Aug
15,
2013
I
asked
my
assistant
Niang
to
sit
down
to
have
a
discussion
about
work
today,
in
the
consultation
room.
There
was
no
clients
and
it
was
time
to
discuss
about
his
work
performance.
I
sat
down
on
one
side
of
the
consultation
table
and
asked
him
to
sit
opposite
me.
He
said
he
preferred
standing.
The
younger
generation
seems
to
have
a
different
mindset
nowadays
as
instructions
seem
to
be
ignored.
This
is
not
to
their
own
interest
as
this
means
they
need
to
be
monitored
closely
and
checked.
This
is
the
way
they
behave.
"Take
a
chair
and
sit
down
as
it
is
going
to
be
a
long
meeting,"
I
said
patiently
to
him.
He
got
a
chair
from
the
waiting
room
and
sat
down.
"When
you
wake
up
every
morning,
you
should
think
of
3
things,"
I
said.
"No.
1.
Do
you
have
good
health?"
"Yes,"
he
replied.
"No.
2.
Is
your
family
in
Yangon
OK?
Healthy
and
not
poor?"
I
asked.
"Yes."
"Do
you
have
a
job
when
millions
of
people
are
unemployed?"
I
asked.
"The
unemployed
cannot
send
money
home
to
support
their
families?
Do
you
send
money
home
to
your
parents?"
"Yes."
"There
are
better
veterinary
employers
than
me,"
I
said.
"Possibly
1%
of
the
employers
where
the
workplace
has
many
employees.
Each
vet
assistant
does
one
type
of
job
like
kennel
work
or
lab
work
and
nothing
else.
5-day
work
per
week
and
many
other
benefits.
You
will
be
able
to
work
in
such
companies
later
when
you
have
the
experience.
How
long
have
you
been
working
here?"
"6
months."
"The
good
employers
want
experienced
vet
assistants.
2
years
of
experience
will
be
better.
However,
you
don't
have
it
now.
One
day,
you
will
open
your
own
vet
practice
in
Yangon.
Here,
you
can
learn
much
more
the
different
ways
the
younger
vets
work
and
behave
and
all
aspects
of
management.
In
a
large
company,
you
don't
learn
all
aspects
because
there
are
different
employees
specialising
in
each
area.
"But
you
must
be
interested
in
learning
new
things,
like
the
use
of
computers.
I
know
you
did
not
use
computers
during
your
undergraduate
days
in
your
Yesin
university
in
Myanmar
as
you
did
not
have
computers.
Here,
you
have
computers
to
learn
how
to
use
Excel
and
Word,
but
you
want
to
be
interested
to
want
to
learn
more
about
computerisation.
Otherwise,
after
two
years
of
work
in
Singapore,
you
still
don't
know
about
computerisation
when
you
open
your
own
practice.
It
is
better
to
be
your
own
boss
but
since
you
don't
know
much,
how
are
you
going
to
teach
your
employees?
Toa
Payoh
Vets
is
the
place
to
pick
up
useful
veterinary
and
management
knowledge.
"You
are
a
good-looking
vet.
If
you
open
your
practice
in
Yangon,
many
clients
will
come
to
you
for
your
good
looks.
But
a
good-looking
vet
cannot
last
long
if
he
cannot
diagnose
and
treat
the
pet
properly.
Here,
you
learn
a
lot
only
if
you
are
humble
enough
to
want
to
learn.
"It
is
just
like
a
handsome
actor.
A
handsome
actor
looks
good
but
if
he
cannot
act,
he
will
not
last
long
In
other
places,
nobody
will
want
to
teach
you.
Most
of
the
younger
vets
will
not
want
to
teach
you
because
they
may
not
know
much
nor
have
the
time
and
patience.
:Here
I
am
teaching
you
how
to
operate
a
small
practice
with
a
few
staff.
You
will
start
as
a
small
practice
in
Yangon
when
you
go
home
later.
If
you
are
humble,
you
will
learn
a
lot
about
the
problems
and
solutions
in
operating
a
small
practice.
Only
if
you
are
humble
enough.
Otherwise,
why
should
an
older
vet
like
me
spend
his
time
to
teach
you?
It
will
be
easier
to
find
another
person
and
retire
you.
You
are
not
my
son
and
you
can
find
another
employer.
However,
you
are
inexperienced
and
will
face
similar
work
performance
problems
in
a
new
employer
as
you
don't
have
sufficient
experience
and
many
Singaporean
pet
owners
cannot
understand
your
English
presently.
The
new
employer
may
just
sack
you
rather
than
waste
time
talking
to
you.
He
nodded
his
head
silently.
"For
example,
you
saw
me
doing
abdomin0-centesis
in
a
dog
with
a
similar
large
abdomen
as
you
had
seen
another
vet
doing
it,"
I
stated.
"How
long
did
I
take
to
do
it?"
"Twenty
minutes,"
he
estimated.
"Did
I
use
anaesthesia
and
take
nearly
an
hour
to
do
it?"
"No,"
he
said.
"The
dog
was
very
sick
and
anaesthesia
may
kill
it.
In
any
case,
you
could
see
that
he
did
not
need
anaesthesia
as
he
was
not
moving.
However,
the
vet
you
assisted
felt
that
anaesthesia
must
be
used."
"The
veterinary
practice
is
like
any
business,"
I
said.
"There
are
many
expenses
as
you
now
know
by
doing
the
book-keeping
of
drug
purchases
which
can
amount
to
as
much
as
$10,000
per
month.
Rentals
keep
going
up
over
the
years.
Staff
salaries
increase.
Costs
have
to
be
kept
low
to
prevent
losses
and
closing
down.
"If
a
vet
takes
one
hour
to
do
an
abdominal-centesis
as
compared
to
20
minutes
for
a
similar
case,
there
is
a
lot
of
isoflurane
gas
and
oxygen
used
as
well
as
time
spent.
Isoflurane
is
very
expensive.
Time
is
needed
by
the
vet
assistant
and
the
vet
to
do
other
jobs.
You
saw
how
I
did
it
and
you
saw
how
another
vet
drained
the
abdominal
exudate.
You
learnt
much
as
I
also
taught
you
how
I
did
it.
There
are
many
cases
you
have
not
seen.
For
example,
do
you
know
how
to
do
a
pregnancy
diagnosis
in
a
dog?"
"No,"
he
replied.
"Pregnancy
diagnosis
in
a
cow?"
I
asked.
"Since
I
guessed
you
were
taught
more
about
cattle
in
your
vet
studies
in
Myanmar
than
dogs
and
cats."
"No,"
he
replied.
"You
will
learn
much
more
at
Toa
Payoh
Vets
if
you
work
for
two
years,"
I
said.
"There
are
many
interesting
cases.
But
only
if
you
bother
to
read
up
and
learn."
Sometimes
I
related
to
him
cases
that
had
been
done.
For
example,
I
asked
him
what
he
would
do
if
he
found
a
chicken
thigh
bone
got
stuck
with
half
the
bone
inside
the
stomach
and
half
inside
the
gullet
when
he
opened
up
the
dog's
stomach
as
a
vet
in
Myanmar.
That
was
a
real
case.
"I
don't
know,"
he
said.
The
gullet
would
be
hidden
inside
the
diaphragm
cranially
inside
the
chest
and
therefore
inaccessible.
"Veterinary
surgery
is
full
of
surprises
like
this.
I
just
pull
the
bone
down
into
the
stomach
and
took
it
out,"
I
said
to
him.
Real
life
case
studies
and
regular
chats
on
work
performance
are
necessary
in
training
new
vet
assistants
and
the
younger
vets.
If
they
are
humble,
it
is
much
easier
for
them
to
work
as
a
team.
Many
young
employees
are
focused
on
what
they
can
benefit
out
of
their
employers.
For
such
employees,
it
is
best
to
ask
them
to
look
for
another
employer
as
they
waste
resources
and
time,
causing
losses
to
the
practice.
TOA
PAYOH VETS
