The Awakenings

Few days back, we had a chance to review on another movie - Awakening. (seems like we have alot movie to watch in our course huh?).

I think I began to appreciate alot of medical/disease/illness movies lately..... perhaps since year 2.... It may seem like 职业病... but I would see it as something to gain knowledge from (provided that whatever is shown is correct), something that can motivate and inspire us and maybe to also create an awakening for all of us - a recognition, realization, or coming into awareness of something that we might have forgotten, neglected or never thought of... ...

The story is about a new doctor finds himself with a ward full of comatose patients. He is disturbed by them and the fact that they have been comatose for decades with no hope of any cure. When he finds a possible chemical cure he gets permission to try it on one of them. When the first patient awakes, he is now an adult having gone into a coma in his early teens. The film then delights in the new awareness of the patients and then on the reactions of their relatives to the changes in the newly awakened.

(movie summary extracted from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099077/plotsummary)

What we do know is that, as the chemical window closed, another awakening took place; that the HUMAN SPIRIT is more powerful than any drug - and THAT is what needs to be nourished: with work, play, friendship, family. THESE are the things that matter. This is what we'd forgotten - the simplest things.

Perception and Reality

"If I am I because I am I.

And you are you because you are you,

Then I am and you are.

But if I am I because you think I am

And because of what you think I am,
you are you because I think you are

Then, I am not and you are not."

- Quek, 2007
(adapted from Rabbi Medel of Kotsk, 1787 - 1859)

Perception is just an illusion. It may be the truth sometimes but not always. And because of one's perception of another person, it cause the other person's the have a perception of the person due to his/her perception of himself.

It is confusing in what I am saying...... in another words, I am just trying to say, perceptions can be a continuum cycle on how we view things/people and if the perception is not the truth, then it will cause more illusions.....

Tuesdays with Morrie

Yesterday, we watched this movie in class , called "Tuesdays with Morrie". It is a very inspirational movie. Some of us had our "emotional session" too.

I heard that the story book is more interesting than the movie itself. Perhaps I shall take a look at it when I have the time. *really wonder when will it be*

Okay, now I shall tell you abit about the story:

It is about this man call Morrie who suffered ALS. He is the teacher of Mitch Albom (the author of the book) during his college years. When Mitch caught Morrie on the television, he hesitate whether to call/visit Morrie. It was because he was guilty. He was guilty of not keeping the promise that he made during his college graduation - to keep in touch with Morrie. It has been nearly 20 years since he last contacted Morrie. In the end, he decided to make a trip down to Boston and it changed his life... ...

Every Tuesday visit to Morrie is a new lesson learnt. Every Tuesday is also a HOPE for Morrie. Something that he looks forward to even though he is dying. Because he can still share his life stories and lessons with Mitch......

"When you learn how to die, you learn how to live."

"Death ends a life, not a relationship."

"The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in."

"Love is the only rational act."

"Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them, too - even when you’re in the dark. Even when you’re falling."

"When you're in bed, you're dead"

"Love wins. Love always wins."

"As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed as ignorant as you were at twenty-two, you'd always be twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It's growth. It's more than the negative that you're going to die, it's the positive that you understand you're going to die, and that you live a better life because of it."

"Love each other or perish."

"Love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone."

"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning."

In the movie, we can see that although Morrie is dying, he is STILL doing what he likes and devote himself to help Mitch and Janine together. It is also touching to see him sharing the "Meaning of Life". It is also very inspiring to see how consciously Morrie limits the amount of time he spends pitying himself, as he knows he must enjoy the little life he has left. The emphasis of "people worshipping youth" in today society, is also mentioned by Morrie.

It is interesting to see when Mitch ask Morrie about how one can be prepared to die, he response with a buddhist philosophy - Every day, one must ask the bird on his shoulder if that day is the day that he will die. Morrie also mentioned that if one accepts death, he/she will not be as ambition as he is now and that he will be able to see that he must spent time meaningfully and think about "spiritual" development.

Few Tuesdays before his death, Morrie told Mitch that even after his death, Mitch can still visit him on Tuesdays as they are the "Tuesday People" just that Morrie can no longer answer back but assures that he will continue to listen to Mitch when he talk.

Mitch also told a story about wave on the ocean. He said that there was a wave, who felt good about themselves but soon to realize that like any other waves, it would soon crash onto the shore and be destroyed. But another wave tell him not to be afraid as for all the same waves, they are just part of the larger ocean.

Morrie passed away on a Saturday ... ...

This is something worth watching/reading. Perhaps this is also a good time to reflect on our own meaning of life.

(If you want to read a short version of the story, click here.)

NYP Open House

Nanyang Polytechnic is having her open house on the 25 - 27 January 2007!

Do drop by at the Occupational Therapy booth at the NYP Atrium and our Occupational Therapy students will be more than welcome to explain to you what Occupational Therapy is all about! We even have our Occupational Therapy Students waiting for you at our own labs and preparing to explain to you what we learn in class!


(Do note that the people at the booth changes all the time, so don't panic if you don't see the same people as the picture above)

If you have any questions regarding occupational therapy, do approach any of us with the following design at the back of our shirts:

(Courtesy of the Shuttler)

And of course, with the words "Occupational Therapy Singapore" in front, close to our hearts.

Occupational Therapy: Towards Meaningful Living!


See you guys then! Don't hestitate to stop to ask us a few questions. =)

The Advancement of Technology

I believe that most of us who are living in this 21st Century are very dependent on technology. It has already invaded into our lives, whether we like it or not. Even this blog entry that you are reading now, is the work of technology.

Can you all still remember how do you keep contact with your friends from your primary school when internet and emails are not so common among students of our time? Can you all still remember the letter sets and stamps that you all have? I still remember the excitement of receiving the letters/cards physically from my friends. Do you have the same feelings too? Now, our friends can receive our "letter" with just a click on the mouse. I don't know whether to call it "letter" or not.... as it has become shorter and shorter. And the excitement is no longer the same.

What about the contacts of your friends? How many of us still keep our friends contact in a phone book? Can you all still rememeber the magnetic phone book that we used to have, that can be put into our wallets?

Now, most of us didn't really bothered to remember our friends' number like we did when we are still in primary school.... Surpisingly,I can still remember some of my primary school classmates number even though I have not dialled their numbers for like close to 10 yrs!! Like for e.g. 7841 ***, 7818***, 7810***. Oh, there isn't a '6' infront yet. =)
So what about now? We just need to go to the phonebook in our mobile and we have the numbers. We will be "screaming and crying" when our mobile phone get stolen or lost... if there wasn't any backup of their numbers. Count ourselves luckily if we have back them up in our computers.

These are just few examples of our lives that are changed due to the advancement of technology.... What if one day technology dies on us? Will our lives be the same again?

Degree Conversion

Everybody seems busy getting transcripts and sending applications for their degree conversion, whether offshore or onshore. Yet me, here, still deciding if I want to get one immediately.

Not that I do not want to do degree conversion. I mean there are so many other factors to be considered. I have to bear in mind that if I am to go for a degree conversion, it will be definately out of my own pocket. I mean I can't ask my parents to pay right? I mean even I ask, they will not be able to afford it. ALL my savings has already been used for my school fees every semster... all my hard-earn money that I've earned during holidays as camp instructors. Not forgetting I still have my study loan to pay back the bank.

Next, I think I should start contributing to my parents already. I can't possible ask my dad to still give me pocket money at the age of 23? My dad has already aged. Time for him to take money from me. Sorry if I sound like I'm putting anyone down.... but I think if your parents are young and can afford it... I mean why not? But definately not for me.

I mean I do consider taking offshore program, that means I will save money on accomodation, flights, as well as the cost of living. But on the other hand, although I can save some money on all the above. The cost per semster still goes up to $7000 - $10000. I mean with our starting pay of $1700 per month including CPF and that means we will be bringing home like $1400? Let say even if I can save $800 a month. How long do I need to save up to $10000?

I do thought of getting degree conversion after 1 yr.... but then, the cohert after my batch is acdemically much stronger than my batch. Then, it will therefore be much more difficult to get a degree conversion....

Well, all these are the things I need to ponder about before I go to sleep.

Well, I guess, there is always a path for everyone. No one path is the same. At certain part of the path, you may see flowers blooming while sometimes you may see withered flowers. Worse of all, you may even see the grass greener at the other path that you didn't take. But it doesn't matter how long you take that particular path. It only matters that you reach the same destination.

But thinking of the bright side, isn't that better for me? I don't have to worry that my other classmates will fight with me for the same position.... haha... =)

Why is there only 24 hrs a day?

I've very busy since school started..... Been busy listening to audio of interviews, doing transcipts after transcripts.... in front of the computer.... "bursting" my eardrums due to screaming and laughing of other people who are in the background, as well as driving past of vehicles and ringing of bells, etc....

And it is amazing to see the number of words a person can say within a split second... that is for normal people... but for me, I think for me, I would speak more... haha... as friends, clinicians, etc often commented that I speaks very fast... lol

Yesterday, all the time was spent doing FYP.... doing up our presentation that is gonna to be on mon... and doing our coding.... It was already 7+ in the evening when I reached home.... didn't do anything as I was so exhausted that I slept before 10 (that is ususual for a night owl like me.... can see that I was really exhausted)

Supposed to wake up at 6am to beautify the ppt slides... but couldn't get myself off the bed till 8.30am..... Well, once it comes to formatting presentation slides and stuff, I can get quite anal and prefectionist... or OCD too if you want to call it....

I cannot stand if the heading is slighly left, slightly right, down, up ,etc from the previous slides.... hha... thus I was doing all the formating of the heading... subheading.. bullets etc and dividing of the wordy slide into 2 slides.... i took me close to 7 hrs!!! HHah.....

And next week, my FYP group gonna meet almost every day after school.... and that will be after 5pm/6pm.... so that means we will be hearing "music" from the library everyday..... but looking at the bright side, our group has finished most of our coding as compared to other groups....

On top of the FYP, we have other presentations and assignments to do... and most of mine are dued in 3-4 weeks time....

Since we cannot have more than 24hrs a day..... then we have to better manage it...
Like lecturers always like to say to us.....

" Time management is very important , esp. in your last semster... you will find that you will always not have enough time."

There is nothing more true than the truth. (Is there such a phase? Am I making sense? haha.... got to get back to transcibing.... )

Personality Test

Before I start on my transcripts again.... I did a personality test.... actually have quite a few things to blog... but guess see if I've the time after doing my transcripts.... =p

In the test, I am suppose to choose 1 picture.... but these 3s are appealing too.... so I took these 3.... =p


Romantic Dreamy Emotional

You are a very sensitive person. You refuse to view things only from a sober, rational standpoint. What your feelings tell you is just as important to you. In fact, you feel it is important to have dreams in life, too.

You reject people who scorn romanticism and are guided only by rationality. You refuse to let anything confine the rich variety of your moods and emotions.


Independent Unconventional Unfettered

You demand a free and unattached life for yourself that allows you to determine your own course. You have an artistic bent in your work or leisure activities. Your urge for freedom sometimes causes you to do exactly the opposite of what expected of you.

Your lifestyle is highly individualistic. You would never blindly imitate what is "in"; on the contrary, you seek to live according to your own ideas and convictions, even if this means swimming against the tide.


Dynamic Active Extroverted

You are quite willing to accept certain risks and to make a strong committment in exchange for interesting and varied work. Routine, in contrast, tends to have a paralyzing effect on you.

What you like most is to be able to play an active role in events. In doing so, your initiative is highly pronounced.


To do the test, click here.

Past Ambition, Future Aspiration

Ambitions, dreams, aspirations, whatever you call them....

Today, there is this Home Team exhibition booth outside the auditorum and today I have taken none of the brochures and gifts at all. It caused me to reflect on the changes of my career path ever since I came to NYP and study Occupational Therapy (OT).

It reminded me my long story....

My childhood dream is was to join the Singapore Police Force, so I joined the National Police Cadet Corps in the year 1997 when I was in Secondary One. Attachments/ Visiting of Police related departments - Police Dog Unit, Police Coast Guard, etc further strengthened my ambition of joining the force. I even have hobbies such as collecting anything related to the force from brochures to magazines to keychains and even rulers.... Haha... can imagine how "Police-crazy" I was....

Through the years, I began to like NPCC more. To tell the truth, I wasn't the most active, nor am I the most interested person when I was Secondary One but things changed as I went to Secondary Two.... I became someone with more initiative as I began to like what I was doing.... and soon..... I was "seen" and "recognize" by the seniors..... and soon.... that started all the things that changed my life.... =)


For the next 1-2 years or so..... the passion developed in me, whether is it for the Force or the Corps. All the teacher officers have alot of trust in me..... and soon, I was on my way for Passing-Out-Parade as known as POP. Still have this picture of us.....

Then after, I made another decision to join the 59th Batch of Cadet Inspectors' Basic Training Course (CIBTC) and there I was, graduated as a Cadet Inspector.

I went back to serve back my unit, the unit that I was from. Till now, I have seen members from the 1st batch to the 13th batch..... and yet to see the 14th batch ( I was from the 4th batch =) ) After I graduated as a Cadet Inspector, I've also went to help out in a few CIBTC as instructors..... My active period was long over.... it's time to hand over to the younger generations.... and my school workload and attachments doesn't allow me to commit myself too....

Oh, it was still my dream even till when I was in JC.... and even before I decided to join OT. It was a struggle to choose what I want to study after my As - NTU Engineering or NYP Occupational Therapy.

I asked myself what I want to be..... what are my reasons of studying/education? Then, I told myself this and I can still remember:

"I want to join the force but I want to get a degree and be a Senior Police Officer BUT I do not want to get a degree for the sake of having a degree. I want to study something that I like."

Being an engineer is definately not my cup of tea.... well, I can maybe study it for a year or two but soon, I will get bored..... Thus, I decided to do OT. Because I know I can learn a lot of things about people.... not machines..... and furthermore, there is degree conversion... not another 3 years but 1.... so it is not too bad....

But in the process of pursuing the OT education, I began to see light and begin to reflect more.... whether I want to "catch" the baddies and protect the "goodies" OR to help the needies.... the less fortunate and to treat everyone regardless of their status.... regardless whether or not they are the one who stole from people..... or whether they are the construction workers..... or whether they are someone who have multiple sex partners and tested HIV-positive....

And well, there will always be people who were once like me who wants to be a Police Officer... I mean these are always the common childhood ambition that people would want to be. I do not foresee that there will be no one who do not want to be a Police Officer.

Till now, I think you all should have known the choice that I have made.


I have chose the road less travelled.......

Now thinking back, it is not that bad after all. At least I have held and fired both .22 and .38 Smith & Wesson Revolver before. =) and at least I have don the uniform before.....

Though the road is getting tougher but there is a quote that I always like.....

" The road may be difficult but with skills and confidence, I will be able to help the people in the future."

- Spiderman in <<拥抱明天>>

With few more months to go..... all of us will be truly be called a full-fledged Occupational Therapists.

Till then, let us hang on there, with each other as social support during the late nights on the MSN, with cups and cups of coffee next to us and of course preparing to hear the music and annoucements in the school library....

Gambatte!

Special Needs Officer (SNO)

I'm sure those graduating Occupational Therapy students should have received the post mail by now.

MOE is recruiting Special Needs Officers, also known as SNOs. It sounds interesting as working with children is one of the areas that I am interested in, other than working with the elderlys.
But what pulls me back is the requirements to be an SNO:

• Full GCE ‘A’ Level Certificate with a pass in GP and 5 GCE ‘O’ level passes including English and Mathematics; or
• Local Polytechnic Diploma and 5 GCE ‘O’ level passes including English and Mathematics
• Good interpersonal skills and the passion to work with children with special needs

I mean if anyone with the above can be an SNO, then I can already be one after my As few years back, I mean all of us who are currently taking Dip in OT does qualify that long ago.

If I am an OT going to be an SNO, then it will be helping these kids integrate into the community, in the school as well as providing treatment for them. We should not take them out of class but find ways and implement treaments to help them to better integrate back in class. But then, I wonder how much automy a SNO officer has.

Okay, let's say if an SNO is OT trained, is he/she allowed to implement treatments? OR does she just follow what the teachers say? This is not what I want. As we all know, we do not want to be dictated by what other says.

We are TRAINED to do what we do....

Hmm.... Shall keep an open mind first.... see what it has to offer.... whether there is any difference between the job scope of a SNO and a job scope of an OT- trained SNO......

Hmm... if there's isn't, I would give a second thought about it.

More Resolutions

Okay.... Decided to put a few resolutions down....

1. Drink more water
   
2. Try not to be late for school
3. Try to take 72 instead of 969
   
4. Eat some fruits instead of buying the fruits and Vege Juice

Okay...... today I've tried to drink abit of water (eh....200ml?) .... not enough for the body... but I would say for me, it is a slight achievement already. As my friends who know me would know, I don't drink plain water at all.... haha....

I wasn't late for school either.... =p I still have time to go to the north canteen and get myself a cup of coffee.... cheers... hopefully I can maintain.... not too bad lah... last sem I managed to be on time at least 80-90% of the time......

Well, taking 72 instead of 969.... I try lah... cos it's hard lah.... when taking 969 is so much faster... but it'll burn a hole in my pocket....

Fruits.... haha... today YW and me have a craving for fruits..... so... we went to the fruit stall to buy fruits before proceeding to the shelter next to the foutains for lunch as the canteen is super crowded... and not enough seats for around 10 of us.....

The Road Not Taken

" Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sign
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged into a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

- Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)

The above poem is dedicated to us by Mr Lim, H.B, for all of us have taken the road less travelled for our career choice.

First week of school

Well, first week of school has ended.... basically I only have lessons on Wednesday last week as most of the lesson starts on week 2.... and also we've requested to change one of the 1/2 hour lesson(which is suppose to be on thu) to another day in week 2 which is yet to be confirmed. But then even though there was no lesson, we still make our way down to school for FYP matters ..... as well as conducting interview for our actual study. Thus, there was no much difference either. The only difference I guess is we can get home slightly eariler.

Weekends - Saturday and Sunday are burnt doing transcribing of interview.... haiz... but hey... I've finished it! Haha.... but then... I've YEC minutes to do... haiz... guess I'll do tml then...

School started... and I can foresee things piling up... and this gonna be a very fast semster, as what the lecturers always say. Well, in about another 11 weeks time, we will be presenting our research paper in the Annual OT Student Conference with the presenece of many clinicians..... and 2 days after, we shall start the last clinical education, which mostly known as internship by others....

Though this will be a challenging semster.... it's our LAST! Let's make this semster an enjoyable one for all of us ya? =P

Neck Strain

Hmm... I came to realize that my neck strain could be due the "nodding off" in front of the computer during the december holidays doing transcripting, etc ..... my head can get very heavy when I am really really tired.... Thus the "dropping" of my head could probably lead to a pull of the muscles and (is there ligaments?hmm... guess need to go back and refresh on my anatomy....)

Argh.... hopefully things get better.... 22 yr old like 82 yr old now....

haha.... got to get back to transcripting now.... been surfing net and reading blogs.... =)

Interesting Video Clips on disability

I have been surfing around the net to see if I can find blogs of parents with ASD children in Singapore, where I accidentally found this interesting blog that has few video clips that I would like to share with my fellow friends, esp. OTties. =)

The first clip that I watched is I Autistic: A documentary on autism. This got me interested as I am currently doing a research paper related to autism for my final year project AKA FYP.
The description of the documentary can be found at the URL.

The next video clip that I've watched is Breaking the sound barrier. This clip talks about the difficulties faced by the people with hearing disability - integration into mainstream education and the community, communication and to find a job.

From the 2nd video clip, I like these quotes from the parent:

".... it will be good if education in Singapore for children with special needs be more inclusive. Try to have more children as possible in the mainstream school."

"Don't think of your child as a handicapped child. Think of him as a child who has a handicap. He's a child FIRST, like all other children. His handicap is secondary."

Biomechanical Strain

Beginning of the year, 1 month after clinical, many of us are suffering from trigger points at the upper trapezius AKA upper trap.....

I guess it could be due to the long strenuous hours in front of the comp.... those doing transcripting for their FYP could probably understand our situations better.....

Not forgetting we could have gotten all the strains from the 8 weeks of clinicals.... and perhaps that adds on to the accumulation of the latic acid.... which leads to more trigger points.....

I've also realized that my posture has becoming worse.... my back extensor muscles are giving way to my flexor muscles..... perhaps it is due to the starting of the 20s?

OR maybe we are just more AWARE of our body..... or maybe.... we really need to exercise more....

Whatever it is.... I've just tried to apply some tiger palm to reduce the tension.... thou it is just the sensation relief.... it's better than nothing.... I don't have a hot pack at home.... neither anyone at home knows trigger point release....

Haha.... but I seriously need some trigger point release and neck traction......

Something just hit me. Ouch....

Well, had a tut on work rehab just now.....
CSM mentioned something... that just hit sooo right at the spot.
She said something like these:

" You all spent 6 years in Primary school.....
Then after, you went to sec school.....
Then JC.....
Then convincing your parents of letting you come to take OT,
giving up positions in Uni....
And you are here in Poly....
And then.... graduate with a DIPLOMA.
And then you take home starting pay of $1700 (w/o deducting CPF yet.)"

I guess these are the things that we have to face when we met relatives during CNY (Ya, I am reminding you all.... CNY is ard the corner....).... again asking us when we are graduating..... are we going uni.... to them, they think that we are using this as a stepping stones to go to any course in uni.... which is definately not the case..... we are not going for any other deg course other than OT related... unless we are going to change the field....

Soon in less than 7 mths time..... some of us will be flying off to do the degree conversion while some will stay here and start to work as a full fledge Occupational Therapist, that's including me!

Whatever it is, I'm sure we have considered and have overcome the difficulties of explaining why OT and stuff.....
But I'm sure we will be going to fulfill what we wanted to be from the 1st day we decided to sign up for the course

"Occupational Therapy"

Hang on there..... we are just months away from our graduation..... before we know it, we are at the audi, waiting to get our diploma on stage. =)

2007 Resolutions

How can I let the 1st week of a brand new year past without making resolutions for myself? Thus for a brand new year in 2007,

I hope:

• to do well in my studies academically and clinically ( I mean who doesn't right? haha)
• to get a job that I like after I graduate..... perhaps most likely community setting ba....
• to get a water heater for the house (it has been spoilt for years...)
• to get a new bed.... maybe a sofa bed? =)
• to become wiser and prettier of course.... haha....
• to clean my room... haha... pack all my notes and books.....
• to go overseas with my family at the end of the year
• clear all my debts (my study loan and stufff) ...... haha... hopefully....
• to meet up more of my friends before I start to work....
• to go backpacking.....
• to start saving regularly
• to do sports regularly
  
• ****************

Hhaha.... there are just sooo many things that I want it to happen.... but.... take 1 thing at a time ba.....

HAppy New Year!

Happy New Year to OT0401

Hi all, welcome to 2007! Happy New Year! I've a slide show for you all..... Memories of 2006!
Just sit back, relax and enjoy the show.

Sorry if inside got most of my photos instead.... haha....
1 more sem to go!
Jiayou ba!