Doting grandma takes on more than she can chew.

In my last posting, I wrote of grandparents who faced a lot of problems with having to look after the grandchildren as well as with themselves as a result of over anxiety of the grandma. Well, today I come across a grandma who became sick as a result of caring for a grandchild.

At sixty years of age, with her husband long departed to heaven, she promised her daughter she would gladly look after the child, a boy of ten. Looking after this boy is a full-time job as he is always active. Knowing that she would not be able to cope on her own, another daughter, the youngest, quickly drove home to ensure that her mother would not be too stressed in her desire to pamper the child. This youngest daughter knew there would be a need for her to get breakfast, do marketing and make sure that her assistance would be available whenever the need arises.

So it was that with the little bundle of energy forever demanding the grandma's attention, the grandma had no time for any rest. Since the moment the child awakened till the moment his head dropped onto the pillow with eyes closed at night, grandma was on the move catering to his needs and demands. And this morning, I visited them to be told the grandma had a fever. She was already down and the daughter obviously had to take over some of her baby-sitting.

Looks like love knows no limits and the old lady simply paid no attention to her own health. Well, this is one of those things that can happen when a woman dotes on someone, especially when that someone is a grandchild. What she forgets is that she has to be in good health to look after someone else. Instead of looking after the grandchild, now she has to be cared for. And the poor daughter has her hands full taking care of two persons, her sick mother and an energetic nephew.

Preparation for any event is necessary.

Recently, I attended a talk by a lady too enthusiastic to become a speaker. It would have been well and good, had she prepared herself well for the occasion. Unfortunately, she was far from ready with too little knowledge to dispense to the people who attended her talk. Not only that, she even did not realise that some displayed words had no connection with her talk for the evening. There was certainly weaknesses in her preparation. I believe she has done herself and her future as a speaker on the particular topic more harm than good in her impatience to be known to the public.

To be a really good speaker, one must have sufficient interesting material to keep the audience appreciative of the knowledge divulged to them. Certainly, no ordinary common-sense knowledge would be of great interest to people. Such knowledge must be sufficient to bring about a change in either the thinking or the behaviour of those who attend the function.

Besides knowledge, there is stage personality; how an individual present himself or herself on stage. If it is a talk, is her voice attractive enough to catch the attention of the audience? Her movement and direction of vision are just as important. Does she look at the people to whom she is conveying whatever messages she intends? Does she have to look at pieces of paper to remember the points she expresses? Is she talking or reading to the people? The above points are important in holding the full attention of the people in attendance.

As my aim in this blog is more to share and inspire, I have waited for some time before I write this so that probably no one would know which person or talk I am referring to. Who the person is is of no importance. If she can learn from this and improve, one day she may turn into one of the better known speakers in our midst. That and our hope to be better people in any field are the most important aim.

Gambling is the worse habit!

Most of us are bound to become parents one day. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that we ensure our children never take up the gambling habit.

To be very sure my children never get addicted to gambling, they were never given the opportunity to gamble even on special occasions such as Chinese New Year. To me and my wife, it is an unnecessary activity.Of course, as the parents, to show a good example, neither of us ever gamble, buying lottery tickets only once in a blue moon.

Even buying lottery numbers, hoping to strike it rich can lead a person astray. In an earlier posting I have told about a relative, a Chinese Physician, who was already very rich with lots of money from the many clients who seek treatment from him. He had this idea of compiling all the numbers that appeared in the results of each lottery draw throughout the whole of ten years. With that he pointed out to me that certain numbers seem to appear regularly. And with that he planned on betting on that number to appear in a few months' time, with him placing a higher and higher amount on it so that when it did appear he would be a sure winner. Sad to say, he lost too much for him to ever return the sum he owed. One night his whole family disappeared into the night never to return.

Was it greed? Or was it the mind that thought it had a fool-proof idea of becoming rich the easy way? Was he too confidence in his mental capability? Whatever it is, he lost too much at a time when his career was going full swing.

When it comes to gambling, in order not to give the habit the chance to develop, we must ensure our children do not mix with the wrong company. Mixing with the wrong company can take our children to disaster. If it is a group of drug addicts, the child could be doing drugs soon, if it is loiters, it would be loss of education and advancement opportunities for the child; and if it is a group of gamblers, no doubt the child would turn to gambling.

Where would gambling lead a person? Well, newspapers very often carry stories of gamblers who borrow money to support their habit. The latest was a young man, one working in a bank, who developed an addiction to gambling. So you see, it does not matter what a person's job is, how intelligent he can be, he is just as susceptible to the thrill of gambling. Gambling caused the young man to lose all control of his senses, enough to have him get into a debt of RM70,000. Unable to return the loan he got from loan sharks, he did the miserable deed of exposing his own family to harm by providing those loan sharks a photocopy of his own mother's identity card so that they could go after her.

As a result of that action the loan sharks demanded money from the poor mother and when she could not return the money, the amount escalating with each day, the family was threatened with harm, paint splashed on the car and part of the house. Eventually they even tried to burn the house! Their lives were certainly at stake, all because of a gambling son.

As for the gambling, he became a fugitive from those loan sharks. To do that he had to leave a good job and disappear God knows where. Look at all the problems and the bleak future for this gambler. Like that relative of mine, this gambler would also have to disappear for good.

So, how much effort are we willing to put in to prevent such a destructive habit from ever surfacing? If you look at the above young man, he has lost everything that his parents had helped him to establish. As for the parents, they have lost a son, at least for the next foreseeable future.

“My son gave one of these loan sharks a photocopy of my identity card and asked them to recover the money from me,” said Lim’s mother Chong Shue Koon, 60.
She said her son had left her and her husband Lim Loi, 58, a note saying that he owed loan sharks RM170,000, and that he was leaving.
Lim Loi said his son, who works as a bank clerk in Kuala Lumpur, had developed an addiction to gambling last year.

Judge each person individually; not as a group, race or company.

When it comes to Telecom Malaysia, the major provider of telephone and internet services, there had been times when I had been exasperated with its staff. This was especially so when a complaint was lodged against a member of the staff who was in charge of repairs and who did a shabby job besides being rude in simply accusing the complainant of things which were not true. When other members of the staff would not want to encourage or take such a complaint, it could be understandable but no less frustrating.

First, the Telecom man came when I was not around. So I phoned him to make an appointment as he left a note in which it was stated that they would like to proceed with the repair and requested me to contact for such an appointment. While talking to the man about the appointment, he told me that there was nothing wrong with my line outside the house. So I told him that the telephone was still dead with no sound emitting from it. Then, he accused me of not having paid my bills and according to him that was the reason for the phone being dead. I told him I have always paid my bill on time but he insisted that that was possibly the problem. As he insisted on that although I told him that was not the case, I got irritated with him as felt that he had no right to make such an accusation. He told me to go to the office to see if my bills have been attended to. And that was what I did. I waited for my turn to be attended to for about an hour. Of course, the staff told me I did not owe anything. So I told the staff what that technician had accused me of. So, instead of fixing an appointment for me that technician had caused me to lose more than an hour.

Two days later, the rude technician came and told me there was nothing wrong with my phone. I told him I was more concerned about getting into the net.According to him, that was not his problem. If he was not the right man for the job, why did they sent him? A few days alter he came again to find my phone dead. He told me to change the wire connecting the phone to the outside wire. And that was what I did. Still, the problem was not solved. By then I realised that it had nothing to do with a faulty wire. So, that technician had me spend money unnecessarily to change that wire.

Fortunately, they did send some staff who were polite and tried to look into the matter properly.

During that frustrating almost two month period, I was unable to surf the internet and had to go elsewhere to enter this blog as well as look into my email. Eventually, I had no alternative but to meet the manager who looked into the matter.

And two days ago, I was unable to enter the internet again. This morning I found the phone dead and so phoned the Telecoms about it. They sent someone at about ten thirty that very morning but I was not in. Then at about two o'clock I tried the phone again to discover some sound from it. However, the link light on the modem was still blinking. I lifted up the phone a short while and the link light came on. However, when I tried to enter the net, I get a notice indicating the server could not be found.

At about four o'clock, I tried again and the same "server cannot be found" note appeared. So phone Telecoms to inform them that their technician did come when i was not around, my phone was no longer dead and the link light was stable but I was still unable to enter the internet.

The man who spoke to me was very calm and told me that there was connection since two o'clock. However, since there seem to be a no server problem, he told me to switch off the modem while he did something in his office. Then I was told to turn on the modem again and wait for the lights on the modem to stabilise. I did that. Then he told me to try to enter and I did enter. The problem was gone. Not only was this Telecom staff efficient in handling the problem, he was always so polite and calm. May God bless him! He impressed me and I know I ought to talk about such people in this blog, that there are nuggets if we look around.

It is such incidences that get us to realise that no group, company or race is totally bad. Every group, company or race have its good, bad and ugly. We only hope to find more good wherever we go. But sometimes it is the bad and ugly that makes us see the difference and be more appreciative of the good.

Politicicians must never be racial.

This morning I stopped at my usual 'nasi lemak' stall to get a packet of tasty rice with its eggs, fish and prawns for my breakfast. While waiting for the lady to prepare my packet I had the opportunity of watching unity among fellow Malaysians. Besides me, there were some Malays and Indians waiting for the food. They were exchanging greetings and small talk while one elderly Malay man was serenading a little Indian girl with a Hindi song.

Now there is nothing unusual about the scene as it is common to see such happenings, except for the serenading of course, at the morning market or along grassy paths where people from all races come together to exercise. Even in the Tai Chi group can be seen some Malay members. So, basically all Malaysians are a united people.

How is it then that the news media is constantly producing views of deteriorating unity among the races? Who are the people shouting and screaming about Malays losing power? Who are those who say that the Malays will be weak and become economically backwards if another party were to take over the government? Who are those who claim that the other minority races such as the Chinese and the Indians would want to take over everything, that they are the enemy the Malays have to watch out for. Once someone even hinted at a Chinese becoming the Prime Minister to frighten his race. Such obvious untruth is being spread. Anyway, if we are matured enough, what's wrong with any Malaysian becoming the Prime Minister if all of us trust him to look into the welfare of all the people? Look West at America. Is the present President of the USA talking only about improving the lot of just one race? Are the Americans worried about that? How can the Malays be losing power when they are the majority race, when the other political group has Malay leaders as well? Yet, what is certainly nonsense does have some influence on the thoughts of certain people.

Now, all this is played out with an ulterior motive. Look at the people who voice such fears and threats to the people. Who are they? They are those who hope to achieve even greater power through their rantings. They are the politicians, the very people we hope to unite the people and take the country to greater heights. These are the people we hope to bring greater peace and prosperity. Yet, these are the people who influence those that they can so that the people remain disunited in order to gain votes. Votes is their ultimate desire!

Yes, the main objective is to get votes so that they can either achieve or stay in power. And when it comes to staying in power, a study of what has been happening in this country clearly shows that they are willing to sacrifice a lot in order to be holding on to that power.

It is indeed sad that humans are willing to stoop that low to conquer; even to the extent of causing disunity and threatening disaster. The fortunate thing is, with education and understanding more and more are becoming impervious to political nonsense and insincerity. Many can see vividly the falsehood they propagate.

Education is the way to bring citizens to the level where their minds are able to visualise clearly the difference between right and wrong, good or bad. It is the one bright hope to humanity's welfare although the state of affairs in our world indicates that we are still far from such untainted understanding.

Do fathers know best?

Who knows best? We obviously do not have the right answer all the time. It all depends upon the subject in question and the people's experience and knowledge in the matter.

Of course in the prescription of medicine, the best person to turn to is a practising specialist in the particular field. Certainly, I would be the worst person to turn to even though I could have read about the sickness and the types of medicine essential to cure it. This is because I may not retain that knowledge fully as there is no necessity to do so. Worst, I may remember part of it and forget the rest. And after some time, I may be just thinking I remember it when I actually don't. After all, without usage of a knowledge, the knowledge is soon forgotten.

But should not every parent know and understand their children best? Must parents go through some kind of study to be able to perform at their best? Well, I am going to allow you the privilege to decide that after you have read the following true story.

Once, there was a very rich businessman, a billionaire, who had three daughters and three sons. He cared for all his six children well. The six children grew up, the mother passed away, and they lived with their father. One day, the old man realised that he was getting older each year and the time may come when he had to follow his wife to the other world. As all the children were already married, he decided to give most of his wealth to them. Well, you would expect every child of his to get a share, right? Unfortunately, that was not the case. He gave millions to each son but nothing to the daughters, not even a smaller portion of what he gave the boys!

The boys were extremely happy with such wealth heaped upon them and the girls suffered the disappointment of being neglected in the process. Luckily, the girls and their families were not poor. They and their husbands were capable, have their own businesses and had all that they needed. So they got over their disappointment quickly and went on with their lives.

Now, that old father did not die in the expected next few years. However, that did not mean he was still strong. In fact he weakened so much that he needed someone to attend to him and his servants. He requested his sons to assist him but none turned up.

God must have been kind for giving him daughters with warm hearts of gold. for the daughters, when they heard that their poor father needed help, they responded admirably. They helped him as much as they could.

The old man discovered that the daughters he did not allow to inherit some of his millions were the ones who went to him in spite of what he had done. Realising his mistake, the old man did try to make amends by offering them his money but they refused to have anything to do with his money although they continued to give time and asistance whenever they could.

It was a simple case of father not knowing what was the best thing to do. Love for the children from the parents should be equal and fair but some stupid customs and traditions have warped the thinking of people. sometimes even modern knowledge and understanding cannot erase the wrong beliefs and thoughts of people who have been brought up to think in a certain manner in so many matters.

That is why we need people who have the courage to change, to gather knowledge, to understand and think straight, to look and be able to differentiate bright from dark, white from black, or right from wrong. Till then this world will have people who believe in wrongs and fight or stand for such wrongs.

The evil that some do, you would never believe until you experience it.

On Thursday night, I went with some friends to attend a seminar on 'camoludin' and as the people with me were ex-colleagues of mine who knew me well, they asked about my life after my wife's demise and from there to the sickness that took her away from me.

I remember November and December 2000 very well as that was the time when my wife started feeling pain in the stomach region and weakness. We went to a clinic where she was told it was her old gastric problem returning. The problem stayed; appearing intermittently until we believed she ought to enter a hospital for a thorough checkup and found that she had gastric ulcer and needed an operation immediately.

She went through the operation in January 2001 and seemed to come out of it without much problem as she had always been strong, with sufficient exercise and proper home-cooked balanced meals. Unfortunately, at that time we did not realise a danger found in operation rooms, the dreaded MRSA, a virus which cannot be eliminated, therefore preventing the healing of wounds. According to what I hear, the MRSA virus is still as dangerous and without any method to destroy it. Well, that virus prevented her wound from healing till the day she passed away in August 2001.

While in the hospital, she was found to have another medical problem, Cushing Syndrome which was the uncontrolled over production of hormones in her body. This lead to all sorts of sicknesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure, bloating of the body with too much water retention. When the doctors, first in the Sungai Petani Hospital, then Nam Wah Ee Hospital in Penang and finally in Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Cheras, gave her medicine to remove the excess liquid, another problem cropped up; the loss of too much potassium from the body with the heart in danger of stopping its beating. They quickly injected her with potassium while I rushed out to get some bananas.

As she got weaker, she got pneumonia and water was found in her lungs. When her lungs weaken as it got worse, the doctors tried to suck out the liquid with a syringe from the lungs and in doing so punctured one of the arteries. She was immediately wheeled into the intensive care unit where she passed away the next day.At the time of her death, the wound with the MRSA was still not healed.

Since she had not taken drugs containing steroids and she had never taken Chinese medicine which, according to the doctors, contained steriods which can cause Cushing Syndrome; what could have brought it on?

As for her getting the stomach ulcer, I personally believe that the cause came from her work as a teacher and senior assistant in a Chinese school where the headmistress was a sadistic tyrant who was happy to see the teacher under her control suffer in one way or another. I had even made a complaint against her but the system is such that the people at the top seem to not want problems to be aired. However, she did manage to get a transfer but then as events proved, it was too late for her to escape the consequences of the pressure she had to endure.

There was a time when friends did ask me,"So, what did you do?"

I could only tell them I had done all I could when she was alive. No matter what I did after her death nothing could bring her back. I had to accept that. But I believe in karma and that those who had done her wrong were in a worse position; my wife was no longer around to pardon all the wrongs that headmistress had done her. She knew what she had done wrong and would have to bear all that forever. That is a universal justice I do believe in. You see, I do believe in God.

A traditional diabetes cure?

The following recipe for diabetes recovery, if ever there is such a thing, came to me by email. I wonder at the truth of the matter but since what has been consumed by the lady could never harm anyone as long as the diabetic continues with his/her medicine, there is no harm reading it and trying it if you do have diabetes. Well, all diabetes should try it and if it works, tell your friends so that they can benefit from it. If there is no similar result as given by the old lady, there is no harm done and the ingredients for the recipe are not expensive, an ordinary chicken, lime and a little salt. So, read on and judge for yourself.
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No harm trying for those having high blood sugar.



Kim

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LIME 是青擰檬

My diabetes cured using this traditional recipe



I was then 55 years old when one day I suddenly felt constant thirst and had the urge to drink more water. I also felt constant hunger even just after taking a meal. My legs often cramped and I had severe cold sweat. I went for a check up and the doctor diagnosed it as diabetes; sometimes it reached 250 and it worried me so much. The doctor prescribed some medication and I was on medication for 2.5 years.

My brother who was staying in Malaysia was very concerned. He was a successful businessman. I went to visit my brother and sister when I was 57 yrs old and my brother told me he was given a traditional treatment recipe for diabetes which he claimed to be very effective. As a Hokkienese who suffered diabetes for 25 years; he had previously had complications and was unable to walk, but then he was cured.

Here's the Recipe :

Steam 4 limes (green lime) together with 1 chicken without head and tail), cut limes into half, add some salt with the water level just enough to cover the chicken. I was given this 4 times during my stay in Malaysia.
The taste was not very good but i still took it in the hope of curing the disease. It took me one week to finish a chicken (1 recipe), sometimes I drank it as a soup or for supper.

After 2 months I returned to Taiwan and had a medical check up again. I was surprised to hear the doctor advise me to stop my diabetes medication as the blood sugar level had plunged to below the standard count. He couldn't believe it when I told him what I took. From then on I did constant blood check-up and it was normal. So for prevention, sometimes I still had the chicken and lime once in a while. Lime was not available in Taiwan at that time and my brother sent them to me from Malaysia.

I am now 71 years old, and there's no recurrence. During this time I have been staying in Canada, the USA and I have been on a healthy diet and the chicken lime recipe once in a while; a recipe which saved my life.

As the ingredients are all natural, there's no harm at all to have a try and please spread this to your friends or whoever needs it. (The writer agrees with the last statement although I would advise to not use too much salt especially if there is high blood pressure.)

A choice between promotion and happiness.

This morning an old friend told me about a specialist gynecologist he once knew.

About thirty-five years ago this gynecologist worked in the General Hospital in Alor Star. He was so good at his job that soon everyone knew about his capability. Praise came from all quarters. He did his job exceedingly well and such was his reputation that people in the capital of Kuala Lumpur soon knew about him.

At that time most of the well known personalities and prominent people in all circles were situated in the capital. So it was that they wanted him there. To get him transferred there they decided to give him a promotion.

Now all of us would have jumped for joy at the prospect of being promoted. Did I hear somebody say 'No!'. Well, that guy is no natural human being. But then some of us might not have thought of being transferred to another place, even though that is the place to rub shoulders with the rich and famous, a desirable idea.

And this gynecologist is one such guy. He might want the promotion but definitely not the transfer. You see, he was a happy man with his family and the small number of close friends that make his life wonderful. With them around, there was nothing else he needed. He was satisfied with whatever he had.

To transfer him was to uproot him from the comfortable environment he has established. With his close friends and family, he knew he was fully acceptable in the jokes he made, the subjects they discuss, the behaviour and mannerisms, the way he dressed and the casual manner he goes about with his life. He also had his sense of usefulness and respect while basking in the praise they bestowed upon his person and his professional career.

According to him all that happiness was worth much more than any promotion which required him to be cast into an uncertain place where happiness could be a question mark especially when he might have to kowtow to others and follow the directions and demands of people who most probably demand respect even when it is not due to them. Furthermore, he was not poor and so in his priority, happiness came before promotion.

Anyway that decision of forgoing the promotion won the respect and praise from the friend who told me this story. After all, as my friend would tell you, happiness is anytime more important than money. Of course, there was be a minimum amount to live on to be happy. But we certainly do not need huge sums of it.

What kind of earth will our future generations inherit?

Early this morning, before the sun even peeped over the tree-tops, I was moving forward, walking backwards, crab-walking up and circling my way up the slope of Semarak Hill. Then as light gradually replaced the veil of darkness to give a clearer view of the surroundings, I noticed what appeared as mist floating across at the foot of the nearby hills. The mist was so thick that it appeared more like a sea surrounded by hills in the distance.

I went round the hill in a anti-clockwise direction and when I reached the top I ran along the more even ground there. It was at the end of that stretch at the top that I met three friends, a couple and another woman. They had come from a clock-wise direction and invited me to join them going clockwise down the hill. As I had no companion with me then, I joined them.

As we descended the hill, one of my friends pointed to the two columns of thick smoke reaching straight up into the sky.
"Look at that. That's one of the reasons our air is so polluted. Some factories are bellowing smoke twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week throughout the year. Yet we have laws concerning pollution. What's the use of laws when there is no enforcement?" the wife commented.

"I think there's only one day in a year when there is less smoke seen from this hill. Remember, dear, the time I remarked about it to you; I think it was on National Day when almost every big business premise must close for a day," she told her husband.

"I can't remember when but this pollution thing will never be solved as long as there are humans; humans who think more of themselves than others or their future generation," the husband voiced his disgust.

"Yeah, people are selfish even though they know the consequences of their actions. They'll never stop as long as their own interests are affected. Their interest comes first. And it is not that the world has not done anything. Remember the sound by Michael Jackson, 'Heal the World.' His voice is so good and the song is so popular, yet people continue to damage mother earth and they would not stop despite having experience some of the effects even now, what with global warming, snow and ice-bergs at the poles melting and so much more rain and floods throughout the world," the other lady, Grace, said.

"And could all this possibly be the start of the prophesied end of the world?" the man wondered.

"Oh, yes! It's supposed to take place in 2012. What would all those polluters think then when the full realisation of what they have done to this world descend upon them, their contribution to the end of our and their lives as well as the rest of all living things. I wonder," she voiced her feelings.

"You think all those people would ever blame themselves. They'll all be in denial. The fault would be placed on everything else but themselves. As usual, one finger would be pointing outwards accusing others without their being aware that three fingers are pointing at each and everyone of them. Anyway what is the use of anything then. It would have been too late," her husband told her.

"Don't worry, God so loves all His children that He would appear once again to save the world. He will do something to save us, wouldn't He?" Grace enquired.

"Come on! Don't blame God if He does nothing. He has given Man the brains so that he could think and solve the many problems in this world. Yet, instead of using their minds for the good of every thing on this earth, humans have manipulated God's words and usurped the powers of God bestowing themselves with godly powers to sentence others, to dictate to others their own human beliefs and cause so much division rather than unity which should be the aim of all religions. For all we know, God could be angry and wish to remove the mess so that a brand new world with new creations of all his creatures so that a better world is possible," the man put forward his theory.

And I was thinking that it is true that with the powers God has, all that theory is possible as humans seem to be messing up too many things so much so that this 'End of the world.' prediction has been around since my teen-age years. And those who predicted thus have concluded similarly that the world is getting into too much of a mess to get things untangled. Well, the warning has been out and all depends upon the positive reaction to the prophesy of disaster.

Who makes it a money world?

"The garden of the house has been overgrown with plants here, there and everywhere. Some time ago we had a maid and so it was fairly easy to keep the place clean and tidy but since mum passed away, we have done away with the maid and except for me, there has been no one else to help cut the unwanted plants that seem to grow so easily without any attention or care," she complained to this willing listener.

"well, my dear girl, you still have your father, your brother and his children,' I reminded her.

"Yeah, that's true. However, my father at eighty plus is too old to do much. As for my brother and his children, they stay some distance away and are hardly seen whenever there is work to be done," she explained.

"So, what do you have in mind?" I asked.

"Could you come and help? I do not mind paying somebody to clean cut the plants and clear the mess in my garden," she told me.

Here I am with already too much work to put into twenty-four hours a day and this friend hopes to get some of my time. I was certainly not able to give much time to anybody then and since she has a brother with healthy boys, I felt it unnecessary to offer any assistance.

Then, this morning when I saw her she started complaining the minute she saw me. She told me that she had asked her brother and the children to help out. At first, there was no response until she offered ten ringgit each for the help. Fortunately, that was sufficient to bring themand so the clearing of the place started.

However, she soon realised that the father was so happy to see the grandchildren that he had quickly distributed ten ringgit each to all of them soon after starting. And you know what? With the money safely in their pockets, the brother disappeared from the scene to be followed soon after that by the children. And so it was that she did not managed to get the place properly cleared.

"If it had been some workers, I can understand that they came just for the money. But here are her own brother and nephews, people who ought to give a helping hand without any spoken request. Yet, despite the 'carrot' of ten ringgit, the work was not done satisfactorily," she lamented.

"Well, I don't think it's the children's fault. Somebody has been in the habit of rewarding them with money for every small deed that they had performed," I could not help but told her.

"Yeah, lo! It's my father. He's always giving those children money for running errands, for helping around and for everything. They come expecting some money each time. And when no money is forthcoming, they run at the first mention of work. Children nowadays are so different," she expressed that thought sadly.

Sometimes, parents teach their children wrong values and grandparents pamper them so much that the children just knew how to get the grandpa to respond correctly to their wishes. Children are clever and old folks are too doting where their grandchildren are concerned. In such circumstances children perform not out of love and care but for the money and whatever else that they can get.

Money problems in families.

"You know, I always thought my family has so many problems, more than others until the day the lady who owns her family's printing press complained about her family members. Nobody knowing her with her sweet smile and friendly approach would have thought such a woman could have problems."

I listened intently as she told me what happened. Apparently, the lady boss had a brother and sister-in-law who passed away at a fairly young age. It was due to an accident which took place quite a good number of years ago. The couple left behind two children whom this lady boss, who was the aunt, took up the responsibility of bringing up. Everything was fine and the children grew up as employees of the printing press.

She would not have known of the children's thoughts on the grandparents' property, had the grandparents not died one after the other, their deaths merely a few years' difference.

However, one the last of the grandparents had died, the children wanted their share of the property, demanding that what they get ought to be the same as their aunt. This caught the aunt by surprise as even her brothers had not demanded more than what had been written in the will. Obviously, she gets the lion's share as she had always stayed behind to manage the parents' business while the brothers wander afield to establish their own businesses. The two children were given a small sum as they had done nothing for the business except to be employed as two of the workers in the printing press.

Of course, according to the will and the law, the children will have to accept what has been given in the will. But that did not prevent them from saying so many unkind things about the aunt who had lovingly sheltered and cared for them since the day they were orphaned. In fact they had been given the best possible education except that non of the aunt's or these children were good academically. All the children stopped their education after secondary school as none of them had the kind of results that could have made them eligible for any further studies. Furthermore, all of them seem to have no interest in continuing with their studies. So, all of them either worked for the printing press or in some other occupations of their choice.

As whatever unkind words were uttered not in the presence of the aunt there was nothing much she could do but be patient with them. She did not want any ugly situation that could possibly result as a result of confronting them with their accusations. However, knowledge of what had been said made her feel bitter and sad that her own nephew and niece had the temerity of condemning her behind her back. To her it was the most unkindest cut to be accused thus especially when she had brought them up so well.

Well, sometimes money can cause all kinds of problems and here is one such case. Perhaps but then it is certainly difficult, we should not expect any gratitude for whatever kindness that we do perform. If there is gratitude, treat it as a bonus. And we have to learn to be deaf or if that is not possible, do not let such sad incidences affect us too much. Just accept it as a part of life and treat it as an opinion others are entitled to. If we manage to master our mind in such matters, then depression or stress caused by such things will effect us not.

Experience is the best teacher.

There are many ways to learn but the most important and best method of learning can be none other than learning on the job.

I have been into cosmetics sales (Holiday Magic osmetics), florist work, English Language teaching, gymnasitic coaching, fish and canary bird breeding and massage. I have learned from the experts in all the above fields, going through courses and acquiring whatever knowledge and practical training I could from them. However, nothing beats working as a professional. As a professional, I learn that mistakes could be made despite the knowledge attain from the experts. I learn that our brains work best when we know we cannot fall back on somebody else expertise to come up with the right results. Our ego and pride plays a most important role to have us look into various aspects as we perform professionally. Yes, ego and pride are the most important factors in determining the type of professional we turn out to be. It is nothing but pride and ego which require us to work better to be the best possible professional in the field. And should we find that what we have learned through whatever courses are insufficient, it is the same pride and ego that make us read up or learn more from other experts. We are willing to be humble to achieve satisfaction of pride and ego.

Just as I had my friends and teachers to develop myself mentally, I found that the best teachers were only available through the thoughts from books written by Napoleon Hill, Norman Vincent Peale and Dale Carnegie. Then, when I realised there was still something more I needed I paid more than a thousand ringgit, a huge sum of money for a young man then with a salary of only four hundred ringgit a month, a sum of money that was all I had in my bank account at that time, a big step I took to improve my mind further and I have had no regrets to this day, for the motivator at that course in Kuala Lumpur in 1972 was none other than Lawrence Chan. (Perhaps the reader have not heard of him as his time is past, most probably retired but he was the best then.)Even then, I found that it is when we are faced with real problems that we learn even more. Of course, without those early important teachers, most of the problems could not have been overcome so easily.

As a gymnastics coach, for example, I discovered that it was not so much the stages of development in flexibility, strength and movement that had been taught at all those courses that counts so much as the confidence and belief of the gymnast in me. Believing that I could bring them to perform well was most important in removing any doubt of their ability to do any agility movements, springs or vaults. Then my one hundred percent attention on the learning and practising gymnast to ensure that at any moment a slip would be attended to correctly to have the gymnast land safely is of utmost attention. Though I learned massage and first aid to ensure that injuries would be attended to immediately, I have never had to use them as no injury ever occurred. (For me, an injury during training would have whatever confidence built up diminished if not lost forever. Thus I gave the gymnasts the confidence to do what most people thought was most difficult.

As a teacher of English, I seek and plan ways to make learning easier and so more enjoyable. Knowing the grammar, understanding the words and sentence structures are only part of the tools of a teacher. It is understanding the usage of grammatical items and sentence structures, being able to use them correctly in everyday life that make English Language learning difficult. It is not merely giving them exercises unless those exercises can improve their understanding of its usage and put it into practical use.

And all the ways to get things done well cannot be taught merely through theory. We need to work and face the problems as they arise daily. Problems are handled in two ways. There are those who say nothing much can be done and just try to avoid them, allowing things to be imperfect. Then there are those who have sufficient pride and ego to want nothing but the best in everything they do and these are the people who think of the problems, search for the answers by asking other experts perhaps or reading up on better ways to overcome them and end up becoming better in their professions.

Similarly, we have come across mechanics who cannot detect problems with our cars easily. They change this, they change that and they change almost everything until the problem is solved and the poor motorist has to pay for his daily experiments. And some never think or find out how to get straight to the problem or detect the problem except through trial and error. We have many of these. They do not read up on what they do not know or approach for help from someone who does. Perhaps that is easier said than done as which good mechanic would help a competitor to catch up on him. However, there are ways to learn. A mechanic could go for another course to improve himself. Of course he might have to forgo some earnings or pay for such courses but then for a better future it ought to be worth it. Or he should learn from his mistakes, putting some thought into his experiences.

Thus, practical experience is important especially when we are willing to learn from our mistakes or wrongs, each mistake bringing a better understanding that that is not the way and a new way has to be found or discovered. Well, if we make only new mistakes and not repeat the same mistake, we are learning to minus the wrongs and go towards the right.

Nothing beats working experience for improvement, if there is a desire for it.

Choose the wrong politicians and they will be around to haunt you for five years.

Politicians, apparently without a doubt, are the worst people in the world, Sorry, I ought to say in Malaysia only for I am not so knowledgeable as that to claim that of all politicians throughout the world..

Each day I go around, first up the hill, then to the morning market and after that here, there and everywhere, meeting friends who comprise of all races and there was no problem in communication or exchange of ideas, no problem with mixing among ourselves. No racial problems!

Yet, when we go into the news media in Malaysia we read of all sorts of disgusting racial problems with politicians creating some of them, with politicians aggravating the situation by not acting fast enough on the guilty parties and politicians accusing the less guilty while seemingly letting go of the real culprits.

There were some communal leaders who are always baiting the citizens to join in their racial outbursts with threats of their community losing their political power.
They claim that the Malays in Malaysia would lose power should the opposition, which also have many Malay politicians, ever come to power. What a ludicrous idea!

There were two Malay leaders were obviously talking nonsense as regardless of which party forming the next government, the Malay political leaders will still be the majority and will still be holding most of the power. The present party which have been ruling for the last 53 years does have Chinese and Indians among them. So, should the opposition ever come to power, most of the politicians would be from PKR and PAS where most of the leaders would be Malays. Of course, their thinking may be different, perhaps fairer, less corrupted and more nationalistic and not so racialist. That being the case, every Malaysian ought to look towards such a change.

Thus, the only difference would be different leaders with different ways of governing. And with that the citizens could send off those racial leaders and give Malaysia the opportunity to develope more like America where origin no longer is a problem, where all citizens are not Negros, Chinese, Indians, Europeans, Malays, British but Americans. Similarly, with the new leaders we in Malaysia can hope to be Malaysians first and Malays, Chinese or Indians second. (Even our present Deputy Prime Minister considers himself Malay first and Malaysian second, see!!!)

And it is good to have a two party system whereby any mistake made would be suffered for only five years, after which a correction can be made. If we have no choice, merely one party to choose from, well even when the political head is a dictator, we have no choice but to pick him again and again and again. When two parties are strong, choose not just the party but the leaders. Choose the leaders who can lead us to greatness and prosperity, to a better tomorrow. Thus, if only 60% of the leaders of one party is good, choose 60% of them and the rest of the good one could come from the other party. In this way we cultivate good leaders and weed out bad ones. It could be unlike today when elected Members of Parliament prove themselves community racist who simply shout and utter nonsense that most of the citizens detest.

A country can only progress if the right leaders are given the opportunity to lead. Just as in a business, good partners are not necessary those of the same family. A wise businessman chooses a partner for his capability in developing the business, not for his closeness with the family. It is the responsibility of every citizen to think wisely and vote in people who can make Malaysia a land of plenty and glory so that our future generations will benefit from our choice.

Malaysia ought to be a land of plenty. Compared with our prospering neighbours as we lag behind, Malaysia had its tin-mines, its rubber estates and now tropical wood, petrol, gas, palm oil and tourism. Compare all that with Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and the Phillipines. Despite most of them having to face even natural disasters like earth-quakes, their economy is improving while we seem to be stuck in some kind of mental quicksand, still unable to pull ourselves out of all those lousy policies made.

There's only one way to pull us out and that is to vote wisely, to vote for the right leaders and make our country progress once again.

My first encounter with a cancer patient.

The killer comes so quietly and unobtrusively that even as it strikes its last fatal blow we are not aware of it. Do you know what I am talking about?

This memory all began with a friend's visit in which he noticed a book on cancer on my table. He looked at me, probably wondering why I would need to read such a book. I told him I have been delving into the subject for more than a year now not because I am suffering from it but it is probably the only sickness that comes even when we are at our strongest and fittest. So I told him the true story of a lost friend, a death which happened more than twenty years ago.

I was about forty years of age then. Taman Intan where we lived was a residential area surrounded by lots of trees, rubber estates and secondary jungles that were beautiful sights to us. With my corner house at the far edge of the area, I awaken to lush greens and fresh air with no noise pollution as traffic hardly comes into my part of the residential area. Of course, my wife was a little weary of thieves as she correctly predicted that our house was a good place for such people to hit. (I have to tell you about that in a later posting.)

And the surrounding was just the paradise we discover for walks and runs. So, in the evenings we would take walks and runs before it got too dark and perhaps dangerous.

Back to this lost friend. His house was a little distance away in a housing estate adjoining mine. After we had met a few times in our runs into the rubber estate and the nearby villages as well as secondary jungles, we decided to team up for our evening jogs and runs. He would take a walk to my place and then together we ran and enjoyed the evening breeze and body sweat for approximately an hour.

Slightly younger than me, at the age of about thirty years, he proved to be a faster runner than I was. Imagine that! And I was one of six members of my school's cross-country team. And fifteen years earlier I had run from Alor Star to Kuala Kedah, a distance of approximately twelve kilometres in less than an hour. I never believed he could have beaten this guy each and every time but beat me he did.

It was good for me as i really had to put in every effort to pace him. Each outing left me really tired out and ready for a good night's sleep. It helped this guy to stay young and strong. My thanks to him for his help in this respect.

So, his stamina was great, his strength was fantastic and in terms of fitness, he was at his best.

Of course, I did notice that he sneezed and seem to have colds quite often. I did ask him about it and according to him he had seen a doctor who told him it could be allergy to pollen grains which could be in the air he breathed. I did not think more about it, accepting a doctor diagnosis of his problem. However, today, if I were to meet a guy with the same problem as my friend's with it constantly a problem I would advise him/her to go for second or even third opinions. You see, his doctor made a grave mistake, each time dismissing it as pollen allergy.

Yes, that was his doctor's negligence in not suspecting something worse even when he had been seeing the same doctor almost every week for the same problem for more than half a year.

One evening, I found him at my gate not dressed for a run. I told me he needed a phone badly. (In those days, we did not use hand-phones.) I told him if he needed it urgently, it was not a problem. He could have it. After all this guy was and is not so famous that he received so many calls a day. In those days, I hardly received any call. However, I was, as expected, curious about what had transpired. So, he told me that he had just returned from a medical examination in which the doctor in a private hospital had told him he could be having cancer. Cancer! It was a shock to me. Imagine this strong healthy young man with cancer. So, as news of his sickness spread he was expecting calls from relatives from the various states. And to worsen the problem of the day, his own house-phone must break down on that very same afternoon.

So, an operation was scheduled to take place in a week's time. That Friday saw his family and a few close friends at a hospital in Penang to give him moral support. The bad news received was that when they opened him up they found that it was so bad that the cancer cells have already spread to other parts of the body and it was useless to operate. They merely closed him up again.

Later. at home, he gradually suffered unbearable pain and had to be administered morphine to make him more comfortable. About half a year later, he died.

That was my first encounter with a victim of cancer. Knowing the victim well, I realise that cancer is one killer which can strike so quietly that we might not even know that it had already penetrated our body's defenses. Strength, excellent health and fitness are no deterrent to its attack. Today, I have met a few more cancer victims and so am determined to understand it well enough to be prepared to the highest possible extent for its invasion. Research is ongoing on this killer and I am positive it can be stopped as I talked to some of the survivors and learned whatever I can from their experiences.

Looks like good strength and health alone would not do. A strong immune system through right nutrition, raw food, manner of cooking, removal of toxic substances from our food and air as well as removal of excessive stress are factors we have to look into to prevent or to remove this killer from our midst.

Where we ought to be firm.

"My father allows my two nephews to take out his motorcycle and left him without transport to the morning market," she told me.

"What do you mean? Don't they ever ask for permission?" I enquired.

"Aiyah, you know kids nowadays. They just grab the keys and go off just like that before anybody notices them," she explained.

"Then your father must keep his keys in a safer place where nobody can have access to them without his permission. You know, it is very risky to allow under-aged children to ride around, more so without a license," I was starting to give a lecture.

"Hiyah, it's difficult to control them. I myself have told them so many times not to take the bike out but they still do when I'm not around. What can I do. Their grandpa is even worse. He sleeps most of the time and so allows them to do whatever they like," she interrupted my talk with excuses.

"Well, make sure they don't get into an accident. (In my mind I rebuked myself for saying that for who ever gets themselves into accidents. They just come unannounced and that is why they are called accidents in the first place.) If an accident ever happens imagine the problems it can cause," I warned.

"Well, if it's an accident what can we do about that?" she asked, innocent.

"You certainly cannot do anything but land in hot soup. Not you, of course, but the owner of the bike who happens to be your father. If the police wishes to pursue the matter, the bike owner has given the bike to be used by people without license. Now, although the bike has an insurance, it is stipulated that that insurance is valid only when the rider has a license. Without that driving license, the insurer will wash their hands and declare that it is not responsible for any claims made against the bike, So, in a court of law who do you think have to pay for the claims made against your nephew?" I wished to know how well informed she was.

"How do I know? My nephew? Where's he going to find the money?" a worried frown appeared.

"Since your father has so kindly given permission to someone unlicensed to drive to cause damage to others, he will have to answer for that. If the claim is small, he can just become poorer and stay in a small hut but it the damage is expensive, he can be a bankrupt, do you know that?" I needed to emphasise the weight of the problem to this relative so that understanding will be sufficient to have some changes made.

Sometimes, people wait for mistakes to happen to learn from them but often, it is better to avoid making mistakes as they can be traumatic.

Let not the ego get us into uncivilised acts.

It may seem strange that a man who is the deputy president of the Komtar Merchants Association would continuously challenge the Chief Minister of Penang to a fist-fight.

But then again we have to remember that this man is just the deputy president of a merchants' association and probably does not understand that in this twenty-first century, we ought to be more civilised and if someone had claimed that we have mishandled money, there is the police and the court to settle such matters. But being impatient, he would rather resort to the power of might which he does not understand would not solve the issue he is faced with. If he wins a fist-fight, it merely proves that he is a better fighter or a stronger man which he probably is. As he himself claims, he was a boxer for about twenty years. And being a merchant he should be stronger than the Chief Minister who is a pen-pusher.

Of course, eventually, he did challenge the Chief Minister to a debate but should the Chief Minister debate with a chap who would most probably would say all kinds of things, even twist things, to preserve his ego? (We have recently seen how politicians have used even religious sermons, twisted what had transpired, in order to claim that a non-Muslim's name had been used instead of the ruler's name.) Sometimes, we have also seen debates end in chair-throwing and fist-fighting when people knew they were getting nowhere with their words.

Well, the Chief Minister have been wise in not responding to chalenges by this man who dares to want to take the law into his hands. As they say, "Let barking dogs lie." (Is my quote correct?) He is obviously doing the right thing by responding to such people.

Although this matter appear insignificant, yet it teaches us a lot of wisdom. Many among us might respond with a 'Come on.' to the instigator partly due to an injured ego. Now, any fight depends upon two factors: the better fighter due to training or strength or the luck of being struck in the right place. And to ensure victory, certainly great strength is put into every blow which could result in not just injury but also death. Whose death it might be, there would be loss. If we die we are a loss to our dependents, if the opponent dies, we might have to face the court and a number of years behind bars.

Of course, there are times in our lives when we have to fight to defend our lives and those we love. But certainly not out of the stupidity of our ego. Just because of a few words that unthinking people utter, the above mentioned loss is certainly too much to pay. And in life we are bound to come across so many such instances.



GEORGE TOWN: State police have warned Mohamed Ghani Abd Jiman not to take the law into his own hands but the Komtar Merchants’ Association deputy president is not backing off from his challenge to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for a fist-fight.

The first step to overcoming is to admit it.

This morning I talked with a friend about someone who had a problem. The person concerned was in denial. She refuses to admit that she had a problem. Although her friends would have liked to help her, help could never reach her as the denial was a close door to solutions.

Let's face it. Some of us, in one way or another, have some kind of hidden uneasy secret in the deepest corner of our mind hopefully buried in that part people understand as the subconscious mind. We do put on a brave front wherever we go but the secret keeps us in fear or too conscious of something.

It could be a lousy past, a poverty period of the family, the lost of a dear friend, the reluctant end of a relationship or a painful period in our lives. It could have been a trauma, a painful, scarring past that is always at the back of our mind. Because of such a trauma, we are keenly conscious of susceptible pain. We draw away from possible situations where such pain could be inflicted upon us. The one with the lousy past would not want to have anyone play him or her out again. The person from a really poor family would not wish the same sad financial circumstances that may arise as a result of being economically unstable. The guy with a lost love might not want his heart to be hurt again.

Yet, if we ever tell the person concerned to forget the past for it is over and there is still so much life to be lived in the years to come, the person would deny that such a problem exists. Without admitting that such a problem exists, we cannot rid ourselves of the problem. (In a much earlier posting I have written about my own inferiority complex, how I faced it in my youth, overcome it with the help of my friends, my greatest teachers, Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie and Norman Vincent Peale, and my very own tremendous effort through body-building, sports, gymnastics and doing voluntary work.)

Yes, it is only when we know our problems, face it squarely that we are able to do something to get rid of it. When there is this desire to remove the problem, we see clearly the weakness we burden ourselves with and with that in mind we can take positive steps to overcoming them. The steps to take comes with knowledge and knowledge today is within the reach of almost everybody if we make the move towards it in books and the internet besides experienced friends.

The day we acknowledge our problem is the start towards a better future, a better us, so the sooner the better. I was lucky as I was made aware of my problems by caring friends. I was also aware of my sickly past which left me weak and unable to be involved as much as I would have like to. Thank God, the am exactly the opposite of what I was.

Well, our fervent hope and prayer is to share and enjoy life as God would have wanted us to. May everyone be blessed with happiness and those who are more fortunate ought to help those with their burdens to unshackle them. In God we trust. (No, I do not belong to any religion for I am a free-thinker but not an atheist.)

Beware! A new technique by robbers.

Nowadays, there is so much to be wary of. However if we have the knowledge we are fore-armed and therefore are well prepared for all eventualities. Of course no one is so knowledgeable as to be ready for everything. Therefore, whenever we come across important or necessary information no matter how simple it may seem, it is good to disseminate the knowledge to all our friends. So....

PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THIS LATEST INFORMATION which a friend sent me:

You can't clean away smashed eggs on the windscreen of a car with the wiper and sprayed water. Please take note of this as it can come in useful one day.

If you are driving at night and are attacked with eggs, do not operate the wiper or spray any water. Slow your speed and drive on carefully with your doors locked.

You can drive with whatever visibility remaining until you reach a safer place, where there are more people, at a petrol kiosk or a police-station.

Do not use your wiper or spray water onto your screen because eggs when mixed with water becomes milky and block your vision up to 92.5%. That would be an effective way to stop your car and have you come out of it.

When you are forced to stop at the road side to clean off the mess from your wind-screen, you become a victim of robbers planning to attack at such a time.

According to the email, this is a new technique used by robbers in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Please inform your friends and relatives as robbers cheats are getting more creative these days.

In our homeland, all 'siblings' must be treated equal.

Citizens of a country must respect the laws of the country. Especially for those people born in a country, that country is their homeland and its laws must be followed. However, since there has been quite a lot of confusion lately regarding which one's homeland is, even among the literate, I wish to illustrate the meaning by saying that Parameswara's homeland was Java. This Pelambang prince who came and founded Malacca left his homeland to settle in Malaya. His children, grandchildren and great grandchildren who were born here can call then Malaya and now Malaysia their homeland. They are now Malaysians or Malaysian Javanese if you like, while their great grandfather, Parameswara was a Javanese. Similarly, Hang Li Po's homeland was China but her descendants who are born here are Malaysian or Malaysian Chinese and their homeland is Malaya or Malaysia. So Malaysians should respect the laws of Malaysia because every citizen elected the politicians who sit in parliament to pass or change any undesirable laws.

As Malaysians we not only respect the country's laws, we also should be patriotic to our country. We must show allegiance to our country. But then that does not mean that we must show our allegiance to people in power. So people in power cannot demand allegiance from the people. Allegiance or loyalty and support from the people can only be fostered through the caring deeds of the people in power, whoever they may be.

Some power crazy people demand allegiance from the people, especially the minority in a country. And when such demands are not met, these people threaten with sending or asking them to return to their homeland when actually the country where they are born is their homeland. These power-crazy people forget that loyalty must be developed through love and care and that those people who are not loyal to them are just as patriotic to their homeland, the land where they are born in.

In fact, by using threats and harsh words, people tend to rebel against such so-called leaders. When people do not love such leaders, the people feel nothing but disgust for them. When that happens it is an indication that they are poor leaders with poor capability to lead.

Such leaders are often found among community leaders who only know how to fight for one particular community, neglecting everybody else. They are often racist. Should I say that? No, I believe these people are not actually racist, rather they make use of race issues or religious issues to become popular, more for their own selfish gains. But then, in that sense they are racist! But they are not actually fighting for the race. They merely make use of the race.

Examine what they say carefully and you find that they even say things which has no truth. One even claim that a particular race has been pushed to the wall and is in danger of losing power when in actual fact their power will always be in the hands of the rulers and the race is a majority community in the country, when the minority is merely asking for fairness in opportunities for all the poor and needy, something which no sane person would oppose.

Certainly, the rich needs no aids for anything. Yet when some politician said that the rich ought not to get discounted prices in purchasing houses, these people make a hue and cry as though those very rich who can afford houses at half a million ringgit still need such discounts. Imagine that! According to such leaders, people who are millionaires need discounts while people do not even have a quarter of a million ringgit have to buy houses without a sen discounted! Why the difference when Malaysia is the homeland for all of them? So why were those rich leaders making so much noise? Perhaps with their huge amount of money they hope to build huge mansions at discounted prices while some others buy their small terrace houses at no discount whatsoever. Not enough money? Sorry, no discount. Wait until you have saved enough, okay? I know you are a Malaysian too.

No, I am not envious of those truly poor people who are given discount for their houses but should not discount be given to all the truly poor Malaysians? Even though I am not filthy rich, I think I am rich enough not to need a discounted house. Of course, if a developer were to be so kind as to give me some discount, I would gratefully accept as I cannot consider myself rich either but I would never demand it or by using other people's situations to obtain it.

There was even one Malaysian Chinese Muslim who believed that Malaysian Chinese born in Malaysia ought not to consider Malaysia as their homeland in saying that those who are not happy with 'an uneven playing field' should go back to their homeland. He simply could not understand the word 'homeland'. What a pity! And he is not illiterate!

All the minority community is hoping to strive for is fairness in their homeland. Just as they are patriotic so do they think of equal opportunities in their own country. If their country where their allegiance and patriotism lie does not treat them as equals whereas can they find equality?