PHS 2009

Whoever said that Public Health Screening (PHS) was losing purpose should go eat some barbituates and die of asphyxiation. If anything, there's still tonnes of purpose in organizing this annual event.

First of all, I wanna say that this year's PHS was quite well organized. I must say the M3s and M2s did quite a marvelous job in putting it together. And the turnout of volunteers was just AMAZING. So many M1s and M2s turned up! It was a sight that managed to touch the dried up heart of mine. Haha.

I think this new batch of M1s are amazingly enthusiastic. Okay... maybe its still too early to see if they can keep the enthusiasm going (admittedly, we probably felt the same way when we first started medical school, but look at how 4 years of hard work managed to change us into a bunch of jaded, cynical old farts who complain incessantly!) but in general, their bright-eyed enthusiasm was really quite a sight to behold. And they are so fresh! Every single thing amazes them! Let them take blood pressure and they squeal in delight! Let them take blood glucose/cholesterol and they squeal in delight! Let them talk to patient and they squeal in delight! Let them take height and weight and they ALSO squeal in delight! Damn amusing. I think that such an event is a perfect introduction to world of medicine though: I mean, at the end of the day, Medicine is a kind of service. Being in Medicine means that we are rendering a service to the public, and by giving these enthusiastic M1s a chance to serve the public, to see how its done, is just a perfect way to orientate themselves to this fact. That alone is good enough a reason to keep organizing this event every single year!

That said, the real reason why I find PHS so meaningful is that it really gives us a chance to reach out to people. Just two days spent in PHS has rekindled my passion for Medicine. Very often, in the hustle and bustle and intense stress of everyday clinical work, we often forget the reason why we started taking up Medicine in the first place. And being there at PHS, talking with members of the public, joking with them, sympathizing with them, listening to them, I'm reminded once again of the reason why I'M in Medicine: its because I wanted to help these people. No matter how rude and grumpy they are, no matter how ridiculous and absurd their demands may be, I wanted to help people. And for a moment, I completely lost sight of that. But this weekend has brought it all back, and now I feel like I'm back on the right track again!

PHS is not about scoring brownie points for volunteering or about getting free gifts (or even ridiculous stylish Polo-tees). Its about exhibiting the passion, the heart and the altruism that resides in all of us. And that is the true purpose of PHS.

狂热

<<狂热>> 词： 吴青峰 曲： 史俊威
雷响得放肆 死去活来坚持 抛空了理智
疯狂或正直 来自同个本质 有什么意思
在这个急于立碑的城市
谁比谁更无耻 干我屁事

任凭时光你是多狠 我要我的选择 为了快乐抗争
任凭谁说我有多蠢 不让你的新闻 毁了我的单纯
长大后的我们狡猾地修改过程
童年故事汗湿的脏手心抓着 狂热

冷血的怪手 种起大厦高楼 森林被扛走
土地的脉搏 戴上手铐大锁 日开始不落
却忘了所有新都来自旧
只在乎今天有 多少回扣

我知道自己的模样 在这个世界上 拥有可贵力量
我保护自己的地方 不让别人弄脏 才能勇敢疯狂
小时候我们的天真在心里长大
成年故事再多挑战也不害怕

狂热自己的模样....
就算偶尔受伤 打直腰杆坚强
因为受过了伤 自由才有光
__________________________

Part 2 of Sodagreen's 4 seasons project is scheduled to be released in Taiwan on the 11th of Sept! Woohoo!

Strawberry Swing

Its no secret that Coldplay is one of my favourite bands.
And yes, while I love their music, I also love their music videos alot!
Their latest video of the single 'Strawberry Swing' is just another example of how music videos can be more than just divas lip-syncing and gyrating along with a bunch of random people; it's simply evidence that music videos can also be works of art.

Fantastic video. Wonder how long they took to even film it!

Love is...

Just something out of Friends:

Love is sweet as summer showers
Love is wondrous work of art
But your love, Oh your love, your love
Is like a giant pigeon
Crapping on my heart

Phoebe is hilarious! Haha

可是我有时候 宁愿选择留恋不放手 等到风景都看透 也许你会陪我看细水长流

紅豆
还没好好的感受
雪花绽放的气候
我们一起颤抖
会更明白什么是温柔
还没跟你牵著手
走过荒芜的沙丘
可能从此以后学会珍惜
天长和地久

有时候有时候
我会相信一切有尽头
相聚离开都有时候
没有什么会永垂不朽
可是我有时候
宁愿选择留恋不放手
等到风景都看透
也许你会陪我看细水长流

还没为你把红豆
熬成缠绵的伤口
然后一起分享
会更明白相思的哀愁
还没好好的感受
醒著亲吻的温柔
可能在我左右
你才追求孤独的自由

有时候有时候
我会相信一切有尽头
相聚离开都有时候
没有什么会永垂不朽
可是我有时候
宁愿选择留恋不放手
等到风景都看透
也许你会陪我看细水长流
_____________________________

又一首经典歌曲被翻唱！ 太好听了！
非常凄凉， 非常幽美, 词又超棒的!
最喜欢 "可是我有时候 宁愿选择留恋不放手 等到风景都看透 也许你会陪我看细水长流" 这句歌词... 天啊! 这不就是我的生活写造吗?!?!

復刻回憶

复刻回憶 - 薛凱琪, 方大同
你还好吗 好久不见
又来这里 这个老店
後来的你 喜欢了谁
我们 聊聊天
现在的你 一样美丽
至於爱情 是个回忆
她不爱我 他离开你
爱会来 就会去

在不同的城市努力
偶尔也会想想你
这样的我 那样的你
要很久才相聚

我们都没说那遥远的曾经
我们也没提故事的原因
青春的复刻回忆像一片云
没法子抓在手里
我们的眼泪在复习着过去
我们的微笑是彼此的氧气
复刻的回忆是封挂号信
多远都可以找到你

窗外的树 爱哭的风
烦恼的我 聪明的你
爱是什麽 什麽人懂
所以 别难过
心还痛吗 请忘了吧
所谓幸福 是个童话
後来的我 一切随意
所以 没关系

在不同的城市努力
偶尔也会想想你
这样的我 那样的你
要很久才相聚
我们都没说那遥远的曾经
我们也没提故事的原因
青春的复刻回忆像一片云
没法子抓在手里
我们的眼泪在复习着过去
我们的微笑是彼此的氧气
复刻的回忆是封挂号信
多远都可以找到你

午後的闷热的窗外的一场大雨
让我们看见了以前的自己
把时光倒转回那一季
那年的梦 他乡的你
____________________________________

Thanks to today's Kbox session with XC, I'm currently hooked on this song. Argh its such a nice song, but its very hard to catch the harmonization. But its such a captivating song. I think this sort of song needs practice to get the whole harmonization right - is the guy supposed to be high or low? Is the girl supposed to be high throughout? Complicating. And everything's so subtle. Needs countless repeated listening to really pick out the necessary changes in the tune and all. A challenge, but if we can master it, I think it'll be perfect!

Oh and Khalil Fong is amazing. I'm going to spam his albums! ROAR!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OH MY GOD. And they actually sang it 'Live' right here:


WOW. Sublime magic. These two have chemistry man. I know that they are great friends in real life, both being from Hong Kong at all. How come they aren't together arh? They are perfect man. They should fall in love and get married and have a choir of children! ARGH!

And its true: we sing best in the shower. "因为没有穿衣服!" HAHAHAHAHA! Hilarious!

let's take a little trip back in time....

This entry's a little bit late, but here's my little National Day tribute to Singapore.

I LOVE National Day. No secret to that. Old friends would know that I get very high especially when it comes to National Day. Its my favourite holiday, apart from Chinese New Year and Christmas! And one reason why I love National Day so much is because of the wealth of patriotic songs that keep popping by every year. So this year, I decided to piece together a youtube timeline of all the national day songs since 1998, the year where national day songs first became an annual event. So here goes!

1998 - Home by Kit Chan
The song that started it all, and probably the very best. Kit Chan and Dick Lee gave us an instant classic, one that never seizes to tug the heart strings of every Singaporean. Every time I hear the familiar tune, I feel a sense of warmth that no other song can bring. Great tune, great lyrics, I love it. =)


1999 - Together by Evelyn Tan and Dreamz FM
I remember this was the year I first watch the Parade 'Live' on the actual day itself! And that performance left a great impression on me, because the atmosphere was just addictive. From that year on, I would always try to get my hands on tickets. Haha. I liked this song, and though it wasn't as popular as Home, but it was definitely one of the better NDP songs! Listening to it invokes lots of memories.


2000 - Shine On Me by Jai and Mavis Hee
Oh this song will always hold a special place in my heart, because this was the theme song of the parade in which I performed in. I remember we were SO stoked about this song, it had a catchy tune and when we sang in life, the atmosphere was just electrifying! Almost as electrifying as when the national anthem was sung! Sigh.


2001 - Where I Belong by Tanya Chua
When I first heard it, I remember thinking that the lyrics to this song were actually quite retarded. Haha. I still think so, but nowadays, I think its a cute kind of retarded. It has an amazingly simple and catchy melody though! I watched the parade on National Day as well, I remember that it wasn't as spectacular as the previous year's but yeah, Tanya was great!


2002 - We Will Get There by Stefanie Sun
Sigh. A personal favourite of mine. This was the song that I was hoping to hear since I fell in love with Stefanie Sun. It was even featured in Stefanie's 5th studio Album, 'Leave' as well! Haha. I loved it, because it was different from the songs of previous NDP. This had a more contemporary and rock/rougher feel to it. And of course, it was sung by Stefanie Sun! Woo-hoo! I particularly loved the MV of this song though, don't really know why. Maybe its the sight of Stef standing atop the then newly launched Esplanade! Haha! Also, this marked the last time I actually watched the Parade 'Live' on the actual day itself!


2003 - One United People by Stefanie Sun
YUP! She sand the NDP song two years in a row! I remember that Stef performed this song while standing atop this super duper tall pillar, it was just amazing! Haha. I don't really have much to say about this song, if Stefanie didn't sing it, I probably wouldn't remember it as fondly though. Haha, still its much nicer than many of the other songs that came out later. Haha


2004 - Home by Young Voices Choir & JJ Lin
'Home' was once again the NDP song of 2004, but this time round, there were two different versions of it. A drama-mama version sung by a Young Voices Choir and a hip-hop Mandarin version sung by JJ Lin. This video's that of the version sung by the choir! I didn't particularly like these two new remixes of the old classic. I still love Kit Chan's rendition of 'Home' and I personally think no other singer can ever replace her. Sigh. But still, 'Home' is 'Home'. Its such a nice song. Amazing.


2005 - Reach Out For the Skies by Rui En & Taufik Batisah
HAHA, this is the year where the song had a silly dance to accompany it. HAHA. I remember my cousins dancing to it when it was being sung at the parade. I never really remembered or took notice of the lyrics, though the line 'Let's reach out for the skies, with wings we soar up high!' is admittedly quite addictive. That's about the only line I could remember from the song though. Haha, still kudos to it for being the first NDP song to incorporate a fun dance.


2006 - My Island Home by Kaira Gong
Oh I actually like this particular song! I felt it was reminiscent of 'Home', maybe a less touching version, but it definitely is a song that invokes loads of bravado and gusto, emotions that are perfect for a NDP song. Its a pity that this particular song never got popular. Definitely one of the more underrated NDP songs out there.


2007 - There's No Place I'd Rather Be by Kit Chan & Will You by Janani Sridhar, Asha Edmund, Emma Yong, Lily Anna Rahmat, Jai Wahab, Shabir Mohammaed, Sebastian Tan and Gani Karim
This was the year where there were actually 2 different theme songs. I remember the song sung by Kit Chan was subject to alot of criticism because some people thought the lyrics were questionable. Haha The other song will always be remembered as the one with SUPER DRAMA MV. Haha damn hilarious.



2008 - Shine For Singapore by Hady Mirza & Joi Chua
I think this was the most forgettable of ALL the NDP songs. I don't really have much of an impression of this particular song. Yup, didn't really like it. In fact NDP 2008 was probably one of the most unmemorable ones ever. Haha.


2009 - What Do You See by Electrico
And of course... this year's song. For my comments on it, read my entry dated 21st July. Haha

Well. I love my National Day songs! Here's to many more prosperous years and beautiful songs to come! Happy 44th Birthday Singapore! =D

a round up of my feelings in the past week or so

Recently, I've been attending many get-togethers and reunions with old friends. And these meetings never fail to make me happy. =)

I can only say: keep 'em coming! And National Day is coming!
Nothing beats celebrating National Day with Family and Friends!
Needless to say, I'm excited! Hence my good mood!

Hope it lasts! Haha! =P