It seems cancer is no longer mainly restricted to affecting people in the later years of their lives and knocks on the doors of younger and younger people.

My mom and god-mother had cancer so dealing with surgery, chemotherapy, subsequent monitoring and palliative care are things I’m familiar with. What I find challenging and sometimes inspiring is having to go through the process of dealing with the diagnosis and preparing for life-changes that need to take place with each friend who get’s told he or she has cancer.

My friend Ben is a healthy guy living in Taipei who has never smoked a cigarette in his 33 years and hits the gym now and then. He stays relatively healthy but his family has a history of cancer. He had been having an inflammation of his tongue for two months. He finally decide to get a series of tests done recently. Yesterday he went to get his results and was supposed to tell me how it went after the hospital visit. He “hmm” and “ahhed” when I checked in on him via MSN and that’s when a hunch told me that he had cancer.

I was correct. The doctor thinks it might be Stage 1 or 2 and he’s due to go for a complete series of tests come 18 Nov to see how much the cancer has spread and what the best course of treatment should be.

Ben is confident about the standards of medical care in Taipei and they are lucky enough to have social insurance which heavily subsidizes healthcare and treatment. That coupled with the insurance coverage he has and that the company took out for him means he doesn’t have to worry about a thing financially.

He’s a really positive person and upbeat about all that is happening. I admire his strength and the fact that he just accepts that this is one of the things that happens in life and is positive about coming out on top of this cancer.

We spoke about how he was going to schedule his surgery, treatment and recovery such that it would end just before I arrived in Taipei for my year end holiday. I guess he’s using my visit as a goal to set himself to get better. I told he’d better get better ’cause he’s promised to show me around and bring me to my first hot-springs in Taipei.

Cancer is becoming a really common thing and I guess the take away from all this is to get regular check-ups and to go see a reliable doctor when things unusual persist for longer than 1 or 2 weeks. You never can tell what it might be. Early detection can mean a whole world of difference in a quick recovery or prolonged periods of suffering.

http://jermyntoh.com/

Robin Goh Performs at Power Over Cervical Cancer Jam


Voguelicious Performs at Power Over Cervical Cancer POCC Jam

We're raising money for Singapore Cancer Society to help under-privileged women.

Join these celebrities as they come together for a good cause and to raise awareness about cervical cancer:
- Najip Ali
- Karen Tan
- Selena Tan & Pam Oei of the Dim Sum Dollies
- Robin Goh & Kaiying from Jia 88.5FM
- Vogueliscious
- Sheik Haikel & Anna Belle Francis
- Geraldine See & Dominic Wong from Music Movement
- Justin Jap you saw him singing on TV recently



Every year 200 women in Singapore are diagnosed with cervical cancer and about 100 die from this disease. Together we can protect women we love and help decrease these numbers.

Mini-Concert & Fund-Raiser is at SMU's T-Zone fr 7pm-9pm this Friday, 16 Oct 2009,

Map of where SMU's T-Zone is:

I’ve been seeing lots of discussion and excitement about Polo Boys, a new series by MediaCorp which features quite a few tanned, lean sexy boys frolicking in the pool. The general sentiment is that most gay boys are eagerly awaiting the series’ premier to feast their eyes on the attractive athleticism on display during prime-time TV in Singapore.

The trailers on YouTube and Facebook really don’t portray these actors as very able or proficient so it’s obvious they were not cast for their talents. Watching a few videos to confirm that I wasn’t being unfairly biased, I really started to get angry.

What I find disturbing is this double standard that the show seems to promote.

Singapore has little tolerance towards homosexuality with media owners being fined whenever any episode promoting a homosexual lifestyle is aired yet MediaCorp gets away with this kind of programming.

I remember years ago when Singapore had it’s first series featuring a gay character. The words used by the authorities monitoring the script-writing was that it’s OK to have a gay character so long as he’s negatively portrayed and he dies in the end. Such narrow-minded, unfair & one-sided portrayals of gay individuals have spurred my outrage and need to speak out. Seeing that TV script-writing in Singapore can produce such gem’s like Polo Boys only saddens me & outrages me more. TV has sunk to new lows in the pursuit of easy ratings as it unashamedly uses abs, dimples and skin to appeal to a group they are not allowed to promote the lives of.

It’s OK to milk us for ratings and revenue. We should be grateful we’re not actively criminalised after all … 377A only criminalise us in spirit and isn’t intended to be actively enforced.

More blog posts on http://jermyntoh.com

Hey Everyone,

I'm helping put this concert together with the help of my friends to raise awareness about Cervical Cancer as well as raise funds for the Cancer Society.

We're hoping to get 1,000 women to take the risk test at the event / on that day.

Would really appreciate any help to re-post this and for your kind support on 16, Oct 2009, Friday evening 7pm-9pm. Do come down to watch some personalities perform and help us raise some money for cancer.



Thank you so much for any help you can give for Power Over Cervical Cancer.

Jermyn

A video with Singapore personalities calling for action against cervical cancer.

Appearing in the video: Irene Ang, Beatrice Chia, Tan Kheng Hua, Rosalyn Lee, Deanna Yusoff, Anna Belle Francis, Ivan Heng, Pam Oei, Kaiying, Neo Swee Lin, and Jermyn Toh.

Visit http://pocc.sg to take a cervical risk test or to find out more.

Please help us spread the word and get your loved ones to take the cervical cancer risk rest at http://pocc.sg!

Hey everyone ... my company is conducting a survey on media usage & perceptions.

We're hoping to get a clearer glimpse of changing patterns of media usage and how much people trust things they see.

Link for this survey is at http://bit.ly/11K98Z

Answer this survey and leave you details behind and stand a chance to win an iPod Shuffle. We're giving away 3 Shuffles.

:-) Thanks in Advance.

Here’s a guide I share with new account servicing teams who join my company, Paprika. These are methods of working I’ve picked up through the years and working styles I‘ve come to value and see in individuals that stand out.

A piece of advice I’d like to offer is that communications is not about drawing lines. It’s about integration across all lines (ATL, BTL, POSM & Digital), all disciplines (PR, CRM, events & communications) and all channels that a customer engages with.

Times are changing the dynamics of our industry and we’re fast moving away from advertising to communicating and engaging.

The following areas are covered:

A) A MOMENT BEFORE WE PLUNGE IN

B) OUTLINE OF WORK AREAS

C) THE BASICS OF ACCOUNT SERVICING
1. Organisational Skills
2. Time Management
3. Written Communications & Presenting Information
4. Relationship Building

D) BEYOND THE BASICS
1. Watch, Listen, Read & Understand
2. Communicating
3. The Art Of Presentation
4. Knowing Which Buttons To Press
5. Difficult Clients

Full article and PDF of Account Servicing Guide at http://jermyntoh.com

Let me know if you found this useful.

This is something I chanced upon a short while back which I shared with my Twitter friends. I know some of them bookmarked it for future reference.

Meeting people and going out on several dates over the past few years I’ve realised that finding a connection is sometimes hard. Both parties worry about awkward moments and we fret too much at times over what the other thinks so much so that we run headlong into tongue-tied moments. Then there are moments that follow a wonderful & lively exchange where we find ourselves a little lost and wondering what to talk about next.

Not everyone has the gift of the gab and hitting things off constantly with sparks of chemistry flying doesn’t always happen like in the movies or fairy-tale romantic situations.

Full blog post at http://jermyntoh.com + article on The Art Of Flirting + Notes On Love here.

Was randomly surfing the web and I came across the following idea.

To walk away from something, you need to do it with love & acceptance. Done with frustration and hate tends to make the experience repeat itself until we've truly learnt from it.

It actually does makes a lot of sense.

Thought I'd share this as I know many of us cling on to so many things in our lives. Being able to love, accept and move on will bring greater and more beautiful experiences into our lives.

:-)

... Love is also acceptance. It is acknowledging that All Things Are One. That is acceptance. The law of love ensures that you see this truth. You cannot leave an experience permanently unless you exit with love and acceptance. ...

Read full blog post here.

Hey All LJers

doing some research for a work project

Could you help me complete this survey on contact lens usage, storage and solutions?

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=IC3_2baxv_2fGtl92ZIi2LEmfA_3d_3d

Thanks yah

On my blog, Storms cutest picture captioned for icanhascheezburger!



http://www.jermyntoh.com

My Wordpress Blog is set-up at http://www.jermyntoh.com!!

At the request of several readers, here's how to set-up a WordPress blog and migrate your old entries from LiveJournal.

1) Decide On A Hosting Plan

2) Purchase A Domain Name

3) Using Fantastico

4) Login In To Your Blog's Admin Panel

5) Import Your LJ Settings with One-Click

Read the full write-up at http://www.jermyntoh.com!!

Been fiddling with the admin panel of my WordPress blog and I can't decide what theme to choose!! If you know basic code, you can further customise down to the smallest details rather easily.

And the widgets!! You can add all kinds of things to your blog like "live" Twitter updates, forms, search tools, visitor analytics info and more!

Sigh ... this is gonna take longer than I thought given so many choices.

Some pics of the back-end.

After considering this for a few years, I've finally decided to set-up my own domain with my blog running on WordPress. WordPress has a new import facility that allows LJ users to import all their entries + replies.

Its been a stressful time searching for hosting providers and reading various reviews to make a decision. Was about to go with HostGator as that received the most positive reviews but once I converted US$ to RM for 2yrs it was way more logical to go with a Malaysian service provider. They come out to 30% cheaper and they also provided easy set-up of WordPress using Fantastico.

So over the next few weeks, I'm gonna satisfy the tech geek in me.

Stay tuned as I share the trials & tribulations of this process.

Social media's role in the world moves to new levels when governments like China and Iran block site like Twitter, Facebook, blogs, YouTube and SMS services during recent events to curb communications between dissidents and prevent too much information from leaking out.

These pictures below which appeared on Twitter hours before maintstream media covered events in Iran also speak volumes about the role of citizen journalism.



My parents and god-brother have grumbled about my "addiction" to Twitter but today they were bugging me about what was happening in Iran and asking to see pictures of the students protesting against riot police.

I think the number of wonderful links to amazing articles that teach about Pranayama, design, internet trends, thought-leadership in my Twitter favourites' page also points to how much I've gained with Twitter.

:-)

Some of my favourites are:
- KimSherrellRT @iamkhayyam: 35 Awesome User Interface Design Tutorials | http://bit.ly/4jKDL
- TEDchris 'Men are geniuses and idiots' theory - well articulated here http://bit.ly/3sLWq
- GuyKawasakiVia http://trkk.us/?XFw 3 step plan every blogger should know: http://trkk.us/?XFx

Now my only wish is more hours in a day to catch up on reading all the great things shared.

Article from Fast Company about possible new iPhone launching very shortly.

Cheap iPhone version possibly at under US$99 and an iPhone video version.

ARGH .... how am i gonna deal with the overwhelming want to upgrade to the iPhone video if these rumours are true!!!

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kit-eaton/technomix/iphone-rumor-round-steve-jobs-returns-99-iphone-shutter-button?#

"Hi my name is Jermyn and I'm a netaholic"

---------------------------------
How do you know you are a Twitter addict?

1. you have more than one twitter desktop application loaded on your computer

2. you have more than one twitter application loaded on your phone

3. its the first thing you check when you wake

4. you bid good-night to Twitterverse before you go to bed

5. you send tweets regardless of your state of intoxication

6. you feel guilty when you go for long periods (measured in hours) without posting a tweet

7. you get pangs of withdrawal when Twitter is unaccessible for anything more than 30 mins


-----------------------------------

I now have some spare time to do other things online like play games on Facebook, catch up reading the long list of blogs I've bookmarked but I must admit I get pangs of withdrawals coz I can't read what's happening out in Twitterverse or know wat my frens are doing.


I'm glad for Twitter as its been a great quick source of information, insights, inspirations that I wouldn't have had access to otherwise. I've bookmarked so many links that I often struggle to go through all these interesting tit-bits.

Guess this down-time Twitter is going through for server servicing is good. Its a reminder that life is about balance.

:-)

I personally think its wrong for anyone to be forced into this. Differences & diversity need to be accepted and celebrated.

If anyone chooses to go through this, then he/she should have access to the full arguments from both sides.

Was asked about this by a visitor so I did some research and here's my perspective summed up in 3 areas.

You can bring a horse to water but you can't make him drink. Being stubborn as hell myself, I know the best decisions are made by yourself when you know all the facts.

Rather than say whether it is right or wrong, here's some food for though that I hope will help for the appropriate decision to be made.

A) Methodology of Studies / Arguments Presented
Look deeper into the persuasions, studies and testimonials quoted / presented. Look beyond the passion in the arguments but in the methods, science and logic used to arrive at the findings. If they come from only one group of people, then it's likely the findings are biased.

There isn't clear scientific evidence that indicate the success of conversion therapy as such studies need to be conducted across diverse cross-sections of individuals and not be based predominantly on interviews with subjects arranged by ex-gay ministries; many of them who work at the ministries.

Studies with respondents only from one demographic will always skew results in favour of the group commissioning the study.

B) Methods of Conversion
I found the various methods used to convert distressing as it went to extreme measures like banning the wearing of fashion brands or listening to anything but religious music.

Levy informs me that homosexuality is difficult to treat because it is about more than sexuality -- it is about a way of life. "I want to make a distinction between same-sex attraction and being gay," he says. "That is a whole ideology. It is a lifestyle. It becomes the locus, or organizing principle, of the identity of the human personality." Reparative therapy focuses on getting gays and lesbians to stop talking or walking "gay." One "ex-gay" program in Memphis, Tenn., Refuge, bars men from wearing jewelry, donning Calvin Klein clothes and listening to secular music. http://dir.salon.com/news/feature/2005/07/19/gaytherapy

Does therapy involving immersing yourself completely, filling every waking moment and thought with religious doctrine or another school of thinking in order to cure or change?

This seems more like denial, repression and a replacement approach.

Shouldn't successful conversion free one to lead a life that doesn't involve constant therapy and thought "alteration"?

A stream will flow its natural course. A huge and constant effort is needed to change its flow. Once that effort is neglected it changes back to its natural course. That's the analogy I'd draw when I read how present conversion therapies work.

C) Hear Outcomes From All Sides
The credibility of any therapy or group that is afraid of presenting all the facts and all perspectives should be seriously questioned.

What are the outcomes from all sides; successful, failed, those who've discontinued "conversion"?
What impact has this therapy had on actual people's lives?
What is documented by medical professionals?
What impact have those who've discontinued "conversion" had on other people in their lives?

Truth should not need to hide. Half-truths are a different matter.

----------------------------
To conclude, I share this document for those who wish to find out more;
Sexual orientation conversion therapy for gay men and lesbians: A scientific examination
http://www.drdoughaldeman.com/doc/ScientificExamination.pdf

Shout-out to all my friends and LJ peeps in Singapore!! My shop is running this contest and it closes today!

Send in an entry and tell your friends yah.

:-)

---------------------------

Your chance to pick something from Anthro, ask for it and have it given to you!

3 simple steps to join:

1. Visit http://www.anthropology.com.sg and choose something you like from the e-store

2. Copy & paste the link onto the Facebook contest page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anthropology-Gift-Me-Contest-Page/71032443250

3. Tell us a reason why you want this

You can send in more than 1 entry.

Contest closes midnight tonight (Sunday) Singapore time.