Biomedical Science - In My Eyes

Without a doubt, many don't know what biomedical science or biomedicine really is. Some would just be plain ignorant. Some would just nod without knowing. Some would just ask you back 'Is that a new field?'

True to the fact, Biomedicine may be a new field on its own. However, the topics under this field has long existed since the beginning of medical science. Anatomy, histology, microbiology, cell biology, virology and much much more. From these topics, it almost sound like we are studying medicine. However, while medicine students studies clinical and symptoms, biomedicine studies the cause of disease at cellular level (just an example).

Most of my seniors have excellent results that can enable them to be potential doctors, however limited places in public university posses a challenge. Nevertheless, we are doctors that got pay less and work behind the scenes. For those who got medicine studies in public uni, congratulation. For those who got biomed, congratulation as well because you are the one who will be helping doctors to discover cures and vaccines for common diseases or even plague/outbreaks.

That's all I have to say. What I have mentioned just now is just the tip of the iceberg on what biomedicine is. As for me I'm now studying biomedicine in UPM and I proud of it.

Hokkien Supremacy

The Hokkien culture is starting to stand its ground on modern media. And you don't have to be a Hokkien Nang to notice it. Nowadays, more and more Hokkien shows are on our national TV and also the Astro 'Hokkien Happy Channel' (direct translation).

As compared to the media 5 years ago where Cantonese dominates chinese drama series, this marks the beginning of a paradigm shift. There is a demand for Taiwanese Hokkien drama series which is low in budget and high in quantity (500++ episodes). There are people who have interest and want to learn Hokkien language. Most importantly, there is the media who is now promoting Hokkien language and culture. The prime example would be the Singaporean and Malysian made movie 'Ah Long Pte Ltd'. That show alone packed with enough Hokkien vocabulary (both good and bad) to ... (can't find the word for it).

Personally, as a Hokkien Nang I do not feel much to be proud of nor be otherwise. What we hope to gain from this is that a more unified Hokkien culture will be formed. Just like Cantonese, no more Hokkien slangs segregated by different districts (KL, Penang, Johor etc etc). If Cantonese has no problem being the alternative speaking language, why not Hokkien?

Nowadays, you will be surprised that chinese are not the only ones who speak chinese dialects. In Malaysia, malays and indians alike speak Cantonese and Hokkien fluently. So in short, we must be proud to speak our mother tongue. Otherwise the different dialects will cease to exist and we will all end up like China Chinese where all speak Mandarin (so boring!!).

Ken Lee - the latest hit song

What amuses me about this video is the sheer confidence shown by the contestant and the looks on the judges' faces. Just for the fun of it, here are the lyrics:

No one ken to ken to sivmen nor yon clees toju maliveh

When I gez aju zavateh na nalechoo more new yonooz tonigh molinigh

Yon sorra shooo yes ee shooo oooo

(chorus x2)

Ken leee tulibu dibu douchoo

Ken lee ken lee meju more

Ant colony - the superorganism part 2

My hypothesis is -->
the ant colony practises intelligence inheritence, whereby ants learn their skills and ability.

I'm not saying that they have a school for ants. They basically learn from observation of other ants. Ever since their birth, their individual role in the colony is determined. If you noticed, when a group of ants went hunting for food, the hunt is led by an ant I call, the scavenger. It will always leave a chemical trail, noticeable only to ants. This results to the 'follow the leader' learning. Same goes when building an ant hive. Ants communicate and work as a team to gather material and build homes out of scrap. This is 'industrial training'. From here, you notice that their learning system are very much alike with humans.

To me, such intelligence cannot be based on mere instinct. Although I can't prove it via experimental or scientific research, I believe it is intelligence inheritence.

Ant colony - the superorganism part 1

An ant colony is an ideal community, an engineering marvel. They possess such organised hierarchy, systematic building ability, selfless contribution (to name a few), where all ants work as a single track mind.

If we observe an ant colony, we notice that many ants work as drones or workers for the rest of their lives, to ensure the success and survival of the colony. The colony as a whole is regarded as a superorganism, an organism made out of many smaller organisms.

Such superorganism scenario, is it intelligence inheritence or innate instinct?

Shinshan 4-193

Snail Rail part 2

Being stranded in a foreign area, everyone had no choice but to take another train. For me, I had to take a train back to KL Sentral and wait for the next train to Subang Jaya.

While waiting, I was thinking, can KTM provide better services and afford better train maintenance? Think about it, the distance between Subang Jaya and KL Sentral had to be at least 16km or more, and I'm paying RM1.60 per ride. It's less than RM0.10 per km. Putting aside the number of people using KTM everyday, the KTM services won't earn much as compared to other rail services. So can they afford to improve?
The answer is still yes.

Up to thousands of people would use the KTM daily. People are still using it because it's the most affordable train services available with the widest network. The demand is there, the income is there. The snail rail scenario still occur simply because KTM was slow at their train coordination system, data transfer and staff management.

I wanna stress upon the fact that KTM MUST IMPROVE, instead of being stranded at the by gone era of old fashioned transportation, inaccurate arrival time and insufficient train available to meet demands.
If Tony Fernandez can save Air Asia, why not the same happen to KTM?