Age Defying Acts

The recent debate on Rebel Wilson’s age triggered another debate on whether people should be lying about their age or should even hide their age. Mia Freedman of Mamamia Women’s Network defended her stance saying it is not right for Rebel Wilson to lie about her age and attack other celebrities because of their age. She also claimed that the murmurs about Rebel Wilson’s age and real name have been around for a very long time. She resisted to publish it previously but now decided to run the story because of Rebel’s stance against other women of her age in the industry.

I personally don’t know what kind of grudge Mamamia has with Rebel Wilson but the fact is that why is it anyone’s concern? If Rebel Wilson did lie to get her jobs then it is her issue. Not that I approve lying but then if producers and directors are ok with that what is it to do with Mamamia to be the White Valkyrie to tear her down? Rebel after all is just an actor she is not an ancient dragon tormenting villagers in a remote town. If Rebel Wilson did lie about her age she is only responsible to people who hired her because of that. Is Mamamia going to offer her a job and found out she faked her CV? I really don’t understand why it is Mamamia’s business to deal with that. If Rose Byrne or Kristen Wig were unhappy about Rebel Wilson’s comment on the Ghostbusters casting, I think they are more than capable to hit back. If they don’t, unless they enlisted Mamamia’s service to knock Rebel Wilson down, then I don’t see a point for Mamamia to run a story as if they are standing up for them.

Age is a sensitive thing for some people and if some people do not want to talk about their age why is it anybody’s business to probe? Cate Blanchett doesn’t mind her age to be published because she believes in aging gracefully and bringing her life experience to all the marvellous characters she created (can’t wait to see Carol) but if Rebel Wilson does not want to talk about her age, unless the employers want to know, why did it become part of public interest anyway? As a fellow actor, I don’t like to talk about my age because I know very well that this will automatically put me into certain boxes and restrict what I can do. This is an industry that is not always about your talents and abilities but about impressions and preconceptions. I don’t lie about it when my agent submits me for casting or I pick up a job because it is who I am. I am just not interested in talking about it with anyone else who has no bearings in my life whatsoever. All my close friends and all the people who grew up with me know my age but it is not their business to go around and pretend to be “insiders” or “close friends” telling irrelevant publications about my age. Seriously if they are really “close friends” they would not be doing that, so there goes the credibility.

As for Rebel Wilson it is up to her how she wants to project her age. Unless her employers have issues about her lying about her age it is seriously nobody else business. If she made comments attacking other people’s age it is up to those people to hit back if they feel they need to. If they don’t feel there is a need to continue the conversation, then it is nobody else’s business to wage war on her for them. Sometimes I found it extremely ironic when publications defend themselves as being responsible journalism or acting as social conscience when they are actually running cheap stories without strong references to sell a few copies. But then if running cheap stories is their only way to survival then so be it. There will always be people who feed on those cheap stories to make themselves feel good. Just don’t say it is for social responsibility or justice. Otherwise Ultron will come to them and say “If I have a mouth I will throw up”.

Actors should be judged on their work not on their age. Their personal conducts will become part of their CV in the industry so it is nobody else’s business unless they are endangering the society. I personally do not see how not telling your age to the irrelevant public is an endangering act. Maybe these magazines can claim they want women to be proud of themselves and not being afraid of being who they are. But then these are the same publications week on week publishing those “OMG look at how she aged” or “OMG look at that overweight or anorexic body!” pictures and stories. So don’t pretend you are the Valkyrie when you are something else. That is worse than lying about your age.

And one last point in her defence I did not see Mia Freedman saying anything like “I am years old and I am not lying about it so Rebel Wilson should not be either.” So there you go set an example before you go running around with your wooden sword bashing bystanders pretending you representing justice.

Pitch Perfect 2

Pitch Perfect was a silent hit for me. When the first movie came out, when I first saw the trailer I was thinking “why would I want to watch a movie about pitch perfect while in essence it was just about bitch perfect?” The movie went on to sell millions of tickets around the world. I was still unmoved as I thought it was just a chick flick comedy that’s why half of the world’s population went for it because they could relate. This was until I went on a long haul flight and ran out of things I could do in the cattle class seat. Pitch Perfect was on the movie list so I pressed Select. That viewing changed my opinion of the movie. Not only that it was funny it had a superb cast with quirky characters that just grabs you. Some of the jokes are quite politically incorrect but then it did not overplay it so it was not repulsive as some of other Hollywood offerings were.

Fast forward a few years Pitch Perfect 2 rolled into the cinemas. This time round I decided to see it while it is still on. The end result? It was another nearly laughing non-stop 1.5 hour in my seat. The story continues from the end of the last one but instead of fighting for success the Bella is on the road for redemption. I liked the fact that Pitch Perfect 2 put the drama and motivation right there within the first 10 minutes of the film so the audience is not left dragging on to wait for something to happen. Pitch Perfect 2 is also about growing up and facing the real world as the girls are graduating and need to think about their future. Although Anna Kendrick is still the centre of the story this time round Rebel Wilson had become an equivalent. Anna as Becca has always been the rational one and thus most of the funny stuff rested on other people’s shoulders. Also I do like the fact that in this sequel there was no stupid relationship dramas that do not make sense but put in for the sake of drama. Kudos to the writer and the director. Rebel Wilson proved to be one of the funniest girls in Hollywood. A proud export from Australia Rebel did not shy away from jokes about the down under, which carries a significant meaning in the film. However, I personally do think the fat joke is starting to wear thin. Luckily there is some time gap between the two installments otherwise the fat jokes will not be able to achieved too much the second time round. Still I think Rebel Wilson needs to start thinking of other things to top up her acts or Hollywood will just chew her up and spit her out quickly.

Fat jokes about Rebel Wilson’s Fat Amy are not the only politically incorrect jokes in the movie. Frankly if you are looking for political correctness, don’t go and see it because there would be a high chance that you could get infuriated.  During my screening session, lines about minority and stereotypes triggered gasp and laugh among the audience at the same time. The Bella is made up of a diverse background of girls from Australian (Fat Amy) to Japanese, Mexican and African American. The thing is these lines were actually delivered by the characters laughing at themselves not at others, which made them a lot less offensive to the audience. Yes I know they were written by others but then the smart thing of having those lines delivered by the characters the lines were talking about immediately provided a buffer of tolerance for them. And the matter of fact way these lines were delivered made them a lot less offensive but a lot funnier. That said, I am not saying they are not going to offend because I am sure people will be offended but from my personal point of view it was quite smartly done. Also in my opinion, a number of lines were actually written to challenge and reflect on the current widely discussed sexism in Hollywood and across the creative industry, which I quite appreciate.

It is Pitch Perfect so music of course took the centre stage. The music in this second installment has some really catchy renditions that could make you tap along quietly in your seat. Also the sets are a lot bigger with more spectacular fanfare and effects. The flavors of music incorporated into the a capella performances breathed new lives into some of those really well known tunes. The choreography for each performance were meticulously done and performed to sharp precision, turning a capella singing into a truly performance powerhouse itself. Because the music is so good that sometimes I wished they could give the performance groups a bit more time to showcase themselves as they truly reflect how different genre and style of music could be converged into one performance medium.

The movie itself is a bit short for me because it was over while I was still enjoying it. But then I think this is a good thing as it leaves me wanting more, though I doubt whether they could still make this magic work third time round without eventually destroying something really good and leaving a bad taste in the audience mouth. No matter what I would recommend enjoy the pitch perfect performances of these girls while it lasts for you don’t get something hitting the right notes all the time every time you go into the cinema.

Lesson Learnt? The Demise of the Bali 9 Duo

The Bali 9 saga is now almost done and dusted. The two Australians involved were finally executed after extended periods of appeal and pledge for clemency. There are outcries internationally over the treatment of the case and Indonesia is defiant of condemnations thrown at it.

It is sad that the whole situation came down to this. I tried to avoid making comments on this as it is something that truly divides humanity. The fundamental issue here is that these people did commit a death inducing crime in Indonesia. It is written in the constitution that drug crimes attract death penalty. So I assume most people in this drug smuggling business know about it. But then if that is still something they are willing to risk their lives for, then it is something they need to own up to. This does not mean I agreed to death penalty as I personally do not think a life for another life or basically public execution would improve humanity at all. But at the same time I cannot say Indonesian law is backward because I think they know much better than the rest of the world the havoc drugs wrecked in the country.

Much effort was made to save these two young men’s life in the past couple of years. They also seemed to be repentant and turned over to a new leaf. Their transformation is a marvellous story indicating how extreme situation could help changing someone’s world view and taking a different turn for their lives. At the end we lost two repented convicts who could eventually do great to help the society but I do think they understand they have to own up to their actions. Clemency is at the mercy of others and whether they are being granted has no logistic relation to anything. However, there were certain things that I think we should look into about the whole case.

First of all, it was the Australian Federal Police who tipped off about these boys, and eventually led to their arrest. It was a concerted effort to stop drug trafficking. However, I do not know whether there were sufficient thoughts about the fate of these two smugglers when the police decided to tip the Indonesian government off. As I understood in 2010 the clause of considering Australia’s opposition on death penalty was included in the international cooperation agreements. But then in 2014 the Liberal Government removed it. I do not know whether it is because it was introduced by the Labor Government that the Liberals felt compelled to remove it or it was actually due to operational logistic issues. In this case, if we consider the fate facing these two smugglers once they are arrested in Indonesia, would the police consider proposing to intercept these two Australians at Australian ports to save them from this agony? If so the whole picture would be different but then at the same time we might not have two repented convicts that we now moan about.

The other issue was how the international relationship was being handled in the whole case.  As all these pleas were going on, we just came off some diplomatic hiccups with Indonesia including the hacking “scandal” against Indonesia. The Australian Government was defiant and considered itself has every right to do so for national security. Indonesia was furious. Then came the asylum seeker issue where boats were towed back to the open sea to “stop the boats”. Indonesia was against it and considered it as violating human rights and so did the United Nations, but the Australian Government claimed within every right to do so to deliver its promise to the voters. It even went further to decry or attack anything that the United Nations said or any organisations that opposed to their approaches. Further we had Tony Abbott claiming rights for clemency based on the international aid Australia gave to Indonesia during the tsunami. This triggered a fund raising campaign in Indonesia to give the money back to Australia. With all these issues hovering around diplomatic efforts Julia Bishop trying to achieve, I am not surprised the Indonesia Government would use this as a face off opportunity to tear the all “self-proclaimed almighty Australian Government” down.  This is definitely good for the Indonesian Government to show its people that this Government would not subject to finger pointing of foreign powers, which is exactly what the Australian Government was doing in the past year and a half. The most disappointing part is that when Tony Abbott first got elected he mentioned changing focus from Geneva to Asia (or something like that) but then his version of Asia is just brown nosing China and neglecting others.  I could be wrong but then people can only be judged by their deeds.

Lastly I think we need to think about when we are condemning others for non-humanitarian deeds, are we fit to judge? Australia does not have a good history with humanitarian effort even nowadays just looking at its approach to “stop the boats”, how they run the offshore centres, and how they treat the Indigenous people. With all these brilliant track records is the Liberal Government actually qualified to decry other people’s behaviours? Or it is only making itself as big as a clown with a series of bad acts? If they do believe Christianity is more supreme than Islam, where are the truly Christian acts that could avoid even accomplished professionals to be converted into extremists? Before we go out all offensive on others maybe it is a good time to think about what is tearing the country apart inside first. As usual are we seeing the pecks in other people’s eyes without seeing the logs in ours?

It has been a long journey for the Bali 9 duo but it has finally come to a sad end. I wish everyone learnt something from this but judging from what is happening in the media and the Government right now I doubt that would happen.  We would even have one of the commercial channels adapting this tragedy into a miniseries to cash in under the disguise of “telling the true story” while the so-called current affair programs continue to cash in with sensational interviews and programming. It is sad, but it seems to be the world we are living in now.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Without a doubt the latest Avengers movie is one of the most hotly anticipated releases of the year. With the success of the last movie it is just the Hollywood way to make a sequel out of it. Joss Whedon is back at the helm of the sequel and with his success both story and production wise in the first outing the stake is pretty high for him. He even mentioned the sequel nearly killed him. So with that much blood and sweat put into the production, how did the final product stack up?

Sequels are hard, especially for sequels of successful franchises. Avengers: Age of Ultron has a lot to deliver: continued progression of characters established in the previous and other movies, the continuation of the Marvel Universe storyline, the introduction of new characters and the balance of the all the star acts with both existing and new cast members. From this point of view I think Joss Whedon delivered. It is no easy task but he managed. All characters have their own storylines developed further but what I appreciate in this movie is that characters that do not have their own franchises actually get more air time. The storylines related to Hawkeye, Black Widow and Hulk provided a much needed glimpse to their characters. Yes Hulk had two previous movies already but come on who would consider them as successful character building for Hulk? Joss Whedon managed to explore the dilemmas and yearnings for Bruce Banner and “The Big Guy” and the storyline between Bruce and Natasha was a nice one. And without a doubt Mark Ruffalo and Scarlet Johansson shined in this storyline. We also had a glimpse of Hawkeye this time whom in the last movie was nothing but a total support character tagging along with the group.

Age of Ultron introduced two new members Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Putting aside that Quicksilver is played by a different actor this time round (due to license restrictions with the existing Fox rights to the X-men universe) the Maximoff twins were quite a standout due to their completely different powers as mutants. As Maria Hill put it, “He is fast and she is weird” pretty much sums them up and put them on different radar as compared to the rest of the group. The fact that they could outwit most of the established superheroes was an indication how their power was on a different level. Also for the first time, after many films in the Marvel Universe, Paul Bettany moved from voice acting to character acting and he did not disappoint. I don’t know whether casting him early on in the franchise was a vision for his development in this film or not but that was a perfect casting choice in my opinion.

Since it is still a Joss Whedon movie, you could expect all the wit and funny lines weaved in between all the over the top actions. Sometimes I do feel how could Earth ever recover from all the havoc wrecked over the course of the last few Marvel movies? I mean there were like tons of damage to Earth. Unless there is a superhero among them to recover and rebuild with its super power, I don’t know how much of Earth is left for them to chip away in every single movie or whether there would actually be an Earth to save. Maybe it is not that much of any issue for Thor as he lives somewhere else and Earth seems like a summer house for some actions from time to time, but I feel bad for those who have nowhere to go. Having said that, Age of Ultron has some of the most spectacular action sequences you could see in recent years. The fact that Joss Whedon could cramp in all the super powers of all the super heroes and super villains while addressing the super technologies of S.H.I.E.L.D without compromising any aspect of them is just amazing. I think this shows the director really understands the franchise and the comics. There are lots of adjustments in terms of storylines and relationships in the movie as compared to the comics but none of them compromised the integrity of the world established by the comics, which I think shows the strengths of the director and producer a lot.

Age of Ultron is not without issues. It is after all a Hollywood movie so you could see clear traces of Hollywood formula in story building, which in my opinion is a bit too predictable now. Also certain developments seemed to be restricted by or affected by IP and contractual agreements thus taxing the movie’s ability to deliver its full potential, which in my opinion is a pity. Because of this, it put a road block on the movie to achieve greater success as a piece of artwork. However, none of this should discredit the work Joss Whedon had incredibly achieved. Age of Ultron is a movie that you could go in and watch it again and could still enjoy it all over again even though you know what is coming. I enjoyed every single scene of this tightly knitted story delivered by a superb cast completed with some extraordinary special effects and action sequences.

The next two movies will not be helmed by Joss Whedon so I do not envy the person who took up the rein but for the time being just enjoy what is on offer and don’t think about it too much. After all overthinking is not what super heroes do.

When Our Faith is Fading

Easter had come and gone. I immensely enjoyed the 4 days off catching up with my gaming. However, Easter itself is not about day offs, gaming or penalty rates. It is a major establishment in the Christian faith. A faith a majority of western countries were built upon. It is about self-sacrifice for the better of the world. And it is this self-sacrifice of the Son of God that brought people together in the most loving and forgiving manner. However, with the recent rise of the Islamic States and the increasing fear against the threat Islam is posing on western lifestyle, I can’t help but think why a faith with such a grand gesture is failing?

Brought up in the Anglican Christian faith I believe in a lot of good things the faith was about – love, forgiveness and sacrifices (although I am not big about that…call me a selfish prick). For me the faith is about caring, loving, and hopefully see the best of other people. However, in my opinion Christianity has nowadays lost it shiny coating and thus driving people away from its core believes. The issue is instead of asking why good people went to join the Islamic States and start killing other people in the name of religion, Christian leaders or Christians generally should ask the question of “what have they done wrong leading to their own downturn?”

The Bible forms the core of Christian faith and there are lots of goods in the Bible. However one thing we need to understand is the Bible we read, canon or not, is a collaboration and interpretation of human minds. Accounts in the Bible, whether you believe in them or not, were retold through humans’ eyes. Much had been done to make sure it is not bias and it reflects the core values of the faith. However, this does not stop people with agendas taking the scripture out of context to achieve their own means. And when they have such power to influence others, use them as a weapon against other people. For me Christian faith is a way to make sure you do good to the world and hopefully when you meet God at the Pearly Gates you were offered a seat at the table of the eternal of spiritual / gourmet buffet. Because there is so much on offer, essentially you want to offer this ticket to as many people as possible, especially your loved ones. This is where spreading the God’s words came from. However, it is also about how you spread the God’s words that matters. Personally I do not believe in condemnation. I mean how far would you get by consistently condemning other people of their lifestyles, or simply for who they are? For me this kind of actions are like you walk past a facial product counter in the mall and the beautifully made up girl (or sometimes guy) came to you and tell you “Oh my god your skin is so bad but no worries I have this fabulous product that can improve your skin blah blah blah”. I will just get annoyed and walk away. In my opinion, there are a number of individuals or even churches making this mistake, and when being told they made a mistake, they would go even louder hoping that this could drown out their short comings as perceived by other people. But considering this, if God could use a prostitute and forgive her sins because she helped her messenger and Jesus had a constant record of sitting and dining with sinners, who are we to judge and condemn? Just remember that the Apostle Paul was once a sinner and persecutor too. Are we just seeing the peck in others but not the log in our eyes?

The other thing that I am particularly disappointed is the leaders of the western countries who proclaimed themselves as Christian but acted in every possible un-Christian way you could imagine to achieve their own agendas. Taking the Australian Prime Minister as an example, he claimed to be of Catholic background but then I wonder how many people could see a good Christian role model in him from his day to day behaviour? That is if calling your opponents a Nazi supporter when you don’t get your way, being double standard about Australian criminal overseas and asylum seekers to Australia, and bullying people whom you can bully because they have different opinions on your governing, are actually Christian way of life. Then probably he is a great role model. Also we have a lot of right wing or left wing politicians who called themselves Christians but then pursued issues in a frantic and aggressive manner for personal gains in politics. If that’s what Christian faith is about, I wonder why people are turned off.  They sure are no angels from God as I wonder how could you take flight just with your left or right wing? You will probably be falling to earth like a meteor impact and wait a second, what do we call those fallen angels in the Bible again?

Humanity is never straight forward, but faith – especially a good faith helps humanity to create hope in certain capacities. Certain people might not need it but for people who need it, it is supposed to be a means to a better personal life. And hopefully by exhibiting the radiance of your good life in your natural deeds, you influence other people to follow your faith.  I certainly do not agree to what the Islamic States is doing but then consider the Crusaders in the past, and how Australia was built in the first place, how much are we qualified to condemn others even as Christians? When we condemn people fighting for gay marriage equality as promoting a shameful lifestyle, are they actually promoting a lifestyle or they just want to be acknowledged as a day to day person in the society whom should be respected in the same way as everyone? If God can use a sinner like Saul and turned him into one of the most influential Apostles in history, who are we to say no and judge other people? For me instead of condemning radical Islamic activists and the Islamic States, maybe it is time to go through a real Christian self-examination and understand why they succeed and Christianity is failing in the western world.

There is an old Chinese saying – Examining and Improving Yourself, Caring and Loving Your Family, Governing Your State, Establishing Your World – this is a simple process that everyone should go through to make this world a better place –Christian or not.

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was a surprise hit that captured the heart of many people. The movie is basically a Who's Who in the British acting scene. With a cast including Maggie Smith, Judie Dench, Penelope Winton, Bill Nighy etc you are basically watching an acting masterclass playing out on screen. The original presented points of difference that eventually converged and wrapped up the plots nicely, the second entry needed to branch out and converge again to just tell the stories. The end result was some broken characters and story lines that you felt they were going nowhere. This is not a criticism of the performance of the cast but a script that is over ambitious and eventually failed to deliver.

The premise of the story was quite natural although I did question about the timing of the back drop but then if the foundation was questioned nothing would make sense anymore. The themes seemed to be about moving on and re-establishing but the pace felt like plotting along and see what's happening. The first movie had circumstantial triggers that led to determination. But in the second movie most of the cast seemed lost and trying to go through rediscovery again. This could be true as they were adjusting to life in a completely different country while at the same time trying to find new meaning on top of the meaning they had discovered in the first movie.  Circumstance wise Maggie Smith’s character had taken the centre stage although the story was more about Dev Patel as the protégé who was trying to pursue further success. It did wrap up nicely by Maggie Smith declaring it is time for his adventures. As for other characters, I particularly had issue about the merry-go-round type relationship between Judi Dench’s character and Bill Nighy’s character. Why must it take so many people and so many coincidences to actually get something happening? They found what is missing in the first moving and then should just get on with the program. Some could argue it is because of the timeframe of the movie in the chronology but then still they are retired people do they have that much time to drag on “When Harry Met Sally” style? The storylines for other characters progressed in a similar fashion making me wondering,  “how many of those thread balls do I need to follow and catch up with to find out what is going to happen?” It was not particularly thrilling even though I admired all the acting powerhouses on display.

Dev Patel’s character was without a doubt the sore in my eyes throughout the whole movie. The upbeat optimistic character that was built up in the first movie that cast rays of sunshine to the whole theme was gone completely. What was left was a hollow and annoying character that you just need to take deep breaths again and again to get through his scenes. Again this is not a criticism of his ability but the demolishing of a well-built character that suddenly is going nowhere.  I understand that in the first movie they might not have sufficient time to build all the backstories and flash out all the relationships but that was the beauty of it. I accepted the characters as who they are and did not feel like I need to know more about them because everything was nicely introduced in the first few scenes. In this instalment, the try-hard approach to create more flesh and blood characters in my opinion turned most of the well created characters into bloody messes. For me character building is circumstantial and if you need to force a back story that eventually dragged the development of both the characters and the plot then it is better to just leave them alone making space for good memories for the audience. I personally would prefer the plot to be about further discoveries that excited them so providing more opportunities for both funny and serious moments. They can still question their own mortality, relationships and other things, but in the context of an exciting brave new world.  Getting too serious for the sake of getting too serious just did not cut it for me.

It seems that I had lots of criticisms for this movie but that is because I completely adored the first one and had extremely high expectations when such a stellar cast agreed to sign on for more. It might be unfair to the movie on my side but then that’s what you created when you have such kind of project in your hands. I still like a lot of great punch lines that were scattered around in the script (and mostly delivered by the extraordinary Maggie Smith in a casual throw away manner) and this shows the quality of writing. I was just hoping for a more positive view of things without dragging into the past all the time and fireworking all kinds of melodrama because that was not what the first movie was about.

For me I would watch the first movie again and again (and I did and still got great laughs and tears from it) but for “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” it really is just as its title suggested “The Second Best”.

C is for Care

Been back working at the hospital for a few weeks now. Initially I hesitated to go back. It is not a position I am interested in and definitely not my career aspiration. However, I have a special spot for this hospital because of personal experience and that was why I joined the project in the first place. I care about the vision and do wish the vision might eventually come true. True in a sense of real vision accomplished not any shallow media fanfare. But still at times I wonder whether the fact that I care is enough or not.

Back at the frontline helping patients is an experience that is completely different from sitting in the office putting systems and work processes together. You are actually part of the service equation that hopefully makes the day of a suffering patient better. You might not be the person to provide diagnosis or advice about treatment, or provide the actual treatment. But I believe by doing your little bit to them you help contribute making their difficult days a little bit better. I cannot say of other people but that was the reason why I agreed to go back.

The truth is no matter how important one is we cannot fight the natural process of aging and sickness. Especially for sickness as it strikes people at all ages and it is one of the most indiscriminative thing in this world. Every time you see a frail body frame coming towards you, you need to think about how you can make it better. I think this is what this hospital is about. Nobody can control the outcome but just making the journey a little bit easier could shed a little bit of light on a dark road.

One of the most important things I learned this time round is that you might think how unfortunate you are in terms of career, friendship, relationship etc. etc. but when it comes down to health nothing beats it. When I had one of the patients coming to me and thanked me for just greeting him and acknowledging his presence and then told me he felt that now he could make it to Easter to visit his sister in Perth because he wants to see her as much as possible while he can, you just have no words to complain about your own life. Does that mean I am not unhappy about certain things? No but it put me into a different perspective and appreciate what I have a lot better. And as you dealt with more people and listening to them you understand if these patients have the courage and determination to fight a seemingly unfightable battle that doesn’t seem to have an end at this stage, you can’t help but wonder why am I spending time moaning over things that are so much more trivial compared to these patients.

When I bid farewell to patients and their carers I dealt with I usually like to close off with either “Have a good rest of the day” or “Have a great weekend”. Most of them would appreciate and say thanks and some would say they would try. I didn’t say that because I want an anchor style closing but I do hope their days would get better.

Some people asked me where did I find the patience and energy to deal with situations – the answer is simple – I am truly interested in making a difference. I don’t expect everyone to have the same aspiration because that is just being unrealistic. But I do hope everyone would have a think about why they are working there and remember the motto displayed on their phones – Uncompromising Care – because only through real commitment the vision can become a reality. For me if people do not have a heart to make a positive difference to cancer care in whatever capacity they are working in, maybe it is time to think about whether this is the right place for them.

It is of course hard to keep everyone happy. However we don’t know what these patients are going through and if there is a tiny bit of thing that could make their days better without compromising our integrity, service standards or legal compliance why over-sweating about them? At the end of the day this could be a process anyone of us could go through. The hospital lost a valuable employee through the same sickness the hospital is trying to treat this year. I heard stories about how she soldiered on to deliver great care and services to patients in need while she was very sick. I personally think this should be the standard for everyone who is providing health care services.

I might be a bit too idealistic as we live in a real world but if I could stay idealistic and make a tiny bit of difference why not? You never know whether one day you could become that catalyst that sparks future changes. Yet again this sounds idealistic but I stand by it.