It is past midnight Agustus 28, 2021 and the place is Kuala Lumpur Malaysia where I am now currently residing, not out of my own free will but dictated and forced by circumstances relating to my health. Things could not have been worse with Malaysia's exponential increase in new covid cases coupled with the uncertainty of the political landscape. Malaysia just recently inherited a new cabal of clowns (its new cabinet lineup) led by a well known hyper-raclialist who has since downed a new set of clothes resembling a "saint". He speaks and acts differently now since it does not pay for a chief clown to let his guard down.
Well it is still the same bloated cabinet of 70 odd old white-haired clowns that have seen better days. It would be better if they passed their time pottering around their spacious gardens surrounding their equally spacious and majestic bungalows.
Because of the severe pain caused by the aortic aneurysm in my abdomen I did not sleep the whole of last night. To keep busy, I had conversations with my God and Lord occassionaly watching videos on my android box. It was a pleasant night, quiet and followed by a heavy downpour that lasted more than an hour. I prefer quiet to the hustle and bustle of human voices and activities. I ate 6 slices of brown bread spread generously with peanut butter, a favorite of mine and occassionaly caught a few winks where possible. The specialist at a private medical center prescribed a very powerful opioid to manage and control my pain in the abdomen. Basically I rely on two verses from the Bible to help carry me throught the night and day. The first is from Jeremiah 29:12 - "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" and the second is from 2Corinthians 12:9 - "My Grace is sufficient for you, my power is at its best in weakness". By these two promises of the Lord Jesus Christ, I feel very confident in due time the Lord will deliver me from my comorbidities that plague my body today.
Today Sunday August 29, 2021 was a rather quiet day. Still the latest figures on new covid cases have yet to be published by online portals. I had a satisying lunch, simple but nourishing.
It is Agustus 30,2021 the eve of Malaysia's Independence Day. We have a new and dynamic Health Minister in Khairy Jamaluddin. Hope he will be able to manage and reduce the number of daily new covid cases. Unlike in the past, there is no festive mood in the air. The general mood is understandable. I had my lunch at around 12 pm followed by half a plate of rudjak. The rudjak was quite nice actually. It's now 3:24pm and sunny and hot.I wonder what the new covid cases would be like today.......still hovering around the 20,000 mark more or less? It has moved to Agustus 31, 2021, Independence Day for Malaysia and 3 am and I am still awake. The pain in the abdomen is a bit better these days. I rely on tramadol and panadol to get buy and eating wisely and moderately. It is now 4:55am before dawn and raining heavily outside. It has started raining since 2 am with intermittent breaks. We are now in the South-WEst monsoon period to end sometime in September and then followed by the more serious North-east monsoon. I wonder how my country would fare with the covid pandemic in cold and wet weather as it has known to thrive in cold conditions. One thing I have discovered about comments made by the health experts and medical professionals is that their theories and comments about how the virus will take its course are all inaccurate and way off the mark. I do not know how they come to their conclusions but in the final analysis I suspect it is not based on facts on tests gauged from empirical data conducted over a period of time, but just what they happened to read from books, articles and periodicals from their other contemporaries in other parts of the world.
The tante living beside my house passed away peacefully in her sleep this morning. She is quite an institution in our neighborhood and has numerous friends. She will be missed of course.
Today is Agustus 2, 2021, Thursday 08:22 am. I slept well last night and woke up at 7:15am this morning. Nonetheless the pain is a bit bad today so I took my pain medications at around 8:30 am. I also took an anxiolytic to help me relax and keep my mind from thinking nonsensical things. Many things are happening around the world , the Afghan crisis, climate crisis and its consequences in wildfires, extreme temperatures and flashfloods resulting in landslides. Innumerable suffering. An existential question, are we approaching the last days? Money seems to be the pre-occupation of the world, just look at the programs and articles focusing and talking about the stock exchanges around the world and the fanatical obssession with things relating to economy and how companies perform in the wake of the pandemic or should I say pandemuck. They even have exclusive priority banking or privilege banking. This is a direct metaphorical statement that all men are not equal.
It is now 11:35 pm still a Thursday night and yet I am still awake albeit tired and a bit sleepy but not really wanting to sleep. Malaysia's new covid count today is 20,988 still a very high number. I really do not know how the government is going to bring this figure down to manageable numbers. Nobody seems to have a seminal idea or new innovative way of working down this figure. I admit sometimes my mind goes to the aneurysm residing in my abdomen. it is now 8:42 am and the rain has stopped. Malaysia today is going through 3 crises, first the fight with corona virus, the second political instability and third an economic situation going from bad to worse.Things are not looking good, indeed they could not be worse. Our frontliners are not so selfless as they make themselves appear to be. They are all civil servants working in government hospitals and health facilities. As such they are not the cream of the crop. Attitude seems to be a perennial problem with them. I have been in and out of both public and private hospitals, and my advice to all is if you can afford it stay clear of government hospitals. Indifference and tiada apa attitude seems to be ingrained in everyone of them. If they have a conscience it is not apparent to us patients who happen to be there not by choice but by chance. Many patients die of a broken heart in government hospitals are being roughed around like dirt.
I learned today pain the characteristics of pain is a double-edged sword. It can bring out the best in us or it can bring out the worst in us. Whichever way it turns out is up to you and your faith and trust in God, your Creator. As Shakespeare once said, "There are more things in heaven and earth, my dear Horatio than are dreamn't of in your philosophy (science).
It is September 9, 2021. It has been raining since 2 am. It is still quiet and life hasn't started to move yet.
It is September 10, 2021, and 04:32 am before fajar sidik (dawn). My wife has also just got up from bed from the other room where she sleeps and watches over my youngest grandson. I feel alright this morning, thanking God for giving me another new day of life. In spite of my comorbidities and health challenges, I value my life and grateful for to the most High God for his graciousness and mercy and His Son, my Lord Jesus Christ for His constant watching and caring over me and my loved ones. I am not fluent with my words and oftentimes I cant seem to be able to find the right word to describe my joy and gratitude to Christ Jesus for the ultimate sacrifice he made for all of us. But I also know words are not important, but what is more important is what is in the heart where our deepest emotions and true feelings reside. That determines our character.
Today Friday September 17, 2021 CE time 9:15 am. I had a simple breakfast of a small piece of singkong (ubi kayu) fried with cabe rawit (cabai burung) and bawang Bombay (red onions) as it is called in Indonesia. Washed down with a glass of plain water, well that was my breakfast as far as the morning was concerned. I am doing some extensive research of my own on the history of certain roads and places in Kuala Lumpur and also my alma mater, Victoria Institution which then was the premier school in the country. The only other school that perhaps could rival VI was Singapore's NJC (National Junior College) but NJC was not strong in sports events and only focused on academically inclined students. I have friends in NJC some from Hong Kong and the Philippines and they often visited me at my home during their semester breaks. During that period, Malaysia's proficiency in the English language was second to none. How the sorry state of affairs we see here today we owe it entirely to our leaders and academic gurus who wanted to level the playing field, they wanted to see more inclusivity at the expense of quality. I had a classmate a Dr. Tan Beng Siang who completed his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Imperial college University of London in just under eight months and his masters at 6 months. I have not seen him for almost 45 years not since he last came down to visit me at my dormitory. A top student but lousy at sports. He was thin as a rake and dressed no better than a person from skid row. I have almost everything I need in my old age except for 3 serious comorbidities which is currently managed by my youngest daughter who holds a Ph.D. herself in pharmacology from the UK. My eldest daughter is a trained professional accountant and my second son is a professional engineer in electrical and computer systems engineering. My kids are not crazy with money and they have very realistic expectations of themselves. My time is spent between my grandkids and my laptop. I am not much into social media and most of my news comes from traditional mainstream media.
I suffer also from insomnia and would spend the whole night either reading or watching movies on my android box. I remember my primary school headmaster Mr. Tjiu A Kong, a genial, chubby character who always had a smile on his face and a nice word for the parents of the pupils under his care and tutelage. Of all my primary school teachers I only remember my class teacher in primary 3, a Mrs.Lim and it was then 1962. We often sat on the floor when she had a story to tell us. She was a kind soul and very compassionate. Life during the sixties was uncomplicated and the only threat the nation faced was from the communist terrorists who often disrupted our peaceful way of life.
I had a friend while in primary school. I cannot remember his full name but I used to call him Tamil Michael. Doubtless he was Tamil and his name was Michael. He was born one week earlier than me and we were immediate neighbors. He studied for both his primary and secondary education at St. John's Institution, for his family were devout Catholics. After school, we used to spend a lot of time together and we did things together and went places together. His father worked in the government printers in San Peng Road and the dad cycled to work everyday.Tamil Michael lifelong dream was to be a priest and towards this goal he worked very hard. The family consisted of 12 children and you could imagine the hardships they faced. Meals were often insufficient and taken twice a day. On Christmas Eve, Tamil Michael and his siblings would gather at our house and watch Christmas programmes via our black and white TV set. There wasn't any pretensions between our two families and we got on very well together. Sometimes, Tamil Michael and I would cycle to the church in Peel Road where they had a quiet room for us students to study. Often on Saturdays and Sundays would find us in that room pouring over our books.
Yes, Tamil Michael was my best friend and he returned the favor by calling me Cina Michael. During the Sino-Indo War of 1963, I remember the family meaning both parents, elder siblings (daughters and sons) pawned their jewelllery and other important valuables and with the cash sent the money to the Indian government via the local Indian embassy to help India in its fight against Red China. Many Indians lost their lives especially the military and Nehru then prime minister of India had to appeal to the United Nations Security Council to halt the Chinese from further attacking Mother India otherwise also known as Sangam. It was a turbulent time and I recollect Tamil Michael's parents only radio was always tuned on to All India Radio for the latest updates on the war. It did not look good for India as Red China had made considerable advances into India and I can still remember Tamil Michael's mom crying her heart out for Mother India. Luckily not long after, the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on China and eventually the Chinese withdrew their armies back into their own borders. During this period there was never an instant of animosity shown by Indians towards the local Chinese community and for that I salute them.
Today September 20, 2021, a Monday morning. I got up at 4:30 am had a quick shower, shaved and watched some tv. I wonder what the day will bring today? Will there be more bloodshed or rumours of bloodshed? I started on a new drug called meteospasmyl for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (constipation predominant type). The roads outside my house is quiet, a sign of the seriousness of the covid situation in the country.
Of late the country has been viewed and often called a pariah country by other countries. Is this true? Sadly I have to admit there is some elements of truth in the statement. As of today, I can say most assuredly that not a single minister is both capable or has the ability to think outside the box. Foreign investors are giving the country a wide berth and even internal investors are not to keen to sow seeds of capital on parched dry land with swarms of uwir-uwir (locusts) flying over the lands (this is a metaphor to describe the politicians and the cronies taking the good luck of the positions to reap as much as possible before they call it a day). If one were to scrutinize the cabinet line up, one cant help but notice the common denominator is old age, grey-haired gentlemen, pot bellies and wrinkled faces denoting years of thievery and thinking up schemes to rob the country's assets and treasury. Serving the rakyat couldn't be furthest from their minds. Whether they are educated men or women is left to one's imagination as not too long ago many have been discovered to have submitted false credentials on their profiles and biodata. One thing is certain they haven't the slightest intention to commiserate the poor and starving masses on their minds. It is sad when one come to think of it that men who already grandfathers and hence should know better would have it in their inner nature to indulge in the "small boys" behavior to steal, manipulate, lie and to indulge in power grabbing, all traits of an immature character. These bad things begin in a small way and as the years grow by, the hearts are thickened by feeling that it is an easy thing to do and get away with it. What has religion taught then.......nothing........in fact many of them are of the conviction that they have been ordained by God to multiply their wealth by the grace of God. Money or the love of money turns them into vile animals who feed on the rotting carcases of other animals.
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