Breaking The Glass Ceiling

Today the Final MBBS Exam results for batch 2005/2010 came out . The end of their 5-year struggle. My former roomate texted me, sharing her good news. I logged on to facebook and saw the many congratulatory wishes & thank yous to God, parents, friends and everything else. Talk of celebration and 'rebellion' to studying are everywhere. As of today, they have finally obtained the right to be addressed as Doctor.

It could've been me.
I was once one of them.
But it was I who decided to pull myself out; to deal with other demons or i would probably be a corpse today.

I am happy for them, i really am. But i would be lying if i said the happiness isn't enshrouded by intense jealousy. I just really wish i was one of them. I wish i would be standing with them on stage at graduation.

Perhaps this is my pride talking. Looking at the bigger picture, i will become a doctor as well...only 1 year later. I hadn't failed. Things happen. Unforseen events. It can't be helped, and there is no blame to be put. Regardless, i can't help what i feel. Perhaps i could grieve and put these feelings to rest.

Things have not been working so smoothly the past few weeks...ever since the fire in our home in Penang. Though it wasn't major, but one can feel the stress eminating from mother & daughters. Everyone's busy, everyone's slammed with job/academic commitments. The tension is unavoidable. One has to bear it as long as it takes to make the house back to what it was.

It has been difficult for me to concentrate on what i'm doing. Restless boredom. The lability of my emotions draws me into seclusion...avoiding contact yet yearning it all the same.

Anyway. What does it take to break the glass ceiling? The unseen & unreal barriers to materializing ones dream. The exaggerated gravity of situations. The fear of failure. The irrational loathing towards certain departments. The inherent compulsion to procrastination.

Looks like i have a long way to go.

Sex Education

The first time i heard about Sex Education was in Form 2, where it was the topic for our class debate and i was in the opposition team. It was meant to be for our English class, among fellow classmates; but since we had that class in front of the school co-op (it was more spacious, so we could arrange chairs & tables to get a better 'feel' of debate) i got rebuttals from Form 4 and Form 5 students...SCHOOL DEBATERS mind you (who were apparently frustrated because they just lost a debate) leaving me flustered, confused & tongue tied so our teacher finally stepped in. rather unfair for a first-timer, dont you think? either way i don't think it affected my assessment so much.

Anyway. Why Sex Ed? Is it really necesary? To be honest i dont really care if they implement it or not. However, since i generally dislike sex out of wedlock & promiscuous behaviour, and unfortunately some go about it like we live in caves (i.e. no choice, no contraception, no restrictions, no-knowledge-just-urges, no rules) i think it becomes necessary to educate and break the apparent naivete.

OK. To Sex Ed or Not To Sex Ed. From newspapers & blog comments i see most people debate on that. I'm more interested as to what they MEAN by sex-ed, and the fact that if improperly implemented there could be potential misuse by perverted teachers. So to be frank, i think the best people to teach sex education are doctors, nurses, trained teachers (include some open-minded ustaz/ustazahs/religious leaders if any)...basically anyone who is trained and capable of talking about sex academically, objectively, and clinically.

Sex ed is NOT teaching people how to have sex (i.e. cuddle & kiss for how long then do this and do that here or there). Sex ed is about sexual behaviour, consequences/products of sex, and prevention.

So, here is my suggected scope for sex education.

1) Primary Sex Education : probably for high school students
-normal human sexual development (from in utero, puberty, sexual maturity and regression)
-sexual anatomy (male and female)
-views on sex and its role/practise by different cultures & religions (preferably worldwide...include current malaysian law)
-sexually transmitted disease
-pregnancy, abstinence & contraception (i'm talking hard core contraception including implants, tubal ligations and vasectomies...not just condoms & pills)

2) Secondary Sex Education : matriculation/A-level/university, maybe?
-the differences between gender and sex (gender roles, gender identity, sexual identity, transexualism)
-sexual preferences (homo/bi/heterosexuality)
-sexual harrassment & the law
-family & relationships (responsibility, maturity, infidelity, polygamy)
-psychology (body image, self-awareness & empowerment)

3) Tertiery Sex Education : optional, for sexually active individuals (hopefully married)
-the Kama Sutra & enhancing sexual pleasures
-non-conventional practices (S&M, swinging, necrophilia, pedophilia, bestiality, incest, rape, etc)
-overcoming common sexual problems (performance anxieties, erectile dysfunction, painful intercourse, etc)

what do you think?