Monday, March 24, 2008

Thumbs Up! Singapore Civil Defence Force!

This is an account of my first-hand experience. My grandmother had a pretty nasty fall last week, and we phoned for the ambulance. One came within 5 minutes. Speed of response check – excellent!

My grandmother, being quite a stubborn character to deal with, had refused to go to the hospital to receive treatment. She insisted that it’s alright and, in her own words “… never mind, it’s ok. It’s not serious la”. I accredited this to the fact that she hadn’t seen herself in the mirror and hence wasn’t aware of how badly bruised and swollen her left eye was. Her bleeding forehead wasn’t convincing either to any of us that she should remain home and let nature takes its course.

Then, those guys arrived. My sister related my grandma’s reluctance to one of them, who in a very confident and calm manner told her not to fret over this and just let him in to speak to the old lady.

Swiftly, they managed to persuade her to follow them to the hospital. How did they do it? My hubby nailed it down to the “traumatic management” they used to handle my grandma, who was probably in shock after that bad fall. Knowledge and handling of a casualty check – great!

I asked to follow the ambulance so that my grandma would feel more assured knowing that I was around. I was “ushered” to the front seat, where one of them told me “this is the safest place to sit”. Reluctantly I obliged. Well, I would have preferred to sit with my grandma next to the stretcher she was lying in, but I knew that the guys knew better, so I conceded without any fight.

Indeed, she was in good hands as I kept looking back to check on her. The Chinese guy kept asking her questions to ensure she remained conscious, and they bandaged her arm at the same time. Casualty care check – assuring.

Singapore is famed for our multi-racial culture. I saw how this worked seamlessly. Among the crew who came to our assistance were a mix of Malays and Chinese. But, one would have thought that neither the colour of the skin nor the language spoken matter one bit. It was indeed a team effort, and they showed immense consideration for the family members too. Team effort and empathy check – outstanding.

My sister and I would love to sing more praises for this amazing team. Thank you, SCDF! With such a first-rate defence force to take care of our nation, what more can us as the citizens ask for? Nothing much more I guess, except to show our great appreciation.

Lastly, efficiency and effectiveness of the SCDF check – very commendable.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

When She Asks You If She’s Fat

Stuart (my hubby) and I walked past a boutique and a belt caught our eye. We went in and I took the belt to put it on. Then, this was what happened:

K: “Wha, this belt looks big. Does it come in sizes?” I half asked Stuart half spoke to myself.

Stuart gave me the how-would-I-know look. I searched through the rack and found that there were no sizes available. So I casually took one out and said:

K: “I don’t think I can wear this. It looks too big”
Two seconds later,

K: “OMG! I can wear this! I’m fat!”

Stuart gave me the I-can’t-believe-you look.

I’m sure if you’re a guy and reading this, you will find consolation to know you’re not the only man in this world who has been trapped in such a scenario before.

That was a knee jerk response I had. I knew that I’m not fat. Well, I do suffer from the drink-water-and-my-tummy-bulges syndrome. But I’m far from those three dreaded letters. I know.

Yet I still fall into the same trap that many women do. Or rather, we all fell into the trap of almost creating an ambush for our men to unwittingly fall into before they were executed by us instantaneously.

You know, this is really a very sensitive and complicated issue. Why? Because at times, we do know that certain parts of our bodies (usually not the areas that we want to be well-endowed in) will become slightly larger than normal. And when we ask our men the question “Honey, do I look fat?” we ourselves have very mixed feelings too.

On one hand, we really love to hear the truth from you. On another hand, the truth hurts. Ouch! And we just wish that while we can count on our closest mate to be honest with us, we still look for that glimmer of hope that perhaps, it is only our own expectation of slimness that hasn’t been met, but that you will find us looking great nonetheless, even with that bulge.

So, what is the conclusion? How do you handle your girlfriend or wife when she pops the horrifying question “Honey, do I look fat?”? Firstly, you should count your blessings that she asked you this, because you it would be so much easier to say “Of course not honey, you look perfect in that outfit!” as compared to the case of she asking you an even fearful question: “Honey, am I fat?”.

How are you supposed to answer her? If she does look fat to you, you will be doing her a great disservice by not letting her know the truth. But being brutally honest can be fatally stressful for you too.

If she doesn’t look fat, then naturally your problem is no longer a problem to begin with.

If you are really getting a headache over this, maybe saying this will help you get out of the rut relatively easy and safe. Just say this: “Well, you are well-endowed, and in my eyes, you are just perfect to me.”

That’s it!

“Is it that simple?” – You might be wondering now. Yes indeed, because all a woman wants is to hear from her man that he finds her looking good. She wants to look pretty for him, and his opinion matters more than anyone else in this world. For this, what she is looking to hear is not necessarily the truth (she can see that herself in the mirror!), but whether he finds her physically attractive or not.

The next time your girl throws you this time bomb, be sure to locate the right fuse so that you could detonate it before you get exploded into pieces. All she wants is some attention from you, and some very nice, sweet words to accompany along.

Just assure her, and you will be very assured.