ternyata merupakan senior yang mengambil berat akan kebajikan para adik-adik. "Kalau nak beli peti ais, senang je. Peti ais (yang baru) ni kami beli di Atabah, naik je teksi kata nak ke tempat jual ghossalah nanti pak cik tu tahu la."

Di sudut yang lain, ahli rumahnya Nor Bidayah Supardy, pelajar tahun 6 akhir perubatan Ain Shams lantas berkejaran kembali ke nota-nota Pembedahan usai menjamu selera. Beliau yang bakal menduduki peperiksaan akhir dalam beberapa hari lagi mengharapkan doa dan maaf daripada seluruh umat yang mengenali beliau dan rakan-rakan.