Wake Up

I read on NST Online yesterday,

      

RM242,000 for 'TAY 1' plate

2010/04/27

KUALA TERENGGANU: A businessman thought the "TAY 1" vehicle registration number plate was in his pocket when he submitted a record bid of RM220,000.

But, how wrong he was. Another businessman from Kuala Lumpur submitted a last-minute bid of RM242,000 before the bidding closed last week.

State Road Transport Department director Abdul Rahman Emang Anyie however, declined to reveal details of the businessman, who is from Puchong.

He said the same businessman had also successfully won the bid for the number "TAY 9" for RM50,600.

He said the list of winners was on display at the RTD office here since last week.

In December, Abdul Rahman said the department received two verbal offers of RM200,000 for the number plate "TAY 1", which were offered by a businessman from Kuala Lumpur and a man from here.

This one person spent almost a quarter of a million RM for one car registration number plate and another RM50,000.00 for another.

I may be wrong, but automatically, my common sense tells me the bidder is one of the 26% of the population. I justify my sense with this [from here], 

"Dr Chua said the party needed to relook its approach as just providing allocations for Chinese schools, halls and better drainage systems was no longer enough"

A huge proportion of this population are city dwellers to whom breakfast is McDonald, coffee is Starbuck. Free WiFi. Broadband with full 3.5G. 

Couldn't help but agree with a blogger's thought here

"Or as one theory being bandied around is saying, the Chinese has already met material wealth and dominated the economy thus are now aiming political dominance?

They saw what they can acquire and be oblivion to the compromise and need of other communities in Penang and for a short while in Perak. When in power, the Chinese enrich their peers.

Sabahan still remembers the lavish giveaway of 100 years forest concession of almost 1 million acres during Chinese CM turn on the rotation.

While not in full power, Chinese Pakatan exco knows well to dominate with Chinese interests.

But is this the way forward disguised as Malaysian Malaysia or now rebranded as Middle Malaysia? Will this ensure racial integration and unity expounded by Pakatan's claim of multiracialism and multireligion?

Government has bend backward to satisfy the Chinese voters. They have introduced the concept of 1Malaysia, New Economic Model, more financial assistance to Chinese schools, scholarship to all races, and liberalising to business sector. Economy is recovering and more promising economic growth.

Is the Chinese telling that these does not mean anything? What they say they wanted is not really what they wanted. Are they saying they will respond only to a cruel emperor or a Mao Tse Tong like leader?

The Chinese is telling out loud to all Malaysans that it doesn't matter to them the reaction of other races.

They do not care if other races react similarly and the whole country vote along racial line with Chinese for Chinese, Malay for Malay, Indian for Indian, Kadazan for Kadazan, Dayak for Dayak, etc., Chinese will vote according to racial line irrespective of its impact on the country.

MCA and Gerakan can't be blame any more for their continual failure to deliver votes because the power shift within the Chinese community have moved to the head of clan and Chinese associations."

I wish to share a verse taken from here 

I looked out the window.
And I saw
Thousands and thousands of Chinese closing their doors. Minding their own business. Watching the soap operas. Playing mahjong. Going to the gym. Planning for holidays. Eating bah kuet teh. Enrolling their children in private schools. Going for line dancing. Changing to a bigger car. Perming their hair brown. Going to the movies. Shopping.
The Chinese. They don’t look out the window.
Their houses.
Have no windows

Why do I feel so betrayed ...

The Train : of thoughts - past and present

I was starting to feel a lot better than I had been the past few years. Having a lot less pain in the knees. Gaining speed in walking. Getting hold of the hormonal roller coaster. Listening to the birds' morning orchestra while getting ready to work. My girl, settled in her own place. My boy, o'well ... he has to commit his own mistakes and come out wiser hopefully. My parents' health improving. My brother's food stall still standing. The compound is clear of weeds and bushes. After a long time, I get to see the boundaries again. An officer from the land office came to take measurement of the lot for the purpose of issuing permanent title. Slowly and cautiously exhaling ... wishing for that creeping shiny streak to be the silver thread weaving between the thick dark cloud.


Attended a reunion of batchmates in celebration of turning 50 last week. Yup! We were born in 1960. The Year of the Rat. We are half a century old this year. [fb album here]


Lost my mobile phone on the way back from the reunion. Never lost one before. Has always been able to squeeze every mobile of its last juice. This one was a China mobile. At RM250, I got a touch screen, double SIM card and all other standard functions including a webcam. Yes, I could hook up the mobile to my laptop using USB and voila! I have a webcam [that I have to hold]. Never got any use for a webcam, though.


The SIM card was easily replaced. Cost me a mere RM10 to get a replacement. But the list of contacts and other info that I did not save elsewhere are lost forever. There were some sms I have kept since the first day I got the number way back in 2000. Sweet short messages from friends and family that I peep into whenever the low hits me. And as the number on the age increases, my time of drawing comfort from them increases too. 


I lost my mobile.


I do have another one, a Samsung SGH E950 which I used as a modem. I make calls from it whenever I run out of battery on my China mobile. I hate to use it for sms. The screen is simply too small for me.


That was how it went ... I was starting to feel better about my life in general and I lost the mobile. No big deal. Went to look for something to serve my need for mobility in internet and communication. Considered IPhone. Service provider is too restricted. Blackberry? Don't like the candy bar appearance. Also comes with heavy contract. Spotted Omnia. Hmmm ... another Samsung. My present Samsung couldn't accept bluetooth file transfer from other makes .i.e Nokia. Omnia ... Narnia ... insomnia ... hmmmmmmm ...


Felt strong enough to plan a bbq evening with colleagues last Friday. Wanted to share newly concocted sunquick laced bbqued beef sauce. 


So I went to bed early that night. Thinking of reserving energy for the long evening. 


Had a pedicure before the reunion. It's been more than a week and the heels were drying up fast in the extra hot weather and cracks were appearing. So, to cool them I smeared some Ellgy hyper rehydrating cream before hitting bed.


Must have been past midnight when my full bladder woke me up. Half asleep, I  staggered to the bathroom and realized too late that my 'creamed' heels would have a problem on wet tiles. Found myself flying through the air and landed on my well padded bottom. 


Touch down was ok.


However, the spread of the legs was a wee bit too wide for my arthritic knees and the crunch that followed seared the knees and I only managed a short holler before escaping into blackness.


Didn't know how long I passed out. Coming around to two throbbing knees on fire, I crawled out of the bathroom and managed to get on bed. Son called earlier and I was expecting him to be home at any time. Not bothering to find out the time, I put the BioDisk on one hour timer and gritted the teeth to arrange both knees to get the rays. I must have fallen asleep through the pain when son rattled my bedroom window and called from outside.


Took me forever to get to the door, opened it, told son I had a fall in the bathroom and went back to bed. Son asked if I wanted to go to hospital. I said I wanted to sleep first. It was 4.00 am.


At 6.00 am the alarm went off. I sent sms to the bosses telling them I won't be coming to work. Took Celebrex on empty stomach and went back to sleep. At about nine, got ready to go to hospital. The knees were still burning but I could walk. Well, wobble was more like it. Making some distance moving from side to side while putting out one foot after the other avoiding any slightest bending of the knee.


Went to outpatient. Long wait. Doctor asked why I didn't come to emergency earlier. Wanted to tell him that had I came to emergency, he would ask me why come to emergency for non emergency case. After all, there were no visible injuries and I was able to 'walk'. Instead, I answered - I was staying alone, couldn't drive and had to wait for my son to come back and drive me to hospital.


Doctor decided to have me admitted for observation because of the passing out. Sighhhhh!!! Student nurses sticked needles into me like I was a pin cushion and yet couldn't get the vein to stick the drip in. Until I couldn't take it anymore and asked them to stop.


A staff nurse took over. She whispered 'aloud' - kekadang ada orang ada ilmu ... sebab tu susah nak aambil darah ... sampai dia 'buka' dulu baru dapat [sometimes, some people practised certain rituals which made it impossible to draw their blood until they themselves let it].


I swallowed a chuckle.


Finally she managed to get a pink needle in.


She also needed to draw blood for lab test. Twice the blood clotted and the third draw was short so she had to do a fourth one. 


I was put on complete fasting. No food no drink. Last drink was when I took Celebrex in the morning. The hot weather chaffed my lips.


I drifted into sleep until almost midnight. After that I couldn't sleep. The legs were getting swollen and my whole body ache. Chatted with the staff nurse.


Then came an sms - I'm in J******t this Saturday. You have I**'s number? Shall we have tea? Who other xsmspian is around?


Responded - I'm replying from hospital bed. I can get I**.


Reply - Hospital? Y? Who's sick? Hope not you.


Responded - I fell in the bathroom last night. Admitted for observation.


Couple more messages which ended with - Ok. See you tomorrow evening.


Saturday afternoon, I was discharged. Son took me home and then he left to go back to university. 


I was alone.


And gosh! It was lonely being sick alone.


Suddenly another sms - Oops! Couldn't make it this evening. Let's have breakfast tomorrow. Name the place and time.


The night was long and loneliness prevailed.


9.00 am. Couldn't park near enough to the restaurant. Hate to 'wobble' in front of other patrons.


Went into the restaurant, hoping no one has arrived yet. Fat chance. They were already seated. A** was having fried bihun with sunny-side egg. I** ordered roti canai teh tarik. Z ordered roti canai and hot lemon tea with no sugar. I asked for warm lemon tea. They ran out of lemon. Ordered apple juice instead. Z asked for hot apple juice. I argued the point of having hot fruit juice which defeats the whole purpose of having the juice in the first place. I opted for cold one.


Conversation was light and easy when suddenly Z said - she is my x gf. 


I was stunned.


He went on to tell about how he waited for my letters every week when he first went to Nottingham University in 1978. 


And other personal things ...his side of the story.


Why would he made such confession ... in public!


To cleanse his soul?


That it was my fault when I didn't turn up at the airport when he came back from Nottingham?


How could I? in 1982, I was a young lady of 22 years old. Our culture does not accept a young lady travelling alone from Pasir Mas Kelantan to welcome home a young man in the midst of two bus loads of his relatives. My parents would have killed me then [exaggeration of course ... but that is the general idea]. 


Anyway, the correspondence ... all the five years of it ... he asked me to write to him about Malaysia NOT about myself. All the correspondences were DEVOID of any personal feelings. Mine were twice a week summary of the newspaper reports. His were a sporadic [read: whenever he felt like replying my twice a week letters, the most is once a month] journal of his daily life, a student in a foreign land. What he did over the weekends, places he visited, people he met [there were 2 girls mentioned]


There was NEVER any indication of a romance.


After he came home that 1982, I received a letter from him telling me of his stint at one of the local universities. I wrote back but never heard from him again. I even tried his home address ... a remote village near the National Park, hoping one of his relatives staying in the village would somehow get the letter to him. 


That was how I lost contact with him.


Until a reunion in 2003 at Pan Pacific Kuala Lumpur.


He attended with his wife.


He was an associate professor and me a junior DG41 teacher [3 years back from Nottingham myself, doing an in service course pertaining to a first degree]. Fate had it that I was sent to Nottingham University where he studied back in 1978. I went looking for the address I used to send letters to .. XX? Lenton Boulevard, Nottingham. Forgotten the house number. I was still married then, divorced the next year.


Trying to recapture the nostalgia of when I first stopped the bus and get down at Lenton Boulevard in the cold crisp autumn of 1996 and imagining someone I knew walking the pavement to the bus stop way back in 1978.


All the years of correspondence, he sent two photos. One of a guitar in his room, one of himself riding a bicycle into Nottingham.


And here we are ... 28 years later, sipping apple juice without sugar, his hot mine ice cold, reminiscing the secret of our youth at a table with two other people in a quaint little town.


The two friends made excuses to leave. Z wanted to visit the Sunday market to look for local childhood delicacies i.e smoked fresh water fish and preserved durian. 


He was taking the 12.15 pm train home.


At 12.00, I arrived at the train station bearing a little gift of home made preserved durian.


A** was there too to send his daughter.


I** arrived with his wife, also with a gift of preserved durian. And left immediately.


I stayed and ordered a warm lemon tea at the station's cafe.


He gave me a draft of his latest book "Melayu & Perjuangan".


I asked him to autograph it.


The train came. 


He got on it.


And I went home. 


Alone.

Do You Know Where You're Going To?

Here's an anecdote. I have read it somewhere but never bothered to take note of it until one of my favourite bloggers posted it on his blog

A boat docked in a tiny Malaysian fishing village.

A tourist complimented the local fishermen on the quality of their fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

"Not very long," they answered in unison. 
"Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" 
The fishermen explained that their small catches were sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families.

“But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

"We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children, and take jungle walks with our wives. In the evenings, we go into the village to see our friends, have a few teh tariks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs.

"We have a full life."

The tourist interrupted,
"I have a degree from Oxford and I can help you!
"You should start by fishing longer every day.
"You can then sell the extra fish you catch.
"With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."

“And after that?"

"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. 
"Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant."

"And after that?"

"You can then leave this little village and move to KL, Penang or even Singapore!
"From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."

"How long would that take?"   

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years." replied the tourist. 

"And after that?" 

"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting, " answered the tourist, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!" 

"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the fishermen.

"After that you'll be able to retire, 
"Live in a tiny village near the coast,
"Sleep late, play with your children,
"Catch a few fish, take walks with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends." 

"With all due respect sir, but that's exactly what we are doing now. So what's the point wasting twenty-five years?" asked the villagers.


And the moral of this story is:

Know where you're going in life.... you may already be there. 

'Granny' P

"Eight women in their fifties were arrested for prostitution in Taiwan. They had charged their customers between NT$900 (RM94) and NT$2,000 (RM209) for each session." [from here]


I do not know whether to laugh or to salute these 'grannies'.


Also, with so many available pretty young girls, I really wonder who would pay that much to have the services of grannies.
.

The Final Decline of the West is Nigh - Dominique Moisi

My attention was grabbed by the highlighted paragraph. It may sound far fetched but the paragraph kind of accentuate my belief that a very structured force is meddling in the affairs of Asian and Middle East countries to ensure 'power/dominance' [I lack proper word here] when the time comes.


World Order, Village Elders, Tungsten-rigged-gold-bars ... smells fishy!

[Article from here]

2010/02/19

IN 2040/2050, will demographers speak of "the white man's loneliness", in the way historians once referred to "the white man's burden" to describe the so-called "imperial responsibilities" of some European nations?
Demography is not an exact science. Countless dire predictions, from that of Malthus to that of the Club of Rome, have been proven wrong. But, according to a recent and very convincing essay published in the magazine Foreign Affairs, a dual demographic and economic trend is taking place that will result in spectacular shifts by the middle of this century.

The Western world will represent only 12 per cent of the world's population, with Europeans reduced to six per cent. (In 1913, a year before the outbreak of World War 1, Europe was slightly more populated than China.)

Economically, the West will account for around 30 per cent of global output -- a level that corresponds to Europe's share in the 18th century, and down from 68 per cent in 1950.

What we are witnessing can be seen is a return to the past, with the West returning to its old place in the world before the start of China's long process of historical decline at the beginning of the 19th century. The West's long period of global dominance is ending, encouraged and accelerated by its own mistakes and irresponsible behaviour.

We are entering a new historical cycle, in which there will be proportionally fewer Westerners, more Africans and Middle Easterners, and -- with greater relevance economically and strategically -- many more Asians.

It is with these figures in mind that one must consider Barack Obama's decision not to attend the next European-American summit that was due to take place in Madrid in May. It would be tempting to use a formula coined during the Cold War to describe the comparative evolution of the United States and the Soviet Union and to apply the notion of "competitive decline" to the relationship between the US and Europe.

An America that may be undergoing a process of relative if not absolute decline chooses to ignore a Europe that in US eyes is no longer a problem compared with Asia or the Middle East, and that offers little help in finding solutions to the problems that most vex Americans.

In a hasty and excessively provocative manner, some in the American media are starting to speak of Obama as "a second Jimmy Carter" and predict that he will serve only one term. What is more serious is the impression that the American political system, with its inability to transcend party divisions and forge national consensus, is increasingly sclerotic.

America's political institutions have aged like the country's infrastructure. They were devised more than two centuries ago for a mostly agrarian world. Today, they need to be amended and rejuvenated. But that may not be possible, given the sacrosanctity with which many Americans regard the US constitution.

As for the European Union, the problem is not what will not happen in Madrid. The EU's problem is much more what happened in Copenhagen last December at the summit to "save the planet", or what is taking place before our eyes with the challenge to the euro posed by the weakness of some of its member states, most prominently Greece.

In Copenhagen, Europe came with a common and responsible position. The EU was "showing the way" to other great actors and behaved as the "good pupil" of the world class. The Union was ignored, with the US and China choosing to disagree over its head. Europe must realise that it cannot be seen as a model for anyone if no one any longer takes it seriously as a global actor.

But how can you be taken seriously by others if you do not take yourself seriously? The EU's new High Representative for External Affairs, Baroness Catherine Ashton, tried to justify her failure to go to Haiti in the immediate aftermath of its terrible earthquake by saying: "I am neither a nurse nor a fire person."

Lack of such skills did not keep US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from travelling to the scene of the devastation to show her support and concern.

Confronted with revolutionary demographic and economic transformations, Americans and Europeans should behave in a much more responsible manner. Instead of ignoring the other (the American way) or lamenting a wounded ego (the European way), they should confront the common challenges they face as a result of a globalisation process that they are no longer able to master. -- Project Syndicate


The writer is a visiting professor at Harvard University

The Tyger

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? What the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
(William Blake 1794)

AKSHAH 2010

        ladies of Class '77 all decked out in bling blings

AKSHAH 2010 took place on 6th February at Dewan Sri Siantan, Kompleks Perbadanan Putrajaya. The administrative capital of the country. I have never been to Putrajaya since it became operative [I don't even know what year]. 

Lots of different opinions regarding the event. First of, it was supposed to be graced by DYMM Sultan of Pahang. Due to "unforeseen circumstances", an ex cabinet minister came instead. I was all geared in bling bling to serenade his royal highness "again" after TAHAP Silver Jubilee  [then I didn't get to do any bling bling because I had to put on a 'uniform' on that day]. Such a wet blanket! Ha ha ha !!!

Some questioned the rational of having a has been personality. 

Others on the ground that EXSAS should be kept apolitical.

Whatever justification dished out, it will not satisfy everyone.

There were areas which could do with some fine tuning but then, I know I could not have done a better job. 

Considering that not many members could afford to get their feet wet with the voluntary organising works, I personally feel the president and his committee members have done their best and the Fat Lady sang.

   The Fat Lady singing ASMARA with a live band

Taking for granted that I would be able to get the event on video later, I did not make any personal arrangement to have my moment on the stage, shot. Hmm ... what a pity! I only have this video of the final rehearsal done with a mobile phone by mrmasha. Tq Masha for posting it.

Single's shingles

I have been having weird pain in my eye and on the left side of my head since last week. Last Friday,after coming back from Kuantan Specialist Hospital I woke up with a strange bump on the left of my forehead. It started to itch and soon my left eyebrow started to feel strange too. Tingling burning itch which made me rubbed it raw. Then the tinglings travelled into my hairline and started itching terribly. At times it felt like some minute worms were burrowing deep into the skull especially under the eyebrow. My eyes started turning red and began to itch. the eyelid started drooping. The bump on the forehead became bigger, harder and redder. My whole body especially my back and waist ached badly.


On Saturday a lump appeared under each ear. Hard and painful to the touch. My left ear itched terribly and painful to touch along the temple. My eyes felt burning like I was having a bad fever. My breath hot. No fever. I lazed in bed the whole day just getting up to put the washing in the machine and taking it out to hang.


On Sunday I had to attend a rehearsal in KL. It ended early so I let my son took me to watch Avatar 3D. The movie started at 9.00 pm and there was about three hours to kill. Felt like I was coming down with a flu. Throat started getting tight and itchy. 


Killed the hours at a karaoke joint in the Curve. Didn't really enjoy it because my throat was getting funny. Pitching went all over the place !!!


The movie was very engaging but my skull was burning with itch. I thought it was the head scarf because I had worn it since early morning. 


The movie finished at midnight. My son drove me home. I fell asleep all the way.


Reached home about 2.00 am. Took a quick shower and tried to sleep. The itch  on the head and on the eyebrow was very disturbing. Didn't know what time I fell asleep but woke up at almost eight. School started at 7.30.


Buzy the whole morning and afternoon. Friends noticed the bump on my forehead, the red eye and droopy eyelid . Getting breathless trying to catch up with things. Was absent from work since Monday, taking Baba to the surgeon.


Class finished at 4.30 pm. Rushed home and collapsed on the sofa. No fever, just pain and burning sensation where it itched. Fell into a long nap.


Had trouble sleeping at night because of the long nap in the late afternoon. Went to bed in the wee hour of the morning. The neighbour's rooster had started to crow. About 5.00 am, woke up to a bout of violent dry cough, splitting headache and burning left eye.


Sent SMS to boss 'coz I could not go to work and then went back to bed. About eleven, went to see a doctor. Diagnosis - SHINGLES ! Asked the doctor when it will peak. Answer - within three to five days ! 


OMG !!! !!! !!!


That would be Saturday the sixth.


Saturday is D DAY I have been rehearsing for.


Been waiting for Saturday the sixth since last year.


Asked the doctor if acyclovir would make any difference. Yes it would but had to get it myself as the clinic doesn't stock it. 800mg 5x per day.


The pharmacy only have 200mg Zovirax. They do have the 800mg tablet produce of Balakong at less than quarter of the price of the imported product from GlaxoSmithKline Australia.


I chose to save my intelligence on the guesses. I opted for the original produce. I don't usually mind the generic ones but in this instance, I can't afford to be patriotic.


Search on google returned many links. One of them is this:-
Shingles, or herpes zoster, is a very common painful, blistering viral rash. Shingles is caused by reactivation of the chickenpox virus called varicella zoster virus (VZV). Shingles occurs in people who have previously been infected with the chickenpox virus at some point in their lives. Shingles usually occurs as a unilateral pain, burning, or tingling and blistering rash extending in a local pattern in the distribution of nerves. Common areas affected by shingles include the face, abdomen, back, buttocks, and chest. Red, itchy patches form across these areas and become small blisters that may be similar in appearance to chickenpox. The rash begins to clear after the blisters break and dry into scabs within two to three weeks.

Once people have had a single bout of chickenpox, the virus lies dormant in the nerve roots near the spinal cord or base of the facial nerve. It is thought that when a person has a weakened immune system or when their immunity to the varicella virus is diminished the virus can reactivate to inflame a nerve and cause shingles. Although shingles may happen at any age, it is most common in the fifth through sixth decades of life. Typically, shingles usually occurs most commonly in adults over the age of 60 or in those who are immunosuppressed (HIV, AIDS, or cancer patients).

Most people only get shingles once in their life. While it is not impossible to get shingles more than once, a recurrence is unlikely.

Shingles is often a severely painful skin condition. Some people may have pain in the general area days to weeks before the onset of the blisters. The most important clue to shingles diagnosis is unilateral pain and blisters on the skin. A typical shingles eruption never crosses the midline of the body and occurs only on one side: right or left. Extremely rare cases of shingles may become diffuse and spread to the entire body in patients with very compromised immune systems.

Common symptoms experienced with shingles include flu-like symptoms such as chills, fever, and fatigue, along with abdominal and back pain when those skin dermatomes are involved. In some cases when the virus has affected the facial area, people can experience loss of eye motion, drooping eyelids, taste problems, facial pain, headache, and hearing loss.

Effective treatments are available to help lessen the impact of shingles. For best prognosis and fastest recovery, early start of oral antiviral pills is most important. All shingles cases will eventually resolve with or without treatment.

Treatment started at the earliest stage of symptoms is helpful in shortening the duration and severity of the symptoms. Oral antihistamines like Benadryl may be used for itching, as well as oatmeal baths and calamine lotion. Analgesic medications like ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin), Tylenol, or Vicodin can be used for severe pain.

The most difficult complication of shingles tends to be the residual pain that may last in the area for months or years. Chronic pain lasting more than six weeks after the onset of shingles is called postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). Antiviral medications including acyclovir (Zovirax), if given within the first 48-72 hours of the occurrence of symptoms, can help reduce the length and severity of postherpetic neuralgia. 

Shingles is generally not contagious to those who have had chickenpox. Rarely, it may cause problems in pregnant women, infants, immunocompromised individuals, or people who have never had chickenpox. Touching the blisters or blister fluid may cause transmission of the varicella virus.

Varicella zoster virus is not "curable" because the virus stays dormant in the body for life. Once someone is initially exposed to the varicella virus, immunity develops that generally prevents a second bout of typical chickenpox. However, this immunity may fade over time, making older adults more prone to a later onset of a limited recurrence of the chickenpox virus as shingles.

Testing for shingles may include viral cultures, Tzanck prep (microscopic exam and staining of skin), and blood testing for titers of antibodies to the varicella virus.

Shingles prevention steps include vaccination. There is a U.S. FDA-approved vaccine (Zostavax) for adults 60 years of age and older to help lessen the risk of shingles. Zostavax is a live attenuated vaccine and therefore carries a small risk of shingles when administered. There is also a U.S. FDA-approved chickenpox vaccine called Varivax which is used primarily in a single dose for children between 12-18 months of age or older who have not had chickenpox. [source here]

Hmmm ... I am marking my fifth decade with shingles.

I am single and I have shingles.

That is loads of PAIN.

Baba: in pain again

27 days into 2010. I am at my daughter's place beside the beach, hoping to watch the sunrise. Woke up to a torrent of morning shower. The sky is dark at 7 am. No glimpse of the orange ball.

At about 8.00 am a slice of the dark sky was seared.




Came here yesterday. Had to take leave from work. Baba has been unwell and has finally agreed to be seen by a surgeon. Went to see Dr Huzaimi at Kuantan Specialist Hospital. He ordered a colonoscopy to rule out cancer. To Baba's horror, he cannot take food until the procedure the next day. Only juice and plain water. 


We were told to come back at 9 am the next day.


We retreated to the house by the beach. 


At 6.00 pm Baba had to take his first 45ml of laxative. 


It was a long night for Baba. Must have been longer for Ma. I knew it was very long for me. I kept counting the hours.


Baba rolled out in pain throughout the night. To see Baba in so much pain was unbearable.


At 6.00 am Baba had to take the second bottle of laxative. That made his visit to the loo more frequent. He refused drinks saying it made him purge. Ahhh!!! Tension nyerrrr!!!! I was scared he might get dehydrated.


By 9.00 am we arrived at the hospital and since I have already done the registration yesterday, all that was left to do was pay the deposit and off to wait for the procedure in the ward. The lady at the reception was very attentive. Seeing Baba dragged his pain ridden body, she quickly get a wheelchair and helped get Baba into the lift to the second floor. Baba was swiftly settled into a bed next to the toilet.


By 10.30, Baba was getting rather agitated. He reasoned that since the doctor told him to fast until 9.00 am, he can break the fast after the hour. I went looking for the doctor. He was not available. I asked the nurse if Baba can be put on IV because he has been purging for more than twelve hours and he has not been drinking any water. Nothing.


I expected the doctor would come to see Baba in the ward. No.


By 12.30 I went to the nurse's counter again and saw the doctor there. Told him of my concern. He made a few calls and scolded a few people for not setting up Baba on drip.


What was that????


Anyway, he came to see Baba and told him to drink as much plain water as he want because he can suck the water out of the stomach later during the procedure. At the same time, nurses rushed in to set up IV drip.


The doctor ordered a very fast drip.


The drip bottle emptied in about 10 minutes.


At about 1.30, Baba was taken to OT. Doctor said it would take about half an hour.


I took Ma for lunch at the hospital's cafetaria.


About an hour later, we got back to the ward just as the nurse got on the phone to call me.


Baba was sleeping, apparently still under sedative.


He woke up few minutes later and saw the lunch he ordered earlier. It's been 24 hours since his last meal.


I went to ask the nurse if Baba could take his lunch. NO. He has another procedure to undergo. Ultrasound scan. No food allowed. Only plain water permitted.


3.30 pm and still waiting for the scan. Baba was ravenous. Been fasting for more than 24 hours now. I went to ask the nurse how long before the scan would be available and asked if Baba could have some food. The nurse ordered a light meal; two pieces of wholemeal bread with butter and strawberry jam and a cup of hot cocoa. Baba seemed better after the hot drink.


At about 4.00 pm, Baba was taken for the scan. I took Ma down for cuppa hot drinks. 


When we came back to the ward, Baba was in the toilet. The doctor came with the diagnosis. Baba has acute gastritis, inflammed pancreas and swollen colon, all of which are unoperable.


The result was - doctor could not take away Baba's pain.


He could only give medications to help relieve the symptoms.


Zantac, xxxxxx and xxxxxxx [forgot the name of the medications, will get it later]


Looks like same old same old !!!


At a cost of over rm2k.


Would I rather wait for the appointment at Temerloh Hospital scheduled on 8/3/10 and save 2k?


Big thumping NO!


I would do it again at whatever cost should the need arise.

Happy New Year

Another hour and a half before the clock strike new year.

1.30 AM

2010

It's the New Year.

Went outside to see if the eclipse has happened. No eclipse. But moon was full. Bathing everything in silvery cold light. Throwing dark menacing shadows all around. Funny how the shadows scare me so now. Unlike six years ago when I first moved in. The silver light was the same but the shadows grew.

1.30 PM

Twelve hours into the new year.

I haven't finished this entry.

Today is 11th. Eleven days into 2010.

How do one say 2010?

Well, coming off 2009 I would naturally say two thousand ten.

I read on Yahoo, that some guys who called themselves the National Association of Good Grammar (NAGG) decreed that 2010 should officially be pronounced "twenty ten" and the subsequent years should be pronounced twenty eleven, twenty twelve etc. The '20" should have been pronounced "twenty" all along because every year in the 20th century was pronounced "nineteen something". "Twenty" follows "nineteen". "Two thousand" doesn't follow "nineteen".

That's LOGICAL, claimed NAGG.

However, a noted linguist, Professor George Lakoff of UC Berkeley said it is not wrong to say "two thousand ten" because 'twenty ten" is not the right way due to cognitive reference points, standard of speech and the anachronistic recognition over the notion that grammar can be right or wrong as people and cultures evolve.

Thus, the master linguist and the grammar police agree that "Twenty-ten" is going to take over because it is the shortest and easiest to understand.

NOTE!

People and cultures EVOLVE !!!

Hence the field of pragmatics is getting more prominent.

And here we are in a deep polemic over the word Allah.

Some time in 2008, I attended an interfaith dialogue held in KL. At the end of the dialogue, someone asked how many Christians in the audience would say "There's no other god but Allah". A good many did but one person didn't.

Ring: Pessary

On Monday I attended an appointment at neurophysiology unit in HKL for a test to rule out Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Despite the appointment given, I had to wait for the whole hour before I was attended to. It took two hospital assistants to operate one machine. I guess that made such test rather costly.

I had planned to travel directly from HKL to Kuantan for my visit to the gynae on Tuesday. However, I realized a credit card was not in its usual place in my purse. Then I remembered I made a payment at the deposit machine back home and I didn't retrieve it from the slot. Gosh!! And that was one week ago. I didn't store any number to call, so I had to go back home.

Turned out, the card was actually stuck in the machine and the bank has already frozen it because I did not made any inquiry.

Lesson learned: store the hot number in the mobile.

Early Tuesday morning I drove to Kuantan and reached the hospital just in time for the appointment at 11.00 am. Still, I didn't get to see the doctor until almost 1.00 pm. 

The appointment was a follow up for the MEA procedure I underwent in March. The appointment was supposed to be last September but I totally forgot about it. I put the reminder in my mobile and the battery went flat on the day of the appointment. So much for technology!

Well, the procedure worked. I no longer have the same complaint. The only one left was the prolonged coughing I have been having, giving me problem with leaking bladder. The gynae said at my age, it is common for some muscles to start weakening and since previous urodynamics test done prior to MEA ruled out sensitive bladder so the gynae suggested pessary ring to address the problem.

The gynae made intelligent guess about the ring size based on my age and body size. She asked for the biggest size. They don't have it in stock. The gynae went on to use a smaller ring and offered a houseman to try her hands at fixing it in.

The gynae warned of possible bleeding and discomfort. That was enough to make the experience painful ... imagined mostly.

However it turned out the ring wouldn't fit. So the pain was not imagined after all.

The attending nurse didn't believe it when the gynae asked her to bring the smallest ring.

I was told to come back to the clinic at any time without appointment should the ring pop out or on occurance of any other unexpected problem.

I dared not make the 2 hours drive home so I put up at my daughter's place in Pelindung. The rest of the afternoon and the whole night, the ring rubbed me silly and it felt like being 'f***ed' from inside sending me exploding every now and then. I felt slightly feverish the whole night and decided to go back to the clinic.

I called up the clinic in the morning and was advised to come the next day because it was an OT day for many of the doctors. I spent the whole day resting and surfing the net. 3G is available in Kuantan and my daughter has a 3G wireless broadband modem which makes surfing the net easy. I was able to view some interesting videos, something I was not able to do at home due to my small broadband and slow modem.

Managed to download an old song by Titiek Puspa 'Minah Gadis Dusun' for practice. Hope I made it through the audition on 20th of the month for AKSHAH, a two yearly event organised by my alumni graced by HRH the Sultan of Pahang. Yup! Another performance for the royal scheduled for February next year.

Tok Guru Ngaji

This photo was taken on last EidulAdha. The lady is my old teacher - Tok Guru Ngaji - who taught me to read the Quran when I was 11 years old. Accept for bending back, she looks the same after 38 years. I lost count of how many children she has. Her eldest is five years my junior and her youngest is many years younger than my own.

I left my village at the age of 12. Went to a boarding school in Kuantan, went on into teacher training college in Melaka, posted to schools in Kelantan, Perak and N9. Went on to further my study in England and finally came back home to settle down while getting married and divorced, and raising up two children in between.

It's been seven years since I came home and every year I would meet my old Tok Guru Ngaji who never failed to visit my parents every eid.

I came to know that my Tok Guru Ngaji suffered post natal blues towards her later birth givings. Perhaps the stress of too many children and her late husband, a self employed man who preferred to spend his time with his 'Dikir Barat' group. Because she gave birth almost every year, she seemed to be perpetually in the condition. The villagers came to accept her in her confused state. One of her sons married a teacher and stayed with her. She still goes out to peddle her garden produce and local cakes she made to the estate workers in the neighbourhood.

A dear, kind hearted lady.

My Tok Guru Ngaji.

Purple Flowers in Kool

Spent the whole of last week helping Epit do the lawn. The flowers have been neglected for almost two years now. The fountains we built have dried out filled with dried bamboo leaves. Even the bamboo dried out in the flower pot and last raya Epit lugged the heavy pot to the rubbish hole but for the expensive pot, it was left on the bank and new sprouts started showing when the rain started.

When we first celebrated raya in the house, we went all out to do up the lawn which included two self-made  fountains and a piece of trellis work put up by the fountain to hide the unfinished garage.

Then I planted this purple flower and when all else withered through my neglect over the past couple of years ... it hang on and still give me the pleasure of its beauty. And I don't even know what is it called.

Eidul Adha with Hornbills

Update 21/06/10
It was late afternoon on Friday 18th, the eve of my birthday when there was this loud 'cackle' coming from the coconut trees in front of the house. Told Ayong to get the camera out for I wanted to 'catch' pictures of the birds. It was too far off for the digital compact camera but I insisted. This is her best shot [cropped and enlarged 2x].

.

Went to bed in the wee hour .. it was already close to 4.00 am. Was cooking the peanut sauce for eid's breakfast with the children. At about 6.30 am ..there was this loud 'cackle'. I recognized the sound. It was the hornbills. I have seen them around the house a few times but it was never this close. I got out of bed and peered through the glass of my bedroom window.

There it was ... perched on the tip of the gabled roof of the porch. It's faded black and white feathers and the white bill againts the gray morning sky made it looked like a wooden carving. I tiptoed to my daughter's room to get the camera and tiptoed back to the window. As I tried to get it into the lens .. it flew away cackling merrily.

Again I was left with a googled picture.


However, the image of a hornbill perched on the tip of the gable on early EidulAdha morning left a very strong and pleasant impression.

The bird stuck around until evening.

I am hoping it will return to perch on the gable again tomorrow morning.

I Dreamed A Dream

Network sucks. Can't load my cyber farms. Lost quite a lot of coins. Almost bankrupt. Done PMR marking. Resigned from SPM marking since two years ago. The stress was too much. Age rode on bullet train and caught up with me ahead of time [hahaha].


As usual, am finding it hard to articulate my thoughts. In dire need of good stimulant to get started. Seriously considering ciggy but for the persistent coughing and wheezing which requires relief from Salmodil. Perhaps I need to go back to the inhalers.


The sky has been heavily casted with dark nimbus for the past whole week. Some parts of the country has been flooded and rain has not ceased for days now.


Attended a meeting of sort hold at De Palma Shah Alam last week to discuss songs for the upcoming AKSHAH. Hit a milestone with knot. Regret is creeping in now. 

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high and life worth living
I dreamed that love will never die
I dreamed that god will be forgiving
But the tiger come at night
With the voice as soft as thunder
As it tears your hopes apart
And it turn you dreams to shame
And still I dreamed he'll come to me
That we will live our lives together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather
I had a dream my life would be
So different from this HELL I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has KILLED the dream I dreamed

Culpable homicide?

I was so pissed off when I read this in the newspaper today.


In my humble opinion, this is a clear cut accident case because the woman failed to control her car when the man stopped his motorcycle. The man is a thief but I am sure the woman has no murder on her mind at the time of impact. He must have stopped suddenly and the woman could have rammed into the fence and killed herself. 


I bet in some countries, lawyers would run over each other to advise the woman to sue this newspaper for the choice of words ".. he died after his victim RAN OVER HIM in her car in a dead-end valley". 


That's blatant slander.


I have a daughter. This could be her!

Moon Halo

Last night at about 9.00 pm, I took a steaming mug of black coffee to my favourite spot under the warm tropical sky to partake in my favourite pastime - sky gazing on full moon night. It was 14th Zulkaedah 1430H.

As I came out the door, the night was bright. I took my own sweet time before looking up the sky because I knew the moon was full.

When I did .. I saw something like this.

No! I didn't take this picture. I only had a 3mp phonecam. The whole phenomenon only appeared as a white dot on the screen. I googled moon halo and got this image here [moon halo]. It is the nearest image to what I actually saw. After sometime, I received an SMS from a friend in town telling me to get outside and watch the moon. Only then it occured to me to share the awesome phenomenon with my loved ones. I frantically sent SMS to every one on my phone list. It was hard SMS'ing while looking up at the moon! But I was glad I did. They enjoyed the rare occurance. A dear friend who lives on the 8th floor, climbed to the roof of a 10-storey building to catch the halo but the haze was too thick on his sky.


This was not so much about the beauty but to stand right smack in the middle of such a breathtakingly awesome display of nature was such a humbling experience.


By 10.30 the clouds move in and it was over.


So, this is the best I have. Alhamdulillah.


Ask yahoo yields this explanation:- 


That breathtaking vision in the night sky is the result of ice crystalsrefracting the light of the moon. The halo rings the moon when high, thin cirrus clouds made up of millions of these crystals cover the sky. The moon's light enters into the hexagonal-shaped ice structures and is bent before passing out another side of the crystals, causing a ring of light to appear around the moon. But this phenomenon is not limited to the moon -- given the right conditions, you can spot a sun halo as well.
Halos typically appear as a ring of white light around the moon or the sun, but they can also appear in color patterns. The most common type of halo is the 22-degree halo, so-called because the ice crystals refract the light of the moon or sun at an angle of 22 degrees. A less-common type of halo is the 46-degree variety, which has a larger diameter than the 22-degree but is also fainter.
According to folklore, a moon halo indicates that bad weather is on the way. There may be some truth to this since the halo is usually caused by high-altitude cirrus clouds that precede a warm front and an associated storm.
One dark, cloudy night, you might also be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of another spectacular moon show -- the lunar corona, when the moonlight is diffracted into hazy colored rings.