Facebook is taking away my time from blogging!

Hell yeah it’s time to update. I don’t know where to start!

Can Pharmacist Be the Sole Dispenser in Malaysia?

The Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society and the Health Ministry of Malaysia are conducting a trial on the separation of roles between pharmacists and private practitioners. Pharmacists are allowed to be the sole dispenser while doctors provide patients with the prescription.

The response from the public has been generalle y negative. Heris one article ran by Lim Kit Siang.

Here is my response to the article:

With the current system, it is not economical to open so many pharmacies within the community as our role as a healthcare provider is only limited to minor ailments and non-prescription drugs. However, in the proposed system, Pharmacists can play a role in the medication process by opening up pharmacies practically everywhere! By then, it will also be viable to make pharmacies 24 hours. A certain law/regulation/code can be done to ensure that there is a pharmacy available within the vicinity of a clinic or such.

Pharmacies are bounded by the Code of Ethics as stipulated by the Pharmacy Board of Malaysia. It states that “The Pharmacist shall not by words or deed or by inference thereof discredit or disparage the professional integrity, or judgement, or skill of another pharmacist or of a member of an allied profession”. This means that if a patient comes to the pharmacy with a prescription for Panadol, pharmacists are not allowed to dispense any other brands of Paracetamol other than Panadol. As such, when pharmacists are in a situation where they are uncertain of the prescription ordered by the doctor, it is only professional of them to consult the doctor without alarming the patient. In the case of the Patient above, her re-filling of prescription is by order of the doctor. The pharmacists have to follow the prescription unless he suspects any non-compliance or medication errors. Whether or not he suspects anything is the onus of his professional conduct. To say that the pharmacist will overrule the doctor’s prescription is not true at all.

In addition to that, private clinics usually lump everything as “consultation and medicine fees” onto the receipt. As some have mentioned, we all don’t know the exact breakdown of the prices. Perhaps the Ministry should enforce such breakdown requirements, and then only we can compare the prices between a clinic and a pharmacy.

Certain medical ailments also do not require a doctor’s attention. The pharmacies role is to counsel the patient on his/her current condition and to recommend a therapy for him/her to follow. If you have seen patients talking to the pharmacist and pharmacist recommending some medication, the pharmacist is not going beyond his roles as all these are minor ailments. Unless the pharmacist suspects further underlying causes, he is obligated to ‘refer him/her to a doctor’. Yes pharmacies can help you measure your BP, measure your body temperature, check for scabies, dandruff or sunburn. Are these what you refer to as physical examination? In economic sense, this definitely reduces the patients’ financial burden to pay for consultation fees. Pharmacists do not charge for consultation.

My point here is, the physician-pharmacist role with regards to proper medication usage and patient safety can be greatly enhanced through such a system. Of course, there are other factors to consider like whether current pharmacists in Malaysia are equip through their professional education to dispense and counsel the patients appropriately? And whether patients are ready to trust pharmacist as much as how they trust the doctors.

FYI, you don’t have to get the medicine from the clinic itself currently. If you request for a prescription, you can always bring a prescription to your friendly neighbourhood pharmacist!

Comments are greatly appreciated =)

Will this sustain?

After 6 months of absence, we’ll soon find out if this attempt in revamping The Phunky Pharmacist will take place or not!

Come back to see whether I’ve updated or not. If I haven’t, please poke me on facebook or nudge me on msn, or just slap me in person =p

So the Exams are Here…

Eh exams started already… start posting!

 Yup, that’s the general statement I get from most of my friends. Gosh it’s been months since I blogged! If you’re reading this, by golly you’re one heck of a fan!  =D

 Let’s see, nothing much happening to me this semester. Let’s do a little recap shall we? In no chronological order (drum roll)

 1. I am hooked onto Facebook

Yes. I have conformed to society. But heck it’s fun at Facebook! You get to draw graffiti on people’s ‘wall’ and ’super poke’ someone without even poking them physically! I mean heck when can you actually throw a sheep at someone? Facebook is a revolution! So if you want me buy you a cheesecake from the bakery shop I usually hang out, do add me ok? Search “Lam Chee Kiang”. I’m in the NUS and Malaysia Network.

 2. I’m a Deeejay

That’s not new actually, but yeah I’m still talking to myself once every week. I’ll be ending my stint this semester as I’ll be doing more admin stuff for the station now, and hopefully still get to have adhoc appearances in some live shows next sem!

If you don’t know by now. NUS has a campus radio station and it’s called Radio Pulze (with the Z not an S)!

3. I am star strucked!

Ok this is related to radio as well. This semester has been amazing for me in the life of a media organization. I’ve met various local radio personalities like Justin Ang (Muttons at Midnights), Stanley Leong (The Living Room @ 938 Live), Deborah De Souza (Health Bites), and Andrew Crothers (The guy behind every radio ad in Mediacorp)

Other than that, I’ve also been running around the country (ok just the city) doing interviews with stars and celebrities stopping over in Singapore, either for a promo tour, or for a press conference! I’ve met people like Funeral for a Friend, Robyn (Show me Love?) and erm… yeah that’s it actually. Come to think of it there weren’t many people I interviewed Haha. Lazy to put up pictures la.

3. I am Starstrucked Part II

This is also radio related. Met some local music bands like Stentorian, EIC, The Great Spy Experiment etc. Love Singapore bands man! I can’t wait to meet Malaysian singers! I want to meet Jac Victor, Jason Lo, Point Blanc and erm… Datin Siti?

4. I am addicted to Central Library

Only during the exam period! Been hanging out at the Central Library during the day, and occasionally at night when the reading area is opened throughout the night! Unlike last year, I didn’t stay throughout the night. Would just completely screw up my sleeping pattern!

 5. Wei Ming has a Girlfriend!

This has nothing to do with me, but anyway! Wei Ming is my neighbour for two years in Sheares Hall. After a tragic ‘Valentines Day’ incident, he finally met someone “who plays squash as well” as indirectly quoted by him. The only problem is she is a bit health conscious, so I’m still his makan buddy, at odd places, at odd hours.

Ok, I have a paper tomorrow, maybe I’ll post more updates after this!

And He Suddenly Blogs

People tend to remember what you did wrong in the past, not focus on what is done present, and not think of what the future can behold.

I don’t get people.

People have always accused me of not keeping in touch with friends: that hall life, radio life and university life have taken my soul away. Many claimed that I gave up my life for something that might (read: might) not be useful for your career.

While I do not disagree with them that I have slot in a lot of activities in my free time, I do try to keep up with my friends and family.

Note: Don’t worry dear, it’s not about us =)

Claim  #1: Extra-curricular life has gotten into you that you completely forgot about your old friends.

Rebut #1: That is not completely true. I try to keep in touch with my old friends living outside my hall. Shinfei and I meet up for Breakfasts on Sundays once in awhile; Tiang Lim and I meet up for some yam-cha sessions; I take the bloodly long bus to NTU just to study with the people there; I meet up with Shanta for jogs; I meet up with Tuan for drinks….

After everything, they still complain that I’m not putting enough effort to keep in touch with them.

Claim #2: You get so involved in stuffs that you forget your old pals in hall

Rebut #2: The mentality is that hall is so active that it is not necessary to just arranged an outing to meetup. Ok I admit that I’ve not had a decent chat with Britts for awhile, but I meet up with Jon and Karthik quite often! LH and EH are my classmates for heaven’s sake!

Claim #3: You meet so many new friends that you forget the old ones

Rebut #3: So I’m suppose to stick to ONE circle of friends? I have my hall friends, I have my radio friends, I have my faculty friends, I have my secondary school friends… (who can forget my girlfriend too) Don’t tell me that I can LUMP everyone into one circle and start an ice-breaking session? I’m sure each of us will feel some awkwardness.

Which brings me to my next point. You think I’m some sort of social butterfly, and that I’m happy being busy. Honestly, I rather stick to myself and sleep all day. I rather tapau dinner and watch the tyra banks show than sit down and do small talk with some random hall person (which I have to remind them of my nationality every time I converse with them); I rather sit in the Central Library by myself than get some random classmate to accompany me. I rather sit in a cafe reading a magazine by myself than do gossip-folk talk about some random girl from another university who recently nailed some other girl’s boyfriend.

You get the picture.

I don’t know why I suddenly decided to bring this matter up. But if you think you have provoked me to do so, well done. Shall we meet up for lunch then?

The Phantom Blogger

So SOME people have been complaining about my absence in the blog scene. Well, what can I do when I DON’T EVEN HAVE TIME TO ON MY COMPUTER!?

 

These few weeks have been challenging on me. Not because of academics, but because of extracurricular activities back in Sunny Singapore!

 

Yes it’s called Rag and Flag, but I’m so lazy to talk about it I’ll credit The Girlfriend’s job in describing the entire thing to you!

 

I just want to add that I’m so glad and proud to be working with a bunch of people who came together for one purpose: to build a float that every Shearite can be proud of and to win back the Chancellor Shield! *sorry CL for the Hall Love*

 

Don’t go away! More updates coming up!  

It’s Called The Labret

I woke up one day after a drunken sleepy night to find my labret piercing missing.

A Labret is the piercing of the lower lip or the jewelry that goes there.

If you don’t know me by now, I have two body piercing. One is my ear and the other the labret. I got my ear pierced while I was in Form Three (Secondary 3) and my labret pierced during my one semester stint in IMU.

Back then, ear piercing on guys were only associated with seniors who are in a school gang, and Ah Beng/Lala/Jinjang Boy fashion. It wasn’t associated with current fashion, although Hollywood has been showing more and more male celebrities with an ear piercing. Even so, we already know a lot about ear piercing like what it means to have a piercing on the right etc. I got my ear pierced at the last day of my Secondary 3 General Exams (PMR). You can say it is a ‘reward’ of my hard work, and also because I was bored. Daryl and Justin followed suit, and Daryl move a step further by having another ear hole later in Secondary 4.

Gaya was the first close friend I had to venture into the ‘other-than-ear’ piercing. She had her naval pierced in Secondary 4. I was there with the gang watching her belly being pierced. It was quite scary, what’s with the look on her face (and that it was done in Summit USJ).

Nadine and Gaya then had their nose pierced, I don’t know when but sometime after Secondary 4. There was a period of time when I always transited between Singapore and Malaysia that I see them wearing nose rings so big that I want to just pull it out!

don’t you just wanna pull that ring out?

I seem to be talking more about my friends’ piercing. Anyway, I always wanted a piercing somewhere outside the ear. During the first few weeks as roommates Chun Leen and I made a pact that I would get my eyebrow pierced while he get a tattoo after the Year 1 Finals. However, you know how promises turn out. It wasn’t until I finished my A Levels that I came back to see Gaya with a tongue piercing that the desire to have a body piercing came back! I must say, Gaya Pressure was super ultra high at that time!

I did my piercing without my girlfriend’s knowledge too! That is a huge NO advice to you future i-want-to-get-my-body-pierced boyfriends out there!

After I got my labret piercing, there were a lot of FAQs I had to answer whenever I meet someone new. The normal questions like ‘is it painful?’, ‘what did your parents say?’ and the infamous question ‘will it leak when you drink water?’ are a few examples. In the beginning I was quite eager to answer them. But after awhile, I just gave them very cold answers like ‘erm yeah not really but then sometimes’. And to the leaking question, I would say something like ‘You wanna see?’ That would definitely turn them off, somehow.

The labret stud comes usually with a ball, and I hate those that have pointy ones. During the semester I would take the ball off as I had a lot of lab practical sessions where the professors would be able to see EVERYTHING about you. There was once where I was talking to a lecturer and he kept looking at my labret piercing, I guess the same way as how perverted guys would look at a woman’s breast during a conversation.

*snaps finger* watch your eyes boy-friend, my assets are not for show!

Some people think that piercing is to get the attention. While I do not totally disagree with that statement, I did not pierce my labret for the attention. I pierce it because it was on my ‘to-do list’ and partly because of peer pressure. Since I can’t do most of my to-do list (which include things like gangbang and owning a private island), I guess the labret was a must. Thankfully, my parents do not give a damn about which body part I pierce, as long as I do good and be good; my friends are almost liberal; and my girlfriend is just worried about her parents’ impression about me.

*goes back to look for an extra pair of labret piercing*

Well. I’m back in Singapore.

I don’t know why, but I always stop blogging when I reached this Little Red Dot. There are just too many things to handle.

Ok the reason why I’m back although I still have two months of break is because I have voluntarily sold my sould to all the holiday projects conducted by NUS.

1. NUS Rag for Sheares Hall

2. Singapore Street Festival for NUS Radiopulze

3. Pharmacy Orientation (which I’m hoping to drop out of)

4. Sheares Exposure Camp 2007

You think that’s little? My Rag work operates every weekday from 10 – 6, by the time I’m done doing my carpentry work I’m so tired I don’t wanna head to Orchard to join my radio colleagues to host the festival. Add some Exposure Camp workload and callups and I DON’T EVEN HAVE TIME TO START ON HEROES!

Today’s Wesak Day in Singapore. It’s funny, Malaysia just had it last month while I was back home. So I’m actually celebrating Wesak Day twice! WOOT. In conjunction with the holiday, I’ll be doing some Camp work by heading to Sentosa to see the locations. Talk about FUN!

Blablabla I’m bored.

And My Name Is…

I’ve been called many names before. Not just the normal Lam Chee Kiang or Chee Kiang or CK or LCK or Mr Lam etc. My Piano Teacher who drums her tummy called me Dr. Lam, and somehow Mr. Lam sounds very ‘professional’ to some. I don’t know why. My brother and my father always introduce themselves as “Lam”. And rather then calling their names, people call them “Lam” – be it formal or informal.

When I was in Kindergarden, my brother used to call me “Leng Chi Kang”, a chinese dessert. It was damn annoying because the both of us like that dish, and whenever he sees a stall he will start saying things like “Leng Chi Kang want Leng Chi Kang or not“. There were times when I couldn’t stand it that I start crying (Kindergarden mah). My mother would scold my brother and ask him to stop it, but days later forgot about the scolding and everything goes back to normal. Sigh, elder brothers can be so naive and immature

When I was in Primary School, this girl named Li Shen used to call me “Chicken” (I think you can see the similarities with my name). It was alright initially, but as months go by I got really pissed. Not because she is directly insulting and associating my name with an animal, but because I was FUCKING FAT at that time. Is bad enough that I couldn’t stop myself from indulging in KFC and all other vices, but I had the thought that she was rubbing it in by calling me a Chicken (I didn’t relate “Chicken” with being a pussy back then). One day I couldn’t take it anymore, I called her “Lizard” (you need a longer time to see the similarities between her name and the nick). From then on she stopped calling me “Chicken”, I guess it worked, or because I shouted Fuck You “Lizard” in front of her parents.

I had many variations in Secondary School. When I was in the ‘Elite Chinese Stream Secondary 2 Class’ – 2 Elok, this guy who was desparate for sex just reached puberty kept talking about sex and its sub-topics. He then labelled me a “Lan Ciao King” (Dick King – this nick will appear again sometime in my life, but let’s be chronological here). This carried on in Secondary 3, but then I started mixing with the Malay Stream peeps, so we stopped hanging out, or maybe he has lost his virginity realized that sex is now a boring subject.

After The PMR (Lower Secondary Examinations), the school organized a Genting trip for us, and I wore a turtle neck with sunglasses in Genting. People claimed that my nipples were showing (I had breasts then) and I looked like a “Gigohlo”. So guess what was my next nickname? This nickname was phenomenal. “Gigohlo” became my Christian name, and there was even a ringtone composed for the nick! (Note: That time handphones just appeared in our lives).

In Secondary 4, when honeymoon year started, people started exploring sex got more matured, and Malay and Chinese Stream became Science and Arts Streams, Gigohlo became a yesteryear. Mixing with Daryl’s smoking-pharmacy-student-sister Joanne, who introduced Shishah/Hookah Smoking to us, created a new phenomenon of ‘Ass’ and ‘Sex’ nicknames. Daryl was awarded the ‘Fat Ass’ title while I got the ‘Big Sexy’ title. Like I said, I was FUCKING FAT.

In Secondary 5, Gaya creatively started calling me “Cheeks” out of the blue. I thought it was quite a nice nickname. I didn’t object to that. Soon, certain people started calling me “Cheeks”. And I acknowledged the name.

After Secondary School, I left for Terengganu for my 3-month-NS-stint. I was fortunate enough to have people of my wavelength aka can speak english and malay rather fluently (my chinese that time cacated already after mixing with the Malay Stream peeps), and most importantly, come from Subang/Petaling/Damansara area! There, this best friend of mine (or rather, the only NS friend I keep in touch now) Aik Chiew got so free that he created a name for me – “Lan Ciao King”. Yup, after disappearing for 3 years this bloody nickname appeared again. It got worst because everyone in my Company got hooked on to this name. It’s what I called Muhibbah man – Malay, Chinese, Indian, Lain-lain… called me that even though they have no idea what it meant. The Chinese Educated Chinese created another nickname for me. I was called ‘Dai Keong’ or ‘Da Qiang’ because in my Company there was another dude with a Kiang behind him. So he was named ‘Siu Keong’ or ‘Xiao Qiang’ or ‘Cockroach’ because I was FATTER than him. They didn’t get into the Lan Ciao King phenomena because the Chinese Educated Chinese tend to stick to themselves as compared to the Malay Educated and the Bananas (I’m already a certified Banana then).

So after NS, I came out and people were shocked to see me NOT FAT anymore. I started wearing short pants because I got hooked onto jogging they were cooling. Hence I was now called ‘Big Sexy Legs‘. That didn’t last long because I packed my bags and left for the Little Red Dot. There, the Asean Scholars called me the norm – CK, Chee Kiang etc. But as the two years go by, Cheeks entered the list as well. People used the three interchangeably. Suicidal will use CK when calling me normally, and Cheeks when he is disappointed in me.

When I started blogging, another nickname came up, well actually it was me who started the ball rolling – DJCK. I always dreamed of being a deejay, hence the addition of DJ to the CK. People claimed that they see ‘DICK’ instead of ‘DJCK. My Radio friends suggested that I be CK the DJ instead.

In Uni, CK, Chee Kiang, Cheeks, DJCK are still being used. I guess they’re the most common and easiest to remember. Some claimed that they remember me as CK, but have no idea what my full name is! CK was commonly used in IMU, but in NUS I wanted a new name, a Christian name! I tried Aaron Lam (Aaron Joseph Lam to be exact), but the ASEAN Scholars who followed me to Sheares Hall and NUS ruined it for me.

“Hello I’m Aaron”

*smirks* “Yeah his name is Aaron. Eh Aaron how are you Aaron”

*cibai-la*

Nice eh.

Visit www.1000tentacles.com for more.