Budget 2008

One word: Disappointing.

Sigh.

From the list of goodies in The STAR online, I only found 3 which might bring some cheer to me and my family:

1. Beginning the 2008 school session, the Text Book Loan Scheme will be provided to all students, irrespective of their families’ income and with no restrictions on the number of eligible children. With this, 5.7 million students will benefit from this Scheme compared with 4.5 million students currently. With these measures, schooling in Malaysia is now completely free.

2. To ease the burden of home loan repayment, the Government will allow EPF contributors to make monthly withdrawals from the balance in Account 2. The scheme will be effective 1 January 2008 and is for the financing of one house. This is a major move, which will benefit 5 million active EPF contributors. This scheme will enable contributors to own better houses than they could otherwise afford as well as lessen their monthly financial obligations. This scheme will make available up to RM9.6 billion annually for the purchase of houses.

3. In addition, to promote healthy lifestyle among Malaysians, the Government proposes that individual tax relief of up to RM300 a year be given on the purchases of sports and exercise equipment.

And one that caused me concern (mainly because I don’t know what it meant!):

All professionals and consultants to be subject to service tax.

What service tax are they talking about??!!!

All in all, disappointing, very disappointing.

I have to find ways to evade tax again. Sigh.

Fri, 070907 @ 1946

Big Big Shame

I just received an email from a friend. It is a Word document with a list of gaffes that a Minister of this country purportedly made.

I can’t name the Minister (I don’t want to be asked to leave the country or pay higher toll than others) but he is the same guy I was told to have once said that many of our youths are entrapped in the habit of “hisap dada” (for smoking pot) and was allegedly to have asked the rakyat to “derma dara” (donate blood) on another occasion.

But this one got me rolling on the floor in stitches:

On stating he was greatly ashamed regarding a catastrophic incident related to his ministry, he allegedly said:

“KEMALUAN SAYA SANGAT SANGAT BESAR” (my family jewels are really huge!)

Aiyo, I am going to die laughing.

Fri, 070907 @ 1419; TBL in 11 min.

*rakyat: citizen

*hisap dada: to…er.. well, I’d rather not explain this one. The word for drugs/pot would be ‘dadah’

*derma dara: to donate their virgins. The word should be ‘darah’ (blood)

PACES Booty

My share of the PACES course booty. Hallelujah! God is good!

I was wondering this morning where to get money for church offering this Sunday! Seriously, I kid you not.

I can’t wait to get involved again in the next course! heh heh!

Fri, 070907 @ 1411

MRCP PACES Course

The IMU MRCP PACES course is in full swing now.

My part of it was to source for ‘interesting, rare, difficult’ patients over the last few months. That was all done.

Yesterday I was asked to coordinate the running of the course – which, unfortunately, made me unable to take a quick trip to KL to collect my convo photos! Sigh!

‘To coordinate’ meant sourcing for some more patients to replace patients who were too ill, too tired, too hungry, too angry, too primadonna-ish to carry on!

It also meant setting an intravenous cannulla for one patient whose line has ‘bunked’, changing the drip, making Milo for one patient who disdained the tea and coffee we served etc etc.

All these on top of my regular clinical duties.

No wonder they call it the PACES for I was pacing up and down this place and the hospital the whole of yesterday! Burnt about 3000 calories.

Today is Day 2! Gaaargh!

Fri, 070907 @ 0723; expecting more pacing on top of ward rounds, ID clinic and TBL teaching AND on call some more. Eeeyer, I don’t like this Friday.