humanity VS professionalism

recently, a lady whose kindness knows no bounds, met a dog lying in the middle of the street. the dog, hence named angel, couldn't move because she was a victim of a hit-n-run. her pelvic bones as well as her left forearm was shattered. leaving her crippled. the lady refused to accept negativity and spent an enormous amount of money to treat the dog. almost seven thousand ringgit. a HUGE amount indeed, seeing that angel wasn't even her pet in the first place, just a dog on the street.

just a dog?

a dog is still a life. regardless. what is the value we place on this life? is she worth this much money? could the money have been put to better use? saving many more doggies instead? is the lady who saved her an angel? or merely eccentric?

which side of the fence do u stand?

perhaps the vet shouldn't have charged so much. although the skilled vet did a fine job...should he charge so much? even when he has spent almost rm100,000 on equipment and skills training? is it fair for people to have to pay so much for kindness? to save a life? but if no one pays the bill, how will the skills and equipment be acquired to provide the service in the first place?

in another perspective, if a child is sick, is it fair that her parents have to pay rm500,000 so that she can have a liver transplant? she is human after all. but she is only one child. the money could probably feed 5000 kids for a year. try telling that to the parents and see what they say.

are you still standing on the same side of the fence?

what value do you place on a life?

is quality healthcare a blessing or a bane? how do we pay for health when the payment itself causes an arm and a leg?

what is the definition of humanity? for professionalism? are the doctors pursuing perfection to become specialist in order to provide the best health care? or perhaps it is the pursuit of money? have they lost sight of humanity in in the effort to become better doctors? have we forgotten why we promise to do the best we can in the first place? the best for our patients???

when i asked the kind lady why she was willing to pay so much to save angel, her answer was short and to the point.

because every life is sacred.

the road not taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.


The Road Not Taken is a poem by Robert Frost, published in 1916 in his collection Mountain Interval.

i was reading a book recently, and i chance upon this poem. i have always been intrigued by the meaning of the poem, and how it always seems to appear unexpectedly at moments in my life when i seem to be at a point where the roads diverge.

in retrospect, the most significant decision of my life was to agree when my mom suggested that i transfer to Sam Tet to continue my form six studies. by norm, i was supposed to proceed to another school after my high school, but my parents decided that i would be much too distracted if i was to go there. besides, Sam Tet was famous for its excellent STPM records. n my sis was already there.

of course, a change of scene did not deter me from getting involve actively in the extra-curricular activities, and soon i was involved in the english club. little did i know that meeting my club advisor's family would influence my life greatly. her son became one of my best buddies and her husband, a vet, introduced to me an option i didn't know i had. i found my life's passion for healing all creatures, big and small.

which lead me to vet school. i have memories n stories to last me a life time, and friends who stood by me thru thick n thin. it was a friend from vet school who introduced me to a special person. the man who would become the love of my life.

and it all could be back tracked to the point where i made the decision to take the road less travelled by, and THAT has made all the difference!

although sometimes when i am in my more pensive moods, i do look back and wonder about the road not taken....