So, as in all movie shows in cinemas, some 10 to 20 minutes before the movie begins, movie-goers are served with loads of commercials and trailers of upcoming movies. Commercials shown in the cinemas range from telco services, mobile phones, electrical items, food and beverage, beer, to any other products or services that might be of our use.

Well, do you like the commercials in the cinemas? Well, I like some and I dislike some. Top on my favorite are the DiGi commercials. Although not a DiGi subscriber myself, I like the commercials of DiGi, most of them. In the recent months we had the rubber duckies, the Bollywood movie, the one with people saying Hello, and now we have the Value for Me commercial. And of course, the PSA reminding us to put our phone in silent mode featuring the taiko and the Yellow Man.

And well, another of my favorite is the Digital Mall commercial, featuring the security guard dancing his way while another which is not shown currently is the Visa card Beijing Olympics featuring Jackie Chan.

How about those I dislike? Well, most of those I dislike are the beer commercials. In the past, there was this Tiger beer commercial featuring Jessica Alba and the one I hate most now is the Heineken commercial featuring hundreds of thousands of people pushing the earth plates! And another one is Henessy commercial Live Life to the Full featuring the man who made abstract painting!

Last but not least, the MacDonald’s MacTonight commercial, well, not to say I like or dislike but, the moon-face man is ugly!

Lee Yuk Peng
The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Double heart transplant patient Tee Hui Yi is likely to be discharged from the National Heart Institute (IJN) in two weeks’ time.

If she had been able to finish her meals, gain more weight and take her medication on time, Tee could have been discharged on Saturday, the day she attended the IJN’s Deeparaya open house, said Dr Mohamed Ezani Md Taib, the heart and lung transplant unit clinical director.

However, the medical team at IJN still kept her warded as she only managed to finish half her meals most of the time, gained 2kg so far and was still unable to take medication on time.

Tee, 14, and her mother were also learning to identify the drugs that she needed to take and their side effects, said Dr Mohamed Ezani.

“She has gained 2kg, from 33kg when she underwent the transplant. She should be gaining more weight.

“She is also too manja (pampered) at times,” said Dr Mohamed Ezani, adding that she was good at bargaining with the nurses to take fewer drugs over longer intervals.

Other than that, the doctors were happy with her progress and a total of four biopsies conducted showed her body only had mild or no rejection to the foreign heart.

Her feeding tube was removed last Friday and Tee is currently having a no-bacteria diet.

“She does not take raw food and fruits have to be freshly cut,” said Dr Mohamed Ezani.

As for her favourite fried chicken, she would not be able to have it as it was a high cholesterol food.

“She will never get to eat fried chicken in IJN,” said Dr Mohamed Ezani.

At the open house, Tee got a chance to taste satay, rendang and briyani rice.

As for Siti Salmah Jasni, the country’s first double transplant patient, Dr Ezani said her condition remained critical and she was still warded at the intensive care unit of IJN.

She is unable to talk at the moment, but she could respond to doctors and family members.

Rina De Silva
New Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR: She misses home-cooked food but the DeepaRaya open house spread at the National Heart Institute (IJN) was too tempting to resist.

Heart transplant girl Tee Hui Yi, 14, enjoyed satay, briyani rice and rendang. The only thing missing was her favourite food - Kentucky Fried Chicken.

“Now I can eat anything I want, but I haven’t had any Kentucky Fried Chicken yet,” she giggled.

Her plate was refilled quite regularly by IJN chief executive officer Mohd Radzif Mohd Yunus and her mother Dina Bato Sambua.

The staff at IJN were happy to see her tucking in.
Tee has not been in the mood to eat much since she received a new heart last month.

Looking radiant in a red baju kurung with her hair plaited in the latest style, Tee drew attention the moment she stepped into the room. Guests recognised the famous patient and came forward to greet the teenager, who was her usual bubbly self.

She posed happily for photographers, showing the peace sign.

It has been more than a month since Tee had her heart transplant at IJN, where she has been a patient since September last year.

She was transferred out of the intensive care unit on Nov 1.

“I’m very happy, only my legs still hurt when I walk,” she said.

Her physiotherapy regimen includes a lot of walking as part of the recuperation process.

Her one wish though is to go home and be with her family in Batu Pahat. But it may be a while yet as IJN cannot fix a date for her discharge.

“It’s hard to tell. She was just transferred out of the ICU,” said Radzif.

But she is pleased that she is no longer bound to the mechanical heart that kept her alive for more than a year as she waited for a donor heart. She can now sit and eat comfortably, and bathe like a regular person.

Tee was diagnosed with end-stage heart failure, after a viral infection, when she was two years’ old.

She became a regular patient at Batu Pahat Hospital and IJN.

Tee was placed on the heart transplant list in May last year. She has not attended school for three years because of her heart condition.

Bersih or the police?

The mass gathering in Kuala Lumpur by Bersih to march to the National Palace to submit a memorandum to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for a fair election yesterday happened peacefully without any untoward incidents. And if the gathering was to cause traffic chaos, it would be only limited to the routes used by the people to march towards the palace from the city center.

But why the traffic chaos in the whole city and surrounding areas? Is Bersih to be blamed for the chaos? At the very first place, Bersih has tried to apply for a permit and if the police would co-operate by issuing a permit and help monitor the procession, things would be fine after all. It would be just another usual events like Merdeka Countdown, New Year Countdown, Merdeka Parade where certain roads are closed but without causing traffic chaos like what happened yesterday.

After all, the gathering happened peacefully, save for the action of the police who shot chemicals using water cannons and tear gas to the crowd unnecessarily. Even the Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) has indicated that the gathering, as long as is peaceful, should go on while the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has consented to receive the memorandum from Bersih.

Now, the traffic chaos? Who caused it? Well, the police road blocks. Road blocks at entrances to the North-South Expressway (NSE) from Kedah to Johor. Well, that might not have caused severe jams in smaller towns, but the road blocks on entrances into Kuala Lumpur and many other roads within the city caused the severe jams! The entire city was in a stand still. Anyone seen wearing yellow were asked to turn back and not allowed to proceed!

Isn’t this a breach of freedom? Why, is it a sin for wearing yellow? Why cause the unnecessary trouble to the people? Yeah, the police apologized for the inconvenience, saying is their duty to do, but, is this necessary at the first place?

Sunday 11 November 2007

TODAY marks the 10th Anniversary of JOLmy. Established 10 years ago, on 11 November 1997, it began as an experimental personal website which is continuously refined and updated.

My personal website currently contains a brief personal profile, online photo albums, video gallery and a web-based messaging interface. Meanwhile, I started blogging in October 2005, stopped a while in March 2006 but relaunched the current blog in July 2006.

On another matter, well, today seems to be an auspicious day. Heard that many people are getting married today. And well, the countdown to Chinese New Year stands at 88 days today! Well, what a coincidence!