The moment of truth

The truth revealed itself!

I went for the anonymous HIV test at Pink Triangle. It was a long tedious process with pretest and post test counseling by one of their trained counselor who is a volunteer. His name is Eugene and. He was kind, gentle and very understanding. As it is my second test since the last one I did at the private lab back in Feb this year, I was still kinda nervous and hope to get it on with the test and not get involved in the 'fact findings' with the questionnaire.

During registration I already filled up a questionnaire on personal details like age, sex, sexual orientation, but no need for personal details like name, identification, address or phone number. I was given a number tag identifying myself as 375. This is the call number used through out the session. During the pretest counseling there was another questionnaire which involves more private info like whether penetrative sex was involved, the nature of sex like whether it is anal or oral or other kind (fetish or maybe acrobatically kind of positions used, maybe?). Whether I have any history of STD and the type and frequency of my sexual history.

As for the sex, I said I have protected sex occasionally (which is without the use of condom in this case). I disclosed that I only have one regular partner and I have allowed him to ejaculate in my mouth. These are very private information but I did not hold back any details as far as the questions are concerned.

Eugene gave me the ranking of no or low risk. The significant of this ranking is that the person might be asked to come back for more regular testing if considered high risk. Notwithstanding any ranking, the person is advised to conduct safe sex or abstinence. The next best policy is to have less casual sex partners.

After this pretest counseling I was led to the other room for the prick test using ACON test kit. BTW, Eugene already explained to me at the pretest counseling, the type of test kit they used and what the result means. He also told me that the test is 99.9% accurate. If the first test result is positive, me being in low risk, a second retest will be done on the same day. If the result is still positive, then they would advise me to go for a test at the Sungai Buloh general hospital where they have a panel doctor to handle my case. Or I could choose to go to any private clinic for more test.

In the testing room, there were two other guys, both also volunteers, who explained to me the test procedure and the meaning of the test result. They have access to my answered questionnaire put into the folder. After he pricked my fingers for two drops of blood, he put in some clear solution into the test kit and asked me to wait outside the room. He informed me that the result would be available in 10 minutes time.

Later Eugene was back and he went into the room to retrieve my folder. He again brought me to the same counseling room. Once we were seated and behind closed door, he promptly retrieved the test kit and showed me the reading. There is C, T1 and T2. If there is only one red line on C, it means I am negative. Other combination like C+T1, C+T2, C+T1+T2 shows the result is positive. Other combination shows there is error.

Though I wasn't overly concern prior being shown the result, nonetheless I heaved a sigh of relief knowing that I am negative. Eugene reminded me that I should still take precaution with future encounters since the test result does not reduce any risk in the future.

Then Eugene conducted the post test counseling and explained the work and nature of Pink Triangle foundation. He also update me on the yearly event of HIV and AIDS awareness on December 1st and 2nd. They welcome volunteers to help manning of the booth and all other works. It is a carnival like event where they would hand out pamphlet and free condom to create awareness. The event took place since year 2005. Oh BTW, the anonymous test was sponsored by the Ministry of Health official since July 21, 2006. PT foundation has started conducting the free and anonymous test from July 7, 2006. My number 375 indicates that I am the 375th person who did the test at the foundation. He said the number of person who turned up for the test is encouraging.

So that was the episode of my recent visit to Pink Triangle. Do help spread the word and encourage your network of friends to go for the free and anonymous test. Donation is encouraged.

Miserable Job, Anyone?

I have been a faithful reader of Patrick Lencioni. When I found out his latest book was out at the bookstore, I went to The Borders @The Curve to check it out.

I finished reading the last chapter at The Borders. When I realized it has a 20% discount, I decided to get it first hand. Older books of Lencioni are usually bundled as box set as Christmas gift. So if you are thinking of collecting them or giving them away as gift, check out the box set. Lencioni has 5 books so far.

His latest offering "The Three Signs of a Miserable Job" is another runaway success just like his other books. I have extracted part of the interview of the author specifically on the 3 SIGNS as below:

The first is anonymity, which is the feeling that employees get when they realize that their manager has little interest in them a human being and that they know little about their lives, their aspirations and their interests.

The second sign is irrelevance, which takes root when employees cannot see how their job makes a difference in the lives of others. Every employee needs to know that the work they do impacts someone’s life--a customer, a co-worker, even a supervisor--in one way or another.

The third sign is something I call "immeasurement," which is the inability of employees to assess for themselves their contribution or success. Employees who have no means of measuring how well they are doing on a given day or in a given week, must rely on the subjective opinions of others, usually their managers’, to gauge their progress or contribution.

For more information on the book, click here.