of sexual crimes in America and champions...

i was having my study break cum lunch when i swiched on the TV in protest of my long hours of mugging and i happen to chance upon The Oprah Show which was one of my favourites and still is.... and Oprah was talking about child sexual crimes in America and how America seemed to be confused about sexual offenders.

and i was struck by what one of the guest said on Oprah. Bill O'Reilly claimed that once a sexual crime was committed towards a child, the criminal should be just put away for life, without parole...

somehow, i have mixed feelings about this claim. yes, the guy who did it should be given a suitable punishment, not given rehabilitation and a small fine (that was what one Vermont judge passed to a sexual crime offender who raped a 6 year old girl over the course of 4 years). and yes, it was a heinous crime. the victim was a child for goodness sake!

but on the other hand, does the guy deserve to be put away for life even when he is deemed be to remorseful and wants to start life anew??

but then again, how the heck would we know that he is really really really regretful for what he did?? how would we know that he would not prey on another kid again?

does that justify O'Reilly's claims that all sexual offenders deserve a life sentence?


and then O'Reiily also said that all fathers should look at their kids in the eyes and reassure then that no matter what happens, they will always save them, rescue them from any situation. and because of that, until the fathers arrive, they are to fight with whatever strength and courage they have and be careful of all strangers. That i fully agree with him. i read countless autobiographies about kids who have been abducted and kidnapped and sexually preyed on and how their captors kept them submissive by using psychological tactics like telling them repeatedly that their parents do not want them anymore and are not looking for them and they(the captors) are the only ones that care for them.

therefore, i think it is extremely crucial for parents to always reaffirm and reassure their kids that come what may, they will always be there for the kids and the kids should never give up hope and have courage to face anything..

for me, i always know that my parents, my dad and mum will be there anytime, anywhere everyday of my life. even though i am overseas and pretty much oceans away from them, that thought enough gives me courage to keep going. i guess, i have been conditioned and reminded since young that they love me and will always do. and i have always felt loved and wanted throughout my life.

so yes, as O'Reilly said across the TV set into my apartment, fathers should always be the "champions of their kids"....

in my case, my dad and mum are both my "champions"....

Ahhh....

Listening to: Wayne Wonder's Hold Me Now (reminds me of Hawaiian beaches and glorious sunsets)

Eating: Cadbury's Brunch Bar (awesome stuff, PJ!! u got me addicted!!)

Doing: PBS Past Year Exams

Wearing: my old, comfy jammies

Thinking: all about the characteristics of the Haversian System

Wishing: I was hundred miles away on a beach, with a juice in my hand and a string of pooka shells on my neck


4 more days to E-Day man!! then just one week of that and I will be H-O-M-E!! i can't wait to see my family and my friends again, even though this routine has been going on since last year. i still feel the squirmy, suppressed jolt of excitement whenever i look at my empty suitcase in the corner of my room....

it will be a total goddess reward to finally come home and unwind from all the medical stuff i had to cram into my head.... i just want a nice, relaxing, doing-nothing holiday...much like a hot, warm, foamy, sweet-smelling bubble bath with candles and a bowl of choc-covered strawberries and an awesome book and nice music.... and after the soak, i will feel so good and refreshed that i can literally FLOAT out of the bathtub and walk on air with a shiny, scrubbed-clean aura around me!!


so until that day, i shall go a-nerding and read all about the Haversian Systems and eat brunch bars to keep my energy up instead of strawberries....

18th birthdays and BBQ feasts

happy 18th birthday, dear Rachel!!

may all your wishes come true!!

many happy returns of the day!!

hope you enjoyed the BBQ feast ya?? and all your lovely lovely pressies!! and your boy boy is ultimately the sweetest, girl!! give him a big kiss and hug when you get back to spore....

so you ARE 18 already....legal for well...practically EVERYTHING!! so yea, just take your time to do everything okie?? after all, you did do the 1st one on the list which was alcohol... but don't worry, it's just a teensy weensy little bit in that HUGE cup of lemonade...and you didn;t get drunk which is good... a small step goes a looong way, girl!! lol

anyways, have fun and enjoy the rest of the day...

XOXO Mel who is already 19 and wishes that she is 18....

the defintion of a nerd

Andrew's recent blog post was all about the definition of being nerdy and how his la-la land was study-land and it just got me thinking...

about MY definition of being "nerdy"....

so yes, i admit i AM guilty about the fact that i DO label some of my classmates/coursemates/random people on the street as being nerds. and yes, i DO sometimes (yes, most of the times actually) based my observations on their appearance and the presene of books on their arms and the unmistakable heavy bagpack over the shoulder and the thick glasses.

and these are all made on the fact that i might not know them well enough to make that observation..

so am i superficial?? shallow??jugdemental??

i guess the answer is YES....

yes, sometimes (yes, most of the times) appearances DOES matter whether we like it or not

whether we have countless of times declare that we WILL not fall into that superficial pit

yes, sometimes we are all human and we DO pass judgements on people, random people...

yes, everything we do, say, think, wear, carry, act etc makes an IMPRESSION on otehr people, whether we like it or not... whether we moan and groan and say that first impressions doesn't count....

and so, tomorrow, maybe, just maybe i might dig into my closet and throw out any turtlenecks, white boring shirts, plaid skirts, old fashioned jeans.... just in case....

the view

i have the choice of blogging of either of these:
a) how tired i am after a full day prac session
b) how much work to be done for the coming exams (84 one-hour lectures to go through)
c) how many things i have to juggle on top of the workload
or
d) how i feel that all the hard work will be worth it in the end

and i choose D....

after all, i am all about the long-haul and it's definitely no easy road to my destination and the bottom line is that in this line that i am in now, there is NO destination. there is only constant improvment, renewal... a never-ending road to some unknown, unreacheable evening sunset horizon.... at least, the view is beautiful from where i am.

i am after all, facing the sunset in in its full glory.

and the journey is wonderful.

embryology and life....

quiz coming up again. and this time, we have biochem, embryology, pharmacology and microbiology to read up on.... interesting but tough...

so can't blog much since all i can think about is how cells in an embryo proliferate and become a full-fledged baby... and let me tell you this, appreciate your mother as much as you can man...the things she goes through to give birth to you is astounding. and how life happens inside your mother and how it grows from just a tiny cell and just knowing what to do to sustain itself is amazing. you just wonder how it can think and plan for the future with what little resources it has. to prepare itself with nutrients, it develops a yolk sac and then when the time comes to abandon the yolk sac, it already has a placenta in place to provide food... and so many more examples...

all i can say is that life is one big miracle...

genetics

this week was all about genetics and to conclude it, the lecturer invited a lady who was diagnosed with beta-thalassemia to come talk to us about her condition. it was a somber talk that a few meddies cried. i guess, being meds, we have always talk, breathe, eat even dream about diseases. we know the symptoms, we know the treatments or in certain sad cases, lack of treatments, we know about the side effects, we know about the deteriorating conditions.

but we seldom attach the whole humanity side to these illnesses.

we forget the suffering part, the hopelessness of it all, the emotions behind the disease, the human behind the diagnosis.

we forget that they have families who love them and would do anything for them.

we forget that they have friends that would miss their company and have an impact on their lives.

we forget that they are a part of communities that would suffer from the loss of them.'

we forget that they have emotions and thoughts and intelligence and personalities.

we forget that they too have souls.

and they are not mere perfect textbook examples of patients with health conditions.




*once upon a time, there lived a princess who love hugs...*

Cold-Inducing Coughs and experiments....

update: i am still croaking and this cough is so weird man... according to Kelvin and his crazy theories (this time minus the help of PJ), it is due to the cold weather and it wil last for at least one month and once i am cleared from this cough, i will get immunity and i will never get it again...

what i want to say is HELLO??!! that does not make sense at all man!!! does this mean that after this bout of coughing, i will NO LONGER cough in my whole entire life??!! that is just soooo crappy man... and he's supposed to be a medical student who is going to be a full-fledged doctor and is going to treat some poor patients in the near future... i shudder at that thought...LOL.... but we'll see whether his theory pans out then....

introducing Mel Test Subject No.1 in Kelvin's Experiment for Cold-Inducing Coughs....

*cough cough*

but it does make sense actually.. the whole business of the cough being cold-weather-induced as i only cough the hardest and most often during nightime and that's when the weather is super chilly...

oh well.. we shall see then, would-be-Dr-Kee....