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There is this line from the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough that has stuck with me since I watched it. Sophie Marceau, who plays Elektra King, whispers to 007 in one scene, "There's no point in living if you can't feel alive." It's a line also found in the title track sung by Garbage. When I heard it, it once again resonated with me. Indeed, what is the point of living if you can't feel alive? Now, you're probably thinking about delicious food, travelling to beautiful far-flung places away from maddening crowds, and for petrolheads, the soul-stirring experience of driving an exotic car. Surely such experiences make one glad to be alive. But there's another way for us to be reminded that we're still alive and kicking and it's whenever we feel pain. For this story, I'm going to talk about physical pain as opposed to emotional or psychological pain. Medication only goes so far. The best cure (if you can't prevent something, that is) is to change your lifestyle and habits. (Photo: Alexander Grey, Unsplash) Frailties Humans are smart, but we are also incredibly frail. If our body temperatures plunge or increase past a certain point, we'll probably die. Meanwhile, animals like the arctic fox can survive in insanely low temperatures, seemingly without issue. Anyway, this bout of gastroenteritis I'm recovering from (it's day three as I type this) got me thinking: What are the three types of pain that will cause folks to be down until it goes away? Photo: Road Trip with Raj, Unsplash Headaches More specifically, migraines. My left sinus used to periodically get congested, and I resorted to using sprays, decongestants and paracetamol to keep the congestion from turning into pain. Left untreated, the pain would radiate upwards and become a full-grown migraine, leaving me curled up in bed with my eyes shut, fighting nausea. This hit me particularly badly during a trip to Bangkok. Not having suffered sinus congestion in more than a month, I thought I was over it. Stupidly, I did not pack any medication. The episode not only left me down the entire day but also resulted in me upchucking all over my T-shirt. In public. If you're wondering why I didn't stay in the hotel, it was because I didn't want to waste the day. Fortunately, the sinus problem eventually resolved itself without the need for expensive surgery that doesn't guarantee the problem going away (the ENT specialist's words, not mine). I no longer need nasal sprays or decongestants. And when I do get a headache, it goes away after popping two Panadols. Photo: Kenny Eliason, Unsplash Toothaches There is a reason why folks fear going to the dentist. The thought of your teeth being drilled or extracted without anaesthesia is enough to make you wince. Heck, even the sound of the dental drill might cause some to flee for their lives. Now, I've been fortunate enough to not have had a toothache due to a cavity. But I can relate to this because I remember the post-op pain following the removal of impacted wisdom teeth. As the dental surgeon explained, since the two teeth were growing sideways and thus impacting my other teeth, they would need to cut open my gums to access the offenders, before breaking them with what resembled like a chisel. Look, I'm not a dentist, so I can only describe this as such. I could tahan my mouth being kept open by a medieval-looking metal contraption and two suctions to drain blood, but the hammering is something I will not soon forget. When it was over, I was warned that I needed to get on my painkillers before the anaesthetic wore off. This was easier said than done as my first attempt resulted in the water and tablets flowing out of my numb mouth. For the next five days, the swelling made it look like one side of my face had been pummelled by a boxer. Talking was difficult and eating was nearly impossible. Thank heavens wisdom teeth cannot grow back. Photo: Julien Tromeur, Unsplash Tummy troubles Migraines and toothaches are bad, but to me, having a tummyache is probably even worse. It's downright debilitating. I can't recall where I read it or who told me this, but it is true. When your stomach isn't good, the rest of you isn't, either. Gastroenteritis has sapped my appetite and my energy. I have beers in my fridge that I'm not interested in drinking. Pizza and nasi lemak are a no-go. Even cai fan is a lot to take for now. Key takeaways As bad as these episodes were (are, in the case of stomach flu), they have taught me to be grateful for three things. My body's ability to recover is one thing I'm glad for. Had my immunity been any weaker, I might have to be hospitalised. Secondly, the concern shown by friends. I don't need anyone checking in on me every hour. But messages like 'Please recover soon!' or 'Please get well soon!' are encouraging. They make me want to get over this stuff as soon as possible. Lastly, while pain and discomfort aren't celebrated (who celebrates falling ill anyway?), they are a sharp reminder of what it is to be frail and human. Pain is part of life and there is no point in living if you can't feel alive. (Main photo: Sander Sammy, Unsplash) – Jeremy

This is the first time I hear about horse therapy and still wondering how it work. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/horse-therapy-is-gaining-traction-in-singapore SINGAPORE - The weather on this September afternoon is hazy and humid, but it does nothing to dampen the spirits of the 10 nursing home residents - some of whom are in wheelchairs - who are eagerly waiting to walk with and groom two gentle beasts. Argentinian former polo ponies Costera and Valentina are the stars of this session by charity Equal-Ark Singapore, whose Elderly Programme has used equine therapy to help improve the emotional well-being of hundreds of seniors with dementia or depression. Working with the animals is a novelty for long-time St Theresa's Home resident Bertha Hang, 74. "I'm very happy with the horses - I can go round with them; touch them," she said as she deftly slotted a body brush onto her amputated right arm to groom Valentina. Ms Hang, who had lost parts of her four limbs to gangrene in 2003, had become downbeat after she was hospitalised for sepsis - a life-threatening illness as a result of the body's extreme response to an infection - last year. Grooming the horses is a role reversal and an empowering activity for Ms Hang, who, like other nursing home residents, are usually the care recipients. While the use of dogs and cats in animal-assisted therapy is more common here, equine therapy has been gaining some traction in land-scarce Singapore. Organisations such as Equal-Ark, Therapeutic and Educational Riding in Singapore (Theris), Healing Horses Singapore and Hovi Club Horsecity have been growing their clientele and expanding their programmes over the last few years. The goal of equine therapy is to help people develop necessary skills and attributes, through their interaction with the horses. It includes therapeutic horseback riding, where riding lessons are adapted to the person's disability and needs, and hippotherapy, which uses equine movement to engage the sensory, neuromotor and cognitive systems. "Being prey animals - as compared to dogs, cats and even humans, who are predators - horses are incredibly sensitive to their environment, and are able to perceive and respond to the smallest of changes, including our tone of voice, body language, behaviours, emotions and even our biochemistry," said Theris' founder and managing director Jessamine A. Ihrcke. "They also provide immediate feedback in response to these aspects, which creates an opportunity for people to reflect on or be more aware of their behaviours and emotions, and adjust themselves accordingly in order to build a relationship with the horse," she added.

Dear all, Anyone have experienced using Neuto Therapy? http://www.sgcarmart.com/news/events_features.php?AID=3128 Only 1 good review so far. Thanks

One day someone is going to be burnt to death

hi.., Can someone recommend good scoliosis therapy? If possible in gov. hospital

BT Report Professor Lim Chong Yah, who rattled many economists and businesses with his wage shock therapy in April, on Thursday addressed the two extremes in Singapore's salary and wage system in his "Shock Therapy II". In his latest paper presented at the Singapore Economic Policy Forum 2012, Professor Lim said the National Wages Council (NWC) should continue with the issuance of quantitative wage increase guideline for those earning less than S$1,000-S$1,500 a month for the next two years. He reiterated his suggestion for NWC to call for an across-the-board temporary three year moratorium on salaries of the very top executives both in the private and public sectors. Professor Lim added that should the wages of the lowest paid resident workers remain stubbornly very low in two or three years' time, serious consideration should be made to introduce a compulsory minimum wage scheme with, say, S$1,000 a month as the start-off quantum. In April, Professor Lim created a stir with his proposed wage reforms which included a wage freeze for top earners while raising incomes for the poorest by huge quantums - 15 per cent in each of the first two years and 20 per cent in the last year. The proposals reignited debates over Singapore's widening income gap. Shortly after, in May, the NWC recommended that the pay of workers earning below S$1,000 a month be raised by at least S$50 a month. An small excerpt of his paper-- The Two Extremes My remedial proposal had two parts. One aimed at lessening the number and percentage of workers at the lowest end of the income ladder. Two advocated a three-year pause to the ever increasing rate of escalation of income of the highest income group. Media reports on the salaries of some top executives in Singapore can range from $2.5 million a year to $5.5 million a year, or roughly $208,000 to $458,000 per month. In one instance, I recall 4 top family-related directors of a publicly listed company paid themselves between $2 million and $3 million each, when the company did not see it fit to pay a single cent dividend to its shareholders. When a very brave shareholder at the AGM asked the Chairman of the Board of Directors for an explanation of this dichotomy, he replied to the effect,

http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2012/04/...heap-labor.html Breaking out from the cycle of cheap labor and low productivity. After Professor Lim proposed his shock therapy to push up wages of low income workers earning below $1500 and freeze the wages of those earning more that $15000, Minister Lim Swee Say & Lee Yi Shyan came out to make the standard argument against wage intervention: "National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) secretary-general Lim Swee Say felt local economist Lim Chong Yah's suggestions for a wage restructuring was 'too risky"..... "However, labour chief Lim Swee Say said that if productivity does not lead to a corresponding increase, competitiveness would be lost which may cause some businesses to close down or re-locate out of Singapore. This in turn would lead to a higher unemployment rate and structural unemployment." - Wage restructuring suggestion 'too risky': Lim Swee Say. When you run an economy, you have to make sure that business don't become too dependent on cheap labor and income inequality does not become too big otherwise you can end up in a situation where there are no good easy risk-free solutions for the problems you face. Professor Lim's proposed approach is risky - that's why he calls it "shock therapy". The only reason for shock therapy is that things cannot be maintain at the current state - societies with this high level of inequality do far worse that societies that have more equality[Link] and the longer you have this level of inequality the deeper your problems become and the harder it is to break out of the vicious cycle[is Higher Income Inequality Associated with Lower Intergenerational Mobility].The PAP govt took a long time to recognize the problem and do something about it. It was only in 2011 that they saw the trend of falling productivity & low wages and came up with programmes to improve productivity. Lim Swee Say suggests that instead of doing "shock therapy" we try to improve productivity first then wages will improve. Remember the earlier approach of "skills upgrading" to improve the wages of low income earners - after more than a decade skills upgrading we find the wages of these workers either stagnant or falling because they were retrained to fill one low paying job after another. To illustrate the various approaches clearly, lets look at a simple example. In some parts of India, the wages is so low, they human beings to do what is normally done by machines in developed countries. Hard to believe but this is a human powered ferris wheel that uses cheap labor. The obvious way to improve productivity is to buy a motor and reduce the number of workers. However, the business man that owns this ferris wheel is not going to do it because he has access to cheap labor - why spend money on a motor when it is cheaper to use humans to do the job. No amount of productivity campaigns and urging by the govt can overcome the business logic of keep cost down by using the cheapest means to keep the wheel turning. The business man is not going to invest in a motor just because Lim Swee Say tells him to do so. There are only 2 ways to get productivity up. The first way is for govt to subsidize the purchase of motors but that doesn't guarantee the boss will pay his workers better after productivity goes up but he will certainly sack the workers he doesn't need. The 2nd way is to make labor expensive by setting a minimum wage. Once the cost of labor goes up, the businessman has no choice but to invest in a motor because he cannot pay all his workers and still make a profit. The workers who are now better paid have more money for consumption and that generates demand which will create employment for workers that were laid off. When wages are pushed up, there is a risk that the businessman will choose to simply shut down his Ferris wheel and close shop however as long as there is demand for Ferris wheel rides and money to be made, he is likely to stay open for business. Before Malaysia decided to implement minimum wage, Malaysia businesses claimed that 3 million jobs will be lost and lobbied against minimum wage. This is essentially the same argument put up by the PAP govt against minimum wage and Prof Lim's shock therapy. It will be interesting to watch what happens in Malaysia once minimum wage is implemented. Hong Kong implemented minimum wage and saw no significant impact on employment[businesses still hiring despite new minimum wages]. One of the particularly bad schemes implemented by the PAP that will cause our current problems to be entrenched is Workfare. On the surface it looks like money given to lowly paid workers to keep their heads above water. However, it is actually a subsidy for businesses using cheap labor - business don't pay workers enough for basic living and the govt steps in to make up the difference. Workfare creates no incentive for businesses to improve productivity because it encourages businesses to use cheap labor by subsidizing their wage bill. Workfare traps workers in menial jobs and perpetuates the current state of affairs because the PAP uses this scheme to justify not doing more to break out of the low wage and low productivity cycle. If we want to break out of this vicious cycle, there is no choice now but to take some risk using wage intervention approaches. One way to do it is set a minimum wage and raise it every year until it reaches living wage level at the same time restricting the access to cheap foreign labor. The rate at which we do it depends on how much time we believe we have to solve this problem of income inequality. Professor Lim recommends a "shock" approach (50% increase in wages low income earners in 3 years) to snap us out of this vicious cycle because he sees Singapore nearly reaching a dangerous situation unless we do something. The PAP on the other hand has gone on a completely separate direction - they seem to think that they have all the time in the world to get this fixed favoring approaches that are so gradual they hardly moves us away from the status quo.