The laziness of some people.

My spiritual guru, Bapak as we fondly call him, has said that nothing in this world is evil but Man. He first told us about the spirits roaming the world and that such spirits do no harm to humans but humans make use of them and their abilities to harm other humans.Thus, it is not the spirits that are evil but humans who have evil thoughts and with that our Bapak told us that none of his disciples must ever do evil deeds or he will be answerable to Bapak.

What Bapak told us, I remember today as I read about the jellyfish in the waters of Langkawi. There are now too many jellyfish and it all began because of sea-water pollution as people dump waste into the sea, a convenient way of disposing waste at the cost of increasing the number of jelly-fish as the number of turtles decrease.

Turtles eat jelly-fish and in doing so control their number in the sea. Unfortunately, lazy uncaring people conveniently throw plastic bags into the sea and those bags are eaten by the turtles as they have mistaken those bags for jellyfish. The consumption of plastic bags cause the death of turtles and with less turtles to feed on the jellyfish, the jellyfish increase their numbers and being easily gotten into contact with human bodies, they react by stinging the bodies.

Humans are lazy and so often we see people throwing rubbish around rubbish bins but hardly into them although the bins are just one or two metres away. Why can't these people walk that extra one or two steps more to deliver their rubbish to the bins? And it is not that they did not want to be clean for they would not throw rubbish in front of their houses. And there are those who even throw their rubbish in front of other people's houses when such neighbours are not looking. And all that because of laziness!

People seem to be getting lazier and lazier. Take a walk along a beach and we can see the ice-cream wrappers, the paper-bags from food and all kind of plastic containers strewn all over, a clear sign of laziness of humans. Instead of improving this is one sphere of one lives which need looking into. Not that humans have not pretended to go into this problem. I remember the first time an anti litter sign was put up in Taman Intan, Sungai Petani. (That's where I live.) It stated that anyone caught littering would be fined a sum of RM5,000. It was in 1980 and I told my wife to think of the ridiculous sum of money that was stated. I asked her how many of the people would be able to pay such a fine. My pay then was approximately RM1,000 a month and if they were to ask me for such a sum of money I would most probably prefer to squat in jail and have free rice for a few months. Oh, no! As a government servant I cannot go to jail and so may have to see a 'Ah Long' or money-lender to get out of the predicament. What a ludicrous fine for littering!

Then, I gradually understood that it was just throwing fear at the residents as I found no one being caught despite numerous cases of littering. In fact the area around that anti-litter sign was full of rubbish thrown by people in and around the area. Perhaps people saw it more as a challenge than a threat and responded by fighting it. And it was not just happening to just this particular anti-littering signboard. Others elsewhere were also suffering from the same fate. That is what happens when authorities talk but never walk the talk. There was no enforcement and the law becomes a laughing matter.

So, if I am given the chance to be an adviser, I would say that the authorities concerned must have the enforcement officers ready before implementing any law. Give something for people to show their respect. That is the only way to gain respect. Unfortunately, not sufficient thought is usually put into an idea before its implementation.

Laws must be made to protect someone. Yet, ....

It was last year, I think, I read from the Star newspaper that those in possession of certain species of animals have to report to the wildlife department and request for special permission to keep them.

As an animal and fish lover, I have kept at one time or another canaries, budgerigars, pigeons, rabbits, chickens, geese, turkeys, ducks and various kinds of fish such as the angel-fish, goldfish, zebra fish, discus fish, bettas and many others, always caring for them and breeding them when they matured.

At the time when I read the news report regarding having to request for special permission to keep certain species, I have in my possession two Star Tortoise which I have kept for about eight years since my retirement as a teacher and four pig-nosed turtles which i have reared for more than two years. And according to the news report they were the ones requiring special permission to keep.

Well, I certainly would want to keep them as I love those tortoises and turtles. They are so cute and beautiful. So, with a sincere desire to do my part for them, I approached the wildilfe department in Sungai Petani. I was told there was no such instructions and that I could leave my address behind so that should anything crop up they could inform me. I was wary of that, it was true. So I told them I would be back another time.

Then, early this year the same report appeared in the Star again and I approached the same wildlife department and this time they told me they were conscious of the matter and I was given a faxed form from the Alor Star department. I filled up the form and posted it. An acknowledgement letter dated 29 April 2010 was received.
However, when the special permit came, I was shocked and disappointed that I was given permission only to keep the pig-nosed turtle but not the Star Tortoise.

So, I immediately sent an appeal to the department to be allowed to keep my two beloved Star Tortoises, a pair of two beautiful pets I have loved and cared for for eight long years. In my letter of appeal I request that my application to keep them ought to be given consideration as I have kept them since they were the size of fifty-cent coins. Furthermore, as any wildlife officer would have realised, animals kept for so long by humans cannot survive in the wild as they have been fed special food that cannot be found in the wild. To return them to the wild is to send them to their death. Certainly that is not the intention of those people who thought of laws to protect those in the wild. So, they need special care which I believe I am capable of providing as proved by their good growth. In fact, I am very confident that soon they would be breeding. In doing so I would be ensuring that the species would not threatened with extinction.

The lady officer in the wildlife department was sympathetic to my cause and even wnet the extra mile to have my appeal reach the main department before the date when the law would come into effect.

Then, in July, another lady officer rang me and inform me that a letter was being prepared to be sent to me to inform me that the appeal cannot be considered. Apparently, despite all my reasoning with her, she could not change her decision. When I talked of the possibility of breeding those Star Tortoise, she even told me breeding would also be an offence. I told her breeding among animals is a natural process which no law can consider an offence. Thus, I ended the conversation with my request for the letter so that I could appeal through the press and possibly ambassador or government of India, as I was also told that the Indian government had insisted that all Star Tortoises be sent back to it. Anyway, unless and until I am sure my Star Tortoises would not face misery and death, I intend to care for them as I love my pets. Anyway, I have talked to some people regarding this matter and they agreed that whatever law which comes into effect should not penalise those who have already been rearing those animals which had been bought legally.

Talking about legality, I was even told by the lady that back then in 2002, those Star Tortoise had been smuggled in and so I was supposed to be keeping smuggled goods. Oh my gosh! If those Star Tortoises were smuggled animals, why were we never informed then or earlier. I read widely and nowhere did I come across such information. And those pets were sold openly in almost every pet shop in the country. It is only this year that i was told by one shop that its Star Tortoise was not for sale, only for show as they are not allowed to sell. In my mind I was thinking if I was keeping smuggled goods, who had abetted this innocent culprit?

And with that, one question lingered at the back of my mind. Should not those who have bought the animals earlier be given a special permit, just like we give permits for keeping our endangered 'Murai Hutan'?

I am still waiting for my letter from the department so that I can reach out to the higher authorities to be allowed to keep my pets. After all, this is the least I can do for my beloved pets, certainly not just giving them to someone unsure of ensuring their health and safety. This is my responsibility.

Furthermore, whose interest would the law be protecting if it removes the ones supposed to be protected from its present safe surroundings and care to a more precarious and uncertain future?

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.

You're never too old to learn.

She more than fifty years of age, yet she always looked so young and vibrant no one would have thought she had reached that age. After graduation, she had gone into this, that and anything that comes her way. Eventually she had gone into the education field, teach in a private school and have a tuition centre. Always a restless gal, forever planning to be on the move, she has recently decided to further her education on sex education.

It was a decision which shocked many people who did not understand her philosophy of life. And surprise of surprises, she is taking on a subject very few think of. They were of course curious and asked her why she would leave her present stable job and study something that would most probably be profitable to her and her future.

However, the astonishment and the bewilderment of the people around would not cause her to hesitate for even a second. This morning I was told of her plans to return in the middle of her two year study on the subject to give talks to parents. She is already planning the kind of activities that would make the seminar interesting and productive. Wow! she certainly is on one straight unwavering road to sex education. She was one truly determined lady, packing her parcels to have a lot of her things sent to Taiwan by courier service, packing her things ready to board a plane on the first of September.

As you can see, there are people and I believe she is not the only one who still wants to go somewhere to improve themselves. Such people certainly have a fantastic zest in life. It's great for this world that there are people who never retired from life until the day God summons.

Talk to the children.

"Do you know that my sister had at one time been the type of mother who would shout and demand that her kids obey and do everything her way. And she seemed to be having her way with her daily rantings until one day, the eldest kid could not take it any longer and struck back?"

"So, what happened?" the friend was impatient to hear what happened.

"The eldest kid was sixteen years of age then and one day after being berated by his mother for half an hour and finding no apparent stop to the verbal bashing despite having tried to explain himself, he took up a chair and heaved it in her direction, the chair missing the astonished mother by just a few inches. It was a great shock to her to have that happen to her. Frightened by the episode, she rushed to see me and told me what had happened that day as tears flowed incessantly from her reddened eyes."

"Oiyo! How can that happened? What did she do after that?"

"She was both frightened and uncertain of the next move to make. I sat her down and told her to think why her son would do such a thing. When she said that all she did was to teach her son not to do the wrong things, I asked her how she did it. At first she was adamant that she was doing right by scolding him for the wrong that he had done. So, I told her that to teach the child the right things is the duty of every parent and to be annoyed is also very natural when a child is constantly committing wrongs. But it is the way she has been doing it. She shouts and rants, broadcasting her child's faults to the whole world while she is at it. When the child is younger, he had not alternative but to take whatever she dishes out. But now the child is growing up and soon he will be big. He understands embarrassment very well even as a little boy. At sixteen he is big and strong enough to stop all the nonsense of having to tolerate all those broadcasts each time he encounters a problem."

Yeah, girl! That sister of yours should stop her shouting and talk slowly to her son. Explain everything in a nice way," the friend offered.

"You're right there. That was exactly what I told her. She needed to talk to her children and sometimes listen to what explanations or problems that they might be facing. She cried and told me that was her style. Now, they no longer want to listen to her. What could she do, she asked me. So, I advised her to return home, forget the nasty happening of the day and start everything afresh. Just keep quiet about it and when she met him, she should not say anything but quietly tell him if he ever asked for something. No more shouting! Talk nicely. It took some time of course but she did learn a lesson from there and eventually she found that the children were responsive to the new her. They slowly, the process taking a number of months, get to understand and communicate with each other their needs and wants in an amicable manner. Now, the family is one happy unit. The children have progressed well and all of them are now so much closer to each other."

Yeah, that ought to be the way parents handle their children. They order, demand and dictate until a rebellion forms. Some parents just do not know how to talk properly to their children and shouting parents end up with equally loud and disrespectful children who rebel when they reach the age of adolescence, perhaps that's the time when they are fed up enough to demand independence. In a country we can have a change of government but children cannot change parents, so.....