2011 reasons to be unhappy

I suppose I will ignore all of them and focus instead on the blessings amid what has been a terribly draining year:

1) CG mates

In M3, M4 and M5. After 5 years of being in YLLSOM, I've encountered many people who give me negative vibes, and heard of many horror stories of CG mates quarrelling, politicking and engaging in cold wars with one another. There must be more than one lucky star shining on me because all these years my CG mates have been AWESOME. Not only that, but most of the time people in the neighbouring CGs are great folks, some of whom I've had a great chemistry with.

Central to this bliss are a very pleasant model couple whom I've had the privilege of getting to be friends with.

2) India and Vietnam trips

Cannot belabour the point. While 45 weeks this year have been pretty much dull and laborious, the other 7 were journeys into fantasy worlds where there was no work or responsibility or expectations. In India I learnt how people could live simply but happily, and how to eat with the very same hand I use to wipe my butt. In Vietnam I learnt to conquer a mountain with 3/4 of my luggage stuck in the airport and with only one healthy painless eye.

In Singapore this notion of "heroism" is replaced by how many patients you diagnose correctly, how many questions you can answer during tutorials and your chances of getting into coveted Residency programmes. Nevertheless, I treasure the memories

3) Research mentors

Ok, so it was a long drawn out project. But whatever it was it was a privilege to work with a groups of driven individuals who never failed to be nice no matter how tough the going. Who were genuinely interested in my progress

4) Family

Sister graduated from JC, now moving on to tertiary education. Mother graduated from being a working mum, now moving on to become a teacher by day but fully fledged ah soh by night, what with all the line dancing classes at the community centre. Still the same old pleasant folks that stand tall in this gigantic shit stirrer that is life

My wishes for next year

Personally, I wish to pass the MBBS and find joy in whatever I do again, among other things. As for my wishes for the wider world, here they are:

1) America to clear her rubbish

I consider myself one of those old fashioned people who believe that if you have a problem, you either solve it directly or learn to be happy with it. That does not include sitting down, irritating the hell out of your government, and hoping that something falls from the sky(scrapers of Wall Street). If I ever find myself short of money, I'd either work harder and smarter, or learn to spend less, or both.

Apparently, in this New Age, it is fashionable to whine your way to a solution. And if you can find thousands of like minded people with whom to form a collective public nuisance, why not? Not as if your government, who goes by the ideals of democracy and free speech, can do a Tiananmen and mow the whole lot of you down.

Last I read, nations like America and Singapore weren't built by immigrants who sat down at the beach holding stupid placards.

Is that your name? Hahahaha

2. A vision
The heavens will open, a host of three headed angels will appear singing, and this gigantic guy with a shiny face will read from a golden scroll.... telling us where our healthcare system is headed to.

Why not? First there was just Singhealth and NHG, then suddenly there was NUHS. Now there is the Eastern Health Alliance whose pillar is the gigantic CGH, an enormous tertiary hospital in the east of Singapore that provides an extensive range of healthcare services.

Well to think of it, competition is good. Man Utd needs a Man City to keep them on their toes. YLLSOM needs the Duke-NUS. Gandalf needs Saruman. So, more healthcare alliances to break the monopoly can only be beneficial to patients. Way to go, government!

3. Our country to stop failing further
To build on the above point, I believe SMRT has monopoly over our public transport system. As such, it is indestructible. If another transport alliance group (whatever that will mean) were to compete with them, I'm sure there will be more vigilance.

Although we have not achieved the lofty heights of certain European countries in the art of screw-up, by our high standards bad things have occurred this year. The clean, green, orderly utopia of the 1990s may not appear ever again but hopefully there won't be further deterioration in the standard of public transport, healthcare etc.