"You want to study medicine at the age of 33?" Calvin asked me. His eyebrows were raised and knitted together. Calvin was my engineering colleague.
"Yes, I'm determined," I answered without a trace of hesitation.
The above conversation occurred in the year 2001. I was an engineering consultant in Singapore and I travelled to provide consultancy services to organizations in Singapore and other countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and India. At that time, I enjoyed a wonderful life financially and socially. Being single and independent, I made a decision of leaving my full-time job to study medicine in my prime. I lost my income and gave up my wealth.
Started all over again as a mature student, I cycled to campus and lived in a shared hostel room. Why? Becoming a doctor was my ambition since childhood. Now, I think the answer may not be that simple.
I was the youngest of five siblings. We lived in a small town in Malaysia and were brought up by hardworking parents. In 1980s, I failed to enrol in a medicine study. Instead I went to study engineering at the National University of Singapore in 1988.
Today is a hot summer weekend in Australia. I love the weekend that I don't work on-call seeing patients because I'm exhausted on weekdays working in a medical practice and teaching doctors-in-training. Sitting in my garden which has just been landscaped recently, I'm browsing my old photographs and found these photographs (as included in this chapter).
In my late twenties, I attempted modelling and acting very briefly. Mixed feelings of joy, excitement, and perplexity sink in my heart. Time flies! I'm now in my late forties. 20 years have gone! Joy and excitement pervaded in my heart when I looked at those photographs - the look that gave me a small opportunity to do modelling. Time has stolen the look, but it has not eroded my perseverance in pursuing my childhood ambition; it has also given me a new look.
Nonetheless, perplexity reflects too. I was perplexed in my early thirties when I was working as an engineer and statistician. I realized that I have yet achieved my ambition to become a medical doctor at that time. I'm letting these mixed feelings running rampant in my heart in this warm Saturday afternoon.
*****
Notable quotes
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Kobe Bryant (23/8/1978-26/1/2020):
"The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do."
"I'm reflective only in the sense that I learn to move forward. I reflect with a purpose."#
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My objectives of writing these articles are to reflect on my past, share my experience, and exchange views with the readers.
Table of content:
* Part 1 - Reflection
* Part 2 - I, "director" in my life.
* Part 3 - Why reminisce?
Added a notable quote:
Zosia Mamet: "People idealize or reminisce about their 20s, but nobody tells you beforehand that it's hard and unglamorous and often very unpleasant."#
* Part 4 - Growing up in a rural town: poverty & dignity
Added a notable quote:
Adam Smith: "The real tragedy of the poor is the poverty of their aspirations."#
* Part 5 & 6 - Growing up in a rural town: The "seeds"
Added notable quotes:
Susan L. Taylor: "Seeds of faith are always within us; sometimes it takes a crisis to nourish and encourage their growth."#
Debby Boone: "Dreams are the seeds of change. Nothing ever grows without a seed, and nothing ever changes without a dream." #
* Part 7 & 8 - Growing up in a rural town: Death - a painful process to witness
Added notable quotes:
B. R. Hayden: "Love and death are the two great hinges on which all human sympathies turn."#
Marcus Tullius Cicero: "The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living."#
* Part 9 - The unfailing spider
Added a notable quote:
Barbara Bush: "To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there."
Reference: "great-inspirational-quotes" website.
* Perplexed
* Days in Singapore - Life as an Engineer and Statistician
* A story of "25550 days"
* The Year 2000 - a turning point?
* Exploring medical research in the USA
* "Assistant in nursing" (AIN)- hardship
* The Body & Soul
* The BIG Days
* Ah Ma passed away
# The notable quotes reference: brainyquote website
Note: The Chinese version is available by searching "梦想成为医生， 一个曲折的历程" in Wattpad.
中文版—请在Wattpad 里搜索"梦想成为医生， 一个曲折的历程"。