The Khoo generational name

Two years ago, three days after Christmas -- sometime after midnight on 28 Dec 2008 at home -- I was hit by three bouts of massive rectal bleeding while (fortunately in, er, hindsight) in the bathroom. I of course lost a lot of blood (I required four packets of blood over two days).

Rushed by my wife to NUH's emergency department, I was later found to have diverticulosis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diverticulosis

The depiction in the link above from Wikipedia (although not a medical website) of the condition is pretty accurate. One reason why it happened is that in the process of getting older, one may develop pocket-like growths on the weakened colon's wall. Such a diverticular growth may burst. I was lucky as the bleeding was assessed to have stopped on its own by New Year's eve and I could be discharged from hospital on 1 Jan, 2009.

But 2008 was what I called my Year of Anus Horibilis, and I later mentioned it in a Straits Times commentary article, which I posted here on 1 Nov under the title "Coming down with literalitis".

I do not seem to have any further diverticular issues, and I was certainly in great spirit during an extended family dinner gathering this Christmas eve.

One topic of discussion last night was the Khoo family's generational name, which I touched on in my posting here on 21 Dec. We have a 10-name generational list, as follows:

1. Lin
2. Seng
3. Ghee
4. How
5. Teh
6. Thong
7. Kaw
8. Tong
9. Boon
10. Cheong

It is a repeating list, so "Lin" is listed first only notionally here.

Imagine, 10 generations later, there will be another "Khoo How whatever"! I should be so lucky... global warming or a nuclear war would probably have ended human life on earth before then. Or, since this is Christmas Day, I should posit that we Christians would have welcomed Christ's Second Coming.

Merry Christmas.