Tag Archives: Anniversary

Dreams

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A few months ago I watched the ending Derry Girls on Netflix. Commenting on their growing up and the future of Northern Ireland, Erin had a monologue that went something like this:

There’s a part of me that wishes everything could just stay the same… No matter how scary it is, we have to move on and we have to grow up because things might just change for the better… And if our dreams get broken along the way, we have to make new ones from the pieces.

This post is dedicated to the 20th anniversary of this site. Despite some of my humble achievements throughout the years, I’ve certainly done things I’m not proud of. Some juvenile comments I’ve posted in the earlier versions of this site were the best examples. That’s why in 2012, the year of my graduation and the official start of my adult life, I rebooted this site and got rid of all the old posts which were potentially embarrassing at best. At first the site looked so empty, but another 11 years has passed and now we have about 100 posts in this site. Not too many, but I guess not too bad either. Some of them (1, 2) are in fact my favourite of all time.

So, the evolution of this site, which reflects my personal growth, partly fulfilled Erin’s insights. Growing up was indeed scary for me, but at the end, I ended up in a position that’s not bad. This year is that it’s going to be my second graduation (hopefully). What will this take me into? How will I, this site and everyone else evolve? That’s another question. I’m glad that things turned out OK for Erin and Northern Ireland. But what about me and our beloved city?

Luck

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It’s been the fifth time I attended HH’s annual dinner. I have never placed much hope or interest in this yearly event: food was never attractive, performances were boring, and lucky draws were none of my business. The last bit changed tonight. I won my first cash prize in a lucky draw, ever.

It’s not a large amount. Lucky draws in corporate annual dinners never intend to make you rich so you can fuck your job and quit the next morning. No, it’s only a small sum of money, which will get even less given that everyone in my clinic witnessed what I got and I’ll have to donate some of that into their afternoon tea fund. (They even went so far as to take a picture of me on stage so I won’t deny it.) Despite all that, I consider myself a legitimate prizewinner given my hard work at this company for the past five years.

Speaking of luck, there is a different form of luck. Bad luck.

Queen Elizabeth II said it was “bad luck” for the police commander who was in charge of security during Xi Jingping’s state visit to the UK in 2016.

Yes, when you do a job, sometimes it’s inevitable to handle things that turn an otherwise perfect day into a nightmare. Fractured root during extraction for an obnoxious patient; an out-of-control kid whose parents regarded him as an angel and wouldn’t accept referral to a specialist; RCT on 17 for a middle-aged woman who wouldn’t open her mouth; you name it. If it’s lucky for me to win a small prize in a lucky draw, that luck can only partly compensate for but not totally balance the bad luck I’ve experienced throughout the years.

But perhaps there’s a better reason to explain my sudden good fortune. Anzyme.com turns 14 today and I still have money to maintain it. This site itself has perhaps become a much smaller part of my life than it used to be, but Anzyme will continue to exist in some form. You see, my sole proprietor trade name is called “Anzyme Dental”, and so as long as I continue to work as a dentist, Anzyme won’t be forgotten — if I don’t pay my taxes on time, the IRD will surely find out and sue Anzyme Dental.

Cheers. Happy 14th.

12 Years

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Today is a special day which, unfortunately, is easily forgotten: it’s the anniversary of this site, Anzyme.com. It’s so easily forgotton that I didn’t remember it until this morning. Yes, this site was deliberately chosen to be opened one day before V Day, so that for the lonely few, myself included, there’s something to celebrate.

12 years shouldn’t be a special occasion for great celebration, but since we’re Chinese (genetically), 12 is a magic number: a complete cycle of the Chinese zodiac. When Anzyme.com was first created in 2003 it was the Year of the Sheep, and we’ve come to another Year of the Sheep this year. What does that mean? Well on one hand, it could mark my perseverance. Anzyme.com is probably the most persistant thing I’ve done. If you know a little about human physiology, the huamn skeleton is replaced every 10 years (under normal bone turnover rate), so this site is comfortably older than my skeleton. On the other hand though, it could just mean I’ve done something recurrently without any meaningful achievement, just like most other events in my life.

OK, enough of crap. We all understand that the finest hours of my site is gone. To those who read this, meaning you still read this site, thank you. I may be living an average simple life, but I’ll try to be an average hero and add some spice to my life.