Saved by the policeman whose liver was burnt.

As a person, I have always been adventurous. However, I always believe that our future, our health and wealth, is our own responsibility. We are the ones to make or break it. Therefore, despite being adventurous, I have stayed away from drugs as I knew there will never be any easy way, perhaps not even after a great struggle, out of such addiction. To be adventurous, one has to be knowledgeable to be safe. Many adventurous souls sank into the mire of such quicksand addition because of the devilish encouragement of drug pushers without the full understanding of the sticky dangers that that can draw them down to the deepest hell-hole that draws humans into it without any mercy.

So, this guy here has tried drinking. It all started at a wedding party where there was that adult who fooled this young guy of ten into drinking some beer. It was a new drink for me then. It did not taste good, a little bitter just like some kind of liquid medicine. Nonetheless, it was a new experience and I went for it glass after glass, following that adult. Soon a kind of numbness gripped me and I seem to stand in a far-off place with people's voices and the music at the wedding party in the background some distance away. I wanted to throw up but nothing came except some kind of discomfort. Later, semi-conscious of my surroundings, I followed my parents home to fall mercifully asleep.

The next morning and the next few days after was the worse. I itched all over with my skin blotchy red in many places. And when the wind blows against me, the itch was even worse. you see, I was allergic to alcohol. So, I stopped taking the drink.

I did stop taking alcoholic drinks until I was active in the sports field during my first few years of teaching. Each sports day, there were free drinks for everyone. Well, it was not the organiser's fault as non-alcoholic drinks were easily available too. That time it was my ego. Everyone of those tough guys could drink. So, why not me? Of course, I again suffered that alcohol allergy but the young ego demanded that I be no less capable as those guys out there and soon even that allergy was conquered. Furthermore, knowledge helped to prevent me from getting drunk. The trick was merely knowing when it was too high, stop, take some water, urinate all the alcohol out and then when the alcoholic high subside in the head, return to face the challenge of drinking even more.

And that went on for a number of years. I even reached the stage where I could take brandy. And alcohol could have become one of my favourite drinks if God had not put me into a hospital in Alor Star. You see, I once again had to take a vacation in one of those six-star hotel they call a hospital where there is always a pretty nurse on call every minute of the day because one doctor could not hear my heart-beat at all and deemed it necessary for me to go through an ECG, a machine to detect my heart-beat and proclaimed that I had rheumatic heart, a illness which gives patients only about six years to live. Today, almost forty years later, it is quite obvious that I had changed the record.

It was in that hospital that I got acquainted with a policeman who showed me his unsteady hands, hands that can never be steady again. According to him, he got that way through a burnt liver caused by taking too much alcohol.

When I saw and heard about his predicament, I knew right then I would not want to have to suffer thus. I knew I got no benefit out of taking alcoholic drinks. It was merely my ego and that was certainly not worth it especially when I knew what I was worth, an excellent English Language teacher, a gymnastic coach who knew how to train champions and a guy who can stand as tall as the best. That was already good enough in any crowd. Of course, it is quite clear that my ego is still very much alive but it is essential to have a healthy ego to progress in life.

So, I stopped alcoholic drinks almost completely. Today, the only time I consume a little, just a glass, perhaps once or twice a year, is at weddings or some such gatherings. And I am happy with that. The allergy has returned and my face would turn red as a lobster the minute just a mouthful of alcohol gets down my throat.

Well, that's my true story. Parents, beware of adults who think it is fun to fool around with your children with alcoholic drinks. Sometimes even with adults, they do it. Once, I was a little annoyed that a lady friend of mine was made to drink a little too much. And too much alcohol can do so much harm, like burning a liver.