This is a view of the inside of the colon in a patient who was having constipation for a long long time. Guess what it is…

Over the weekend, a National Age-group Gymnastics Competition was held at the Majlis Sukan Negeri (Penang State Sports Council) complex at Batu Uban. Teams from all the states in Malaysia turned up for the three-day competition from 17th to 19th November. It’s fun to watch these primary school boys and girls performing their routines for the judges. Don’t forget the fans… Joesph is too young to join in but he enjoyed watching the tumbles and taking photographs with papa’s camera.

Once again, I’d like to highlight a post from Palmdoc in the Malaysian Medical Resources. This time, it’s about the Health Ministry’s plan to bring in Traditional Chinese Medicine to government hospitals. You HAVE to read this article. It’s MANDATORY reading for all. OK lah.. if you have any interest in healthcare, then you might like to read it.

My opinion is: i don’t think that anyone can prove or disprove a “system” of medicine. However, the practitioners of traditional chinese medicine should take it upon themselves to:

• demonstrate the scientific basis of the practice of herbology or acupuncture etc. Otherwise how can one claim that there is a “system” at all? Are all practitioners talking about the same thing when they mention a particular term?
• identify the actual components of herbs that are responsible for the action of the herb and identify the species that is actually used. Otherwise who would know whether “ginkgo” used here and “ginkgo” used there are one and the same type? What I am talking about here is “standardization”.
• prove that the materials and methods used have an effect above and beyond a placebo effect.
• organise themselves into a body to regulate themselves and their practice. I don’t buy the claim that, “It’s a family secret.” There should be transparency and accountability when people are expected submit themselves to practitioners for medical care.

No matter whether a “system” of medicine is efficacious or not, the consumer has a right to choose. The consumer, however, has the right to protection from ignorance (on the part of the practitioner, not the patient) and quackery.

Egrets are abundant over Merbok this week. Fishing in the swaps and the Merbok River, they frolick near this jetty next to the bridge to Semeling and Lembah Bujang at the foothills of Gunung Jerai. What impresses me about them is the posture that they maintain when they’re resting. Perfectly erect. Absolutely Majestic!

I wonder whether they’re particularly abundant this time of the year? Perhaps they are on the way South; and have just stopped by for a breather. I used to see many egrets in Bintulu where I worked many (ok, relatively many) years ago. They seemed to be more of them around around this time of the year too.