Two words to describe my experience: Roller Coaster.
What do I mean by a roller coaster? Throughout this experience, from deciding to take up the post, planning to executing, I have had emotional fluctuations. However, I am still grateful for what I have been through and skills learnt from this experience.
At first, I had a hard time deciding whether to take up the Chairperson or Public Relations Representative post, or just be an Event Assistant. Many things have held me back and the worst case scenarios in ruining the entire Career Day have crossed my mind for uncountable times. I have been worried about my soft skills and if I can manage people well. I would like to thank Miss Carina for not forcing me into any posts, and my Student Ambassador (SA) mate, Jen May, for her encouragement in achieving something bigger before our term as an SA ends.
During planning, everything has seemed to go well. Due to my inexperience, the first day of pre-preparation has been the lowest point of my entire experience. I panicked when I was informed that only one helper showed up, out of five who had signed up. I contacted them and found out that some of them had forgotten about it. I have learnt to think in depth and foresee possible happenings.
During preparation, I learnt to be flexible and to be open to all possible changes. Miss Carina pointed out to me that I tend to plan in detail and expect everything to go accordingly. I am grateful that I have an efficient team. I have learnt from them on enjoying the process as my team has established friendships with each other and the whole atmosphere in the work station was filled with positive vibes. In addition, due to my worries and stress, I would like to thank my team for being understanding and supportive.
Throughout the whole process, I have learnt to always refer back to the big picture before going into details, so I will always stay on the right track. I have learnt to be more observant and hence could correct my team efficiently when they make mistakes as correction could not be delay or worse consequences may result.
The most important thing that I have gained from this experience is to stay optimistic. As mentioned above, I tend to be pessimistic before I even try. From this experience, I have regained my confidence in managing people and realized it is not as tough as I had imagined. I have learnt to do my best with love as the central motive, instead of fear. When love dominates, I am calmer and people around me will feel more comfortable working together. When fear dominates, I tend to be so demanding and people around me will feel stressed as well.
I am blessed to be granted this opportunity to work as a Career Day Chairperson. I believe I will continue in improving my skills and achieving more in life.
Facebook is arguably the biggest and most popular social networking site today. Initially it was touted to be a networking platform for only collage students and young adults but over the years it has created a niche for itself among adult users as well. This is a clear sign that Facebook is fast becoming the most popular social networking site across all age groups. Apart from just various purposes like marketing, promotion, chatting and communicating with others. Facebook is helping us in many ways and also harming us in other ways. Hence, I partially agree that Facebook greatly benefits the young people of today.
Firstly, you can share information on Facebook. Whether personal or professional, Facebook is also a great place to share information with your colleagues, friends and family. This includes your cell phone number, date of birth, place of birth, your likes and dislikes as well as other information that you need others to know about you. You can also ask public questions, get feedback on certain things, share blogs, notes, pictures of events and even add links to interesting videos and pictures. You can also comment on what your friends post online and enjoy great conversations. Nevertheless, showing too much of information on Facebook can lead to invasion of privacy. This is because Facebook is vulnerable to attacks and several hackers have been actively altering people’s profile information on daily basis. Also, a lot of pictures are uploaded on Facebook every day and some pictures uploaded contain viruses. On opening those virus attacked pictures, you create a danger to your data and computer. Hence, revealing too much information on Facebook has its positive and negative effects.
Secondly, you can use Facebook to chat with your friends and the people you may know. With the invention of Facebook, gone are those days when a phone call was the only way to hold a conversation with a person who is far away from you. Now, there are many ways to communicate with others and Facebook chat is one way. Facebook provides a simple, small chatting application that can be used to chat with your friends who are online. In addition to that, with Facebook you can play games, browse through latest updates and chat with your friends simultaneously. Unfortunately, the chat application on Facebook reduces face-to-face communication. Some people may think that it is convenient for them to communicate through chat application instead of calling or meeting up with their friends, but then they tend to forget about the importance of body language, voice inflection and have disagreements with their friends when messages sent are misunderstood. This leads to relationships turning sour. Thus, the chat application on Facebook has its pros and cons and hence, we should use it wisely.
Thirdly, Facebook can also be used to find school and college friends and to get in touch with old acquaintances. Today, almost every internet user uses Facebook. Using Facebook, you can find your old friends, colleagues whom you have lost contact and with them online again. Facebook’s friend finder feature allows you to find your friends with their names or email addresses. Nevertheless, staying in touch with Facebook be a waste of time. Facebook can be very addictive. Once you stay connected with other friends, you will realize how often you login for another chat and discover what other members are doing. Some people know the drawbacks of Facebook but cannot help staying connected to old friends whom they have not seen in years. All this will certainly make you become addicted to Facebook. Many hours are wasted on Facebook when one could have done something more important than using Facebook. Staying connected with friends through Facebook is an excellent idea, but one needs to know his or her priority so that you would not neglect yor work and family and get addicted to Facebook.
Spams and scams on social networking sites are common. Many users receive emails nearly every day from anonymous users asking to date and chat with them, it has continuously become frustrating to receive all these useless spam emails and there is no solution for it. Scam is an extra problem for users; unfortunately, some scammers trick members and scam them in some ways to steal from their accounts. An ordinary recognized trick could be through a phishing website which looks very similar to Facebook and people believe that they are still on the official Facebook website. Once a member logs in using their emails and password, scammers will access that account and scam their friends, spreading further scam and viruses through the website. Fake websites can also steal your bank information if consumers fall prey to their advertisements. It is important for all Facebook users to be alert of such spams and scams to avoid falling prey to this crime.
Hence, Facebook is a ‘one-stop-shop’ for entertainment, communication and sharing of information with others. Nevertheless, there are also drawbacks that can cause its users to become addicted to Facebook. Thus, we should use this social networking site wisely and safeguard ourselves against cyber crimes.
I was on my way back from university, stuck in my car at a traffic light . I heard a loud ambulance siren from the back. As I glanced at my side mirrors, I could see cars next to mine parting to either side, trying to give way to the ambulance. That made me think: Were the cars, me included, moving away because of the siren that required them to do so by law, or were they moving away because of a true sense of concern about the emergency that might have required this ambulance’s service? This question highlighted a seemingly significant negative in society today: the lack of altruism.
What is altruism? Well to the layman, it would mean putting someone else’s benefit above yours. A simple example would be a gesture of giving your seat to an old lady on the bus when all the other seats are taken. There are obviously more elaborate interpretations of altruism, but for the sake of brevity this example shall suffice. Altruism is an important part of any society, and arguably more so in the case of healthcare practitioners. Doctors often need to sacrifice a lot in order to ensure the significant progress of each and every one of their patients. With that sacrifice comes tremendous stress and agony, which we future medical professionals should learn to handle.
In recent times, the level and standard of healthcare in Malaysia has dropped, and this is worsened by the increased influx of medical officers that has caused a ‘bottle neck’ in our healthcare system. Put simply, the number of specialists in each department is too small to sustain the number of graduating doctors/medical officers. Matters are made worse by the huge number of private institutions that offer medical courses for more better and affordable prices. Medicine has unfortunately become a business, and this jeopardizes almost everything a healthcare professional should stand for.
Principles that businesses adhere too do not run parallel with the healthcare ethics. Companies often compete with one another, to gain more profit and generate more wealth. This leads to them being more short-term minded, to gain large amounts of profit in short amounts of time. The pursuit of self-interest triumphs everything else. When the market values are applied to healthcare, patients are burdened to be at the receiving end of this spectrum. Furthermore, doctors are also victim to this system. Private hospitals offer more lucrative job opportunities than government facilities, causing large numbers of more senior specialist to shift to the private sector.
So the question is: why do these more lucrative jobs seem to attract better specialists? The answer is pretty obvious: the medical practice itself has become somewhat a competition. Good/skilled doctors fear the rise of other good doctors, and tend to hope for the downfall of their peers, hoping that they make mistakes so that there is less competition out there, not to mention having different approaches to treatment and not sharing those approaches with their peers in the fear of an increase in competition. Less qualified doctors are not looked as threats, and hence don’t fall under this category and end up working in government facilities. Private hospitals house more ‘credible’ doctors, and government hospitals are left with the “not-so-credible ones.” By credible, I obviously mean the more qualified ones; the ones who have worked longer years , gotten better educations, and the ones with better repertoire. Its not to say that there are not any ‘credible’ doctors in the government healthcare scene, it’s just that the numbers are scarce.
This business-motivated healthcare system is very well a part of Malaysia. The implications of this on patients are far greater than we could imagine, and they’re not changing things for the better either. Moderate to low class citizens will go to government facilities, where more often than not (unfortunately), mistakes and misdiagnoses are made. Patients get ill, damaged, scarred permanently, physically and emotionally.
The worst part is, those responsible are not held accountable, and can get off easily. Why? The legal process would be too much of a burden to handle for those patients. Medico-legal trials in Malaysia , can last for more than 6 months. During this period legal fees have to be covered by the complainants, and legal fees isn’t cheap. Not to mention the reward that courts do offer to those who do come up victorious in such trials are neither great nor sufficient to cover most legal fees. The cost of one blind eye is 60 thousand ringgit , and the value of a full blown court proceeding would probably exceed this. The next question would be, how is justice then served? The fact is, it’s not. Most doctors with powerful lawyers tend to win, albeit their reputations are affected in the process.
Upper class citizens and a minority of middle class citizens are also affected in the private sector. Doctors in private hospitals compete with one another and as mentioned above, there will be repercussions. Two doctors from the same sub-specialty can have two different approaches to the same treatment regime, eventually getting different results. Hence, doctors perform differently: one succeeding more than the other. Patients are left with different prognoses as a matter of circumstance. Matters are made worse when patients don’t know who the best specialists are to consult and to get the best form of treatment. Doctors also don’t share their new modifications and updates to specific practices or techniques so that they can get above others in the competitive market place of healthcare. Sadly, patients from every single income bracket are affected in one way or another.
Medicine is a beautiful science; but we as future medical practitioners should be aware of the flaws of the medical system that exists in Malaysia.
At this point, I should perhaps kindly tell the reader that this piece isn’t intended to drive anyone away from studying medicine. Medicine is a beautiful science; but we as future medical practitioners should be aware of the flaws of the medical system that exists in Malaysia. Often, this issue seems to be glossed over and there is not enough said about it. I can’t speak for medical practices overseas, as I’ve yet to have any experience with healthcare systems abroad. But for those who intend to practice here in Malaysia , these issues should surely not be ignored. Altruism and the business culture don’t go hand-in-hand. Maybe one day, when we grow up and become successful doctors and specialists, we could know better.
If anything, this is what I ask for: One fine day, when you receive your lucrative job offer from a private sector, perhaps due to your distinguished first-class honors degree and a place on the dean’s list, take a step back for a moment and consider that your personal career gain is part of a larger flawed system where the less fortunate are exploited and treated unfairly. That’s nothing personal against you, nor is there anything wrong with you gaining success in your career; you’ve probably worked your socks off and certainly deserve the best that you can get. But an awareness of the problems that we face might help change it for the better in the future.
Decking the IMU halls with boughs of holly and streams of golden fairy lights
Oh, the festive season is here- and in this school that is home to so many, this wonderful time of the year, laden with the smells of freshly baked apple-crumble baked to a golden crisp, a potful of warm custard, along with the sight of a 10-foot tall Christmas tree, and glass windows/doors/panels taking upon designs painstakingly designed, stenciled and snow-sprayed.
AMSA-IMU, the Christian Fellowship and Intra-Varsity Club collaborated in colossal red-and-gold themed fundraising event, aimed to benefit two beneficiaries, Precious Homes Orphanage and United Learning Centre from where 95 children were invited as guests for the Christmas Lunch.
Bringing the Christmas markets to campus, we have Christmas treats and knick-knacks from three booths manned by the semester one AMSA ambassadors, the Dream Bigger Reaching Out Committee, and lastly, the Intra-Varsity Club. The AMSA ambassador booth sold hot chocolate, apple crumble, and sought after the proposition of bring J-Co donuts to the chronically hungry IMU students, along with a “Mini Mailboxes” component where everyone can write a personal letter to the children of Precious Homes Orphanage.
The Dream Bigger Reaching Out booth aims to benefit the Burmese refugee children from the United Learning Centre, with the “You Still Want That?” garage sale selling unwanted items from the students and staff of IMU, and also from a local church. With a thrift-shop concept and interesting stuff labeled with price tags, who can resist dropping by? However, booth-head Jaspret Johal admitted to worrying about “not getting good responses, and making a loss instead. But on the first day, the response we got surprised us. Despite some hiccups, everything went so well”. The booth also has the “Constructing Care Packages” component, showcasing bags, wallets and watches bought for the children as presents that were given out to them during the lunch.
Lastly, the “We Knit You” booth by the Intra-Varsity Club’s had hand-crocheted merchandises with witty names such as “beef bacon”, “Elsa”, “lemon sherbet” and my person favourite with an Adventure Time reference, “lumpy space princess”. The side-booth that is cleverly alliterated “Care for Christmas Custard Cake?” has vanilla butter cake served with warm custard and an array of different toppings the customer can choose from.
On a Monday of the fortnight we also had semester-ones from the Christian Fellowship battling the rush-hour traffic and heading over to ULC to spread the Christmas cheer to the Burmese refugees with harmonized carols, and games (well, actually just the 19 year old semester ones getting bullied by the 7 year old children there).
Caroling at ULC
As a splendid end to the Christmas fortnight, a lunch, along with an array of dazzling performances by the IMU choir club, IMU Dance Club, IMU Hellen Keller Society and IMU Catholic Society, allowing the guests to have a time of merriment and with a (exhale here) reprieve from their usual wake-up-go-to-class-try-not-to-sleep-in-class-eat-zhapfan routine.
We also had the opportunity to present the presents to the children! Remember the small bags and posh wallets we have been asking you to contribute to buy for the children? Every child’s eyes lighted up brighter than fairy lights when we distributed their gifts. The buzz of choosing which football team wallet they want was mixed with equal parts gratefulness. A huge thank you for your contributions!
Intra-Varsity Booth-head Hazwan Yuan found the event to be a “great way in this festive season to help the less fortunate, where the whole IMU community contributed no matter how big or small to put that smile on the children’s faces”
All in all everyone, especially the children, left with smiles wider than their filled bellies and the eagerness to usher in Christmas this year.
It was a peculiar Friday night. Anyone would expect IMU to be an empty void on a Friday night, without students and lecturers as they bade goodbye to the weekdays. However, on that particular Friday evening, passionate voices, loud and clear, were filling this void, complete with the occasional “Hear! Hear!” or “Shame!”.
Such sights would also be witnessed over the next two days.
Well, it wouldn’t take a detective to figure out what was happening: a big blue banner with “IMU Debate Open 2014” emblazoned on it was draped in the atrium of IMU, amidst the Christmas decorations.
Held annually by IMU Debating Society, IMU Debate Open 2014, held from 21 November to 23 November, attracted local and international participants from various universities and high schools. Some even hailed from places as far as Guangdong province, China. With 52 teams participating, it was by no means a small-scale event.
The organising committee, made up of a diverse team of students from various faculties and spearheaded by Leonard Goh, the incumbent President of IMU Debating Society, came together and started planning this three-day-event since September 2014. Goh shared, “I was impressed with the whole team’s responsiveness and efficiency throughout the entire process, from the planning stage to the execution phase.”
However, it was not all smooth sailing. Goh pointed out, “One of the greatest challenges we faced was the room bookings for our debating venues. Given that IMU is a small campus, it was rather difficult to find sufficient rooms to host all 52 teams.” However with the invaluable assistance from Mr Mok and Ms May Kuan from SSD, these issues were soon resolved. Lalina Priya Murugan, the co-convener of the event said, “Slight hiccups here and there are common. Nevertheless, we managed to accommodate the increased number of teams, provided transportation and more food servings.
Perhaps one of the most memorable moments for participants was when they had to use their hands to eat after cutleries ran out. Malaysians, and in particular our Malay peers, wasted no time to demonstrate how they neatly gather food using only their fingertips and gently push it into their mouths using their thumbs. As such, aside from debating, international participants also had an authentic taste of cultural diversity in Malaysia by learning the traditional Malay way of eating.
IMU Debate Open 2014 runs on the British Parliamentary format, where four teams comprising opening factions and closing factions for government and opposition sides respectively are pitched against each other. After the release of the motion, debaters are given 15 minutes to prepare and debate in their assigned roles. Note that electronics are not allowed during the prep period, hence the best debaters are those who are well-versed in current issues.
Debaters from SingaporeDebaters from China
With issues ranging from inheritance tax, patenting human genes, to jus soli in the United States, the various motions released throughout the tournament put the versatility of debaters to test. Going from one room to another, it can be observed that debaters were fervently engaging in their debates, trying their best to outwit and out speak each other.
For many, it was not only a good learning experience, but also an excellent platform for opinionated students to engage in discussions surrounding world issues. The fiery finals debate put up by the finalists certainly did not disappoint the 60-odd crowd on the last day of the event.
And with that, IMU Debate Open 2014 is done and dusted. Goh proudly said,
“IMUDO 2014 was well received by its 150-odd participants, and this is all to the credit of each and every person of the organising committee.”
Despite challenges at the beginning, this event certainly ended on a high note. So till the next year!
Asian Medical Student Exchange Program (AMSEP) Malaysia-Japan
On 1st November 2014, five medical students from International Medical University, Bukit Jalil were given the opportunity to be the lead committee and travel to Osaka, Japan in relation with the Asian Medical Student Exchange Program (AMSEP) between IMU and Osaka University for 9 days. The purpose of this program was to provide cultural and knowledge exchange at an international level amongst the medical students. The five students – Ng Yen Wing, Mohammad Hazwan Bin Yuan, Ng Chang Ern (Ernest), Koh Khai Ling and Wong Zhi Xian, began their journey heading towards Kansai Airport, Osaka, Japan.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by Mr. Kazushi Fujiyama, the local AMSEP Japan Director, and joined by Mr. Takeshi Sakata later on where we were efficiently accommodated and provided with great hospitality. We were then brought to the beautiful Suita Campus of Osaka University where we were given the opportunity to attend a lecture on statistics of cancer in Japan, by Dr. Tomotake Sobue. At night, we were brought to Nakanoshima (Central Island), a place where the river splits into a delta dividing the business and commercial areas in Osaka. Despite the cold temperature in autumn, the views were breathtaking.
This exchange program widened our perspective in terms of academics, especially as medical students. We were privileged to learn in one of the most prestigious emergency departments in Japan- the Emergency Department of Osaka University Hospital. Dr. Mituo Onishi showed us the advanced medical technology that they use for treatments (even in A&E departments), like the CT scan, X-ray machines and platform for emergency gadgets all converged in one room. Besides that, he gave us a lecture on disaster management (which was absolutely new to us Malaysians) and introduced us to the emergency management system called Disaster Medical Assistant Team (DMAT).
Apart from the hospital visit, we experienced another side of Japan’s healthcare in the rural areas at Dr. Tomoyuki Kido’s clinic in Itakano. We were briefed with high enthusiasm on the operation of the clinic, and the visit ended with casual conversation over a warm tea session and even warmer company. Moreover, we were also able to enter the Immunology Research Department of Osaka University. Professor Suguru Ishi explained to us about cell imaging under the state-of-the-art 2x photon microscope. Medical assistants were there to demonstrate the entire process to us, from preparation to the actual imaging. We were extremely honored, as Professor Ishi was amongst the first to develop the method of using cell imaging microscopy.
The days in Osaka were not only filled with academics but also undeniably enjoyable moments as tourists. We were brought to places such as Universal Studios of Japan, Osaka Castle, Dotonbori, Kyomitsu Temple at Kyoto, Umeda and Namba. Culture was amongst one of the many factors that attracted our hearts to Osaka and Kyoto. The people’s politeness was definitely admirable; our Japanese hosts and friends were more than glad to show us hospitality, even though language was, in the beginning, an obstacle to communication. Our Japanese friends told us that we were very fortunate to have visited Osaka at a time when the brownish-red autumn leaves begin to fall. In that kind of chilling climate (it even fell to 7 Celsius on the second night), we tried the mouth-watering dishes including okonomiyaki, takoyaki, kaiten sushi and matcha flavoured desserts, not forgetting the various fresh sashimi. We unanimously agreed that we had the best Japanese food during this exchange; we truly enjoyed each and every meal.
10th November marked the end of the journey. It was the last day, and we had to say goodbye to if not the best, then certainly one of the best cities that we had ever been to. We definitely are going to miss the friends that we made and the experience itself of traveling around Japan like the locals. We appreciate the chance given to us by AMSA, AMSEP and all the members that made this program possible. We are now looking forward to host the Japanese students here in Kuala Lumpur in March next year.
Written by: Muhamad Hazwan Bin Yuan & Ernest Ng Chang Ern
Hello. I am Tatsuki – and I am currently studying Chinese Medicine.
Many people have asked me about my reasons for studying Chinese Medicine – including my friends from IMU who have known me for the past 5 years. – yes, you have read that right. I have been in IMU for the past 5 years, in MBBS. I have joined the Chinese Medicine course immediately after graduating from MBBS, and started my classes even before my convocation.
I have joined the Chinese Medicine course immediately after graduating from MBBS, and started my classes even before my convocation.
I do have some very good reasons to pursue this 5 year course – and since I have had to explain myself a lot of times, (sometimes it is just tempting to say “WHY NOT?” depending on the tone of the question) I thought it would be great to just point out things, give a complete explanation, and also hopefully encourage some people to study a bit of Chinese Medicine as well.
Being in IMU-MBBS (non-PMS), I have seen many strengths and weaknesses of the Western Medical system.
Western Medicine is the more mainstream form of healthcare nowadays – and this is true in many nations, all over the world. It is the choice of healthcare by a vast majority of the public. However, many do not know that Western Medicine – like all things in the universe – has its limitations.
Medicine has had its first great victory over diseases probably in the advent of antibiotics by Sir Alexander Fleming, and among other things, evidence-based approach to disease. Medicine works by proving that certain specific remedies work for certain specific diseases, by providing a very concise explanation for it – just like how penicillin works against several bacterial infections by effectively shedding the bacterial cell wall during bacterial division – which has been proven by close observations.
Western medicine is pretty awesome when it comes to bacterial infections (until now), surgically correctable diseases like congenital heart defects, and in minimizing obstetric complications through hand-washing and careful perinatal care. The statistics shows great success in these kinds of fields.
[La Rochelle P, Julien A-S (2013). How dramatic were the effects of handwashing on maternal mortality observed by Ignaz Semmelweis? JLL Bulletin: Commentaries on the history of treatment evaluation]
One of the many success of western medicine – hand washing.
However, just like I mentioned, nothing in this world is perfect- Western Medicine has its flaws. To name a few;
The over-emphasis on reductionism and disease-centered approach to a doctor – in short, you need a diagnosis to be treated. It is difficult to treat a patient with a tummy ache and nausea despite having found nothing upon an endoscopy. On the other hand, if you have a gastric ulcer, we can patch that up, get your anaemia sorted if you have any, prescribe you some proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), and check to see if your uninvited guest (H. pylori) needs to be asked to leave. It seems as if only severe patients get the ticket to admission of western medicine.
Difficulty of integration of body-mind-soul. The WHO model of health states that our health comprises of wellness in terms of physical, mental and social health. But can you see a doctor for having trouble finding friends in university? It might sound absurd, but who says we should regard physical health over our mental and social health? Aren’t they all supposed to be important?
Over generalization of humans and remedies. When you have a headache, you usually either get some rest, get a panadol, or aspirin that comes in the same sized pills for all. For whose convenience? We are all human, but we know we have subtle differences (or huge differences, if you feel that way). Shouldn’t therapies be based on each of us as individuals?
Emphasis on fixing the broken – We see sick people in the hospital all the time. But what we are really seeing are previously healthy people that may have stayed that way, if they have had some intervention before they showed on our doorstep. We are failing on preventive measures, and every day we see legs that get amputated that could have stayed with the patient if s/he had known the importance of glycemic control, or even better – a healthy lifestyle.
Chinese Medicine or other traditional medicine (e.g. Ayurveda) on the other hand for instance, focuses on the way of living to prevent diseases, and strengthening of our natural defence mechanisms to combat diseases.
In Chinese medicine, the bodily defence mechanism may be described as 正气（Zheng qi), which combats intrinsic or extrinsic ‘evil’ pathogens, 邪气（XieQi). There is emphasis on the importance of balance – of Yin and Yang (阴阳) – which may be described as equilibrium or, in medical terms, homeostasis.
Chinese medicine may categorize the types of people by 5 elements – Fire, Wood, Earth, Water, and Metal. Ayuvedic medicine may categorize a person into a mixture of 3 constitutions – pitta, vata and kapha, which influence the following remedy to a great extent. Traditional medicine places heavy emphasis on individualized diagnosis and management.
The five element theory
There are many more concepts in traditional medicine that resemble modern understanding of human physiology, and the treatments prescribed by trained practitioners are well-founded on these principles.
Each therapy is individualised – for instance in Chinese medicine, the early stages of Cold is treated perhaps with herbs 麻黄 (Ma Huang) if the patient is a fit male who can eat well, but桂枝( Gui Zhi) when the patient seems to be frail and cannot tolerate the diaphoretic potential of Ma Huang.
The mode of therapy itself is varied. In the 皇帝内劲“Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine”, which is attributed to the Yellow Emperor who reigned 3000BC – there were already methods of Acupuncture, Moxibustion, Herbal therapy, and Tuina (massage) therapy, all depending on the type of people who needed the treatment. By taking into consideration the demographic and geographical factors, the ancient Chinese invented a variety of treatment methods to suit the patient.
Chinese Medicine is a holistic care system – the common belief amongst practitioners of Chinese Medicine is that the mind and the body are never independent of each other. Intense anger may damage the liver, sorrow weakens the heart, and pensive thinking may disturb the spleen and stomach. Everything we do in our daily lives affects our health – our diet, exercise, and sleep-wake cycle has close relationships with our health. The ancient Chinese believed that diet was of great importance in maintenance of health – 五穀為養、五果為助、五畜為益、五菜為充、気味合而服之、以補益精気 (the five grains nurture, five fruits help, five meat supplement, five vegetables fulfil our five organs). Each food has specific effects on various aspects of human physiology and it is possible to alter our diet to supplement or fortify our homeostatic control of health.
Intense anger may damage the liver, sorrow weakens the heart, and pensive thinking may disturb the spleen and stomach.
Integrative medicine – an amalgamation of Western medicine and other complementary medicine – is not only possible, but is currently being practised by many doctors and practitioners. In Japan, for instance, where I come from, only doctors are allowed to prescribe Chinese herbal medications, as the government recognizes herbs as medications – and some Japanese doctors (with western medicine degree and practising license) have used Chinese herbal medication, or Kampo (漢方as) we call them, and been having good clinical results. Most doctors express that it is nice to have an alternative method of therapy, when western medicine therapy is exhausted. A good example is a patient with ‘functional dyspepsia’ – where patient may complain of gastric disturbance symptoms with no discernable cause, and all investigations return negative. In this case, some doctors may try alternative medicine, and for some, it may work.
If you are a doctor who does and recommends yoga to your patients, than you are already practicing integrative medicine!
Most doctors express that it is nice to have an alternative method of therapy, when western medicine therapy is exhausted.
At the end of this long article, I would just like to summarize my reasons for pursuing this course. The realm of healthcare is a never-ending winding road, which I have just found out at the end of MBBS course. I made a choice to take the road less taken, and to see if I can find something new to benefit more people. I will not abandon western medicine, but rather I would like to learn as many things as possible during this course which may benefit my future patients.
I made a choice to take the road less taken, and to see if I can find something new to benefit more people. I will not abandon western medicine, but rather I would like to learn as many things as possible during this course which may benefit my future patients.
Tats (CM114)
A lucky guy, blessed with family and friends. A jack-of-all-trades student, swimmer, singer, guitarist, and master of procrastination.
The IMU Cup is something that I look forward to every year, and this year was no exception. However, this being my last IMU Cup, I decided to enter more events than usual, and this afforded me the opportunity to learn new games as well as to interact with numerous individuals. The instantaneous bonding that developed between teammates during training sessions, the fun we had after practices, the pre-game anticipation and the thrills of competition are, in my opinion, something that could not have been replicated elsewhere. More importantly, I got to know many wonderful people, not just from my own house, but from the other houses as well throughout the two months. The fact that everyone was unbelievably supportive of each other, regardless of which team they were from, was a joy to behold. I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to my wonderful Griffin teammates, who were absolutely amazing throughout the entire duration of the competition, and showcased a tremendous amount of dedication and teamwork, and to my friends from the other houses for making the events so enjoyable and fun. I am also grateful to the IMU CUP Committee for organizing such a brilliant games festival. The amount of happiness i derived from this year’s IMU Cup truly cannot be defined and it is definitely an experience I shall treasure and look back on with fond memories.
The instantaneous bonding that developed between teammates during training sessions, the fun we had after practices, the pre-game anticipation and the thrills of competition are, in my opinion, something that could not have been replicated elsewhere.
For four years I’ve been getting myself involved in the most grand sports event yet in IMU, which is the IMU Cup. In these past four years I’ve gone through all kinds of mixed feelings, from the sourest and saddest defeats to the most joyous and triumphant victories, and above all I’ve picked up the most important values in the field of sports, ‘determination, understanding and teamwork’.
I’ve picked up the most important values in the field of sports, ‘determination, understanding and teamwork’
Here is what I have to say for those who are passionate in sports and would want to be good at it. It is true that hard work comes with determination and hence, to improve oneself and to strive for the better it requires a 100% of determination. I still remember starting off badly in the first year because of my lack of experience in competitions. I was only involved in Football and Futsal which I thought I had played long enough, since I was as young as 11 years old, to bring a great impact to the team. Nonetheless, my first IMU Cup was a disastrous experience for me and I felt demotivated and demoralized by my mistakes which cost the game to my team. Despite the big stumble, my passion in sports did not come to a halt. Over the years I worked on my weaknesses and tried to improve my strength and agility and slowly I found myself committing lesser mistakes than before. I was able to work well with my team and I slowly claimed my first team position as well. We were crowned football champions in my second year in Hydra House, and in the third year I was promoted to be the football captain of Hydra House. Without disappointing the Hydra members’ expectations, we successfully defended our champion title in football! This positive outcome brought up my courage and I started joining sports that I had never tried in my life before! One of which I never thought I would even make up onto the stage, which was dance competition when it was first introduced in 2013! The result surprised me leaving me gobsmacked when my dance crew was announced the champion of the first dance competition of IMU Cup! Winning it on my debut was really a superb experience, and until now I still can not describe how happy and touched I was. There were a lot of other sports which were my first experience such as Frisbee, touch rugby, squash, tennis, darts, cheer etc. and whether winning or losing it, I enjoyed getting involved in all of those because I gave my full determination to them.
I did not win this MVP award with my own effort at all. I feel that I do not entirely deserve to be crowned as the MVP because it was in fact the entire team’s effort that won us the games. No matter what sports events, the team with the strongest spirits and attitude will always have a higher edge of winning the game. A team with excellent chemistry does not necessarily need the best players in the team. Every player has a positive impact to the team, and at the same time every player has their own weaknesses too. With good chemistry and team spirits, we were able to cover each other’s weaknesses and mistakes and synergise each positive impact from each player to produce the results that we dreamed for. As a football and futsal captain, I learned to be understanding to new members as well. Everyone has got to start somewhere to get better – exactly like how I was four years ago. I had a few new members who struggled to play well because they were inexperienced and less skillful. However, I was glad to have selected a team with players who are passionate, understanding, communicative and forgiving to each other’s mistakes which ultimately made us the third consecutive football champions in IMU Cup. The players who were initially having a tough time performing well blossomed under the team’s encouragements and praises, and eventually became the most important players which contributed to us defending the football championship.
…it was in fact the entire team’s effort that won us the games. No matter what sports events, the team with the strongest spirits and attitude will always have a higher edge of winning the game.
I would love to encourage not just the sport enthusiasts but every student out there in IMU to keep joining IMU Cup and make it a fun, competitive and meaningful event that will bring you sweet memories. Do not be discouraged by defeats and dreadful critics, use them as an experience and learn from the mistakes you made. If you’re passionate about sports, do not stop trying and one day your determination will pay off! In fact, campus life is probably the last stage where you will be able to get yourself involved in grand sports events like this. Do not waste your youthful physiques and souls! Just keep in mind that you should not take defeat too harshly. It is not a bad thing to lose because you have definitely learned something new from the games and because of that it is a gain for you, in other words – you are a winner as well. Winning does not mean everything too, it will serve as an encouragement for you to work harder to be even better than who you were before, because there is no end to learning and improving. As the saying goes, ‘success is never owned, it is being leased, and rent is due every day’.
It is not a bad thing to lose because you have definitely learned something new from the games and because of that it is a gain for you, in other words – you are a winner as well.
Lastly, if you were to ask me what was my best moment in all these IMU Cup seasons, nothing beats the closing ceremony of IMU Cup 2014! Watching Hydra going from 5th place in 2011, to 3rd place in 2012, and the sad slip in the last moments in 2013 when we lost the IMU Cup to Pegasus, and finally witnessing Hydra emerging as champions in this year’s IMU Cup! I am truly lucky to be a part of the Hydra big family. The members here are friendly, loving, sporting and unselfish! I would like to dedicate my two years of MVP awards to all Hydra members, as an icing to the cake in conjunction to lifting the IMU Cup 2014! They all deserved it! Hail Hydra! =))
Vicknesh Kandasamy Gunasekaran, Taurus House Captain 2014
When I first joined IMU, I thought it was going to be all about books but then IMU surprised me. Never would I have thought that we would be having sport events the size of IMU Cup. I enjoyed this because I believe books are important but life isn’t all about it. At first I was nervous to take up the job as captain of Taurus but after going through IMU cup, it was all worth it. I have learned so many things. It has thought me how to interact with people, organise things, manage issues, balance time and of course work together with my amazing committee members. I believe IMU Cup is an event that promotes interaction with different batches. It’s nice to have friends from other courses and also from various batches. To all those that have not taken part in IMU Cup, DO NOT MISS OUT! Do join next year and you will be surprised. As captain I have overlooked most of the sports and I must say that I admire how some of the Taurus members have put in so much effort into practice. Therefore, I would like to make a shout out to all Taurus members out there who took part in IMU cup. Especially the sports captains – whether or not they won does not matter. The fact that they took part already shows that they are winners to us. I would also like to make a special shout out to the Taurus cheer team who have trained so hard every week. Just mentioning the amount of times they have practices in a week already makes me feel tired. It all paid off at the end. I would also like to thank my awesome committee members who worked equally as hard winning Taurus our third place overall this year.
To all those that have not taken part in IMU Cup, DO NOT MISS OUT! Do join next year and you will be surprised.
Melody Ng Min Ern (ND113)
attracted local and international participants from various universities and high schools. Some even hailed from places as far as Guangdong province, China. With 52 teams participating, it was by no means a small-scale event.
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