Rest if you must.

Sitting at the rear of an exhausted ambulance, whilst recuperating from a hectic ambulance call, I study the evening skies which shower the fire station with their awesome flaxen rays. I soak up nature's refreshing bounty(even in the sweaty uniform and the foul wake of ambulance exhaust) and took my mind off the job.A hiatus. A much needed one.

An eye opener, indeed.

Spending a night in Paya Lebar FS is certainly different from spending a night anywhere. One moment, you could find yourself warmly cuddled up in rolls of inviting white blankets in the air-conditioned paramedics office and the next, you could just be out of such comfort, collecting a call text and making a frantic beeline into your assigned alpha, upon the authoritative siren of an ambulance informing the whole firestation that someone out there is in need of medical attention.

It was 6 am in the freezing morning when such a siren went off, interrupting our slumber. Pulling my body lazily out of those thick blankets, I made a quick trip to the watchroom where a noisy printer cranked out a pink slip which bore the call text. "Case of China man colliding into a lorry", it read. I handed it over to the paramedic(who takes up the front seat with the driver) and settled onto the back seat of the ambulance. We arrived at the accident scene and we were greeted by a tanned-looking china man who had made a seat out of the pavement. Droplets of blood riddled the side of the road, where he sat, his face taut with pain. His wounds were still oozing out blood. His upper lip was torn, a bad bulging bruise had emerged from his temple and his nose, obviously crooked, was broken as a result of the impact. Judging from the injuries he sustained, anyone could tell, he had landed face-first into the obsidian granite road. Bystanders watched as if enjoying a thriller as the other medic and I tended to his facial wounds. My paramedic questioned him on how he was afflicted, enlisting the help of a chinese-speaking singapore to translate for him. We were after all attending to a china man. Well, this isn't the worst case yet. I hope to see more tomorrow!!

Hello Paya Lebar FS

Yes, yes. I know full well it has been aeons since I submitted an entry. Let me update you on my latest exploits. Not long back, I left "instructor-ship" to serve as an operational personnel running the ambulance("alpha" was the name given to denote it). You may want to pry further and enquire for the reasons behind the transfer but let's just leave the juicy details for later, shall we? It was yesterday, when I met rota 4 . Ok, now what the hell is a rota? It just refers to a group of people working in the same shift. Different shifts and you'll notice different rotas at work. The paramedics office hides almost unnoticingly beside a walkway. Now this is just like a paramedics' "crib" where all the medics and paramedics hang out when the firestation is all quiet and no calls interrupt us. Together with another junior medic, I was led to that room which didn't reveal much about it's interior from the outside. The sergeant firefighter led us to the paramedic office, where we were greeted by our future colleagues. The raillery inside somehow seemed to reveal the warm and fun working environment. It was not long before we settled admin matters such as declaring our biography and recieving a significant orientation of the ambulance.Again. Guided by a senior medic(whose ORD is drawing near), we tried our hand on the latest black inferno stretcher which was considerbly more cumbersome to carry but, judging from the designs, it's definitely more sturdy to manoeuvre the heavy patients. This is definitely something new, as compared to the orange one, the medics trainees were taught to use. We were also introduced to The 3 in 1. This refers to the lifepack(the paramedics' baby), the, trauma bag(for cases that involve haemorrhages or bleeding) and the flynn bad or what some paramedics, might call oxygen resuscitator kit. Oh well, that last one just provides apt ventilation to patients who need them. There are still loads more to learn about the ambulance. Tonight would mark the start of my first night shift. All the best to me! Hope to attend a myriad of weird cases!

A day at the doc's

The Bedok polyclinic staff were busy with the great number who turned up to seek medical attention. In one corner, beside the flowerpot, a mum admonishes a child for her itchy finger at having touched the dirty lid of a dustbin and through a door, enters a frail man relying to a wooden stick, eyes carefully probing the area for a seat. The clinic radiated the air of an old hospital waiting to be refurbished. People kept thronging the area awaiting their turn at a consultation with the many general practitioners on duty. Leaning my back against the wall, allowing others the luxury of seats, I regretted not plopping my MP3 into my pocket upon realizing I had to wait for 70 people to be tended to. Not allowing myself to feel the sourness of such a mistake, I let my eyes wonder as I observantly watched every other individual(just like myself) wondering when their turn would be. Well, that was the best way to kill time and before I knew it, I found myself speaking meagerly talking to a doctor. It was, of course an ostentatious show, having to speak softly like as if I just suffered some major asthma attack and was desperate to have some medical prognosis. And guess what, the doctor bought my act. Joel Teh was his name.
“Maybe you could use 1 day off?” he questioned with all the courtesy he could muster.
“ 2 days perhaps?” I pleaded betting on my luck. I turned away to hide a sheepish grin as I heard his fingers run through the keyboard inputting the details of my “episode” with asthma.
“Okay” he nodded as he began clicking away at the mouse.
“And oh, perhaps I could use more of the ventolin inhaler. I think I’m running out of it” I requested in a bid to make my little fabricated story more convincing. I was already on temporary cloud nine at being granted the luxury of two days without having to do work.
“Sure” he promised. The printer flanking my seat let out a drone as it cranked out a slip of paper. “Okay, take all these with you and proceed over to the pharmacy. Place the largest piece in reception box. The pharmacist will assemble your medicine for you” he instructed as he motioned toward the cubicle door whilst offering a warm smile. I reciprocated his warmth and made for the door. “Thank you, Sir” were my last words to him as I searched the compounds for anything that resembled a pharmacy.

Placing the “largest piece” meant another thing. More waiting for my medicine to be issued to me. Anticipating another wait, I obediently plopped it into the reception box as I was told to do, and found myself yet another “inviting” spot on the many walls to rest my back on. My queue number came up as a bell went off politely summoning me to counter 19. The middle-aged pharmacist held out her palm demanding my Medical Certificate whilst she continued to check the medicine bottles to see if she had collected and put together the right medicine to address my “ailment”. I took a glance at the vial of medicine and this wave of guilt seemed to surge through my body.
It was at that moment, when I began questioning myself. Was it within my conscience to abuse the services promised by the Singapore government? Yes, in terms of medical services rendered to civil servants like myself, they’re all financially covered. But what if one uses it to his own selfish advantage just to get a few days off from National Service, and then he looks at the vials of pricey medicine given to him to aid him in his so-called sickness, only to see to it that, these redundant medicine would go down the rubbish chute? When we all know full well how these medicine could be generously donated to the sick and the needy in other poor nations so as to stave off the diseases which plaque the health and threaten the lives of many? As I grabbed the plastic bag fully loaded with medicine to make for the payment counter, I found myself questioning my own sense of right and wrong. These medicine which I wasn’t going to consume, was I going to discard them and further rub the chili into my own face? Consuming them would be unnecessary since I wasn’t honestly feeling unwell or anything. As I thought it through, flashes of the sick and the impoverished from third world nations ran sickeningly through my mind, mocking my morals and principles as every sorrowful image leaves its bitter mark in some corner of my mind. I headed slowly to the payment counter with my 11B clipped firmly by two of my long fingers and I let this worrisome guilt and bitter taste of sin burn me inside. My hand went cold as they held tightly onto the bag of medicine (that could possibly aid some poor people in their sickness) which would inevitably go to waste merely because I wasn’t going to consume them. The bite of mockery to my virtues began to dwindle as I made my way out of the clinic and rejoiced in the appealing luxury of 2 days off.

Squeamish Rendezvous

Its tactile antenna whacked the vast vicinity that loomed before it, taking in the scent of anything decent enough to be devoured. The air carried the smell of home made curry but that was not part of it voracious appetite. Its obsidian eyes probed the ceramic grounds for any sign of danger. The coast was clear and it made its precarious move, foraging any crevice for its prey. Nothing. Just as it swallowed its dissapointment, a taunting vibration on the terra firma it had its hairy limbs on, stopped it in its tracks. With the tremulous sensitivity of a barracuda, it scanned it surroundings. A gargantuan silhouette blinded its vision as its eyes failed to adjust to the blustery blackness that blanketed its sight. Nearly paralysed and visually debilitated, it skittled amok verging on desperation as it struggled to regain its senses amidst all the confusion and panic...Death seemed like an inevitable reality...

I groped the voluminous darkness for a switch. With a click, the kitchen was lit with a welcoming blast of light as it revealed the interior of the kitchen.
Hmm, someone had just changed the lights. Finally, I thought. My eyes caught the erratic movement of little brown object. Squinting to get a better view of it, I focused. A wave of disgust surged from my spine and it radiated outwards upon the realisation of the most reviled creature on earth as it eccentrically made little concentric rounds on the tiled kitchen floor. I yelled in fear as it darted toward my biggest toe and I spontaneously made a leapt to dodge its hairy feelers. It was that moment when time and space froze that the startling realisation that I may just be the one to silence this creature, shook my moral obstuseness. What wrong has it done to me? It was just there at the wrong place, the wrong time. It didn't cause me any trouble(though its appaling presence did scare the living daylights out of me for a while). A slight sense of guilt moved in to take the place of the diminishing fear as my legs straightened out to cushion my landing. A sickening squishy feel radiated centrally from the ball of my right foot, cool but foul in its wake. I knew it. I've pulverised it beyond repair. "Urgh", I exclaimed as retracted my feet to reveal the murder scene at its most gory. Its sticky entrails adhered obstinately to the sole of my feet. Fear was no longer an issue. It was dead, for sure. The guilt at having robbed a creature of its life and the disgust at having it remains stuck to my foot tormented me as I failed to stifle a grimace whilst making my journey to the toilet to wash off the icy greenish goo. From afar, I stared silently that the dead and deprecated insect. "Poor cockroach. I didn't mean it. I really didn't",I pacified my heart trying to ease myself into a state of catatonia, but to no avail. As if attending the funeral of that someone I never got to know, I expiated my sin, yanking a sheet of tissue paper and wiping the mess clean. Pinching the soiled tissue, I rushed to the window and discarded any evidence of the murder. No, not exactly a good way to do it but hey, how else do you honour an insect that made you jump like a pussy!?

Newbie blogger

Yes, yes. I have finally decided to silence some who have been pushing me to do up a blog. So here goes, my first post. Well, of course one must be thinking that I was forced into this but here's the scoop. People use blogs for a large variety of reasons and for some, excuses but in a nutshell, most would turn to blogs to express their feelings(sometimes their innermost whims) or to storytell occasionally(and audaciously) the grisly tales of their lives. Others would use it as a platform to voice out their opinions on certain affairs in their daily experiences, or maybe for the more well-read sort, touching current affairs at their most sensitive. Some academicians even have blithely disregarded and criticised blogs as simply a form of narcissistic exhibitionism, especially when one makes it a daily obligation to head back home, sink into a comfy computer chair and begin chronicling their day away into the dark hour. But let's not get derailed, and arrive to a good reason as to why I should blog? To be frank,after much thought, I still don't see any reason. Well, let me sum up my first blog entry. Perhaps, after a few entries, I might just see the light in blogging.It's late.I'll sign off now.Hopefully, I'll have something to talk about!! Ciaos for now.

PS:okay, fine. Not a good entry but you can't blame me. This is my first one. LOL.