Culinary Adventures: When Food Abroad Bites Back!

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Prepare your taste buds and buckle up for a gastronomic rollercoaster ride as we explore the wild world of culinary adventures abroad. From mouth-watering delicacies to unexpected surprises, join me as we delve into the delightful and sometimes downright daring realm of international cuisine.

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1. The Spicy Spectacle

You pride yourself on your tolerance for heat, so when the friendly street vendor in Bangkok offers you a taste of their “mild” curry, you confidently accept with a smile. But as the first fiery bite hits your tongue like a flamethrower in a chili factory, you quickly realize that you may have underestimated the true meaning of “Thai spicy.” Cue the frantic gulps of water and the impromptu fire-breathing performance that leaves your fellow diners both impressed and slightly concerned for your well-being.

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2. The Mystery Meat Mishap

You’re feeling adventurous, so when the menu at that quaint little bistro in Paris lists “escargot” as the house specialty, you decide to throw caution to the wind and give it a try. But as you take your first tentative bite of the slimy delicacy, you can’t shake the sinking feeling that you may have just eaten something that was alive mere moments ago. Cue the existential crisis and the fervent vow to stick to more familiar fare for the remainder of your culinary adventures.

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3. The Cultural Conundrum

You’re determined to immerse yourself in the local culture, so when your gracious host in Tokyo presents you with a steaming bowl of what can only be described as “mystery soup,” you graciously accept with a smile and a bow. But as you tentatively take a sip and try to identify the various unidentifiable floating objects, you realize that sometimes, cultural immersion comes with a side of gastrointestinal distress. Cue the polite nods and the silent prayers for a speedy recovery as you struggle to maintain your composure in the face of culinary adversity.

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4. The Street Food Fiasco

You’ve heard rave reviews about the street food scene in Marrakech, so when you stumble upon a bustling market teeming with tantalizing smells and exotic flavors, you can’t resist the siren call of the street vendors. But as you dig into your first bite of falafel, you quickly realize that street food adventures come with their own set of risks – namely, the inevitable battle with food poisoning that leaves you regretting every culinary decision you’ve ever made.

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5. The Sweet Surprise

Amidst the chaos and confusion of culinary mishaps abroad, sometimes you stumble upon a hidden gem that restores your faith in the power of international cuisine. Whether it’s a piping hot plate of pad thai in Bangkok or a decadent slice of tiramisu in Rome, these unexpected delights serve as a delicious reminder that sometimes, the best culinary adventures are the ones that catch you by surprise.

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So there you have it, fellow foodies – a humorous glimpse into the world of culinary adventures abroad, where every bite is an adventure and every meal is a memory. Remember, no matter how many culinary mishaps you encounter along the way, it’s all part of the delicious journey. Until next time, happy eating and may your taste buds be forever adventurous!

This is the second last post about Travelling
..keep your eyes peeled for the next blogs all about????

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The Red Dirt Audit

The neon sign of the servo flickered against the vast, bruised sky of the Outback, casting a rhythmic, sickly green glow over the red dust. The Three Best Friends—Liam, Dax, and Dev—had been driving for ten hours, their old 4WD chockers with server-grade hardware and a beat-up esky full of lukewarm water. They were performing the ultimate hard yakka: tracking a digital ghost to a physical location.

“Fair dinkum, this place is isolated,” Liam muttered, stepping out into the dry heat. He adjusted his glasses, his mind still racing with the content audit he’d been performing on the fly. He knew that to beat the Raven, they had to be beyond reproach. He had spent the drive ensuring their own documentation followed the most rigorous standards, providing informative, unique page titles for every log entry they created. He knew that for each web page, they needed a short title that described the content and distinguished it from others.

Dax climbed out of the passenger seat, immediately checking his handheld light-meter. “She’ll be right, Liam,” he said, though his eyes were fixed on the servo’s flickering signage. Even here, Dax couldn’t stop being a designer. He noticed the signage lacked sufficient contrast between the foreground and background, a cardinal sin in his book. He knew that foreground text needs to have sufficient contrast with background colors to be readable for people like Elias or Lexie.

The Terminal in the Dust
Inside the servo, the air was thick with the smell of deep-fryer oil and diesel. In the back corner, next to a rack of faded bathers and fishing lure, sat a heavy, industrial-grade terminal. It was humming with a low-frequency vibration that made the floorboards rattle.

“There it is,” Dev whispered. He moved toward the machine, his fingers already itching to check the code. “The Raven’s physical gateway.”

Dev knew that to dismantle this, he would have to use appropriate mark-up for headings, lists, and tables to understand the machine’s hidden structure. He reached for the keyboard, but stopped. The screen was a nightmare of unnecessarily complex data blocks.

“It’s a trap,” Dev said. “Look at the interface. They haven’t provided clear and consistent navigation options. There’s no site map, no search, just a single, pulsing cursor. It’s designed to make you feel lost”.

Decoding the Raven’s Form
A form suddenly popped up on the screen, demanding an administrative bypass code. It was a masterpiece of inaccessible design:

The form elements did not include clearly associated labels.

There were no instructions or guidance to help users complete the form.

The input requirement for the date format was not described.

The system used a CAPTCHA that was purely visual, with no audio alternative for someone like Lakshmi.

“You little ripper,” Dax whispered, but not in a good way. “They’re using color alone to convey information here. The ‘Required’ fields are just red boxes with no asterisks or labels. If you can’t see that specific shade of red, you’re stuffed”.

Liam stepped forward, his eyes narrowing. “I can fix the content. Dev, get me into the markup.”

Dev bypassed the visual CAPTCHA by injecting a script that identified the non-text content through its metadata, though the Raven had tried to hide it. As the code bloomed across the screen, the trio saw the “Raven’s” true face. The “Shadow of the Raven’s Wing” was a script that intentionally removed the lang attribute from the html tag, making it impossible for screen readers to identify the primary language of the page.

The Audit Begins
“We need to audit this and flip it,” Liam commanded. “Dax, check the viewports.”

Dax began testing how the page information presented in different sized viewports. He ensured that when font size was increased by at least 200%, the content didn’t clip or require horizontal scrolling. “The Raven’s site breaks at mobile sizes,” Dax reported. “It’s not responsive design; it’s a digital wall”.

Liam focused on the text. He began rewriting the Raven’s cryptic error messages. Instead of saying “System Error 404-X,” he provided specific, understandable explanations and suggested corrections. He wrote in short, clear sentences and paragraphs, ensuring the information was as simple as possible for the context.

Dev, meanwhile, was doing the hard yakka in the backend. He was ensuring that every interactive element was keyboard accessible, especially the custom-made buttons the Raven had hidden in

tags. He used tabindex=”0″ to add those elements into the navigation order so they could receive focus.

“I’m also adding WAI-ARIA to provide information on the function and state of these custom widgets,” Dev grunted. “The Raven used aria-expanded=”false” on elements that were clearly open. It was a deliberate attempt to confuse assistive technology”.

The Raven Speaks
Suddenly, the terminal’s speakers crackled to life. It was an audio-only file, a podcast-style message with no transcript provided.

“They’re pulling a swifty,” Liam said, reaching for his headset. “They think because there’s no text, we can’t index the threat.”

“No dramas,” Dev replied. He quickly ran a speech-to-text algorithm, creating a real-time transcript that included not just the spoken information, but also the important sounds—like the distant caw of a bird in the background.

The transcript read: “You think you’re clever with your WCAG guidelines. But the desert doesn’t care about meaningful sequence. The sand doesn’t have a logical reading order. You’re carrying on like a pork chop in a world that has already moved past you”.

The Counter-Strike
The Three Best Friends didn’t flinch. They knew that providing easily identifiable feedback was the key to a successful interaction. They weren’t going to let the Raven’s unnecessarily technical language stop them.

“Dev, use the progressive enhancement strategy,” Liam said. “Ensure the core functionality is available regardless of the technology the Raven is using to block us.”

Dax added whitespace and proximity to the new interface they were building over the Raven’s ruins, making the relationships between the content more apparent. He styled the headings to group the related content, reducing clutter and making it easier for the next person who stumbled upon this servo to understand what was happening.

As the sun began to rise over the Outback, the terminal finally let out a long, defeated beep. The “Shadow” was lifted. The form now had clearly associated labels for every control. The images had meaningful text alternatives. The link text was meaningful, describing exactly where the user would go next.

“Good on ya, team,” Liam said, wiping sweat from his brow. “We just turned a ‘rejected status’ claim into a fully approved, accessible reality”.

“But the Raven is still out there,” Dev reminded them, pointing to a set of coordinates that had just appeared on the screen, marked clearly with a descriptive label. “And it looks like the next stop is an abandoned opal mine.”

Liam looked at his friends, then back at the esky. “Well, it’s going to be a long drive. But she’ll be right”.

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Chapter 1: The High-Contrast Crisis

The rain outside didn’t just fall; it “carried on like a pork chop,” hammering against the corrugated iron roof of the studio. Inside, the air smelled of burnt espresso and ozone. Liam, Dax, and Dev—the Three Best Friends—were locked in a battle against a deadline that felt like hard yakka on a Saturday arvo.

The Philosophy of the Studio

The trio didn’t just build websites; they built gateways. Their manifesto was simple: Writing for Web Accessibility wasn’t an afterthought—it was the foundation.

  • Liam (The Content King): He believed that for each web page, one must provide a short title that describes the page content and distinguishes it from other pages. He was currently obsessing over the “Space Teddy Inc.” homepage, ensuring the page name came before the organization name.
  • Dax (The Visual Architect): His monitors were filled with color wheels and luminance grids. He knew that foreground text needs to have sufficient contrast with background colors, a rule that applied to buttons and background gradients alike.
  • Dev (The Logic Master): Dev lived in the “code order.” He was currently ensuring that the order of elements in the code matched the logical order of the information presented. He often checked this by removing CSS styling to see if the content still made sense.

“If we don’t get this right,” Dev muttered, “we’re just pulling a swifty on every user who relies on a screen reader”.

The Arrival of Elias

When the thud came at the door, it wasn’t the sound of a visitor; it was the sound of a warning. Elias, a retiree known to the boys as a frequent tester of their designs, stood in the doorway. He was a man who lived with low vision, hand tremors, and mild short-term memory loss.

“I couldn’t get through the ‘Space Teddy’ checkout,” Elias panted, his voice shaking. “It was the Shadow of the Raven’s Wing. It’s back.”

Dax went pale. “The Shadow? That’s just a myth developers tell to scare juniors.”

“It’s no myth,” Elias said, leaning on a desk. “It’s a deliberate design to exclude. It’s when a site uses color alone to convey information, like marking required fields in red without an asterisk”. “But this was worse. It was a shroud.”

The Mystery of the Raven’s Wing

The Three Best Friends gathered around Liam’s main terminal. Elias pointed a weathered finger at a specific block of text that seemed to shimmer and fade.

The Raven’s Wing (Definition): A technique used by rogue developers to create “unnecessarily complex” content that bypasses the need for clear and concise sentences. It creates a “lack of headings,” making the document nearly impossible to edit or navigate for assistive technology.

“Look at the code,” Dev whispered. His fingers flew across the mechanical keyboard. “They haven’t just ignored the WCAG requirements. They’ve weaponized them. They’re using ambiguous link text like ‘click here’ to lead users into a loop”.

“And the images,” Dax added, his eyes narrowing. “There’s no meaningful text alternatives. For these informational images, they’ve used empty alt-text as if they were purely decorative”.

The First Clue: The “Superbear” Anomaly

As they dug deeper into the “Raven’s” source code, a name popped up that Liam recognized from a recent news article: Superbear.

“Wait,” Liam said, pulling up a local news site. “I just wrote about this. ‘Superbear saves the day
 rescuing a young cat from a tree'”. He looked at the code Dev had unearthed. “The Raven is using the Superbear story as a mask. But look at how they’ve marked it up.”

Dev pointed to the screen:

  • They used a <h2> for the title “Superbear saves the day”.
  • They included a <time> tag for “7 Aug 2015”.
  • But hidden inside an <aside> was a list of “Related Articles” that didn’t exist in the real world.

“Fair dinkum,” Liam breathed. “These links
 ‘Superbear stands for mayor’. That never happened. They’re using WAI-ARIA roles like role="search" to hide a data-mining script”.

The Friends’ Vow

The “Shadow of the Raven’s Wing” wasn’t just a technical glitch; it was a digital wall built to stop people like Lakshmi, the blind accountant, and Ian, the clerk with autism, from accessing the truth.

“We need to audit this entire city’s infrastructure,” Dax declared. “Starting with the contrast ratios of every government portal”.

“And I’ll start rewriting the instructions,” Liam said. “No more unnecessarily technical language. We need to describe input requirements, like date formats, so even someone as stressed as Elias can navigate ‘no worries'”.

“I’ll handle the keyboard accessibility,” Dev added. “I’ll ensure every custom widget, from accordions to buttons, uses tabindex="0" to stay in the navigation order”.

They looked at each other. The task was heaps big, but they were the best in the business.

The Audit Checklist

Before they could head out into the “arvo” to confront the Raven, they had to prep their toolkit.

ToolPurposeContrast CheckerTo identify “insufficient” contrast that hides text.Screen ReaderTo hear the “info and relationships” hidden in the markup.Responsive DebuggerTo see how the “Raven’s” site adapts to a “narrow mobile phone”.Aussie GritTo ensure they don’t “pull a swifty” on their mission.

“She’ll be right,” Elias whispered, watching the Three Best Friends work. “As long as you keep the content clear and concise, the shadow can’t win”.

To Be Continued


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My New Year’s Eve – 2025

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31st December 2025. I was NOT oncall.

It was a Wednesday and it was a normal working day. Hence, at 7:45am, I left to work as usual and was there by 8am. It was the New Year’s Eve. I thought that maybe, just maybe, there would be less patients in the clinic.

The day started off smoothly. Surprisingly, there were many patients who came for their follow up followed by additional patients (the defaulters and walk-ins) but it was manageable. We went about our day, seeing each patient and when lunch time came, we went for our lunch break.

At 2pm, we went about our work, seeing patients as usual and I was taking my time with each patient. The patient load in the afternoon shift was lower compared to the morning shift and both my colleagues were done with their patient load.

Suddenly, a staff nurse barged into my room saying that there is a massive accident that just occurred nearby, 2 patients were already brought in and 2 more were on their way. They called in all available doctors (which were only the three of us) to help out.

I told my colleagues to head out and help out first while I rushed through the consultation of my final patient. After that, I rushed to the tiny Emergency Room of the clinic. My colleague who was oncall on that day was already attending to a child. I went over to the other patient, an old lady and did my primary survey and fast scan.

She was desaturating badly under room air and needed oxygen support. She had an open skull fracture, multiple abrasion and laceration wounds over her face, upper and lower limbs as well as rib fractures and on top of that, her left leg appears shortened and she has a closed fracture over her right lower limb.

I didn’t think that we should proceed with an x-ray at our clinic even if we had the facility at that time, the best would be to send them straight away to the hospital because she could deteriorate further any time. Thankfully, her GCS (Glasgow Coma Scale) was full.

I was focused on my patient, stabilising while referring her to the specialists of various specialities as well as the emergency physician that when I finally got ready to transfer her out that I noticed the child that my other colleague was attending to. The child’s right arm was crushed and the distal limb of his right arm was pale and his right lung was obvious till mid-chest.

Just how in the world is he still awake? The poor child was crying out in pain


Judging by the state of his and my patient’s injuries, it was definitely high impact.

The story was, the whole family were travelling back from Miri to Kuching. Both the parents were sitting in front and the father was driving whilst the two children and their grandmother were sitting at the back.

The father claimed that he was not speeding but as he was about to make a u-turn at a junction, he claimed to have hit the curb and the car turned many times into the other lane before finally stopping and the grandmother and one of the child were thrown out of the car.

It sounded like a very high impact collision. Thankfully, the parents and the other child were well and unscathed.

We had to transfer both patients in two separate ambulances to the Red Zone of the Emergency Department at Hospital Bintulu as one ambulance could only transport one patient at a time.

Upon arriving, I met my colleague and friend at the Red Zone of the hospital. After we have handed over to the medical officers and specialist in the Emergency Department, we headed back together. However, upon reaching back, there was another patient who came in who was extremely tachypnoiec.

Oh, here we go again
 Another Red Zone referral


We stabilised the patient and referred her to hospital again. The clock was already showing 10pm when we left. The journey to the hospital takes about 45 minutes to an hour for each journey and the both of us have yet to have our dinner. This time, I choose to accompany her for the referral, mainly for emotional support and also in hopes of stopping by McDonald’s to get a takeout.

Yes, we did stop by McDonalds after sending the patient safely to the hospital and yes, we used the ambulance and went through drive-through.

By the time we left, it was already 11pm. The journey takes around 45 minutes to an hour and it was raining heavily. At this point, I was wondering if we would end up celebrating New Year’s in the ambulance.

Me and my friend ate in the ambulance on the way back while we joked and exchange oncall stories. Thankfully, we reached a little before midnight. The day was completely unexpected, not to mention tiring but it was nice to have spent it with a friend.

It’s still the beginning of 2026, so if I’m not too late, Happy New Year!

If you are travelling anytime soon or in the future, do drive safely, stay within speed limits especially if it is raining. Remember to get your car and tyres checked before any long distance journey and NEVER drive under the influence.

Stay safe always!

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12 Hours Shift – Counting Down My Hours Each Time At Work

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How do you waste the most time every day?

At the time of writing this article, which was back in June 2025, I was going through my 6th Rotation of my Housemanship which is in the Department of Emergency and Trauma. As a House Officer in the Emergency Department, we go by the 12-hours shift.

This meant, our shift is from:

  • AM Shift: 7am till 7pm
  • PM Shift: 10am till 10pm
  • Night Shift: 10pm till 10am

In this department, they are strict in regards to adhering to a minimum of 60 hours per week in total. Thus, in a week, our schedule is as follows;

  • A total of at least 4 daytime shifts (AM or PM Shifts)
  • One night shift
  • One off day

That is provided one has off-tagged of course.

Perhaps, it is the “last paper syndrome” that I was experiencing being in the 6th and final rotation, I would be counting down my hours each day at work. Thus, upon arrival at work, I would start my “12-hours countdown“ on my phone.

On slow days, I made it a point to go to toilet every hour, technically my so-called “hourly break” whereas on busy days, the toilet break is the only time I could take a break. This is followed by ensuring I have at least one meal per day during my shift.

Otherwise, the schedule in the emergency department is relatively better as compared to my previous rotations. Nevertheless, the tiredness is still there.

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Reflection: 2 Months As A Floating Medical Officer

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At the time of writing this article, I’m on leave which I took from the 1st of October till 15th of October, which my Head of Department (HOD) was more than kind enough to allow.

I needed the break, perhaps it was an adjustment disorder on my side but I was struggling. Physically, I caught up, I showed up and I was there but mentally, I felt left behind and lost and on most days, I was low.

Perhaps, it was out of tiredness as I have just recently off-tagged and in combination with my low mood, I felt demotivated and in general, felt that I have lost my love for medicine. I decided then that clinical life in the hospital was not for me. True, we were lacking doctors in various departments and hospitals in general across Malaysia. However, during that time, even if there enough manpower, I don’t think I would still want to continue.

I tried looking on the bright side, tiny things as well as the positive aspects of things to help me to get through the day.

Firstly, I’m thankful to be in a subspeciality department instead of the bigger and more hectic departments, I think I would have broken down within the first week itself. Secondly, I was in the department with the sweetest and kindest bosses who were more than happy to teach or lend a helping hand when needed. We are small in number, yes. But it felt like being part of a family.

I was happy, the environment was good, kind and non-toxic. However, mentally, I knew that this is not my place.

This further saddens me as I have always looked forward to being part of this lovely department. Yet, I knew, it’s just a matter of time before I slip and broke down. My body knew that I wouldn’t last long here nor do I foresee myself handling the complex and complicated cases here. If my interest is not here, how would I even make it through to specialise?

Amidst the business and my mind and body trying to keep up with the steep learning curve place before me, I was unable to view my options or to consider other departments.

I was just done in general and sadly, I wouldn’t be able to fulfil my quote in my medical school yearbook, I feel myself losing my will every single day nor do I find the strength within myself to serve.

Sadly,“sometimes what we like is not necessarily what is suited for us”, a fellow colleague told me and that hit me hard. I had no interest in other departments either or practicing in general at that point. All I could think of at that point was to quit and to hand in my resignation letter. After all, I have successfully completed my 2 years of internship / housemanship training. I can still locum if I wanted to. But of course, I didn’t enjoy it either. All I was ever passionate of was to teach. Thus, I considered changing my field and entering university as a lecturer did not sound appealing either as I did not like research at all.

Thus, after much contemplation, I approached my Head of Department (HOD) to validate my 30-day-resignation letter. My HOD is another kind soul who enquired to know what prompted me to come to such a decision. She signed my papers but advised me to consider changing departments instead of quitting.

However, at that time and at that current state of mind, I was fixed on my decision. Hence, the following week on a Monday, I submitted my 30-Days-Notice of Resignation, only to have it retracted the following day. Although I have handed in my 30-Days-Notice, a part of me felt a tinge of regret and sadness. Somehow, some part of me did not want to leave but I could not see any way out of this virtual box that I appear to be caged in.

My colleague and my parents played an important role in my decision to retract my resignation. Instead, despite my limited amount of leaves left for the rest of the year, I chose to take some time of work. Perhaps it was due to tiredness that contributed to my rash and impulsive decision.

On the 1st of October 2025, I took the first flight out and then throughout my leaves, I locummed at several General Practitioners. Remember when I said that I did not like locum either? This time, I decided to give it a second try and to keep an open mind.

The first GP I locummed at was a rather chill one with only 3 cases being seen throughout the whole day. The subsequent GPs were hectic and had multiple procedures, literally from the beginning of my shift till the end. In all of those times, I was the only doctor in the clinic. In my previous experiences, I have locummed at clinics which had 2-3 resident doctors.

Honestly, I don’t know how I managed to pull it off. Despite the hecticness and the patient load, I found myself looking forward to return and I enjoyed talking, listening and consulting the patients. It was fun. Slowly, I found myself enjoying and falling back in love with medicine and practicing medicine and thinking on how I could improve myself to serve better.

Then, I realised, perhaps venturing into family medicine might not be such a bad thing. True, there is abundant of family medicine doctors now and lack of doctors practicing in the hospital but that doesn’t mean that they are still not needed. Sadly, as much as I want to force myself to carry on and stay practicing in the hospital, I knew that it is not meant for me in the long haul or for me to last for even a year.

The opportunity to specialise is there but how can I continue if I can’t even see myself as one, or even have the inspiration?

Suddenly, the plan and my pathway seems clearer and I’m more than ecstatic to embark on my next journey. It was definitely the rest that I needed. To think and to reflect. If I were to stick to this journey, how can I do so for the long haul and at the same time, enjoy it?

I hope that in months or years to come, the decision to stay is the right choice. Perhaps, I still need time to discover my interest in this vast field. At times, I wish that it can be simple and that I would know what or which department I’m fitted to or destined to specialise in.

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My First Day As A Medical Officer In KKM

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Housemanship or Internship for Doctors in Malaysia lasts for a duration of 2 years, upon completion of our medical school journey.

For some, they began shortly upon graduation whilst for others, they took a gap year.

I submitted my application to pursue my internship in the Ministry of Health, Malaysia (Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia, KKM) shortly after my graduation but did not actually begin till 6 months later in 2023. Two years later, thankfully, I’ve completed and fully registered with the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) and possess a valid Annual Practicing Certificate (APC).

Post housemanship, I went on a 3-weeks-break and on the 21st of August 2025, I reported for duty as a Medical Officer.

Upon my completion of housemanship, one would have to go through a “floating period” of maximum 6 months prior to receiving their placement in whichever department, hospital or state of choice. Usually, the floating period occurs in the same hospital that one had completed their housemanship or internship in.

Thankfully, I was offered to float in the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. However, I was diving into the world of Surgery with no experience or knowledge in basic suturing.

During my first day, I reported for duty at the Hospital Director’s Office to receive my “floating” placement letter, checked my remaining leaves and proceeded to Burn Ward of Sarawak General Hospital.

The Burn Ward.

I’ve had good memories previously as a House Officer here and I was beyond ecstatic as well as relieved to be accepted into this department which is filled with understanding and helpful bosses.

I was then given orientation by one of the medical officers, clerked a burn patient that was just admitted and spent most of my time accompanying a fellow friend who thankfully is in the same department. Considering it was my first day and a rather slow one, I was able to return home at 5pm.

There’s just so much more that I have yet to learn. Hopefully, I’ll have both the mental and physical strength to push through.

Thankfully, the environment is one that is filled with love and encouragement.

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My First Day Of Locum And As A Medical Officer

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A locum or locum tenens, is a person who temporarily fulfils the duties of another; the term is especially used for physicians or clergy.

– Wikipedia.

The first time I ever tasted or ventured into locum or a so-called “part-time doctor” was on the 3rd of August 2025.

At that time, I was back in my hometown and on a 3-weeks-break post housemanship / internship at a small private clinic, yet to officially begin as a Medical Officer.

While I was in medical school, I would occasionally hear this term “locum” from my fellow seniors or batch mates, lecturers, parents or even friends of my parents. However, in order to locum, one would need to be fully registered with the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) and possess a valid Annual Practicing Certificate (APC). In short, I had to graduate medical school, finish my internship or housemanship first, then only am I able to dive into this.

Thus, upon acquiring my full MMC and APC licence, I was looking forward to locum. Looking forward to it as well as nervous to dive into this. Thankfully, I had just completed my final rotation in the Emergency and Trauma Department.

In the Emergency and Trauma Department, there are various zones in which the patients would be triaged into in terms of presenting complaints, severity and their vital signs. The least critical in severity would be triaged into Green zone. The Green zone is similar to a clinic setting, thus, it gave me some idea on the type of cases I would be expecting.

My first locum was just 3 hours long, from 7pm till 10pm. I figured that since I am just starting at that time, it would be better to start with minimal hours in order to get used to it and also.. if I would enjoy it.

The clinic was quaint and small but equipped with basic necessities and a scan machine. The only thing that it did not have, was an x-ray facility. The moment I sat down, the patients kept coming back-to-back. As soon as I was done with one, another came.

For a first-timer, I felt it was equivalent to the Green Zone in General Hospital whereby the cases were always there but the patient load was manageable.

However, I was extremely scared.

Mainly afraid that I might accidentally jeopardise the patient’s safety in terms of mismanagement. Thankfully, by 9:30 pm, the clinic assistant stopped accepting new patients and prepared to close the clinic.

For a first experience, it was a good one despite it being rather terrifying for me.

But, we all have to start somewhere and build our confidence, don’t we?

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Life After Offtag In Emergency & Trauma | Housemanship Diaries

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The tagging hours in the Department of Emergency & Trauma is from 7am till 10pm, for a total of 10 days and one off day per week. There are no assessments required to off-tag, only hours required to cash in.

During our tagging season, we were not allocated for night shifts as well.

For me, tagging in this posting felt like an eternity. I remembered counting down my days before I would finally “offtag” and be switched to regular working hours. I also remembered being extremely exhausted at the end of my shift, wondering how did my fellow colleagues managed to pull through.

Tagging in this posting as compared to the other postings was considered less stressful as we were not required to arrive early for morning rounds. We merely had to arrive on time and upon the end of our shift, we leave, as compared to other postings where we would stay back almost every time, cash in “unpaid overtimes.”

Finally after 10 days of tagging, I officially “off-tagged“.

So how was life after that?

Much better. Thankfully.

Regular hours in the Emergency & Trauma Department meant working a 12-hours shift per day with an off day per week and a single night shift.

Basically, we had to ensure that in total, we had to meet the total 60-hours shift per week.

Thus are the timings for our respective shifts:

  • AM Shift: 7am – 7pm
  • PM Shift: 10am – 10pm
  • Night Shift: 10pm – 10am

If you have read my articles on “The Joy Of Working The Night Shift As A House Officer” as well as “My Favourite Time Of The Day At Work“, I mentioned that I absolutely love the night shift. The disadvantage of working the night shift is that we are usually alone and the night shift can be rather unpredictable.

However, it is not the same for me in this posting. Out of the shifts listed above, my favourite is the AM shift, 7am till 7pm. Initially, getting up for work at 7am is tough especially after working the PM shifts back-to-back. But after the initial morning sleepiness wears off, the day proceeds as usual and we return home at 7pm which is nice.

Life after offtag in this department ensured that I had adequate rest prior to my shift starting. No doubt, it is a 12-hours shift every time, we usually arrive and leave work on time as compared to other postings.

Nonetheless, I was still exhausted after every shift. Perhaps it was due to the accumulated mental and physical stress throughout the previous five postings that when I am finally blessed with extra rest, I am still tired.

If you are still in the tagging phase, be it in this department or others, please stay strong. Remember that it doesn’t last forever, it is merely over a certain span of days or weeks.

Keep showing up, keep doing the good work to the best of your strength and abilities and keep moving forward.

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Overcoming My Fear To Refer A Case I DO NOT KNOW | Housemanship Diaries

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What fears have you overcome and how?

At the moment of writing this article, I am in my sixth and final rotation which is in the Department of Emergency Medicine, pushing into my third month.

One might think that as we become more senior in our current job, it gets easier or the fear fades.

Well, the anxiety certainly reduces but that does not mean that it disappears.

For me, the fear is still there as to who I would be working with or who I would be referring to and most of all, referring a case that I not know.

I’m sure we’ve all been there before. Especially upon arrival to work and to be absolutely clueless about the patient and their case and progress and to not have anyone handover the case to you.

Not that we won’t take the time to understand. It is just that, we will or at least I would take the time to digest the initial presentation, clinical examination and findings followed by the initial management of the patient and other teams as well as the current progress.

Once I have finally understood the issue of the patient from A to Z, then I can confidently refer the patient for a simple thing.

That’ll usually take me about 5-10 minutes, especially if there is just one too many writing. To others that may seem like an eternity.

The thing is they will somewhat give me a template of what to say in regards to the patient but I am still absolutely clueless and wishes to kindly absorb the pages and information about the patient before I walk into the battlefield.

This is because, one too many times, I will be asked about things totally irrelevant to the case of the patient which will take me some time and if I’m not so lucky, ended up being shouted at. I mean, that’s the worst that can happen right? Certainly reminds me of my early days of housemanship.

Maybe it’s a form of childhood trauma or maybe not, but I need to at least have a reason to defend myself and the patient.

It’s like a debate or a business deal which I find that I may need to fib or exaggerate myself in order to get a test approved or to refer, all for the sake of the patient or sometimes the superiors.

It’s alright but at times it can be rather annoying especially when they want it done in a minutes time.

The next that I have to actually open my mouth and communicate. Being an introvert, I can easily talk to people but I dislike being in groups, small talks or actually talking at times.

I find it exhausting and thus upon the end of my shift, I just need time to recuperate.

However, back to the question of this article, my fear, to refer to other departments, especially, if it is a case I do not know and to a tiger of a person who loves finding any fault just to reject the case is still present to this day and what have I done to overcome it? Nothing, really, just extreme patience.

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