The "Poisoned" Changed Man:
I was happily surfing and reading blogs on last Saturday afternoon, preparing to take my afternoon nap when The Changed Man sms-ed me:
"I need to go to the Accident & Emergency Department. I think my arm was infected by a wound and it's swelling right now. My hand is feeling numb already."
My reaction was: =="?!?
Within the next thirty minutes, I was onboard The Changed Man's sedan car (He insisted on driving to the A&E himself despite my dissuasion) towards NUS A&E Department. His wrist was visibly swollen with a wound (received somewhere during his reservist training in the middle of some jungle) with pus and there was still ugly and poisonous-looking swelling along the entire arm, seemingly following a vein towards his chest. It's definitely some sort of infection and poisoning. I suppose if the bacteria in that swollen vein reached The Changed Man's heart, it's game-over for him.
Inside NUS A&E, the senior physician on duty said it was some insect bug, plus scratching, leading to baterial infection. He gave the Changed Man some powerful and sleep-inducing antibiotics to counteract the unknown bacteria. Three hours later, The Changed Man was on his way home and sleeping under the effects of the medicine.
Talk about the dangers in the jungle and some crazed poisonous insects unheard of in the civilizied world. Note to self: Stay alert and don't play play in the jungle.
The Age of The Mercenary Students:
I always thought mercenaries belong to the messy battlefields but it seems that the mercenary spirit has infused itself into the minds of students these days. I was tutoring one of my students (whom I shall only henceforth name as The Mercenary Captain because he always wants to be some Captain of some plane) and he was blatantly asking me if I could reward him if he scored 90 marks in English Language in the final year examination.
Being aware of the philosophy behind the conventional rewards and punishments system, I said "Of course". I was thinking a reward will be a nice motivation for the hardworking student if he/she can really do well in the examinations. I continued to tell him that rewards only go so far because one has to work for one's future and not merely for the rewards in the immediate future.
His answer was "I only work for rewards....Why should I worry about my future because my parents will provide me with anything I ask for?"
What a fine mercenary captain he will make! But no way will I ever go onboard his plane any day lest he says something like, "Give me XXX or I'll crash the plane and you'll never get to see your families again."
No reward will be given to The Mercenary Captain, even if he scores 101 marks...
1 comment:
Things dun come by as easy as we think. We have to work hard for it and if we are successful, we really gain as we learn from our mistakes. I got my degree cert even though I know I'm not the clever kind. But with preserverance, I managed to pull thru, without getting any fund from my parents too cos I know they were hard enough to grow us up liao. So guys, dun take things for granted. Learn well, do well and be successful. You will gain the satisfaction. Believe me! Right, Sean?
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