The 2 sides of friendship

It's only when u r feeling really lousy and helpless when u see who are there for u, and who are those who care. And one thing I am ever more certain...someone whom u think will be supportive towards you might not be one day.

Coursemates are supposed to be the ones who give you the most moral support during your education years, but are they? No. People who are in the same course as you, be it in the same sch or elsewhere, might give you their support today, but might not do the same tomorrow. And it will only be worse when you start lagging behind them. Examples for today:

S: Ay, I heard you took your exam yesterday. How's it?
Me: Die ah. I think I gonna fail...very worried now.
S: Practical exam's so easy. How can u fail it?

Thanks manz. That was VERY helpful.

P: How's the exam?
Me: Gosh..I seriously think I won't make it through. I screwed some stations up.
P: Won't fail one lah!
Me: Dunno. Will be very paiseh if fail wor. Ppl's mindset is "U can't possibly fail abroad". Nobody will ever believe I studied hard if I ever fail.
P: Depends on which uni. If fail in Cambridge, understandable.
Me: But I'm not in Oxbridge
P: Honestly speaking, those UK grads can't do many things. The UK medical teaching sucks!
(chat went on)
P: Hey...can't believe this. It's 8 mths to my finals.
Me: Thanks ah. Here I am feeling sad abt my practical, and there u are telling me it's 8 mths to your FINALS.
P: Sorry...but finals' such a big thing...

Ok..go on. Talk MORE abt finals. I don't have to feel lousier than how I am feeling now, do I?

And how sad that these are THE ppl whom I thought can understand how I feel since we're all doing Medicine.

Why can't medical students be more humble towards one another? Everyone knows for a fact tt a med student has to be academically able, but are they so academic to the point whereby they even have to learn how to be humble in a classroom?

There has always been this debate abt whether Sg or overseas med sch education is better. Every year during this medical career talk held by Sg in UK, you'll just be very entertained watching fellow Sgporean med students battling it out. Every yr, this will be said:

"What do we gain if we go back to Sg to work? In the first place, NUS med rejected us and forced us to leave home to do it elsewhere. How did we feel back then? And now you're telling us not to be quitters..telling us that Sg is home..and that's where we should go back to work?"

Then followed by ppl debating among one another about whether they made the right choice abt studying in UK. You'll then hear some cursing at NUS med...abt how much their students don't respect patients...the docs' attitude etc.

Yet, those who are cursing abt it all the time aren't very nice either. They may be doing really well in UK, but they sure aren't humble. Inferior complex is more like it. I met 3 such ppl before. One was boasting to me abt how he felt when he applied to transfer to NUS halfway through his med education, and when NUS accepted him, he proudly REJECT them because he thinks he's doing much better without being there. My thought was "Then if you think NUS is so crap, why u apply in the first place?" The 2nd has been cursing NUS med sch for 2 yrs, saying that it's the lousiest med sch on earth..and they made a huge mistake by rejecting him cos he is now the best student in the best med sch in UK (he claimed it himself...but definitely no one ever thought his med sch was the best in UK)..and the next time I saw him, he told me he's now in NUS med...applied to transfer halfway..and then going on to tell me how stressful his life in NUS is. Then the 3rd was a good pal of the first guy, and since birds of the same feather flock together, one can expect what he had to say abt NUS.

Can't stand these ppl. What's the big deal abt being a medical student? What's the big deal even if you're a doctor one day? It is just a career, and even if it's a competitive course to get into, it doesn't give them the right to put on airs, and definitely doesn't give them the right to go around criticising about other med sch's graduates.

And one might probably have heard abt Singaporean docs complaining abt how lousy doctors who grad frm India and Pakistan are. But is that true? I don't think so. 80% of the Consultants here in my med sch are Indians...and they are not British-born Indians.

Ok, enuff abt the humble issue.

Shall mention abt the good side of friendship.

There are some who bother to drop me short msges online to see if I'm alright. Just less than a handful of such souls ard, but it's comforting to know they exist. Big thanks to ppl like Shan and Kor.

And big thanks to Kwong Chee again. Very sweet of him to drop me a sms to check on me. Was really touched when he made the effort to sms me even when he was happily dining in Prego (bet he purposely told me it was Italian dinner tonight just to make me drool) and going off to a latin bar for drinks and salsa. And even offered to talk to me on the phone when he's home. Once again, talked till forget the time, and he only went to sleep at 4am. Looks like it'll be double expresso for him in the morning at work again (and he still said he wanna talk tmr...goodness..let's see how long he can last slping at 4am every night). Before he hung up, he said he might call when he wakes up (let's see if he really calls..and what time..). I'll be super touched if he really calls. Oh boy, am I glad to have such a friend.

Sheesh..now I think I'm seeing why this Mr Nice Guy is so popular with his friends, especially girls.