It has been two years since I joined Facebook. I still remembered my reluctance to accept my friend's invitation to join this social-networking site at the very beginning. Why? One reason – one of the big ones – is the anxiety of my space being invaded.

It's a thorny question. We're looking for ways to link with our distant friends. And yet, we might not want certain people (oh, say, our parents) to access our profile page. No matter how

I was reading a short medical review about memory problems in older people. There are, I suppose, good tips for doctors who often come across patients with memory loss.

The article teaches us to ask if the forgetful patient is paying his bills. Does he forget his way and get lost? A quick assessment of the severity of cognitive impairment, I was told, should include orientation to place, recall of three items and general knowledge such as news headlines. And something like that.

"Oops, are they talking

There are only two kinds of people in this world: those who believe that the earth revolves around the sun and those who act as if their babies are the centre of the universe.

Having said that, I find myself morphing inevitably from the former into someone who will monopolize conversations with boring baby topics. Simply put, "baby talk" is similar to wasabi: a little at the right time feels good, but we often overdo it. Oh, yeah, isn't this a normal reaction of becoming a

Not long ago, my wife and I had a dinner in a Chinese restaurant. It wasn't a particularly big one, but it served great dishes. But when I caught my wife's eye, I could see she was feeling tired. Then I started to notice that we were sitting beneath a noisy television, and right next to a busy corridor. You can't think of better way to make people throw a fit. Plus an epileptic fit - if you happen to be sensitive to the flicker

Thank God for the air-conditioning. Summer nearly does me in every year. You can feel it. Chocolate melts in your bag before reaching your mouth. The shirt simply sticks to your skin with sweat, and the temperature is unforgiving.

It's no accident that schools break at the summer time. This idea of summer break is not new, but certainly not to be taken for granted. For those of you interested in the history of education, children in the old days attended school year-round,

Being born into not-so-wealthy family, as I mentioned before, doesn't mean a nightmare. How many times have you heard, "Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves"? This curse is often heard, and its origins are probably buried in those rich-kids-gone-bad tales. Nobody would deny that growing up amid affluence can easily backfire.

Before I tell you what I mean by backfire, let me explain what I don't mean. I would not go so far as to say that

My wife and I seldom pay attention to the roving exhibitions in shopping arcades. This said, I admit there are good ones around. The other day, for example, we were walking home when we saw an exhibition about local toys from the days of yore. It's hard to walk away without staying behind to go over the sweet memories of long-ago toys.

Years passed. Five. Ten. And decades. Some childhood memories – in particular, with our toys – are engraved in a way we

According to strict local and religious customs in certain Asian countries, male doctors are only allowed to "see" his lady patients covered by full-length veil. Being a doctor myself, I have more than once ruminated on how it can be done. I think for the thousandth time how lucky I am here and don't have to see my patients behind the curtain.

What we seem not to recognize is that, much to our chagrin, we're carrying out such behind-the-curtain consultation every

"I made quite a few mistakes last night," one of our new doctors confided to her friends in the Facebook, "but I'll learn. By heart."

I was silent for a moment, nodded to myself, and wrote a few words of encouragement.

How could one begin a new job without making mistakes? I couldn't fathom it. The credo of learning from mistakes is never new, not the least for someone, myself included, who is reading a lot about parenthood. New

If there is any similarity between novice medical interns and new parents, chances are that they all make lots of mistakes.

There is so much we don't know about when we become new parents. The same is true for new interns. Of course, they must learn their trade on the job.

As a father-to-be, I haven't the foggiest idea what a parent's life would be. Then I sit back and pat myself, trying to learn the dos and don’ts