The debate about whether Vijay Singh was lucky he didn't Malaysian PR,
Is a non-starter. For one he had unquenchable desire to succeed so whether he went to Fiji or stayed in Malaysia he would have succeeded. Furthermore you could argue that he would have succeeded earlier had he stayed in Malaysia because how many golf-courses can you fit in Fiji?
But I think deep down every Cabinet minister is kicking themselves because Vijay Singh would have the first world champion since the late 80's and early 90's when the Sidek brothers dominated badminton. Furthermore it can be said that golf as a game is more famous and played by a lot more people than badminton.

Doctors I admire.

I had this conversation with a friend recently and I guess it make for interesting blogging,
So in no particular order: William Gorgas http://www.archives.state.al.us/famous/w_gorgas.html; Norman Bethune http://collections.ic.gc.ca/heirloom_series/volume4/58-63.htm; Albert Schweitzer http://www.schweitzer.org/english/aseind.htm; David Livingstone http://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/biorplivingstone.html; Ronald Ross http://stevenlehrer.com/explorers/chapter_6-5.htm; Paul Brand http://www.tlm-ni.org/brand.htm; Hudson Taylor http://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/biorptaylor.html; Robert Koch http://nobelprize.org/medicine/laureates/1905/koch-bio.html.
Well these are the guys whom I would say reading baout their lives changed and shaped the way I view my career and I believe that their lives should be required reading at least to Christians intent on becoming doctors. I might add Jonathan Kaplan to my list but it is not good and can be downright embarassing to include still living persons. Ones work can only be judged when they no longer have the ability to tarnish it.

This is a weird idea like all my other ideas,
But I have been thinking if frnace has a French Foreign Legion. http://www.info-france-usa.org/atoz/legion/what.asp why can't Israel have a Israeli Goyim Legion. Consisting goys like me who are interested in defending Israel against her enemies. I do not support all of Israel's actions but I do believe that she has a right to exists and thus have a right to be defended. Not that Israel will need any help because as far as I know she is capable of defending herself and of course there is the Divne hand but men are the instrument of God and maybe and just maybe should they need help we will be there. Uriah one David's mighty men was a Hittite and he had a group of personal bodyguards consising of Gittites so using foreign elements has always been a norm.

Iraq just just had its elections,
Good or bad, legitimate or illegitimate I let those who are more informed judge but I ask just one thing that the Iraqi people be given the benefit of doubt, trust, and choice to choose the person who they think will lead them best. If it is a mad mullah in the style of theocratic Iran so be it. The only thing is that fair and open elections muct be held so even that when people realise to their horror they have made a mistake they are given an opportunity at the end of it to correct it. Dictators only remain in place because there are no free elections and therefore they don't have t be accountable to the people. Even in politically homogenous Singapore which is a virtual dictatorship the very fact that the epople have a choice to vote some one elase if they want to ensures that it is not a dictatorship in the style of Sudan or Syria and its people are actually enjoying better lives in the of economic prosperity access to health and so on. They is accountability. Free elections must be enshrined in the Constitution and it must stated in such a way so that martial law can't be used to remove this freedom ala Pakistan.

There have been a lot of going ons in the Middle east,
Iraq and Afghanistan gone democratic. Very soon Lebanon will experience the same and there is talk that the mullahs of Iran and the dictators of Syrian will not last much longer. But ladies and gentlemen there is no denying the value of freedom and the power to choose one's own destiny but what I fear is a repeat of the former Soviet states scenario. They got their independence but their economies are busted and there are signs they are going back to their old Soviet leaders or people who emulate them. Going much farther back we can see a precedence in the independence of many African nations. They got independence and after tat it is pretty much down hill. What can we do to prevent this?

The UN has so much redundant agencies and so inefficient,
We need someone to clean it up. More money is spent on admin than helping it was design to help. Same with humanitarian organisations. Most of them fail to deliver. For example the eradication of polio is 7 years overdue! Now if Toyota is 7 years late in producing a new model it will go under. Many NGo's don't fulfill their purpose and yet they are still getting money. They should be treated like companies if they don't deliver they must be closed and money should go to the ones that are the most efficient and do the most number of good because at the end of the day we have finite resources and man-power and heck billions been poured into Africa and it is still a shit-hole.
So I am nominating Jack Welch to be the head of the UN. First off fire all the redundant staff, streamline the organisation, merge redundant agencies or subcontract the work to other agencies that can do a better job for a lower price, have reports like you would a in company and audits. Where does our money go? Jack Welch we need you.

I read in the papers that Malaysia will have new procedures,
For entry into medical school. It includes an entry exam and considering extra-curricular activities as part of the points. I predict that it will degenerate into a farce as always. The point is whatever system they use it will be be discriminating against those who truly want to serve and favour those who 'point-hunters' or people whose teachers are willing to falsify their involvement in extra-curricular activities. Thus we have house captains who can hardly do any sports or any skills save doing well in studies. This is a fact of the Malaysian school system.
A better idea and an improvement over one I have earlier is having a pool of students with the top ten percent results and have write a thirty year plan of their careers and practise an market style in the selection. The student with the most attractive 30 year proposal will be selected and must sign a contract base on that 30 proposal. Just like a tender. No one will begrudge the kid with 90 points who is going to serve the rural areas for thirty year getting a place over the kid with 100 whose only passion is status and money.
prospective students will have to count the cost and we will know that there won't be any with some false idea of what entails and in the end we overcome the reluctance of most graduates to go to the rural areas. You can apply the same thing for scholarships and other fields of studies. It is a win-win situation. No one will complain about the system because it inherently favour future Nobel prize winners, saints, and renown humanitarians who are under no illusions the sacrifices they must make and of course the people get served. I am still waiting for a phone call from the Prime Minister.

Imagine this hypothetical situation OK?
Some guy in the heart of Africa lost his family ala Job. He wishes he was dead and contemplates suicide. Very normal except I was thinking to myself what if this guy was one of the children I gave up everything to immunise so that he would not be another statistic and live old enough to have loved, be loved and fulfill the first command God give man and one that we are all hard-wired to obey. As I progress in this thought I experiment I find that I was very offended by this person and should his attempt succeed I am angry for I would've said to him that did not give up all that he had a chance to enjoy for him to throw his life away in this manner. If I can live without it and countless others why shouldn't he? Instead of he leaving for the sake let us not waste this tragedy and take it as they leaving it so you can pursue the Kingdom of God. Maybe in way now I understand the sarcastic tone of God's answer to Job.
To all married, engaged, and dating couples out there. Remember and sear into your head all this is temporary and so do not develop too deep an attachment for God has every right to take it away at any moment He so chooses. Yes love your wife as God commanded but know also she may be taken and prepare yourself so that you do not commit the sin of leaving God. You can be angry ike Job butk know that He is righteous.

Sometimes we continue to serve God even when it is hard,
Because we keep on telling ourselves in our head that is it is worth it. Nothing wrong with that but a sermon recently changed my paradigm and have implications on my life. Basically the sermon can be summed in this line ' don't serve God because it is worth it( whether in this life-doesn't happen most of the time- or in the next-that we have been guaranteed,) but because He is worthy.
There is a difference. So even I am imprisoned all my life and die a terrible death because of my service for God, I must continue to do so not because it is worth it but because He IS worthy. Of course God is not that cruel and after all the trash Job went through God made it worth it while but I think another lesson in Job can be no matter what God is still worthy to be served.
In my context, I know for sure that if I was to serve God with all my heart and go into the depths of the jungle to be a vessel of His love I will lose my chance to marry the girl of my dreams( quite literally), give up any chance of having a big family( the life of Livingstone and Carey, clearly demonstrate missions and family don't mix), while others can live my dream and live a life of poverty( not extreme but a tour of Europe would be out of reach). You know what? It is not worth it but He is worthy. Still I am hoping God will be nice and give me a wife that is willing to the field with me( that is all I ask and of course loads of kids), He might make it worth my while but if not who am I to complain for He is worthy.

Well a hypothetical situation OK,
not so hypothetical because these people exist. X is super good-looking, so good-looking that in fact he models, he is a medical student in fact and also a top student, plays three different instruments very well, have life, visit old folks, orphans, goes to church..in short he has everything in life. Under normal circumstances a lot of people will envy X and instead enjoying their own lives they make miserable by comparing themsleves with X but that is not my point. Neither is the fact people spend their time looking for a chink so they can tear X down. Why do this to a Christians brother.
Friends these are all superficial. We may perceive that X has everything but deep down he is probably as insecure as the rest of us. By the way X's life can be cut short any moment. Look at the Lebanese billionaire and ex-prime minister. He is the top one hundred richest man in the world. He held the highest post in his country adn now he is just a corpse. Unfair maybe, but the fact in a race you don't look around to see others are doing because it will slow you down from your full potential.

I heard an interesting question the other day,
Someone asked is God's will linear i.e. that is will is we do that one thing and if we don't we are not in His will. I didn't answer that guy but it made me think and I can bravely say no.
When David conducted the census against God's command. God sent the prophet Nathan with a choice of threee punishment for David...three..had he chose either one....it would have been in fulfillment of God's will though they all have different consequences from the others.
This reminded of the fantasy adventure game books my brother used to read like the Lone Wolf Manakai. In it he is given the choices and they all have different consequences and will affect his quest but the choices and effects are determined by the author long before. Likewise I see God in the same position in His infinite wisdom He has mapped out all the choices and consequesnces so in effect He has pre-determined everything like the author..no one else can give input....yet the reader has the choice..so also we the beings with free-will...and the Bible is like the clue book or cheat book that provides the strategy so that you get the best results...not that you won't be scratch but with as much of your life-points and treasure as is possible.

This is a quick one,
There are many questions as to whether God provided another paths of salvation. I don't think there are any except Jesus but I am sure that before Jesus He has send many to point to Him but except they sort of garbled up the message for Paul has said God did not leave Himself without a witness.
I am inclined to think that Guru Nanak the founder of Sikhism and Muhammad, founder of Islam did hear from God....they were from polytheistic societies and all the sudden they go monotheistic...however due to human nature and pride the message was diluted and polluted and in time to to peer pressure the 'prophet' doesn't speak as God speaks but out of their own heart or from what the masses think. Even Peter was a victim of this when he refuse to eat with the Gentiles. The difference though he repented they did not and the polluted message goes on today.

It seems that I have more or less finish milking,
My current account of knowledge and experience for ideas and the ideas have been flowing slowly and they have only been elaborations of older ones. My theory of ideas is that inasmuch as we want to make good and informed ideas( any idiot can come up with ideas even good ones but to the extent we want consistency in giving good ideas that will stand the test of time is what I am talking about) we must have knowledge( which we gain by reading, going to lectures, seminars, conferences, reading journals, magazines listen to debates, reading commentaries), and experiences( talking to people, seeing things for yourself, living the life and understanding the culture which will open up new paradigms enabling new ways of thinking). Since coming to Ireland well I have gaining a bit of knowledge though not as much as I like in some of the fields I want to because namely I spend too much time literally waiting for e-mails and lots of experience coming to Ireland but there is only draw as much water as there are in the cistern when it is empty it is time to humble oneself and go own the pilgrimage of seeking again. So I guess I will be blogging less, e-mailing less and spend less time online and focus more on my knowledge and experience base. I will be back. Hopefully soon, fresher, more knowledgeable and wiser.
p.s. I still will blog rubbish from time to time to keep my page.