Thursday, September 8, 2016

Dr. Li Ling.

8.9.2016.


No. 2 Son had arranged for this appointment for several weeks. It was only to-day that I was finally able to make it. It's about reviewing my medication, by the university's pharmacist, some kind of service for the staff members and their parents - an excellent idea.

I had expected a middle-aged male  medical practitioner. I didn't look at Ashraf's email beforehand. Dr. Liling is an unassuming pleasant young lady, completely without  airs about her, simply attired and plain-spoken, belying her scholastic credential. When she asked what I did before retirement I couldn't say more than "ah, just an administrator".

After the hour-long session she insisted that she'd walk me back to my son's place, where I started that morning. She was hinting lunch, but I quickly said I'd like to get back to my son because he was taking me to Kelana Jaya. We shook hands, and she reminded me to get back to her for further medical advice. Right there she also said we're alumni  because she'd mentioned that she got her degree at the U.M. and then her PhD there, and I said I was there,too, but graduated  before she was born !

This was the first time that I've actually entered  Taylor's University campus, in Subang Jaya. University of Malaya has probably 1,000 acres of land, and you need motor transport to go from one end to the other. I remember in the 60's the most outlandish man's attire was probably the chequered bermuda shorts and the girls in tight stretch pants. Taylor's is built more upward and tight because there isn't much land area. The total 3,000 students at U.M. in 1965 were dispersed over the sprawling campus. The 12,000 students at Taylor's seemed packed into all the rooms available, and in the ultra modern shops they have, with the branded food outlets and convenience stores and a few major banks. To think that everyone had to eat at the one and only Union House canteen and not a single bank in campus when I was at U.M. ! And the dress code at Taylor's ? What code? I saw some co-eds with low-cut blouses flapping over high-cut shorts. And a third of the students are foreigners, both the blonde-blue-eyed European version and the dark, brooding Middle Eastern variety.

Then you should see the cars, moving slowly through the winding campus roads, or parked everywhere else. The expensive sports cars (we're talking about Ferarris, Porches and Datsun 240GTI's here) belong to the students who stay at the 3,000-a-month flat nearby, my son explained. The other ordinary looking cars belong to the lecturers, he added.

We had to rush to Kelana Jaya for my missed appointment last week. It started to rain, so we had to put on our rain gear. We were riding on my motor cycle now hijacked by my son. We made it to the place, the one I couldn't find last week, but the guy didn't come today.  I called, and he said he had to go somewhere, and so he'll try to fit me in next week.

No. 2 Son dropped me at the Kelana Jaya LRT. Next week I'll come to this station and take a taxi to the place. I asked my son to say "thank you" to Dr. Li Ling. I think I'll email her tonight.


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