Night As Day

I pulled an all-nighter!

It has been so long since I did that. Maybe in my early twenties, out with friends at barbecues by the beach... I had never stayed all night without a wink of a sleep since then, until last night.

All for a good cause, I kept telling myself.

I was up all night doing... get this, a mere 4-minute long video.

Yes, a video to introduce our Dedicated & Supportive Parents group or DSP which I finally started in the afternoon after Friday prayers, all night and all the way till the morning when Wifey and I had to get ready to go to Sonny's school.

Dunman Secondary School was holding its Secondary One Orientation day for the new cohort of 2010. The event that started at 9:00AM lasted only up till about 10:45AM, but the work behind it, as far as Wifey and I are concern was enormous.

There is no one to blame... we were too eager and over-zealous to show the school and especially to new parents about DSP. We wanted the group to have the group's profile raised to the next echelon... more pronounced to all who attended the event.

Yet most of all, we wanted to have new parent volunteers to join the group and make it a better and grander group with enough committed parents and with that, comes their varied talents to inject new ideas and resources into the group.


All in all, to help the school achieve its object of an all-rounded or holistic development of its students... our children.

With that objective in mind, I guess Wifey and I over committed ourselves to do much and better than the year before, when we both first attended the Secondary One Orientation.

Then, we personally felt that much could have been done, and better deliverance to introduce DSP to the parents and as importantly, the school's staff about our assistance, level of commitment and the many talents we have that we can offer the school.

This year's event, we both suggested the improvements we wanted to see and actually did it ourselves...

We decided to improve on the recruitment form that could be downloaded from the school's website. The form is now compatible with its format intact when opened with most document processor a parent may use in their home PC.

Then we created the 6 by 2 feet overhead banner to make our group visible and known to the attending parents.

We also created a vertical info banner about what DSP objectives and our activities we do to achieve those objectives in simple descriptions and pictorials of past events we did.

This husband and wife team also made DSP bookmarks that we gave out to parents that hopefully served as reminders to them to at least visit the website to know more and eventually give a chance by joining the group.


All were done weeks before, including proposals and arrangements made with the school's representative, Mrs Fong... except the last item, that was the DSP group intro video.

It was my bad. I blame myself to end up needing to pull an all-nighter.

Wifey and I completed all the other things we envisioned before she left to visit her Mom in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for a week, except the video.

I attempted starting the project several times but was never able to continue because I got stuck as to how I should approach to do the video. I got stuck on the creative was of deliverance for days on end, in between work and visiting Dad at the hospital.

I finally had no time and totally no choice but to start from scratch on Christmas afternoon. With Wifey's inputs and ideas, it triggered me to break that mental block and continued composing it.

I then continued all through the night with a pot of hot coffee as my companion to keep me awake.

At last, when the video was completed, I had my iMac burn the DVD while I bathed to get ready for the school's event that morning. Wifey was surprised to find me still on my iMac when she woke up to get herself ready.

The event went well... the new principle did a power CEO-styled presentation to introduce the school. She was impressive - clear, alive and so professional.


The DSP presentation was a tat monotonous with a very long speech and lots of words but many thought the video was a sweeping success... even with the little confusion with the wrong video player used that created some delays.

It was suppose to be with Apple's Quicktime but the presenter used Microsoft's Media Player instead and made it able to launch and play. Nonetheless, they got it sorted out and the video played to a very good reception.

From the numerous feedback and compliments we received, it was well taken by the teachers, the DSP parents themselves and especially the new parents whom the video was intended for. Wifey's narration throughout the video got he most praises!

Good praises received but the best came from Mrs Fong and the new school's principle. The recruitment forms we received from the new parents affirmed that our efforts and the efforts put in by other DSP parents were worth it!


We received a much higher number of forms as informed by Mrs Fong.

Wifey and I were ecstatic... we are still happy and talking about the event. All is worth every sweat, every panic attackes and the totally one sleepless night.

We are looking forward to help the school again in the year 2010. There so many ideas brewing in both of us wating to working along with new blood with zealous and vigor... all for the betterment of our children.

As the DSP slogan Wifey and I came out with goes... DSP, Your Time For The Children.

iNo She's Happy!

Mom needed a new cell phone. She had been complaining about her Nokia for some weeks now.

Her old cell phone was slowly failing on her. Its ring tone had become softer to the point she started to have miscalls frequently. Setting its volume to its highest level did not help for long before the tone got back to become even softer after a while.

As if that was not already bad, putting it in her handbag when she went out did not help. She had become hard to reach, so her children had to call the sibling who was taking her out for outings or shopping that day in order to talk to her.

That was not a terrible inconvenience.

What is, is the number of possible people that she and Dad may be out with. With eight siblings and several nieces, one has to make a guess which one our parents are with and try calling their cell phones to get them.

Most times, going down the phone list until one gets the right person who would then pass the phone to Mom.

Well, it is not as if we needed to call her urgently all the time or what...

It is just that when Mom or Dad does not hang-up their home land-line handset properly and they become unreachable, we assume the worst.

Two very old folks, adamant to live alone by themselves... something terrible might have happened to them when they do not answer the phone.

It is not a good thought... so we normally, we would call Mom's cell phone to get into contact with her and inform her to place the handset properly.

With her old cell phone acting up on her, it became unnerving for everyone.

Whenever she did pick up the call, it is just irritating for both persons on either end of the line because her cell phone's speaker volume has gotten softer too and made talking, kind of a silly affair... we had to talk louder and at times like shouting into the phone.

It felt and can probably be misconstrued as having a quarrel with Mom over the phone!

So much for an old generation Nokia 1208 I purposely bought for her in January this year, simply because it had large numbers display.

Well, for S$65, I take it that the phone is good only for a year's use.

So on the eve of Christmas, I left at lunch time from work to NTUC Xtra Fairprice supermarket at Hougang Point to buy Mom a new set.

A friend introduced to me a cell phone for designed for the elderly called iNo CP09. Interestingly, the phone was conceived and made in Singapore!

The larger than ever numbers and letters on the LCD display screen and over-sized keypads with big numbers on it make the phone look like a calculator. Yet, are definite convenient features welcomed by the elderly.

Coupled with adjustable louder than usual ring tones and keypad sounds, the hard-of-hearing old folks will find these useful.

A interesting feature is the programmable gender phone-book listing. Two buttons... one with a lady and another, a man's face on each of the keypads. This can be programmed as quick-list buttons for numbers of daughters and sons respectively.

It has a built-in LED flashlight activated with a flick of a button on its side.

The FM radio has a reasonable clear reception without the need for an earphone to be plugged in to double as an antenna.

The most important and definitely useful feature, yet hopefully will never be used at all...

An SOS button on the back of the phone for emergency calls!

With a press of bright orange button, there will be a loud distress sound from the phone to attract passers-by to help, or neighbours if it happens at home.

It simultaneously also sends out emergency SMS up to 4 programmed cell phone numbers to immediately inform of the distress situation.


We presented Mom with the gift while we met at the hospital to visit Dad. Once Mom's SIM card was ported over to her new black iNO, she gave a big smile. Of course, not without some programming of the time, date, ring tones, voice tone done by Sonny first.

I thought it was going to be a long session to teach Mom to use its features at the hospital but elderly nowadays are tech-savvy!

She got the hang of it the first time, since some features are about the same and very familiar to her already. She was using confidently when we did some "trial runs" before we parted for home.

Sweet! Lesser worry for everyone because Mom is now contactable again.

Enjoy your new cell phone, Mom!

Season's Greetings Everyone!

To All My Christian Friends,

May your Christmas
Filled with joy & love,
Celebrating the birth,
Of new hope & peace,
With family & friends.

I Have Company

It has been 3 days since Wifey and Sonny left me home alone for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to be with Wifey's Mom who moved there some 8 years ago.

Tuesday night was terrible as it was the first night I was left alone in the house, dump-founded as to what I wanted to do... watch TV, serve the net, blog, Facebook and many more things, but all seemed so boring without any of my beloved family member around.

The second day was much better. Not because I am "settling down" of being alone, but because I got company.

Alola came by to say hello and stayed the night. Alola is our "part tiime" pet cat, a stray our family has "adopted." He comes and goes anytime he pleases.

We give him food and water and in return he gives us his company and some loving-purrs to show us that he appreciates it.

It was a welcomed sight. Alola was resting at the front door when I came back from work. Automatically he came in when I opened the front gate and door to enter my home.


Routinely, he went to his food bowl when I had to feed him first before I could even put my stuff down and change my clothes. Yet, I was happy that he came by.

Like always, after a good meal, Alola will come by to look for anyone in the home and gave his purr-loving gesture before he settles to take a nap either on the mat or on the Ottoman stool in our master bedroom.

He gave me all the "loving" as I eat my packed dinner. Watched TV with me for a while before he left for the bedroom to sleep.

When it was my time to retire, he was already sound asleep on the Ottoman stool. He would normally head for the door to be let out, but I was happy that he stayed throughout the night instead and kept me company.

I have to be mindful not to step on him when I need to go to the bathroom because he might be sleeping on the mat or somewhere and blends so well in the dark.

By morning, I had my quick breakfast while he had his favourite seafood meal. I was really surprised that when I woke him up to leave the house, he followed me closely and went out the door together with me as I locked it shut, as if he knew no one was home and he had to be let out.

I bid him goodbye as I climbed down the stairs. He just looked at me until I turned the corner.

Unlike other cats, Alola does not meow much.


He is silent most times. It will be a surprise if we could ever hear him meows because I have never heard him meows before. The only sound we can hear is his purring... and the clacking sound he makes when his nails touch the laminated floor as he walks and nothing more.

If he wants something, he will just come to us and look up at us with those big green eyes. We will have to decipher either he wants more food or be let out... the only two thing.

It is kind of simple to care for him because he is a smart and silent "part-time" pet-cat. No climbing or scratching on furniture, no stealing of food off our plates and he goes out for nature calls.

Thanks for being here, Alola.

He just looks up at me now... no meows, just good company.

Dad's Free Again!

It has been exactly 2 weeks since Dad was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was quarantined off to the isolation Ward 58.

Today, he is "free man" again after he is moved to the normal 6-bedded Oncology Ward 48 in the afternoon. The non-air conditioned ward he likes. He hates being in the air-conditioned one because he feels the cold make it hard for him to breathe.

He waited for so long to be "let out" so that he could see other people and not feel alone any more. He likes to people watch quietly in his bed.

Early in the week, Dad had lost his patience to stay isolated and wanted out. He told Mom in one of her visits, to ask me to tell the doctor to let him out from the ward to the normal ward.

He was so bored being in there for the past week and hated the medicines given. The food was "terrible... with no taste at all. I cant eat it!"

I had to explain to him again that he was to be there for the length of 2 weeks because he will infect others if not isolated.

He lost track of time and sometimes asked what day it was. We brought him Berita Harian - a Malay language newspaper daily, but because of his medication and his condition, he was unable to read without being nausea.

He has been counting the days for his "release" which made it even tougher to pass through the day.


At one time, Mom and Sis could not make it to visit him. I was on medical leave and was advised strongly by the doctor to not visit him to prevent cross infections between us. So he was left alone without any visitor for that day.

He was saddened and refused to pick up the phone after many call from Mom. The nurse told Mom the next day that he did not touch his food that day. He was so disappointed with us... his feelings seemed to get amplified, very sensitive and dejected when he did not see Mom and us.

"I don't know what's going to happen to me." Dad's remark to Mom when she visited him the next day. He kept quiet the whole time and just closed his eyes.

Mom had to console and "pamper" Dad slowly to get his spirits up again. She rubbed and messaged his back and talked to him as if nothing wrong. He responded positively and started asked her to message his colicky stomach because he was not eating.

Elder Sis messaged his bony calves, especially his left leg he felt slightly painful after the fall at home a few weeks back. He eventually eased back into his old good self and started eating the dinner they served him that night.

Now, Dad will have to undergo what he was initially admitted for... he will go for his radiotherapy to shrink the two tumors on the left and right sides of his lung, and start a blood thinning medication to "melt" away the blood clot they detect in his lower left lung.

Hoping for him to find his strength to go through all these treatments with our unending support and constant prayers for him. We love you, Dad.

I'm Home Alone!

Wifey queuing for train tickets to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I bid Wifey and Sonny goodbye at the front door early this morning.

They left for the train station at Tanjong Pagar for a 6-hour ride on a Malaysian KTM train to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

It is Wifey's time with her Mom who lives in Selayang, KL to be with her. Wifey last saw her Mom in September 2009 when she came back to Singapore for a few days to celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri at her Clementi home.

It has been her home until her late husband's passing a few years before. She bought a home in KL to be with her other 5 out of 8 children who were born there.

As soon as I saw them went into the lift and closed my front door, I felt a part of me left too. I felt lonely as I exercised and got dressed for work. It has always been a strange feeling of emptiness when both of them are not around.

My usual "going-to-work" routine is slightly changed today and for the next several days. I must remember to close all the windows and lock the front door every time I leave home for work. I must remember to switch off the coffee maker... that is very important!

KTM - Malaysian Railway Station Arrival/Departure Hall

I almost forgot to close the bedroom windows this morning when I was already outside, locking the front door to! The laminated floor would have absorbed the rain that came in and pop the floor! Phew!

I must regiment my thoughts, like a checklist to remember all the things I should do before I lock the front door and leave for the day. I also have to water the potted plants in the evening when I come back from work.

Strangely, I came back home in the early afternoon today.

I am still not feeling well after the bout of flu I had a week ago. At midday, I had enough with the pain in my throat and the sudden sharp pain on the left side of my head. I went to the company doctor just before lunch break.

KTM's old building arch ceiling

I intended to ask for more lozenges and some reassurance that nothing seriously wrong with the pain on my head, instead I got an MC for the rest of the day and lots of medications and another round of antibiotics.

I left for the day and enjoyed the 40 minutes bus ride home just looking outside because it was a beautiful, sunny day.

Bought 2 packs of food - one for lunch and the other for dinner to find myself feeling alone at home when I opened my front door. The other half of the day has been a boring one.

I eat, watched TV... nothing good was on, so I played Full Metal Jacket movie for some reason and fell asleep because of the medication.

It is still boring and lonely. I hate this. I love being at home but being home alone really sucks. Sonny called me from KL at night and I got to talk to Wifey for a bit. They are enjoying their time there...

The iPhone Family

It is official, the iMran Family is now iPhone Friendly!

All 3 of us now own an iPhone each after we re-contracted with our long-standing telco, Mobile One or M1 for short for a 2-year plan.

Another island's telco, Starhub also launched its iPhone plans the same time as M1, but alas, M1 plans are still superior to that of Starhub's. It is even far better than the major telco here, Singtel which had sole rights to sell iPhones when the 3G model was released many months back.

Which is why we stick to M1 because it leads the other players with far better and numerous innovative options in its offered plans. A very aggressive and competitive company... and we love it because it makes the other, cheaper options and plans available to the public.

Starhub is great too, I was considering "jumping ship" to sign its iPhone mobile plan if it offered some kind of bundle with its cable TV plans. We are already their customer since cable TV was available in Singapore.

Along with it, after several years later, we also signed up with its home broadband plan from Singtel's dial-up plan. And last year, its land-line VoIP phone. The only thing left was its mobile plan. I waited patiently for its iPhone plans but M1 takes the cake... still.


Since all 3 of us have completed our 2-year plan with M1 months back, we held back the many tempting offers M1 made to lure us to re-contract. We waited patiently for Apple's iPhone to be available and offered in its plan but it never materialised until now!

Wifey and Sonny took the older version 3G 8GB with a S$36 per month plan and paid S$398.00 each for the phone. Sonny gets an extra perk of unlimited free SMS and MMS for being a student.

A very well-received perk for me as teens tend to talk with their friends more with SMS and MMS than just talk like we adults normally talk to one another over the phone.

I took the iPhone 3GS 16GB with a S$56 per month plan and paid S$298.00 for the phone.

In all, I spent S$1,044.00 for all 3 phones for my family and will fork out about S$128.00 per month for the 3 mobile plans.

Several perks makes me happy to not reach too deep into my pocket...

The Multi-line Saver package makes all 3 lines we have into one consolidated plan which earns us a 25% monthly discount on our monthly bill. That will mean I will only need to fork out S$96.00 monthly for the plans, knowing that we will not exceed on the talk time and text messages.

Another good perk is the free-calls to 3 M1 mobile to M1-mobile persons. We just nominate 3 M1 mobile numbers to enjoy the perk. Wifey, Sonny and I nominated each other which leave each of us with another number.

I nominated my Elder Sis' since we talk to each other often, while Wifey nominated her sister. Sonny has yet to nominate a friend or cousin. He is still contemplating.

I am already an iPhone fan when I had my 2G 8GB I bought from a friend who got it from the US. I had been using it for many months now and have never been bored with it even once.

Along with its free-incoming-all-day perk, we can now check our e-mails, online utilities and internet on the go. We can do so much more now, yet each of us pays S$32 per month which is lesser than our previous plans combined.

As I had mentioned before, after experiencing iPhone, I do not care for any other newly launched phones anymore. So far, nothing ever beats the intutitive and ease of use of the iPhone. Software is everything, yet the iPhone is so classic with its stylish, clean-line design.

For this family, combining iPhone and M1 makes a better day, everyday!

Now Sonny and Wifey are enjoying the many free applications they each downloaded from their own PCs while mine is on iMac. iTunes is being used by this whole family now for song plays apart from syncing our iPhones.

Sonny is busy playing Tap-Tap Revolution while Wifey is navigating her 3D RollerCoaster game. Life gets a little more fun now

I'm Still Under

I was feeling much better a day after my medical leave off work on Wednesday. I was Under The Weather on Tuesday and stayed home nursing my "wounds."

Managed to complete my work and submitted a day ahead of the dateline, yet by late afternoon, I started to feel ill again, this time with a tender feeling whenever I touch the left side of my head.

It became worse at night as all illnesses seem to manifest or should I say magnified. I had trouble sleeping peacefully that night, waking up almost every hour and feeling the pain on my left head. I had to sleep on my right side for most of the rest of the night.

Came morning, I woke up to a nasty sore throat worse than the first time I visited the doctor the day before. The Trachisan lozenges that were given did some good to relief me of the pain every time I swallow but the Amoxycilin antibiotics has not worked its miracle for me yet, I guess.

The Fenfedrin tablets for my runny nose were a savior. It helped not to complicate my sickness as I had a clear airway and could breathe normally.

With guilt and a little embarrassment, I had to text my boss to inform her of my second MC of the week.

Like Tuesday, I was asleep for most of the morning, only to wake up by Wifey for lunch. Took my meds the second time for the day and fell asleep again for another 2 hours.

I had to call Mom when woke up in the afternoon to catch her before she left for the hospital to visit Dad. She has been visiting him daily since he was warded in the Isolation Ward for TB last Thursday. Dad has been feeling down being isolated and alone in the room all day.

I had to inform her that I was still not able to visit Dad to avoid exchange of infections – Dad getting my flu and I getting his TB with both of our immune system at a low. Dad’s the more critical one with lung cancer in his old age of 83.

“Dad was asking for you yesterday.” Mom just remembered, “I told him before earlier in the week but he has since forgotten.”

I know Dad is like that nowadays, always forgetting. It is sad to know that he feels soothed after his questions are answered but soon forget and start to feel sad again… as if we do not care for him enough to visit him.

Dad has to go through these 2 weeks minimum isolation before the doctor can safely say that he is no longer contagious and a threat to the other patients.

Hopefully he can return to the normal 6-bedded ward where he can talk and where there are people around… he may not talk to them because he is reserved but he likes to people-watch quietly from his bed as he would from his kitchen window at home.

The weekend is so near. I do hope that I can recover very soon to be able to visit him again. I miss him as much as he misses his children.

Under The Weather

Oh No!

I have the sniffles last night after feeling a little more uncomfortable in my throat since in the early afternoon at work.

I had to go to the doctor's this morning because by the time I work up about 4:50AM, the pain in my throat was intense. My joints were all aching and my nose was blocked.

I officially declared myself as sick and texted my boss that I was taking sick leave today. Told my colleague about the job I was doing to inform her that it was almost complete and should be more than ready for submission by Thursday.

The doctor came later to the clinic today. I was patient number 3. There were not many patients when I arrived at 8:30AM when the clinic opened but then the sick zombies like me came in one a time to fill up the clinic by the time my number was called at 9:15AM.

The usual prescription was given but I wanted the antibiotics so badly because I hate being sick. I do not get sick frequently but when I do I am the crybaby in the house... totally flat-out over-sized baby!

Today is such a beautiful day out, yet I will be at home and sleeping most of the time. Sigh.

Thanks to Wifey who have passed some germs to me. She has been having flu for the past week and still refused to see the doctor. She self medicate with the medicines that she has but without the antibiotics.

"After 3 days Mama, it is viral infection," says Sonny "not because of lethargy." He tried to convince his mother to see the doctor.

Wifey and I are total opposites when it comes to being sick. I will make the dash to the doctor's but Wifey will linger and suffer in silence while she still does her daily chores. I, the other hand, will be a moppy-bedridden sick zombie, rendered nonfunctional and useless for the day.

The doctor advised me to stay away from my father who is in the isolation ward in SGH when he was diagnosed as having Tuberculosis after 3 days of being warded for breathlessness and coughing fresh blood out.

Dad will be very disappointed to not see me for several days at the ward... only 4 nominated persons are allowed to see him in there.

I am one of them as I am the administrator, while the other 3 are Mom, 3rd Sis who Mom is staying with for the moment and Brother-in-law has a car as transport for my wheelchair-bound Mom.

Even with the TV and daily newspapers, Dad still felt all alone in the ward. For Mom to be there most days, his loneliness is soothed.

Fortunately, the Room 3 Isolation Ward has a telephone that everyone can call to talk to Dad. Though only for a few minutes of talking, it keeps him occupied and not miss the family that much hopefully.

Dad will be in the ward for a minimum of 2 weeks, then the rest of the symptoms can be treated. I hope to recover fast and can start visiting Dad after work again soon...

Always The Hero

We notice that Dad has frequent medical complications nowadays. The period between him being in and out of hospital is much closer together now.

While at home, his condition is stable most times but far from improving. We do not expect it to. Slowly, but most definitely, his condition is growing worse with time. Dad is holding up well, at least that is what he is trying hard to make everyone believe by hiding his pain very well. Seldom complaining and always putting a macho front for us. I think he does it for Mom.

He tries very hard to look well but at times, his facial expressions show that he is tolerating the pain. That makes a whole lot difficult to know when he really needs medical attention by the professionals. It makes it difficult for Mom to decipher it and in turn inform us.

Just last week, I had to urgently take 2 days off work to rush to my parents’ place. Mom called early in the morning while I was getting ready for work. With a little panicky tone, she informed me that Dad was feeling breathless and coughing fresh instead of stale blood for the first time.

I wanted to call the ambulance immediately but after hearing Dad’s voice in the background and after asking few critical questions through Mom, Dad was all better again after taking the Salbutamol inhaler that is reserved for emergencies like this.


Coincidentally that day, Nurse Chris called to inform he was coming to check on Dad. He came about half an hour later when I told him about the morning’s episode.

His prognosis was not good, but for the bleeding, he gave Dad Tranexamic Acid tablets in the hope to stop the bleeding after he consulted with the HCA doctor over the phone.

They urged that Dad go to the hospital if the medication did not arrest the bleeding and wrote a letter to the A&E for us to bring along too.

Dad stayed home. He was reluctant to go, almost fuming at Mom whenever she brought the matter up. He hates hospitals and he loves to be home with Mom.

A trip to Woodlands Polyclinic on Monday for an appointment to have his H1N1 or Swine Flu vaccine made the difference. It was a means to get the doctor to check on Dad’s condition and get Dad to go to the hospital if he found that Dad really needed to.

It was a swift instruction from the Polyclinic doctor that Dad was to go. He relented and agreed, so Elder Sis and I were there at SGH A&E the next moment.

Unknowingly, that early morning, Dad was already in such a pain that he told Mom he wanted to go to the hospital. The pain must have been excruciating for him to actually want to go. But by the time the pain subsided, he was back to his old self, adamant that everything was alright.

The A&E affair at SGH was a slow and trying one. There were just too many emergencies being attended to. It may sound sick but it was like the place had a year-end sale! Some kind of promotion going on.

Dad was warded into transit Ward 58 after a 3 hour marathon since his arrival at A&E... Resuscitation & Observation Ward and then the ER doctor who explained to us of Dad’s condition.

Dad was transferred to the Oncology Ward at Ward 48 after a class B2 bed was available. There, the doctors did some more tests headed by Dad’s Medical Oncologist, Dr. Lo SK from National Cancer Centre or NCC.

We are waiting for the results and what the doctors intend to do next…