Dual Specialites

Having dual and diverse specialities is one way to become highly in-demand in this age of short-term employment and globalized competition. Unfortunately, many educators and parents have not realised that and some even discourage dual specialisation, seeing it as a waste of time.

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In JC,  I wanted to do Biology and Economics. The principal refused.  You had to do either (1) Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Maths, or (2) Economics, Chemistry, Physics and Maths.  

I wanted (3) Biology, Economics, Chemistry and Maths. There were students who wanted other Biology combinations too… eg. (4) Biology, Economics,  Maths, Physics. They were refused too.

The reason given for refusing us?  In order to get into the Medical Faculty, you needed combination (1).  What could you do with option (2,3, 4) besides teaching?!! 

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Today, Health Economists and Biostatisticians are amongst the world’s most sought after specialists. They are so rare, because we’ve always been conditioned to think that we need to be a master of one, rather than a jack of all trades, especially here in Asia.

Health Economists are people who are both specialists in biology/medical/health sciences , AND economics. [ combi (3) Biology, Economics, Chemistry, Maths]  These are the people who plan and design national health care systems, deciding who to subsidise, what to spend money on, how to generate revenue etc. They are the people employed by WHO to create financially sustainable health care programmes for countries in need of help. Large pharmaceuticals or investment firms pay them huge salaries to forecast which class of drugs is worth investing in. Large insurance companies need them to forecast how much medical-claims they have to pay, and how much premiums to charge to be profitable.

Biostatisticians are people who are both specialists in biology/medical/health sciences AND maths [combi (4) Biology, Economics, Maths, Physics/Further Maths]  After sampling 1% of the population, the Biostatistician tells you how many people in the country are likely HIV+, how many people are going to be HIV+ in 10 years. Biostatisticians are arguably THE people responsible for the whole Human Genome Project and all the genetic studies we’re going to do over the next 50 years.

 (I’ve described what other highly sought-after dual specialities are, at the end of the main article.)

Lately, because I’m finishing up my PhD thesis, people are asking me what I want to do after graduation. When I tell them I’ll like to go into public health planning & policy-making, they go “Why don’t you want to do lab research?!?!  Your PhD would be wasted and you’ve been in biology research for 10 years!”  hmmm….. wait till they hear that I want to go into religious studies one of these days too   ; )

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A person’s health conditions are determined by a combination of his/her genetics,  environment and behaviour. My PhD hopefully makes me an expert of the first. Going into public-health will hopefully make me an expert in seeing how we can create environments good for every citizen’s health. And religion — that’s fascinating! It’s fascinating how religion can be so subjective, faith-driven, and yet have such huge tangible effects on our economy, politics, health and society.  So many religious practices have direct impact on health-determining behaviour. So many religious commands, I suspect, has its roots in ancient public health policies.

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Few people understand the concept of dual/multiple specialities until you explain it to them. Most of the time, that’s all right = ) We can’t all know everything, and we learn something new each day.

However, I think it is very dangerous and sad when parents and educators don’t understand this concept, and INSIST on how a child should be educated, INSIST that a child should not do such dual/multiple and diverse subjects in school. It’s very dangerous and sad when parents and educators assume that they know how the world works, and how the world will work in future, and INSIST on limiting a child’s potential, in the name of NOT WASTING TIME.  Because in the end, you might be denying these children some fantastic opportunities to really make it big in this world.

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Many developed countries, including Singapore, are seeing increasing and very worrying unemployment trends amongst PMETs (Professionals, Managers, Executives, Technicians). This is not surprising given how India and China are mass producing cheap PMETs. Telling people that they should not be picky, have better attitudes, accept lower pays, getting re-trained, improves the situation to a certain extend. However, few people accept this advice happily.

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I look on with worry, at the number of engineers, bankers, biotechnologists etc we’re churning out. No doubt, these are good jobs with good incomes in good times.  But when the industry goes through a bad patch, you get lots of unemployment. On an individual level, you really have to be in the top percentile to keep your job. How can YOU as an individual make yourself more recession-proof? How do you increase how in-demand you are?  Many people decide to do advanced degrees, which is great. Getting an advanced degree in your field, is great too, because you’re capitalising on what you already have.  However, you’ll still be competing with people specialised the same way, and there’re just so many more of such people.

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On the other hand, few people specialise in 2 different areas, and few people might choose the same combination as you did. Suddenly, you are peerless. There’s no competition. The demand for such dual specialists far outstrips the number of such specialists, and you become an expert overnight.  One such example is Dr Martha Lee, whom people often mistake me for. She’s specialised in Communication, Public Policy and Sexuality — 3 specialities ( http://www.eroscoaching.com/profile.html  ) .  It’s easy to see how each of her specialities have complemented each other, how she has been able to market herself as an expert in Sexology to become Singapore’s leading Clinical Sexologist in less than a year.

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So why not consider doing a specialisation in a totally different field? You wouldn’t be wasting your first degree. You’ll be one of those rare, rare people, who can do it all.

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High-demand dual specialities.
( Everything here is health/biology-related, because of my familiarity with this field. I’m sure you can come up with your own speciality-pairings in your familiar field)

Health Economists

Biostatisticians

Computational biologists (Computer Science + Biology)–
The human genome has 3 billon letters. Trust me, you need high CPU power for that one.

Biology – Engineering –
I’m referring to the people who create the powerful machines that push biological experiments to the cutting edge. You need to know engineering to make it work, you need to know biology to make it useful.

Lawyers –
 Indispensible aren’t they? Trust me, defending pharmas, doctors and hospitals from lawsuits are huge money. Handling Intellectual Property for pharmas and research institutions are huge money.  But if I told my JC principal I wanted to do Biology, Econs, Maths and English Literature, she’ll just roll her eyes and not even bother with me.

Science Journalists —
A lot of public misunderstanding and suspicion of science and biology happens because most scientists frankly, are too specialised too communicate normally.

Biology and politics, biology and religion etc etc —-
you see why bad policies/doctrines are made? Sometimes it’s not because of anything more than ignorance.

Should ambulance paramedics save drink-driver accident victims?

A friend of mine recently became an ambulance paramedic. He’s a devout Muslim and very involved in interfaith work here. I asked him if his experiences as a paramedic influenced his religious thinking and views of life in general. What he shared was very beautiful.

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Drink-drivers who meet with accidents gave him the most moral-emotional struggles. To him, drink-driving is one of the most stupid and irresponsible things a person can do. When an accident happens, the drink-driver almost always is the cause of it, and is responsible for his own sorry plight.

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Yet, as an ambulance paramedic, he does his very best to help and treat and save the drink-driver accident “victim”.

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These experiences, he says, has changed his mindset and taught him that what a person does and deserves, can and often should be separated from how we treat him. Just because the person did something really wrong, and landed himself in huge trouble, doesn’t mean that we should let him suffer and die.

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It is the plight of the accident victim that determines how the ambulance paramedic should behave, not what the ambulance paramedic thinks of the victim’s actions and responsibilities

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I thought that was so beautiful.

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Society has little compassion for conditions like HIV. Why should we subsidise their treatments when they got infected through their promiscuity? Through irresponsible behavior?  These are common responses.

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Or when a teenager becomes the victim of sexual abuse because she put herself at risk or was careless, how many people have been unsympathetic, saying that she deserved it?

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How would you feel if you were in an accident and the ambulance paramedic didn’t help you because he thought you put yourself at risk by jaywalking?

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How would you feel if you had a heart attack and the hospitals didn’t treat you or took away the 80% Class C subsidy, because you were a huge char kway teow or laksa fan?

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Why do we continue to subsidise people who smoke and people who don’ t exercise?

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Because who are we to judge? Who are we to pronounce the death sentence on someone?  Like the ambulance paramedic, it is not our place to judge and to punish. We help because we can, because we ought to, because they need it.  At least I think, that’s our role as human beings.

HIV — your REAL risk, Part II

HIV prevalence amongst Batam Sex Workers :  ~1 in 6

% Condom use amongst Sg men in Batam : ~ 3 in 10 (7 in 10 at risk!!!!)

% Condom use amongst Sg men abroad with sex workers in general : ~ 1 in 2

% Condom use amongst Sg men with local sex workers in general: ~8-9 in 10

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HIV prevalence amongst Bangkok MSM : 1 in 3

% Condom use amongst S’porean MSM with casual partners : 4 in 5
(http://www.msmsexsurvey.com 2009 Fridae.com MSM survey, see the results there)

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This ongoing Anonymous Asia Internet MSM Sex Survey will help  improve our understanding  of MSM behaviors   http://www.2010aimss.com/

Please help. Please ask your friends to help

“The results will give us critical information in understanding why HIV and other sexually transmitted infection rates are rising so quickly in our community, and help us design better programs for you.”
– 2010 AIMSS

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THis is a follow up from the previous article which gives more explanations . Please take a look. http://mathialee.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/hiv-knowing-your-real-risk/

See comments for Abstracts & Citations for the above info.

(I was doing some research as part of my routine work, and came across these figures. I nearly shit in my pants. It’s unethical to not tell. I just HAD to.  Underestimation of risk perception is a huge reason why people still engage in risky sex —- they think it doesn’t happen to them. Condoms are 99% safe. Russian roulette is 5 in 6 safe….. )

HIV – Knowing YOUR real risk

Lots of HIV figures you see in the newspapers are national averages. What you DON”T know, but SHOULD be looking at, are the rates amongst the sub-groups you are having sex with.

‘Cos by averaging the cases across the entire country’s huge population, the HIV rates looks less scary, the countries don’t look so bad. High risk sub-groups are where most of the HIV cases are concentrated in.

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Your risk :

In Asia, MSM (Men who have Sex with Men) are disproportionately affected by HIV. HIV prevalence amongst MSM in Bangkok estimated at 28%. If you went to Bangkok and had unprotected sex with 3  men who have sex with men, at least 1 of them could be HIV+.
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In Sg,  >90% of HIV+ are male.  1/4 these men are/were married. >90% females are/were married. (See diagram)

What does this mean?

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It means that if you (female or male, married or not) are having sex with a MSM, the statistics alone put you at much higher risk.

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If you’re having anal sex, (female or male), the biology puts you at a much higher risk.

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If you think you can get away by having a young girl or boy, that’s the stupidest assumption to ever make in your life. Yes, even if you’re straight.

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In Asian cities where the sex workers don’t ask for condoms, half of them can be HIV+. In Batam, 1 in 6 sex workers have HIV. And because people presume younger sex workers are less risky, more people go for the young ones. Hence, HIV prevalence amongst the teen sex workers can be MORE than DOUBLE that amongst those above 20yrs old.

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In Sg, ~50% the HIV infections detected only in the late stage. This means that there are probably many more HIV+ people who are very healthy, unaware of their status, and transmitting it if they’re having unprotected sex.

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That means you could unknowingly spread it to your wife, and by the time you fall ill, it’s been 5 years too late.

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Your life as a consequence

In Dec08, we thought HIV was going to be treated like any other chronic diseases, and generic drugs subsidised (http://mathialee.wordpress.com/2008/12/02/say-yes-to-aids-treatment-subsidies/ )

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( Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan told The Straits Times he agreed with the view that HIV should be treated ‘like any chronic disease’. ‘The committee of experts will apply the same approach as they do when evaluating drugs for other diseases. We should not single out HIV for special treatment,’ he said. …..  Health Minister asked the Communicable Diseases Centre (CDC) to draw up a list of drugs that should be eligible for subsidies. http://app.mfa.gov.sg/pr/read_content.asp?View,11626,  Full Report in Comments)

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Over the weekend,  we learn that HIV treatments are NOT going to be subsidized. They can now be funded by Medifund.

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(Offering subsidies for all patients could “open a floodgate”, he noted. While previous media reports pointed to the ministry subsidising HIV medication, MOH told MediaCorp on Friday: “Minister Khaw Boon Wan and MOH did not commit in 2008 to subsidising HIV medication.” “Our stand in 2008 was that HIV should be considered like any other chronic disease when evaluating the suitability of providing subsidies for medications.” “MOH has chosen to use the Medifund route to more flexibly help HIV patients with their bills, including that for anti-retroviral drugs if needed. Doing so allows available funds to be focused to provide appropriate amounts of assistance to the most deserving cases.”  http://www.todayonline.com/Print/Singapore/EDC100116-0000124/Medifund-to-help-needy-Sporeans-who-require-HIV-treatment )

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This means that you still have to fork out ~$1200 of your salary each month for HIV treatments. That’s if you keep your job, because there are no laws protecting your job. It means that this (http://mathialee.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/living-with-hiv-in-singapore/ ) could still be your life. When you get to a desperately poor stage however, you can now use Medifund.  Or you can still go to Thailand to get 3-months supply at a time for $100-200 at anytime.

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What’s my point? What can you do?.

My point is that, please, just NEVER have unprotected sex. ALWAYS use a condom. Condoms are 99% protective, when used 100% of the time, correctly.

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Please remember, HIV is NOT like other Chronic Diseases (and will NOT be treated as one, in terms of subsidies too).

Why?

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One cigarette won’t give you lung cancer. One fatty MacDonald’s meal won’t give you a heart attack. One huge glass of coke won’t give you diabetes. You have to screw up again and again, over years and years, by smoking and eating/drinking unhealthily.  

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But HIV is different.

You can do the right thing 99.9% of the time. Use a condom 99% of the time. Be faithful 99% of the time. Probably even abstain 99% of the time.

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But just one slip-up. One mistake. One moment of carelessness when you were drunk.

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Just ONCE. And that’s enough. HIV infection is not something you accumulate through years of casual unsafe sex. It’s something you get in a single sex session.

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And for that you pay. You pay with your health, your dignity, and your finances. 

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While the guy next door who ate char kway teow for 50 years and now has a stroke lies in the C class ward with loads of subsidies and sympathy.  

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Life is not fair. The world is not fair. People are not fair.

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So don’t let yourself down. You’re the only one who can take care of yourself. Please stay safe, always use a condom (yes, 1 condom, not 2) .

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( I would love to ask you to help spread this message.  However, be warned: there will be people who will accuse you of encouraging homosexuality or a gay lifestyle or immorality.  Since male homosexuality is against the law, you may be accused of abetting a criminal act. You may lose your friends.)

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( Sources: WHO Best Practices publication “HIV and Men who have Sex with Men in Asia and the Pacific”.
-J Infect. 2006 Oct;53(4):255-9. Epub 2005 Dec 27.
-AIDS. 2000 Dec 1;14(17):2731-40.
- MOH http://www.moh.gov.sg/mohcorp/statistics.aspx?id=246 )

Upcoming Conversations on Poverty, Education & Mainstream Values

Looking for interesting conversations? 3 very interesting ones happening next Saturday:

Neigbours in Need – Why I Get Involved http://com.passion.sg/?p=137

A sharing and discussion on how individuals and groups dedicate their time, efforts and resources to help those in need. Participants will also get to know the challenges faced by the low-income and how they are overcome. If you are concerned about our neighbours in need, find out how you can get involved at this session.

Date: Sat, 23 Jan 2010
Time: 2.30pm to 4.30pm
Venue: Tiong Bahru Community Club, 67A Eu Chin Street (off Seng Poh Road) S169715\

Programme
- Challenges faced by neighbours in need, and the support received by the community (Ms. Ho Hoy Fong, Vice President of Evercare Welfare Centre)

- How a civil society activist and a business brought food to more in need (Ms. Heather Chi, Director of Food for All; Ms. Nichol Ng, Managing Director of FoodXervices Inc.)

- Students share their charitable experiences (Ms. Jacyntha England, Shanghai Singapore International School)

- Facilitated by Mr Jolovan Wham

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Seminar on Education  http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=231270716589

They will be discussing the following issues: 1.What are the education policies needed to prepare our next generation? 2.How can we make education as the key means of enhancing social mobility and employability of Singaporeans? 3.What are the education plans for Special Need/Disabled Children?

Mr Tan Kin Lian, who is unable to join, has penned a paper to share his thoughts on the education system. His paper will be circulated during the seminar. Their panel of speakers include Mr Tony Tan, Ms Hazel Poa and Mr Justin Ong. The invited external speaker for the seminar is Mr James Gomez.

Saturday, January 23, 2010
1:30pm – 4:30pm
Berkshire School Pte Ltd, 100 Beach Road #02-19A, Shaw Towers

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Whose Mainstream Is It Anyway?    http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=239326063386&ref=mf

Mainstream values, mainstream culture, mainstream population. In the past few years, the word “mainstream” has been bandied about in our mass media, on a wide range of issues such as family values, global warming and death penalty. But what are they referring to, exactly?

Do they refer to the values or opinions held by the majority of our population? Or those few who are most vocal and persuasive? How do we know if these values are right or rational? Whose mainstream is it, anyway?

Although consensus may be hard to reach, come to this month’s SHM and have a fun-filled afternoon discussing in small groups a range of issues from varying perspectives.

Saturday, January 23, 2010
2:00pm – 5:00pm
Venue to be announced.

Fees : $5

Eligibility : All SHM members. You can join here http://www.meetup.com/Singapore-Humanism/ for free.

STI cases more alarming amongst adults compared to teens

I don’t like how the reporter used this phrase “And 7 in 10 cases involved young adults: Among those under age 20, two-thirds were female, while the opposite was true for those over 20. ” http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1030606/1/.html
Rise of STIs “especially alarming”, says Health Minister
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It reinforces the mistaken believe that teenagers are responsible for most cases, where actually teens make up about 1/10 of cases only only. “Young adults” in health-speak, refer to the 20-40s, who are indeed the bulk of STI patients (7/10 cases) . (rough classification: below 20 children/adolescents, 20-40 young adults, 40-60 middle age, 60-80 young-elderly, 80 on old-elderly. Older adults in general refer to the post-50 or 60)
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This mistaken belief that teens make up 7/10 cases fuels the public pressure for emphasizing abstinence FROM SEX in sex ed. Abstinence is possible perhaps for most teens, but once they get into their 20s and 30s, it borders on the ridiculous. But education is for LIFE , not for NOW
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If people understood the situation, they’ll realise sex ed should be about how to have sex healthily, so that when they are post-20 adults and engaging, they can take care of themselves. Teens who are taught to not have any sex, and are not given enough info, will get to their 20s and 30s engaging in behaviors they believe are healthy, but are in fact not. (eg. using 2 layers of condoms are actually very dangerous, and not safer than just 1)
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Singapore’s public health messages to the public focus on “Abstinence from CASUAL sex”, not “Abstinence” per se, ( http://www.hpb.gov.sg/aids/page3.htm ) which is a far more practical advice we need to educate teens with.

The flu pandemic is pharma-driven, not H1N1-driven?

Google Search term : europe investigation who h1n1

I have cut-&-pasted highlighted extracts from the websites listed, in this blog post (ie. Not original material).

Thus far I haven’t been able to find the large media organisations (bbc, cnn, StraitsTimes etc) carrying this news online. The online reuters article I found seemed to want to debunk the myth. If anyone can find these articles, appreciate if you can add on in the Comments, Thanks! )
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Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly to Investigate WHO and “Pandemic” Scandal
by F. William Engdahl
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16667

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will launch an inquiry in January 2010 on the influence of the pharmaceutical companies on the global swine flu campaign, focusing especially on extent of the pharma‘s industry’s influence on WHO. The Health Committee of the PACE, a body representing 47 European nations including Russia, has unanimously passed a resolution calling for the inquiry.
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Drug companies face European inquiry over swine flu vaccine stockpiles:
Council of Europe to discuss whether pharmaceutical firms spread alarm over pandemic to boost orders of medicines
James Sturcke and Owen Bowcott Monday 11 January 2010 19.47 GMT
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/11/swine-flu-h1n1-vaccine-europe

The talks, due to be held later this month, come as British ministers decide what to do with a surplus of as many as 20m doses of vaccine ordered at the height of the swine flu outbreak.
“The governments have sealed contracts with vaccine producers where they secure orders in advance and take upon themselves almost all the responsibility.
“In this way, the producers of vaccines are sure of enormous gains without having any financial risks. So they just wait, until WHO says ‘pandemic’ and activate the contracts,” Wolfgang Wodarg, head of health at the Council of Europe, told the Daily Mail.
Wodarg, who proposed the resolution, added that H1N1 virus was “a mild flu and a false pandemic”. ( http://www2.wodarg.de/uploads/edoc12110.pdf )
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The ‘false’ pandemic: Drug firms cashed in on scare over swine flu, claims Euro health chief
By Fiona Macrae 8:38 AM on 11th January 2010
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1242147/The-false-pandemic-Drug-firms-cashed-scare-swine-flu-claims-Euro-health-chief.html

A resolution proposed by Dr Wodarg calling for an investigation into the role of drug firms has been passed by the Council of Europe, the Strasbourg-based ‘senate’ responsible for the European Court of Human Rights.

An emergency debate on the issue will be held later this month.

Dr Wodarg said: ‘In order to promote their patented drugs and vaccines against flu, pharmaceutical companies have influenced scientists and official agencies, responsible for public health standards, to alarm governments worldwide.

He does not name any Britons with conflicts of interest.

But last year, the Daily Mail revealed that Sir Roy Anderson, a scientist who advises the Government on swine flu, also holds a £116,000-a-year post on the board of GlaxoSmithKline.

GSK makes anti-flu drugs and vaccines and is predicted to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the pandemic.

Professor David Salisbury, the Government’s head of immunisation said there were ‘no grounds whatsoever’ for Dr Wodarg’s claims, saying people with conflicts of interest were kept out of the decision-making process.

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Man At Center of Worldwide 2009 H1N1 Hysteria Under Investigation for Gross Conflict of Interest
Posted by Anne Dachel December 10, 2009
http://wisvic.org/ManAtCenter.aspx

World Health Organisation: ‘Mr Swine Flu’ Under Investigation for Gross Conflict of Interest. This is out on Google News in lots of European languages. What are the chances that any major American news sources will pick it up?

A German weekly magazine, published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe’s largest weekly magazines with a weekly circulation of more than one million. The Market Oracle

Professor Albert Osterhaus, of the Erasmus University in Rotterdam Holland has been named by Dutch media researchers as the person at the center of the worldwide Swine Flu H1N1 Influenza A 2009 pandemic hysteria. Not only is Osterhaus the connecting person in an international network that has been described as the Pharma Mafia, he is THE key advisor to WHO on influenza and is intimately positioned to personally profit from the billions of euros in vaccines allegedly aimed at H1N1.

Earlier this year the Second Chamber of the Netherland Parliament undertook an investigation into alleged conflicts of interest and financial improprieties of the well-known Dr. Osterhaus. Outside Holland and a mention at the time in the Dutch media, the only note of the sensational investigation into Osterhaus’ business affairs came in a tiny note in the respected British magazine, Science.

Osterhaus’s credentials and expertise in his field were not in question. What is according to a short report published by the journal Science, are his links to corporate interests that stand to potentially profit from the swine flu pandemic. Science carried the following brief note in its October 16 2009 issue about Osterhaus: “For the past 6 months, one could barely switch on the television in the Netherlands without seeing the face of famed virus hunter Albert Osterhaus talking about the swine flu pandemic. Or so it has seemed. Osterhaus, who runs an internationally renowned virus lab at Erasmus Medical Center, has been Mr. Flu. But last week, his reputation took a nosedive after it was alleged that he has been stoking pandemic fears to promote his own business interests in vaccine development. As Science went to press, the Dutch House of Representatives had even slated an emergency debate about the matter.”

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No U.S. decision on H1N1 vaccine orders – official
Thu Jan 7, 2010 3:33pm WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0714557420100107?type=swissMktRpt

– The United States has not made a decision on whether to cancel or sell any of its orders for the H1N1 vaccine, unlike some countries in Europe, a federal health official said on Thursday.

Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said demand remains steady and the government’s focus is on having as many people vaccinated as possible.

“Right now we are at a point where we have ample supply. We’re really encouraging people to get vaccinated. So we haven’t made decisions here in the U.S. about giving back vaccines,” Schuchat told a media briefing.

Germany plans to cancel half the 50 million vaccines it ordered from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) (GSK.L) to combat the H1N1 flu virus, a German health official said on Thursday.

Earlier this week, France canceled over half the H1N1 flu vaccines it had ordered because of the pandemic.

The U.S. government has paid for 251 million doses of bulk vaccine from five makers — Glaxo, AstraZeneca (AZN.L), Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA), Novartis (NOVN.VX) and CSL Ltd (CSL.AX). (Editing by Philip Barbara)
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http://www.swineflu.org/forum_posts.asp?TID=31894 (on how Wodarg came to be suspicious)

“In April, when the first alarm came from Mexico I was very surprised at the figures that furnishing the World Health Organization (WHO) to justify the declaration of a pandemic. I was immediately suspicious: the numbers were very low and the alarm level very high. It was not even in a thousand patients that there was already talk of a pandemic of the century. ”

“In things that have aroused my suspicions so there has been a part of this will sound the alarm. And the other curious facts. As such the recommendation by WHO to carry out two injections for vaccines. It had never been done before. There was no scientific justification for this. There was also the recommendation to use only vaccines patented individuals (…) We did not do so because they preferred to use patented materials vaccine as major laboratories were designed and manufactured to be ready in case of development a pandemic. And in doing this so we did not hesitate to endanger persons vaccinated. ”

“I have seen very concrete example how Klaus Stöhr, who was the head of the epidemiological department of WHO at the time of bird flu, and thus prepared the plans to cope with a pandemic that j ‘ mentioned above, in the meantime had become a top executive of the company Novartis. And similar links between Glaxo and Baxter (etc.) and influential members of the WHO. “

Choosing my race

That mix race thing has a precedent. Long before (or at least long in the short Sg historical context) we had to scratch our head to decide what race we were, many of us were already scratching our heads deciding what dialect group we were.
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Dialect groups are not a uniquely Sg concept, but I think our concept of Dialect groups (at least for the Chinese) are quite uniquely Sg.

All my life, I’ve been asked the question “What dialect group are you?”  And since I begun learning to speak at 2yrs old, I’ve been taught to answer “I am Teochew”.
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Then in 2005, I went on a holiday to China, to my ancestral city of Teochew. I had never been to Teochew in my life. On my dad’s side, I’m the 6^th generation immigrant (their wives all Nonya) and on my mom’s side, I’m the 4^th generation immigrant (their wives all Teochew too). We’ve lost contact with relatives from both sides for a couple of generations already, so this Teochew trip was really a holiday trip for me.
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From our first stop in Hongkong, we took a train into ShenZhen (the Mainland Chinese city across HongKong), and from there a bus to the city of Teochew.  The bus station at ShenZhen was absolutely chaotic. We overheard a young couple asking for the bus to Teochew and we latched on to them. They were really nice.

After 6 hours on the bus, the couple approached us and the guy spoke to me, in Mandarin,

Him   “you’re going to Teochew right?”

Me   “yes, are we reaching Teochew already?”

Him  “we have to get off at the next stop”

Me   “oh, you’re going to Teochew too?”

Him (giving me a ‘duh!!!’ look)   “I am Teochew. And you?”
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At that moment, I was just stunned.

What was I supposed to say? That was my line.

All my life, I’ve been saying that very line “I am Teochew” in reply to questions like this.

Yet at that moment, in the city of Teochew,  I couldn’t say “I am Teochew” anymore.

In Teochew (or anywhere else in China, apparently!), in that bus, “I am Teochew” suddenly meant “I am a Chinese National living in the city of Teochew” , which I clearly wasn’t!

What could I say? “I am East Coast GRC?”!?!?

Well, after that moment of stunned silence, I replied   “I am from Singapore”

“Ah! Singaporean!” he nodded.

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I had and have never felt more Singaporean before in my life.
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++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Race, is quite an interesting concept. I dare say that geneticists are arguably the most “racist” of all people — the strain and family background of every single mouse in our lab is meticulously recorded = )In humans, it’s nice also to know your racial make up, because a lot of our biology and health status are influenced by our genes (very arguably).
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However, I still don’t understand, to this day, why I have to state my dialect group, race and religion to apply for that data entry job!

It’s an indication of my language skills? Well, 1) the data entry was 100% English.   And 2) Even if Chinese language skills are needed, my dialect group, race and religion are the lousiest indications of my ability to use Chinese. I’m functionally illiterate, and I know at least one Malay, one Indian, one Eurasian, one Ang Mo who is more functionally Chinese literate than me.
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And I really don’t get the idea of bonding along racial lines too —- that “sharing food with only my Chinese neighbour but not my Malay neighbour during a famine” concept.

Just the other day, my Indian friend was telling me how the Indians from India looked down on our local Indians here. In return, I was telling him that he was lucky he didn’t understand Mandarin, or else he’ll be even more pissed hearing the Chinese Nationals commenting that Singaporean food was really bad and we didn’t know how to cook and live here. I kid you not, I’ve been told in my face that the noodles we use here are “peasant quality noodles they wouldn’t use in China anymore” and that “curry looks like swill”. So I definitely think that my Indian friend will appreciate bonding and sharing food with me more.
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To a geneticist, the idea that one can *choose* one’s race is laughable. ( As it is, the geneticists are already laughing at how Singaporeans *choose* not to be homosexual because it’s illegal and morally wrong).

I’ve a friend from India, and his race on his new pink IC is “Aryan”, though he speaks Tamil. And if an Indian born in Singapore is listed as an “Indian” of the “Tamil” dialect group, then what racial group is a Pakistani with a new pink IC? Indian? Say that and you might be bashed. How about the Vietnamese? Go far back enough in their history, and they are Chinese. A Xinjiang immigrant who is less genetically Chinese than the Vietnamese, is listed as “Chinese” instead.

Have I confused you? Yes? My point made.
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I have an idea.

If I ever had a kid, I’m going to register him/her as :

Race : Human

Dialect group : Uniquely Singaporean.

Can choose mah, right?

 ; )

There’re no disabled people. Only disabling environments.

http://www.kengurucars.com/

“The first ever electrically powered vehicle designed especially for wheelchair users will become available in the UK soon.”

The end of school as we know it?

Readers & friends might have noticed by now that I’m quite anti-institution (as opposed to being anti-authority, anti-religion etc). I do recognise institutions can have a useful and necessary role to play in societies as we know it. But I’m just anti-group-think, anti-”this is what you should think”, anti-”you’re either for us or against us”, anti-”only we can think like this, no one else can”, anti-”get out if you are not like us”.

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A new way of learning

Readers & friends might have realised I’m anti-school, as school is today, in Sg as specially. Waaaaaay to institutionalised.

With the rise of websites like http://www.academicearth.org/playlists/, http://www.ted.com/ etc, I envision a future world where school has no walls, no buildings, no one to decide what you should be thinking, learning, or desiring.  It would be a world where people choose what they want to hear, what they want to see, what they want to experience.

Through tools like Facebook, forums etc, people then discuss what they’ve seen, heard, experienced, so that they can decide for themselves what’s valid and what’s not.

I’m not using the term “children”, but the term “people”, because learning shouldn’t be restricted to just certain age groups.

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A new way of employing

Without examinations and certificates, there’ll be so much less egoistical, uncessary, artificially-induced stress on people. But how then can employers know who to hire?

I’m sure many of you who have some working experience know that certificates can be bought, or mugged for, and are sometimes a really poor indication of a person’s ability. Many times, having an intelligent conversation with a person would tell you so much more. A person’s life experience, rather than certificates, would also mean much more. A person who comes in as says, I’ve got top class honors in social work, versus another person who says, ‘when I was 16 I got together with my friends to do this project, which saw 1000 more families having a house to stay.’ —- who is a better hire? 

With the decline of lifelong employment , and the increase in contract or project-based employment, the negative effects of making a wrong hire is also much smaller than it used to be.

Can this model work?

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Eg. of Non-institutionalised employment

Well I think this model is working quite well in many areas already. Most NGOs, community groups, religious charity groups, voluntary groups operate on this model. We work with different organisations as different points of time for different projects. Most of these volunteers are very motivated to the cause, which was why they volunteered —– project leaders do not have to think up motivating strategies they way they have to in companies which “dump” projects on staff. In large organisations, stupid projects are also undertaken sometimes because leaders who are unfamiliar with the ground situation, force the projects through, resulting in unmotivated staff. With the NGO/VWO model, stupid projects are quickly killed simply because no one would volunteer to work on it.

One huge downside of NGOs and VWOs currently is that, despite the initial motivation that volunteers have, the attrition rate is very high and projects get stalled because volunteers don’t meet deadlines or don’t deliver. Alot of this is linked to the fact that volunteers are unpaid, and most have a full time regular job that they give priority too.

However, if this project-basis employment were applied, and people get paid, and that was their means of living, I think this problem would be solved. There would be a certain proportion of people who still will not deliver, but over time, these people would have gained that reputation, and project groups would not want to involve them anymore.

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Non -institutionalised learning & employment works for more than what people think

I recognise too, that this model may not work for every single industry. Perhaps for social work, arts, sports, sales, business etc it may work. But who wants to be treated by a doctor whose skills you’re uncertained about? So I do suppose in some fields, the institutionalised model would work better, and we should retain them.  Also, I think 3 year olds still need to go to a playschool; would be very hard on the mothers and fathers to guide them individually!

However, even in fields where we think certificates might be necessary, it may not really be so.

My dad’s an engineer, repairing turbines on oil and gas fields all over the world. He flunked his ‘O’s the first time, scrapped through the second, and then dropped out of poly (he didn’t say so, we found his certs one day! =D . Over the years, he’s read and learnt on his own. Over the last couple of decades, his company (a US MNC) has put so many new staff under his charge to be trained. All these staff are equipped with engineering degrees and masters from all over the world (required by current company policy, not when my dad was hired 4 decades ago!). I’m proud of my dad. I don’t think his story is unique, I think most of us would have heard such stories before. Which really shows that non-institutionalised education can really work!! In fact my dad often complains about the new engineers coming in with rigid textbook knowledge, who soon run out of ideas to solve the technical fault when their knowledge bank runs dry. He’s looking for people who generate solutions, not replicate past solutions.