Posts

Showing posts from August, 2010

Buying air tickets

After realising that I need to pay convenience fee of RM5 for each trip by using credit card, I change to use direct debit just to save that RM5.00. Mind you, it is not less when I buy the tickets for my parents for their Sibu - KL return ticket once every 3 weeks! Each return trip, I save RM20.00 for the convenience fee. However, experience is precious. I always find it smooth to buy my Airasia tickets using credit card. Once you pay through credit card, the tickets are immediately confirmed. Seeing is believing. The tickets are in my hand and I am not at all worried. On the contrary, when I use direct debit, I am very sure the bank has paid Airasia the money but Airasia never gave me the confirmed ticket immediately. During my first time using this direct debit channel, I was so worried that I called KL, I called the bank,  I called my friend who is working in Airasia Sibu..... asking about whereabout and how about my tickets. My friend asked me to go to the Sibu airport to validate

希望在明天

漫长的一个月。。。。 父亲第二次的化疗已经进入第三轮了。续三个月前的扫描,是时候再做扫描,看看化疗的进展,来决定下一个医疗的步骤。 昨天,妹妹亲自为父亲做了最详细的检查。结果振奋人心。 父亲位于肝部以及许多接近淋巴的肿瘤都已消失无踪。 最大的那颗瘤也收缩了相当于直径0.5公分,真可说是一份很乐观的报告。我很早就已经说父亲吉人天相, 一定能逢凶化吉。长命百岁!!! 明天还是美好的。希望在明天!!!

可笑或是可悲?

曾几何时,大马大学排名已经名落孙山,在最近中国上海交通大学排名榜上连续八年无名。我非常感慨。三十年前当我还在国内大学深造时,我们的大学,至少马大在世界大学排名地位还是有一定的水准与分量。 谁敢说在排名榜百名内的大学没有水准? 前天与朋友闲聊大学水准时,我大吃一惊。谈及一个朋友的孩子在本地某一件大学攻读预科,一心想学医,最后却只能望门兴叹。原来事情经过是这样的。大学预科是一个通往大学的捷径。 朋友以为已预科的成绩进入医科比较容易,却在半途杀出程咬金,骑劫了到手的肥肉。其实也不算是骑劫,而是政府把成绩优异的公共服务局奖学金的学生送进了那间大学。凭成绩,当然这些学生应该是更优异。 这些学生占了一大部分的学位,只剩下20%左右的学位留给了预科班的学生。所以这些学生理应上是龙争虎斗,拼个你死我活,来争取学位, 竞争激烈,往往许多都会被淘汰,也是非常正常,况且是意料中事。 可是,事情往往不是这样的。听当事人说,其儿子考不进大学,不是在公平竞争的情况下被淘汰,而是学生的预科成绩许多人都一样,不能做取舍,最后由抽签来作决定。在大学遴选学生时,用抽签的方式, 对我来说应该是一个笑话。第一,学生的成绩哪有分不出高低的?如果等级一样, 那就看分数。即使还是一样,那还有很多的成绩可以分出高低的,为什么非要用抽签的方式来遴选呢?第二,为什么当局不用比较严格的考试来鉴定学生的优异程度呢?一张非常容易的试卷,当然每个学生都能得100分。 如果能够把试卷的程度拉高,那我们就能够轻而易举的看到学生程度的差距了。 如今的考试制度不敢恭维。回忆当年,考试试卷的难度可以从考生的成绩上得知。一般上整个砂拉越在每一年里或许只能找到一个在FORM FIVE会考中拿到八科A1的骄人成绩。与现在的成绩比较起来,可否说是望尘莫及?举例说我孩子所读的中学,每一年就有50多个学生的成绩是在八科A1 以上的。到底是如今学生的聪明才智真的遥遥领先?还是我们以前真的是比较愚蠢的? 也有可能在马来西亚boleh 的熏陶下,真的就boleh 了起来。 上大学用抽签来遴选,实在是一个很愚笨的举措。希望当局能够把神圣的学府公平的用来栽培真正能够在学术上闯出一个春天的学子们吧!

Sushi

Image
女儿放暑假,悠闲在家,心血来潮,做了一些sushi 让大家大饱口福。味道还不错。顺便带了一些去学校让同事们品尝。

Osteopenia

This is the 4tyh time I am seeing Dr. Wong on my fractured wrist. I am a bit worried over my fracture as it is almost three months since I fell down. The movement is restricted. The angle of movement becomes less. My fingers can't be bent to their fullest. My wrist couldn't twist well. When I tell Dr. Wong about the progress, he is calm to listen and he smilingly tells me not to worry. It is usual when people of my age fall and have fracture. Most of the time it is due to osteoporosis. He tells me to exercise my fingers everyday by holding a ball and squeezing it whenever I am free. For my wrist, he asked me to hold  half a bottle of mineral water (500ml) in my hand and keep on turning it up and down to exerc ise my wrist. Gradually, the amount of water needs to be increased to create a heavier load to pull my hand to a wider angle. The process will take around 4 months to make my wrist back to normal. Oh my God!!! With this golden opportunity, I asked for a DEXA scan. Result

星期天

Image
今天又是星期天。 老二要往美里继续他的课程。送了他到车站,闲来无事,就直接向泗里街方面行驶。一个钟头后,到达泗里街菜巴刹。很遗憾的我们迟了一步,所要买的杨桃已经被别人一扫而空,心中不免失望, 只能够下一个星期早一点再来了。 直趋总巴士站旁边的食店,叫了两碗laksa, 可是又是一个失望。laksa 的味道与传统的相差十万八千里,无语问苍天!RM3.50 一碗,真不值得。外子顺便在那间店里买了几个菜包,以便他干活后有所充饥。 菜包的外表看来蛮不错,切开来一看,很高兴,好久没有吃到用竹荀做馅的菜包了。味道还不错,只是馅太少了一点, RM0.60 一粒,价钱贵了一点。 一到老家,外子就忙着干活去了。 我因跌伤了手腕,一朝被蛇咬,十年怕井绳,每一次都只跟叔叔谈天。今天收获还算不错。每一年的七八月都是出产竹荀的旺季。今天,除了摘到一箩筐的sayur paku 外,还带回了好多条的甜竹荀,可以大饱口福了。