Build a strong defence.

When I was young, I was weak and went through a number of health problems. It made me realise the importance of good health. As a result, I learned everything I could about health from other people’s experience as well as from books.

It was this search for health that led me to read a lot and improved on my English Language.

It also awakened the realization that one person’s experience alone brings so little knowledge. Through books and the knowledge and practices of so many individuals, we can learn and understand so much more.

However, what I learned about immunity did not come only from books or another person’s experience. It was also through observation. I was then staying at a house in Queen Street, Penang. I noticed that when it rained, the Indian children in the neighbourhood played in the rain. A few smaller ones were naked, some were wearing just a pair of shorts. They ran about in the rain and the adults did not seem worried.

Not the Chinese; they would quickly send their children out of the rain, changed their clothes if they were wet and put on thicker clothing if the air was cold.

And who among them would be the first to catch cold? The protective Chinese! Despite all that they have done, the virus still launch an attack. Who lost? Those who are afraid of catching cold! How is that?

The indians did not bother about getting drenched. Wet and cold, they played on to develop their bodies' personal army to fight any virus which dared to come.

Yes, those Indian children hardly ever catch cold while the Chinese children easily succumbed to cold even from just a few drops of rain!

I came to the conclusion that Chinese parents were too protective, and their children succumbed too easily as their bodies were never given the opportunity to withstand cold. As for the Indian children, they were so used to rain and cold that both had no deleterious effect on their bodies.

With that knowledge, if there is no sign of thunder or lightning, I allowed my two children to play in the rain approximately five minutes after it had started so as to get their body to achieve immunity against cold. The time elapsed before allowing them to start to play was to have toxic substances causing acid rain to be washed off first.

My children were really thrilled to slide around on the smooth cemented part of the compound. Of course, they were always under my supervision.

I remembered very well the first time their shrill voices expressing their joy and fun attracted the attention of some neighbours who were horrified to see our children possibly catching their death of cold.

To dissipate their fears and to confirm that everything was fine, I quickly waved to them, beaming my assuring smile and shouting to tell them that everything was perfectly alright.

They must have thought, "What a crazy father I was. Poor kids! How could the father not know that they would catch cold! And look at him! Delighting in the sight of his children slithering around on the wet cement. What a stupid father!"

I did not blame them for they did not have the same observation nor the knowledge or experience I had.

Through this very enjoying play, they not only developed an immunity to cold; they also learned about the immunity system in our body through my explanation to them.