Emerging

Dear Diary,

Quite a simple day with its ups and downs. Kinda surprised that my application for further-studies at a top British university got rejected! Hmmm… although I did not meet the minimum requirements in terms of work experience, I was quietly confident leh! Obviously, my confidence is misplaced! They offered me another Masters degree course in a less reputable French university but I declined. I will retry the British university again and entry may be as late as half a year later! Sigh… Got rejected by two universities in a space of a year. Both for post-graduate studies. Surprisingly, I wasn’t too upset at all for this current one, despite being quite surprised with the outcome. The previous one was different. I was very upset but not surprised by the outcome, haha… The irony. Maybe God is really trying to tell me something…. Maybe I have been too engrossed in doing my “own” work and running my “own” life? I really don’t know.

”The Straits Times” newspapers reported today that the late Roman Catholic nun, Mother Theresa, wrote many letters showing her long struggle with her own spirituality and her belief. How she had doubted God and even tempted to refuse God… the mental suffering… the emotional anguish… In a way, it is comfort to us that even a holy lady like her experienced what we all do. Periods of doubts, uncertainties and wondering where God is leading us…. May we persevere.

I was quite shocked when a lady told me how her 11-year-old daughter’s breasts (or bosom) are burnt! A huge patch… so she said. She was seeking advice on treating that burn. I asked her how could that happen… Then she told me how she took some boiled eggs and rolled them on her daughter’s body. Apparently, she thought that the eggs could absorb “needles” from the daughter’s body and free her from the fluctuating fever. I was shocked! Such superstition! Unfortunately, not only there was never going to have any needles flying out of a human body and entering an egg… that egg broke and the boiling egg fluid scalded the child’s bosom! Oh man… I kinda chided the mother for such superstition that hurt her daughter. She seemed pretty traumatised anyway, so I spared her further agony and taught her to treat the burn. Can you see the role we play in educating the public? ;-)

To wrap it all up for the day… I saw a girl. She looked very familiar!!! I was then talking to a sales rep. I asked him… how? That girl seemed like a primary school classmate! I first knew her when I was 7 years old and we were in the same class for 6 years. Quite sure that she ever sat beside me for a year. Primary 4? The sales rep told me to go and ask lah… I hesitated. I was not too sure if it was really her. Ahhh… never mind, heck… I left my counter to approach her and her friend. She recognised me! The oldest primary school friend I am still in contact is someone I know from primary 3. This one standing before me is one whom I knew since primary 1 (that means 20 years ago)! She told me she came into my pharmacy a few times but did not approach me because she was not sure if I still could recognise her. Anyway, had a 10-minute chat with her before asking for her contact information. Yay!

Need to be braver in approaching people! At first, I wasn’t too sure to approach her because I was exactly super sure if I got the right person… and I don’t want to end up in a situation whereby she can’t remember me and she thinks I am trying a pickup line… you know those usual… “Hey… you look familiar… think I ever met you?” Yeah… along that kind of line, haha… Procrastinating again…. Haven’t done my roster… hmm… maybe do it tomorrow. =) That’s all! Goodnight.

God Bless,

Andrew