THE WORKING ENVIRONMENT

MP Biomedicals. Located at Block 85, The Cavendish, Science Park Drive, Science Park 1.

This is the place where I'll be "labouring" at until, tentatively, 3rd of August (Friday). This is my 3rd week at work. Coincidentally, this is also where I was attached to for my Student Internship Programme (SIP) stint during my last and final semester in Temasek Polytechnic. Have never thought or imagined that 2 years on in the year 2007, I'll be back to working where I used to.

Last week, an external audit came by and performed the mandatory, periodical check to ascertain whether our laboratories are adhering to the safety regulations. Across the various departments, there was a sudden ruckus of paperwork and documentation filing. Printing of the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet). Clearing of the corridors and pathways. Wearing of the ugly safety goggles. Tidying up of the Cold Rooms. Blah blah blah.

Just the other day, my supervisor from Quality Control Department handed me my Training Record Sheet to update and countersign on the new skills/techniques I've been taught since my Day 1 at work 3 weeks ago. I've signed this very same Training Record Sheet during my internship days. And it totally surprised me at how well-preserved the document is. What rattles me even more, is seeing my own signature reflecting back at me. And the accompanying date? 5th December 2005. This is the particular week which I had been "transferred" over temporarily to the QC Department for greater work exposure, instead of being stuck at my assigned Reagent and Assembly Department.

It is my personal conviction (you don't necessarily have to agree with me. But heck, come to think of it, I don't really care) that nothing's a more tragic disaster than losing the inner person who has once been a part of you. Forgetting your roots. Of who and what you once were. How you once had been. And how things have changed and progressed since then. And seeing the signatures which are dated in the year 2005 brings to remembrance the me 2 years back. Flashes of memories.
How SIP has resulted in me going for super-duper frequent make-up CGMs. How it unexpectedly turned out to be one of the biggest turning point of my life yet. How spiritually childish and immature I was (com'on, give me some credit. I was only 1-year-old in Christ at that time). How I was just a graduating polytechnic student back then, with future unknown.
Further studies? I'm not in the top 5% of my polytechnic cohort in TP, let alone the whole of the 5 polytechnics in Singapore.
Apply for the local universities? It'll be tough getting a place and competing with the JC students. And chances are, the permanent jobs would have all been snatched up by fellow graduands by the time I - heaven forbids - receive the rejection letter to inform me that my university applications have, unfortunately, failed.
Enter the working society? But I absolutely abhor the thought of myself stopping at just diploma level. Even if it's working interim to save up for further studies. If study, study all the way. With all your heart. If work, work all the way. With all your heart. This is my mindset (And again, you don't have to agree with me. Because - again - I don't really care).
And given the off-chance that I get to continue my studies, what about the exorbitant tuition fees? And transportation costs? And living expenditures? And cost of purchasing of reference books and printing of lecture notes? All these call for a considerable huge amount of cash.
Apply for the private universities? Given my financial status, it'll be so unwise. I'll graduate being head over heels in mountains and mountains of bank debts, paying the installment repayments through my nose month after month.

The unknowns. The uncertainties. Lost. Insecurities.
Apply? Or not? But it'll be taking a risk. What if it's unsuccessful, and all the good permanent jobs would have been gone by then. Local? Or private? Are private degrees recognized and reputable? Source for a permanent job? Or take a risk and settle for a temporary one? I need a source of income. And I need it badly. What if my application is successful? What about tuition fees and expenditures? What if it's not? That means I've lost out on the permanent jobs. Accept private universities? Bank loan? Expensive!!!


Steps to take - unknown and unsure. Lost - to apply or not, local or private, work temp or perm? Desperation - financial funds running low. Need a source of income. But temp or perm??!! Confusion - What to do? Where to go? What to apply? Where to get the money for further studies?
It'll take a big miracle to pull through this.
If there is a time in my 19 years of living that I need one so badly, it would be this. I want to continue studying so badly.
And He provided. He opened the doors. And gave me more than what I dared to believe for.


It is really amazing how fast 2 years have passed. Time really flies, I guess. I'm now taller (I hope), slimmer (I pray), prettier (I insist), less spiritually immature, happier, more cheerful and chatty, and yes - not forgetting - older in age.

Anyway, I'm currently attached to the Quality Control Department. And I only found out last week (thanks to the impending external audit who is due for "visitation", staffs working in QC lab had to read through a boring document on Safety Regulation in preparation for the visit. Yawn.) that the QC Lab is classified as a BSL-2 (BioSafety Level 2) Laboratory. Level 2 only, not so bad, thankfully. *heave a sigh of relief* I don't wish to catch any infectious diseases and die young.

Laboratories are graded in BioSafety Level. The lowest - and safest - BSL grading is Level 1. And the highest - and most "dangerous" - is BSL-4. Those in BSL-4 grading are the laboratories that involve working with "dangerous and exotic agents that pose a high individual risk of aerosol-transmitted laboratory infections and life-threatening diseases. Click for Source" And for this reason, entry to any BSL-4 (and even BSL-3) laboratories is strictly and tightly controlled. Even the direction of air flow is regulated. And there exists the double-door access door to the BSL-4 laboratories. And staffs working in these laboratories have to don on the full PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) - the one which makes one looks like an astronaut? Does it ring a bell?

Luckily, BSL-2 laboratories are not so bad. They are "similar to BSL-1 and is suitable for work involving agents of moderate potential hazard to personnel and the environment. It differs from BSL-1 in that (1) laboratory personnel have specific training in handling pathogenic agents and are directed by competent scientists; (2) access to the laboratory is limited when work is being conducted; (3) extreme precautions are taken with contaminated sharp items; and (4) certain procedures in which infectious aerosols or splashes may be created are conducted in biological safety cabinets or other physical containment equipment. Click for Source"


Okie, I admit it's all dry stuff. These boring stuff nearly bored me to tears in LMQA (Laboratory Management and Quality Assurance) lectures, which is one of the compulsory modules for Biomedical Science students in the 3rd year, 1st semester.

More interesting stuffs.
Since I am in the QC Department, we have to run loads of quality tests everyday. And I'm assigned to the Western Blot bench. Western Blot is an immunological technique which is used to identify the antibodies that are present in a person's bloodstream, and what viral proteins (of a certain virus of interest) these antibodies target at.


(From left to right): Strong positive result, weak positive result, weak positive result, negative result.

Okie. The above is a picture of 4 antigen strips containing HIV antigenic viral proteins on the surface. The dark bands on the strips are regions where antibodies have attached to the various viral proteins. The 1st strip on the left, being a strong positive, naturally show more protein band profiles than the other 3 strips. The last strip, being a negative result, of course shows no bands at all. This means that your body does not have any antibodies to HIV, implying that your immune system has not been exposed to any HIV particles to date - yet.
And you see the most prominent band in the middle of the 3 positive strips? It is known to be the famous p24 HIV viral protein.

Simply put, if I withdraw a sample of your blood, centrifuge and spin it down, obtain the serum (in layman terms, the clear yellowish-white plasma), carry out Western Blotting, and if the result obtained at the end of the test is similar to any of the first 3 strips as shown in the photo - Welcome to the world of AIDs; you're HIV-positive.

Cool, huh? So smart of the scientist who came up with this technique. Isn't it totally intriguing? That's why I've always loved Biology and Biomedical stuffs.