SORRY FOR THE TRIPLE POST! THIS IS SO EXCITING!

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/090729190859.shtml

SCHUMACHER IS IN FOR MASSA!

"Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro intends to put Michael Schumacher in Felipe Massa's car until the Brazilian driver will be able to race again," the team stated.

"Michael Schumacher said he is ready and over the next few days will undertake a specific training programme at the end of which confirmation will be given of his participation in the championship with effect from the European Grand Prix on the 23rd of August."

WOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

I GET TO SEE MY HERO RACE AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But get well soon Felipe! I'm gonna miss you :'(

Dreams of grandeur

Champagne spraying on the podium

Then being hit hard on the head

The end of a dream?

Gaaahh...I'm thinking too much about F1...

Get well soon Felipe.

Sorry for the double post. Excited.

To Anfieldd and Back

I feel tired...as if i were jet lagged...when you go through a Tuesday thinking it was still a Monday...you knwo something is wrong...

Nonetheless, it sure sucks to have a dream where you wait at an MRT station which is without an MRT track or an MRT itself...

WLIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I never cry much.

Yet this year, I have done so a lot.

I never knew I would cry over an sms.

Yet, your message moved me to tears.

You know who you are, thanks for all these years of friendship. Thanks for all the times you've been with me through thick and thin. Thanks for even all those seemingly pointless msn conversations.

I have enjoyed every moment spent with you.

I'm truly honoured to have such a good friend like you.

I dedicate my 291st post to you:)

Happy Birthday:)

Hosana

Praise is rising, eyes are turning to You, we turn to You
Hope is stirring, hearts are yearning for You, we long for You
'Cause when we see You, we find strength to face the day
In Your Pres- ence all our fears are washed away, washed away

CHORUS
Ho- san- na, ho- sanna
You are the God Who saves us, worthy of all our praises
Ho- san- na, ho- sanna
Come have Your way among us
We welcome You here, Lord Jesus

Hear the sound of hearts returning to You, we turn to You
In Your Kingdom broken lives are made new, You make us new
'Cause when we see You, we find strength to face the day
In Your Pres- ence all our fears are washed away, washed away

CHORUS
Ho- san- na, ho- sanna
You are the God Who saves us, worthy of all our praises
Ho- san- na, ho- sanna
Come have Your way among us
We welcome You here, Lord Jesus

'Cause when we see You, we find strength to face the day
In Your Pres- ence all our fears are washed away
'Cause when we see You, we find strength to face the day
In Your Pres- ence all our fears are washed away, washed away

CHORUS
Ho- san- na, ho- sanna
You are the God Who saves us, worthy of all our praises
Ho- san- na, ho- sanna
Come have Your way among us
We welcome You here, Lord Jesus
(Repeat)
Ho- san- na, ho- san- na
Ho- san- na, ho- san- na
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm a lot better now. Thanks everyone.

And most of all, Thank you Jesus :)

(I will update on this further, but now I am finally free! I feel so happy! God has given me the strength to face the day)

The law of large numbers (LLN) is a theorem in probability that describes the long-term stability of the mean of a random variable. Given a random variable with a finite expected value, if its values are repeatedly sampled, as the number of these observations increases, the sample mean will tend to approach and stay close to the expected value (the average for the population).

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_large_numbers

Or in other terms...

The law of averages is a lay term used to express a belief that outcomes of a random event shall "even out" within a small sample. As invoked in everyday life, the "law" usually reflects bad statistics or wishful thinking rather than any mathematical principle. While there is a real theorem that a random variable will reflect its underlying probability over a very large sample, the law of averages typically assumes that unnatural short-term "balance" must occur.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_averages

(LOL WIKIPEDIA SOURCES...)

Everyone has a bad day, or a bad 3 weeks. I had mine again (yes, again.).

Putting all the self pity aside, I think at least all of my weaknesses have been exposed. As one of my teachers says "it is only a rehearsal, and not really a true reflection of skill". Perhaps I have been at fault, for not preparing hard and smart enough. To be fair, I had a cold for 2 weeks. It is hard to focus with a cold. everytime you look down, mucus (and blood) comes out. The other 2 weeks were spent preparing for IOC. However, I did deserve what I got, and I have paid for it. Hopefully I won't get further consequences.

That being said, I believe my time will come, as the law of averages said so. I will be ensuring that when it happens, I will be prepared by working hard and smart enough.

Overall, I must say that everything is in God's hands. It's good that I made all my mistakes now, so I know where to improve on and so I'll be ready when the actual thing comes. God is great, whenever I fall down, He picks me up. I have made the jump before, and I can do it again, if that is His will.

Nonetheless, I'd like to thank everyone who has supported me along the way and I'm sorry for letting them down. I believe if I want it hard enough, God will grant me the desires of my heart if that be His will.

(WARNING! This piece of fiction contains many vulgarities. Viewer Discretion is advised)

(This story is entirely fictitious, well, at least for the time being. Who knows what the future holds?)

"Paging for Dr Sean Lee! Paging for Dr Sean Lee!” rang the hospital's PA system.

Enjoying lunch at the hospital was one thing, now it was time for some action. Such is the life of a doctor that one has to be prepared for anything, even to the extent of skipping lunch.

I did not know what I was being called for, but I have a feeling that it was for the guy I met a few days prior.
__________________________________________________________________________________

A day or two ago, a man by the name of Michael Lim had been checked into the hospital. He was aged 65, and exudes an aura of confidence. He was very much like those high profile CEOs you see. Back then, I assumed he was one of those other cases. However, he was wearing a Ferrari shirt. As a Ferrari fan, I decided to pay him some extra attention. After all, they say that birds of a feather flock together.

I personally asked to be assigned to his case. It was bad of me as a doctor to show signs of favouritism. After all, I should not permit considerations of anything to intervene between me and my duty. Nonetheless, I had no major surgery on hand, so I guess it would not hurt to ask to be assigned to him.

An angiography was performed on him. It was a technique to visualise the lumen of blood vessels. It was quite common to me. After all, I am a cardiac surgeon. My first experience with angiography was when I was 8 and one of my family members had to undergo that procedure. I must say that I would have made a better doctor then than now. As a kid, I perhaps had more knowledge of medicine than any others at my age. Many have said that I was the most gifted child they have ever seen. I wonder what happened after I started growing.

As a result of the angiography performed, I discovered that quite a few arteries were showing atherosclerosis. Low density lipoprotein would be the main culprit. They are known as the bad guys, depositing cholesterol to form deposits, reducing flow of blood. To cut the long story short, a double bypass had to be done, or else he would suffer a myocardial infarction. It was not a matter of if; it was a matter of when.

As usual, I would always speak with the patient that I’m assigned to before any major operation. Not that a surgeon is expected to do this, but it was always nice to get to know your patients well, and empathise with them to know their situation well. When I was in my youth, I saw Dr Mehmet Oz on television saying that a doctor generally heals from the heart, not the brain (of course not in the literal manner).

Michael’s story was quite a sad one. As a successful businessman, he was rich beyond measure. However, there did not seem to be even a slight tinge of happiness in his life. His face tells his life story. He had not an easy life. His face was deeply etched, the lines criss-cross each other. Each line tells a life of toil and tears.
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He was once a proud husband and a father of 3 children, three girls aged 10, 8 and 6 at that time. They seemed to be a happy family, from the way he had described them. They had a financially secure life, good school, with a family consisting of loving parents and children, what more could they ask for?

One day however, everything changed. There was a time when Michael was about to go on a vacation with his family, and then had to back out of the trip due to some last minute business plans. He told them to go without him, as he did not want to spoil the long awaited trip.

“Daddy please come along! We’ll miss you”, said his children, who were in tears as they were about to board the plane.

“Not today. Next time” sad Michael as he gave his wife and children his goodbye kisses, “I promise you all I will. Now go enjoy your trip you little rascals! Do take care of mommy!”
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That was the last he ever saw of them. The plane went missing en-route to their destination, and was found to have crash landed somewhere in the ocean. There were no survivors found. Ever since that day, Michael seemed to have lost all meaning in life.

“You know, I’m a Christian” I told him, “Perhaps there’s a meaning to this. Maybe there’s a reason why God took you off that plane. I know that life is never smooth sailing, but God is always in control. Job from the Bible once lost all his kids, but found meaning in life again because he kept his faith.”

“Oh yes, there is one left” said Michael.

“As in? “, I asked

“I have a step-son”, replied Michael.

Soon an 18 year old boy came into the ward. He looked like those typical delinquents.

“Yo wazzup Michael? What the fucking hell happened to you”, said that boy

I was quite shocked, and I kept silent at first.

“Hi John. Hey meet Dr Lee, he’s the doctor that’s working on my case”, said Michael.

With that, I found out that the boy was named John. His name was quite similar to mine, and rather common too. It had the same meaning, just a different spelling. The named meant “Gift of God”, or “God is gracious”.

John tried to do a kind of handshake that you see those people in the “cool clique” do. The “soul brother hand shake”, as people call it.

“Umm no. How about what everyone calls the businessman handshake”, I said as I offered him my hand to do a standard proper handshake.

I guess John did not like to be mocked.

“Funny ah?” said John, “Motherfucking chao chee bye, kanina you think you very big isit?”

“Calm down, I mean no offence”, I replied.

“Fucking nerd”, exclaimed John.

“John, I think you should leave now. You shouldn’t make noise in a hospital”, Michael said firmly to John.

John looked pissed. “Cheebye doctor hope your mother and father die”, he said before he left.

“So yup, that’s my stepson!” said Michael.

“Alright. I think that’s enough for today. You should get some rest too. I’ll be praying for you,” I replied.

It was night time. It was time to go home after a long day. As I walked out of the hospital, I saw John with a group of 4 friends. They were all smoking outside and talking loudly, causing a nuisance to those going in and coming out of the hospital.

“Haha I’m gonna be rich kid! Just look at what I’m gonna inherit!” was what I heard coming from the group.

To think that John was talking about inheritance even when his father is still alive was quite disheartening already. Children nowadays seem to have lost respect for their parents, especially in this case.

“What? Why?” asked one of the friends.

“That fucking Michael is going to die. And somemore got some chao noob doctor act smart only, surely make Michael die faster only” said John. “Never mind, better for me also! I going to be rich! No need go school liao. Everyday can go play pool, drink beer, go LAN. ”

I was furious to hear that. Under normal circumstances, I would go out to give the person a telling off. However, I decided not to, as it was against my best wishes.

“Eh wanna play DOTA later? I wan go own some fucking noob clan”, said John as the rest laughed along. They boarded a taxi and left.

It was weird, that such behaviour is allowed to go on unnoticed. I asked God why such things were allowed to occur, and the only reply I got seemed to be “I’m always in control”. I began to have doubts though, even the taxi driver allowed 5 of them to board when only a maximum of 4 can, so I guess even fate showers blessings on them.

God once again said to me “I’m always in control”, and I was embarrassed for questioning His decision and asked for His forgiveness.

The next day, I went back to the hospital and decided to pay Michael a visit, but stopped short outside the ward. John and Michael seem to be having a heated up conversation.

“Bypass? So expensive lar! Don’t go!” said John

This seemed rather awkward. From experience, it is usually the father that does not want to go for the bypass and then being convinced by his children that he has to go. Now there seemed to be some form of role reversal going on here. Furthermore, John only talked about money, while other children would be saying “it’s too dangerous!” if they were against the bypass. This was very awkward indeed.

“No.” said Michael. “I have to go. If not I won’t survive”.

“Whatever, faster die lar Michael” replied John, “You dare call yourself a father?”

I was almost in tears when I saw this. I have never ever seen such a thing before. Anger was building up within me.

Then God said in a calming manner “I’m always in control”, which also caused me to cool down and walk in.

“Hello guys!” I said, “John I think you should let your father rest now”
“Pui!” said John, “You dare come back again ah nerd? I tell my gang whack you then you know ah.”

“Oh that gang? Tell them that they’re not allowed to smoke outside hospitals” I said.

“You dare talk back ah? Never mind do me a favour and make sure Michael dies faster”, said John as he left.

“Wow, how do you survive that every day?” I asked Michael.

“Me? Sometimes I surprise myself too!” replied Michael.

He sounded like an ACSian to me.

“Are you an ACS boy? “, I asked.

“Yes. Excellent observation! But I knew you were an ACS boy from day 1! ”, replied Michael.

“Oh wow! How do you know?” I enquired.

“All ACS boys become doctors what! “, joked Michael as we both shared a laugh.

I must say that this guy was my most interesting patient up to date.

“Oh by the way, I’m a Ferrari fan too! I’ve been watching since Michael Schumacher was battling Mika Hakkinen for the title! ”, I exclaimed.

“Oh yes. How do you know! “, said Michael.

“Your Ferrari t-shirt from day 1 “, I stated.

“Oh. I forgot. I guess I’m getting old! “, said Michael. “Yea Michael Schumacher was my favourite, because he has my name too!”

“Oh right. I’ve always liked Michael Schumacher. But my favourite has always been Felipe Massa.”, I told Michael.

“Oh yes. Almost everyone loves Flippy Massa. I must say he’s been a viewer’s favourite. Why do you like him so much?” asked Michael.

“Oh. I find that I’m like him. Always trying hard. Maybe too hard. But nonetheless he tries his best. And he seems to be the most human of all the drivers too! “ I said.

“Oh yea. F1 is great. People think that F1 is just about cars going round, round and round. “, said Michael.

“Yea. But it’s more than just that. A lot of strategy is involved. And don’t forget that the job of being an F1 driver is cool by definition, just not as cool as being a doctor! “ I said, “and the drivers personalities add the extra spice to make viewing races pleasurable”

“Yep. It’s great to see an ACS boy and a Ferrari fan as my doctor! “, said Michael.

“Yes. It is my pleasure to be assigned to you”, I replied. “Take a good rest, you’ll need it!”
__________________________________________________________________________________
"Paging for Dr Sean Lee! Paging for Dr Sean Lee!”

It was time for the bypass to be done. We placed Michael on a stretcher and wheeled him towards the operating theatre.

“Everything is going to be fine. “ I said. “You’re in the care of the best doctors in the world!”

“Thanks.” said Michael.

He did not say much. I guess it would be a heart wrenching experience to be on the brink of a major operation.

“Don’t worry. We’ll be precise and concise. Like an F1 pit crew! “ I said

“Haha. You seem calm even under pressure, I have much faith in you “, said Michael.

On the way to the operating theatre, I saw John. He was talking loudly on his mobile phone.

“ Eh I gonna celebrate getting my inheritance. My fake father going to die soon! Later tonight we celebrate by playing DOTA! “, said John on his mobile, “Har? Got team wan challenge us at some LAN shop ar? Come lar. I DOTA god okay! I own everyone. Everybody noob compared to me”

“Continue bringing the patient to the OT. I have to settle some things”, I said to the nurses, who did as told.

I was angry with the amount of disrespect shown. John only seemed to care about his inheritance. Worse still, when his father is in a life and death situation, all he could think about is DOTA. Furious, I knocked the mobile phone off his hand.

“Wah you think you big isit? Whats your fucking daiji? Wan me whack you up ar? “ said a furious John. “You better pay me for the handphone!”

I did not reply.

“ Scared talk isit? Har? Humji kia!” exclaimed John, “You want me call my gang settle you? “

Again, I kept silent.

Some nurses came to me, and were saying “Doctor, there’s no time for this. We have to start the bypass soon.”

“Actually, you so useless, I can settle you myself” said John.

He tried to land a punch on me. Before it could land, I grabbed his arm, twisted it back and pinned him against the wall. He was no match for me. After all, I was proficient in Karate.

“GET OFF YOU FUCKING NERD! I CALL POLICE THEN YOU KNOW! ”, screamed John in pain.

“Firstly, your fighting sucks. Don’t do it. Secondly, being a nerd is better than being you”, I said as I pinned him down with greater might, only to have him screaming in pain even more.

Soon, God appeared in my mind again. He once again reminded me “Whoever lives by the sword dies by the sword,” but I was still furious.

God then said to me “You have a life to save. You have promised that as a doctor for me, you will always put in your best to save lives. Don’t let this matter upset you, and remember, I’m always in control.”

I let go of John. I said to him “Thirdly, your father loves you very much, and no matter what the outcome of the operation is, please show him more love and respect.”

With that, I left to the operating theatre. I said a short prayer and then joined my team of surgeons for the operation.

The anaesthetist comes to put Michael to sleep using an injection to render him unconscious. We opened up the chest and examined his heart. Next, the bypass grafts are harvested from the thigh. It was the typical standard procedure, but nonetheless it still was rather scary to me. Any wrong move and the patient’s life will be in grave danger.

This was an off-pump surgery and the heart was placed on a device to keep it stabilized. One end of each graft gets sewn to the coronary arteries beyond the blockages and the other end gets attached to the aorta.

Next, it was time for the moment of truth. There was always the question o whether the heart will start pumping again after the stabilizing devices get removed. I had much faith in God, and I know that He is always in control. We did our best.

Thankfully, my prayers were answered and the heart started beating normally again.
We brought the sternum back together and sutured the incisions.

“Congratulations team, job well done! You guys are awesome! It’s been great working with you all!” I said in great delight.

“No problem man! Give yourself some credit too! “, said my fellow doctor.

“Yeah. And God deserves the most credit. It was He who made our surgery a success” I said and smiled.

I walked out of the operating theatre and went to the hospital lounge for a quick bite. I then met Dr Chow Minyang, a world renown neurosurgeon and a great friend of mine.

“Congrats Sean! Thank God for what happened. ” said Minyang.

“No problem. To God be the glory. Cheers! “, I said as we clinked our glasses together.

Michael would be placed in the intensive care unit to recover. In the care of the hospital, I was very sure that recovery would be speedy. With a job well done for today, I could go home with my head held high. I logged on to MSN.

An MSN conversation window opened. My friend Amandus typed “Hey sean! We have a team wanting to have a draft match with us at a LAN shop. I know you’re busy, but wanna come?”

I was tired and sleepy. Nonetheless, I was also captain of one of the top DOTA teams in the world.

“Sure. I’ll be right there” I typed.

I went to the LAN shop to meet Amandus and the rest of the team.

“Where’s our opponents? “, I asked.

“There “, said Amandus as he pointed towards them, “They are quite a rowdy bunch by the way “

I could recognise John and his friends. It was such a small world, and they were the enemy team that we were going to play against.

I walked up to John and said “Hi! “

John looked shocked to see me.

“Your father is alive and well, and soon he’ll recover.” I said.

He looked disappointed.

“Nonetheless, lets play!” I said.

“You’re going down you noob nerd” remarked John.

It was a captain’s mode. Zeus, spectre, broodmother, meepo, naix, puck, silencer and earthshaker were banned.

This is interesting, I thought.

Their team picked Keeper of the light, Pugna, Prophet, Enigma and Death Prophet.

It was easy to beat such picks who assumed they could use a pushing team of low HP heroes and forgot to ban SA.

Our team picked Tauren Chieftain, Tidehunter, Twin Head Dragon, Crystal Maiden, and I had the final pick of the Stealth Assassin.

Their team had a good start. However, their push strategy was no good against our anti push and hero clearing combinations. I personally had a score of 20+ kills and 0 deaths. It was an easy win, despite them giving us trouble in the earlier stages of the game. I wondered how they did such picks, after all any Tom, Dick and Harry will know that a team has to have a balance of intelligence, agility and strength heroes. Too much of one type of hero will expose the team’s weaknesses more easily.

That was just like why a rugby team has a combination of different types of players. You do not usually see a rugby team with all huge people, who will be able to muscle away the opposition relatively easily but tire out in the later stages. Or all small and nimble people, who will be fast but get beaten down to size rather easily. Their loss was just like that. DOTA is quite an easy game, even though much thought is placed into coming up with complex strategies, common sense plays a part.

John’s team was furious with their loss; they called us cheaters and left the LAN shop. I could hear John calling his friends “noobs” and he left. I guess he should realise that not all players are versatile and that people have their own personal preferences, and then pick accordingly. That aside, I was really happy.

“Congratulations team, job well done! You guys are awesome! It’s been great working with you all!” I said in great delight, similar to what I said to my team of surgeons just now.

Such is the life of Dr Sean Lee. A doctor by day; and a DOTA captain by night.

A few days later, I returned to the hospital. Michael had been discharged and I did not get to say good bye. However, the receptionist gave me a note left for me by Michael.

It read “Hi Sean. You’ve given my life much meaning again. It’s been great talking to you. You’re like the son I’ve never had. I’m very proud to have you as my doctor. The journey has been rather tough for me, but it has been a great honour to have you alongside me. As a token of my appreciation, here is a gift from me to you”.

Enclosed in the note was an F1 Paddock Club ticket at the Circuit de Monaco for the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix!

Awesome!

Being a doctor is so cool!

Of course, this story is entirely fictional, a door leading to the future. Not a future that will be, but one that might be. This is not a figment of imagination (though arguably, it is), but rather an extension of the life I’m living now. The future is uncertain, but everyone has the power to choose their own future. It is a gift from God, to decide what we want. My decision is to be a doctor for Christ.