A Day of (Make-Believe) Magic and (Foam) Brooms

A sharp pain bloomed across my forehead. Perhaps He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was nearby? More likely, I was sleep-deprived from the on-call duty last night. With sweaty palms, I stared straight ahead intently, trying to ignore the throbbing pain at my temples. The crowd cheering from the sidelines did not help. Focus, I told myself, this is life and death. This is the SingHealth Residency Quidditch World Cup* and Team Orthobots was just one of the worthy contenders on scene.

Foam noodles clutched tightly between our thighs like natural extensions of our bodies, we kicked off from the grass when the whistle went off. To no one's surprise, I did not take off. No amount of wingardium leviosa could possibly lift me off the ground, or anyone else for that matter. Instead, I charged dead ahead, straight for the Quaffle. The opposing team's Chasers wisely leapt out of harm's way as I thundered towards them. Their self-preservation instincts were strong.

Several minutes of overly enthusiastic throwing, jumping and prancing around with an oversized third leg thus commenced. After what seemed like forever (which in reality was really only five agonising minutes), all of us looked like we were inflicted by the Cruciatus Curse, wheezing as we struggled to keep pace with the younglings (LKC and YLL medical students, I have my eyes on you). The ache in my skull now radiated down to my calves with each step; still I pushed through despite the pain.

Suddenly, I heard the referee's whistle and from the corner of my eye, spied the ultimate prize. Lo and behold, the Golden Snitch of every Quidditch team's dreams. Strangely, this Snitch looked very much like a human man with a golden ball in his grasp. Almost as soon as the anthropomorphic Golden Snitch appeared, a flash of dark lightning was seen not far behind. Team Orthobot's champion Seeker, our very own Hussian Bolt, our captain: Dr Hamid Rahmatullah Bin Abd Razak. Streaking across the green, dodging players, our brave Seeker made a desperate leap for the Snitch. As the dust cleared, the wunderkind of SingHealth Orthopaedics emerged majestically with the coveted Snitch in his hand. A win for Team Orthobots!

Even though Team Orthobots did not emerge overall victorious, the bonds of fellowship were strengthened. New appreciation for our fellow Residents was built through adult masak-masak (i.e. make-believe). Despite the fierce competition, we all came together to congratulate the new winners of this year's Residency Games. Time spent outside the hospitals just enjoying each other's company made this day a magical one for everyone. We look forward to the next edition of the SingHealth Residency Games and we will put up a good fight again!

*Note: The SingHealth Residency Games are an annual event organised by the Residents' Committee. It draws Programs, Residents, senior management and administrators together in a day out as one big SingHealth Residency family!