"Dentist pulls out wrong person's teeth"

This article is basically about a dentist, Dr Debbie Hong, who was fined $3000 by a dental council after failing to check the identity of a patient and hence wrongly pulling out 2 of the patient's teeth.

A 23 year old male patient went to have his teeth straightened at Dr Debbie's clinic, but ended up 2 teeth short. This was becausethe clinic clerk put the chit for extracting two teeth into the wrong patient's file, and hence the wrong patient was called into the treatment room. Dr Debbie Hong "failed to check the identity of the patient before commencing the extract the teeth. She wrongly took out the upper left first premolar and lower second left premolar." According to the Straits Times article, the patient was not under general anaesthesia, but said nothing went the first tooth was pulled out. When the error was discovered, the man was called back within the hour. Although 3 senior specialists from NDC were called in immediately, they were unable to reimplant the two teeth. Hence, the patient filed a complaint against Dr Debbie Hong to the Singapore Dental Council.

This is a very severe mistake which has been made, by standards, by quite an experienced dentist. According to the article, this dentist has been in the trade for 4 years already. Hence, she should already be used to checking the identity of patients and hence should not make such a mistake. Furthermore, her careless actions has also caused permanent harm to the man. This was because the man was still in his youth, only 23 years old, but yet had already lost the use of two of his molars. How can this loss be repaid to him? What is more, the patient was also not under anaesthesia. A molar is a large tooth situated at the back of the mouth and secured by lots of roots. Most likely, it was also an adult molar. Imagine the agony the man must be going through without general anaesthesia. This was great carelessness and irresponsibility on the part of the dentist. A $3000 fine is much too little.

Home-Based Learning 25 May 2011

Once again I ask myself: Why in the world did I join the army for? Certainly not for torture, right?? I cannot seem to remember the reason by which I finally convinced myself to join the army.

Here I am, sitting in a dark, gloomy, stinky trench. But I have to be grateful, because of the simple fact that I am not dead yet. My rifle is sitting by my side, ready to be used at any time. We are wary of the Germans, because of what we faced today.

My platoon, and most probably, other platoons, arrived at the German coast by boat. Extremely smelly boats. Why? We were really not prepared for sea. Virtually every soldier was severely seasick. Every second, one poor man would suddenly clutch at his stomach, his eyes widening, before a fountain of vomit spewed from his throat and onto the floor of the boat, and the stench would be unbearable. The seasickness had drained our strength, but still, we held on. Finally, Sgt. Bruce Williams issued the command: Men, get up, prepare yerselves. Pick up your weapons, and fight for yer damn lives and the lives of yer families!!!

As one, we immediately snatched up our rifles, checked quickly for sufficient ammo, then scrambled to our feet to face our adversaries. At once, bullets sliced through the air and slugs ricocheted everywhere. Many comrades fell as soon as they stood up. Directly in front of me, a bullet punched through the forehead of Private Johnson Whiteman. Pieces of bone splintered like wood, and blood spurted high up into the air as Johnson fell, dead, at my feet. I stared down at his fallen frame, horrified, and the world slowed to a crawl. I looked around me. In slow motion, comrades were falling and twisting into grotesque positions as they fell. Someone rapped on my helmet, and I slowly turned to face him. It was Sgt Bruce. He was glaring at me with those deep blue eyes of his and his mouth was working rapidly, but I could not hear him. I cocked my head, puzzled. Then everything rushed back into reality. Bruce's voice was pounding into my ears and the air seemed to be getting hotter and hotter. "Private!! We gotta jump, right now!!! The boat is on fire!!!" He grabbed my wrist, and then flung himself toward the sea. Ravenous flames licked the air where we stood, and the very floor of the boat crumbled beneath our feet as we hurled ourselves overboard.

Would the bullets never leave us alone?? Even underwater, those cold pieces of steel powered through the waters, leaving streaks of bubbles behind them. When they entered human skin and flesh, a dark red cloud exploded like a chemical experiment gone wrong. Rapidly, I swam to shore.

Nicole Seah breaks down during rally

Nicole Seah is a pretty 24-year old, an executive with a multinational advertising agency. However, do not overlook her, for she is at the heart of the political party, National Solidarity Party in Singapore and is contesting in the in the Marine Parade GRC.

On the night of 5 May, Nicole Seah participated in a rally for the National Solidarity Party(NSP). During the rally, she actually broke down in tears while recalling a meeting with a poor family in MacPherson. According to the Straits Times article reporting on this affair, Nicole said that "she was saddened when the mother said that she could not get help to fund her son's $80 tution fees. Worse, when the mother sought help, she was chided for the small amount."

I think that there are two viewpoints from which to look at this affair. The first viewpoint is that in trying to convince the people that the NSP was the best candidate for the job, she, without knowing, blurted out this story. She crying means that she has compassion in her and is able to sympathise with others. The public will certainly be moved and impressed by the maturity of this young woman.

However, the other, negative, viewpoint is that this was all an act. Nicole Seah purposely brought up this affair so that the public will also will compassion for the poor family and hence will start to sway in her and the NSP's favour. If this is true, it would mean that Nicole Seah is a dirty player and will resort to every mean ti achieve her goals, in this case being to be elected into the GRC.

Which one is true, and which is false? It all depends on who is deciding. Followers of Nicole Seah would agree strongly with the first argument while those supporting others would have taken up the second viewpoint with enthusiasm.