She was a medical student in a foreign land 14 hours away from home by direct flight. It was the X'mas season and everyone she knew went home for celebrations. Her room mates were the only exception but they were probably somewhere enjoying the sceneries in Prague at that moment.
She felt lonely. She was home sick. She regretted having made the decision of doing medicine despite not given a place in the local medical school. Her family had mortgaged their flat to fulfil her life long dream. She had to work part time for her own allowances. There were no extra cash. Had she just stayed behind and perharps take up an easier and shorter course, her family will have less of a financial burden. But they never grumbled, they fulfilled her wish. She felt she was too selfish. She had let them down.
"Gor, how is everyone?" She made a call to her brother. He was a House Officer at the local hospital.
"Everyone is fine. Heh, I'm really busy...... Can I call you later?" He was on call that day.
"Its all right then. Merry X'mas." After she put down the phone, she broke into tears.
Her brother sensing something wrong, quickly jotted something down on the hospital memo pad. He passed it to a good friend who was post call to post it the day itself.
Few days later she recieved the post from her brother. In that five minutes he had scribbled something on a memo.
She cried again. But this time she had the strength to carry on.
the family dynamic can make or break a person. fortunately for this, it's the better side.
ReplyDeletecheers!
ur sis ah?
ReplyDeletebittersweet but beautiful poem.
ReplyDeleteI had spent the last 2 christmas alone overseas as a poor student. I know exactly how it feels like.
ReplyDeleteLucky girl, to have such a nice,caring and sensitive brother.
ReplyDeleteHow I envy her.
anon G: yes esp sad during public holidays because everyone got a family to go back to.
ReplyDeleteanon g: how come nobody join the fun today?
ReplyDeleteeer...i today busy la. tomolo also, have to do research on the Net. will try to join the fun.
ReplyDeletebut speaking overseas heartache ah, haiz....my poor sis really suffer a lot in Germ, Germany that is....
but her woes may end soon, her research will be shifted to Holland, if all goes well. I'm sure it will, she's the best of the lot, the Singapore lot. she's doing PhD in Chemistry....high flyer siah....
ReplyDeleteShe can always find an angmo and "rock" the night away! Afterall, if she got AIDS, she can always treat herself! hahaha..
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate to that. I felt like crying too when i read this.
ReplyDeleteit's quite unfair to the family...hopefully, she's not ungrateful
ReplyDeleteyou are the post call guy?? eh... got ask for permission to publish or not??
ReplyDeleteand how come use snail mail? Esp the mailman is going to publish online...
alternatively there's also the sms...
daming: the snail mail will make the whole emotions go burst, email will never come close to this, sms too. u know why it works like this?
ReplyDeletebecause of the presence of handwriting.
get your girl to send u love letter in writing and sms, which will touch u more?
CHEW ON IT.
wa lao.
dear,
ReplyDeletecry if you must
my shoulders are here
for as long as it last
i will bring you home
and become your foam
where u can shower
and enjoy some chowder
for love is so amazing
this poem for you is amusing
to Dr BL OG,
ReplyDeletethis brother in your story sounds more like a bf. LOL!
Frankly, with the higher suicide attempts during the holidays, the brother should have just talked a few more minutes longer. ( no more than it takes to scribble that poem) by the time snail mail cames she would have been dead. But then, I know you're just talking story hor....
ReplyDeletea short phone call and a warm voice on the other end can mean a whole lot more then this snail mail.....been there hated it before when the loneliness creeps in ...a galant effort thou.
ReplyDeleteWah, brilliant brother. The poem is so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteLetter on paper beats email, snail mail.
Wah, brilliant brother. The poem is so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteLetter on paper beats email, snail mail.
hey bf, that poem is so unromantic. But good effort though, my real-life ex-boyfriend never wrote me poems. LOL
ReplyDeletedear,
ReplyDeletewhen u want to pa tor?
the brother a bit cock! got time to write on paper, no time to talk. what a loser!
ReplyDeletewah that's so sweet. next year going over to aussie on a tight budget...sometimes i wonder if i'm too selfish spending all my parents' savings when i have 2 younger sisters...siGhs*
ReplyDeletefuture aussie med student: go with a lion heart, go with a lot of love in you. dun feel guilty, becos it will only make your family sad. when u're accomplished, help your 2 younger sis(if they need any), and if can, help your family live a better life. and of course, be a good lokun la!
ReplyDeletewell, i guess, this's the only thing u can do.
wish u all the best!
aust med student
ReplyDeleteyou are so prudent
for some things so sweet
that they make you weep
love is forever
me being your lover
lets make love at night
with some chicken tonight
Dr Og is a big kaypoh who goes around the hospital listening and taking notes about people's life. In reality, the brother spoke to the sister for quite a while and he sent an email instead. (I was staring at his screen then). He did compose that piece of thing in 5 mins. Thats all the time he had.
ReplyDeletetelling the story is a whole different matter .What do you expect? I type out the entire conversation (which i did not hear)?? Hand will be damn sng like tat.
You have to try harder bf. I am not easily swayed by your words. You can try writing a more risque poem. LOL
ReplyDeleteTo future aussie student,
ReplyDeleteMoney is important but you shouldn't get worried about it. As my mum always says,"I pay for your education now, next time you become somebody big, I see liao also happy."
You are YOU. Care for your sisters but tell yourself that you deserve the money your parents give you.
Hey what uni you studying in next year? I'm an aussie med student too.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeletesexy med student: your words are better done up.
ReplyDeletewow. seems like there's heaps of aussie med students reading this blog! (haha. yes, i am one too!) so touched by the poem. distance is an issue so close to heart for me! i wanna go home~~
ReplyDeleteto future aussie med student:
you'll be the pride of your parents! for now, at least. dunno how your 2 sis will turn out in studies. so you gotta live up to that tall hat and work your butt off in med sch. i feel that it isn't so much of "deserve the money your parents give you" though. but since your parents agree to finance your studies here, surely they know how to manage their cash loh. Like my parents tell me, "You worry about the money isn't gonna make it drop into your lap." so it'll be better to divert that energy into having an exciting med student life next year, don't you reckon? :)
to Dr Og: your blog's a really funny read! *thumbs up* good job!
dear,
ReplyDeletei thought that was quite risque already! didn't know you are so open one! MUACKS! *HUGS*
dear geno, sexy med student, miss adelaide med: thanks! :) though my mum someimtes chides me for being stubborn (NUS offered me pharmacy but i die die dun want), i noe she and my dad will always support me in whatever i do. really glad to have such parents who care. hope i'll do well and not let them down! :)
ReplyDeleteand btw i'm going to monash. sexy med student u're from??
wow lau, how come dr blog can hear so many stories leh? i work in a hospital also but no much story leh.
ReplyDeletegeno, you around? anon back to join the fun.
ReplyDeleteinteresting thing that i heard about is related to the waiting time story that dr blog wrote about a while ago.
ReplyDeleteto solve the patient frustration of waiting, the hospital is to provide coin operated massaging chairs, internet services.
wah...really email not snail mail eh?? hehe... so dr bl og juz gave that a bit more va va voom lah...
ReplyDeletegeno: blah... there was once I hunted for an old fashion typewriter for a "short note" on the back of a postcard. which I tot was quite cool... but alas...
I'm not from monash lar.
ReplyDeleteanon: yoz! i'm back!
ReplyDeletedaming: oh typewriter....so oh-so-out... =)
i think.... Dr Bl Og is enjoying the comments so much that he's NOT WRITING CONSISTENTLY NOW!!
ReplyDeletehello! hello! anybody home? time to blog, Dr Bl Og!
dun forget to entertain us hor!
=)
sexy med student: then u're from?
ReplyDeletedear sexy med student,
ReplyDeletei lead your hands
into my pants
i let out a fart
you said ooh it's so hard
singing my song
you said ooh it's so long
20 minutes later
i gave you my tissue paper
future aussie med student
ReplyDeleteyou should not worry too much since your parents are behind you.
Just study hard and become a good doctor and they would be very,very proud.
Since you have been accepted into med school, go for it - it's an
apportunity of a lifetime, miss it and you might regret later.
Once you're a doctor, surely you have the means to support your family.
australian med student bf,
ReplyDeleteso unfaithful. so who do like? me or sexy med student? you can't hae us both.
sexy med student, you better keep your hands off my bf! LOL
DEAR! I thought she is you??? Sexy not you ah??? The poem is for you!!! *HUGS*
ReplyDeleteThat's more like it. Don't make me jealous again. hehe.
ReplyDeleteHey, this is really a very sad story... hahas. Touching it may be, but I still think her brother could have done something more? =)
ReplyDeletesnowy: it is very easy to ask for more from others than to ask of oneself to be stronger. if one can't take the pain of studying overseas, then my advise is: dun go. being a low-grade-no-status HO at the hospital, being a son at home, being an individual person, being someone's boyfriend....all these roles are tiring enough. still ask for more? if such trials and tribulations of life will make one scared about moving forward, dun go be a doctor, this very person may probably not make a good doctor. what if a patient died in her hand? can she take the trauma? dun ask of too much from people, just because one is homesick.
ReplyDeletesometimes, tears will make one stronger, falls will make one stand taller, heartbreaks will make one see clearer.
humans should be like tea leaves: the longer the soak in hot, boiling water, the more flavour it diffuse out. but, dun soak too long, the tannins will make it bitter. wat is too long, wat is not, one guage for oneself.
chew on it, snowy.
:)
ReplyDeletedont be jealous
or over zealous
for i m here
just for you, my dear
Australian med student, share your bf leh!
ReplyDeleteBf, who you want?
future med student, i refuse to divulge information that will reveal my identity. :)
that's a great brother....*burst into tears*
ReplyDeleteMy own gor would have told me to just hang up. :) but then, I wouldn't have called him, probably mother better...
to sexy med student,
ReplyDeletei choose my dear dear. you don't come and tempt me ok?
sexy med student: divulge school only so easy will reveal identity ah? loLz. okok :)
ReplyDeleteGeno@11.56: What do you mean by writing consistently? In the comments or in the blog itself? Weekend was out mah! =P
ReplyDeleteDr Bl Og: Blog, darling, I mean blog, not comments. oh, forgot it's weekend liao....sorry, i take it back....opps, comment already there. nvm, leave it there as proof of atrocity(sic). ha!
ReplyDeletebtw, i feel your entries not as "tok" and funny liao leh, gone all mild and soft(not meaning that part of your body!). can be more wicked or not? u in monkey republic liao mah!
oh, u afraid of the M.R garmen?
kekeke...
You don't like them mild and soft? Prefer them harsh and hard?
ReplyDeleteWicked? Tsk tsk... Dr BL Og is friendly, understanding, caring and kind. How to be wicked?
Monkey Republic also got monkey rules mah.
And you called me "darling"...
ReplyDelete*AWWWWwwwwww*
*Dr. BL Og blushes*
*grins :)
ReplyDeleteErm.. why is future aussie med student grinning?
ReplyDeletethe "darling" sounds so scandalous ma...lolz*
ReplyDeletebtw, dr bl og so free ah...sitting in front of computer and replying to comments?
ReplyDeleteDarling! I "darling" everybody la! i make love, not war....not that i fool around! I don't!
ReplyDeleteya hor, so free and type comments ah? dun need to shot people meh? as in, needle shots.
hahahahahaha.....
i mean i want more stories of bad doctors, silly nurses, stupid patients, and all the works!
tsk, tsk, tsk....
Making love and not war is such a 70s thing. Making love as different connotations nowadays yes?
ReplyDeleteWhere got free? You all think doctors cannot take leave? Tsk tsk...
Bad doctors, silly nurses, stupid patients? Everything (yes, EVERYTHING) are completely fictional. =)
Dr Bl Og: I'm born in the late 70s. so there! the different connotations? of course can! with the right person, i definately dun mind!
ReplyDeletehahaha...forgot lokun can take leaves too! hahahaha....pai sei!
no matter how fictional, still a good laugh! feed us more of such stories la! ai ya!!!
Don't mind what? Huh?
ReplyDelete*Dr. BL Og is confused*
Born in the late 70s... still so young! =)
dun act dun know la! smart alec! and btw, i dun do people's husband, ok!
ReplyDeletegrowl.....
young for another 2 years, and i'll not be anymore!
hahahahaha.....
i youngest! whee...haha* :)
ReplyDeleteduh.....but 1 day u will be.
ReplyDeletemuahahaha......
lol dun remind me la :(
ReplyDeletewat did i say?
ReplyDeletehmm....
hee...hee...
hehx. hmm u also so free online all day one ah? or lunch time now?
ReplyDeletewho's someone's husband???
ReplyDeletei free now. when my new job comes up, i can only read at night liao....maybe can't even comment, bcos no time...
ReplyDeleteDr Bl Og: u married ma!
oh. nvm la i'm sure u'll find time to read and comment! :) it's kinda like a daily ritual for me now...i'm sure it is for u too
ReplyDeleteya la....but can't comment as much ma....
ReplyDeletesob...sob...sob...
*hugs hugs* dun cry...
ReplyDeleteokies i'm gonna xia4 ban1 very soon and go for my tennis game! catch ya pple tmR. meanwhile take caRe :)
ReplyDeleteenjoy your tennis!
ReplyDelete;-)
Where do you play ur tennis? =)
ReplyDeletedr blog kay po. wanna go play tennis?
ReplyDeletedr bl og: depends on who i play with. u play tennis too? ;)
ReplyDeleteJust started picking up the game actually.
ReplyDeleteooohh...icic... me also just started playing only...still trying to get rid of all the bad habits of badminton =x
ReplyDeleteTrying to get rid of table tennis habits.... :)
ReplyDeletebe careful not to injure the wrist ;)
ReplyDeleteThis is a great site and i would highly recommend lortab online pharmacy . You can get more information on lortab online pharmacy at lortab online pharmacy
ReplyDelete