Ramble and Babble 4

 

In a world of dysphoria, marked by financial instability, war and threat of war, unpredictable weathers and climates, the London Olympics will be a welcoming euphoric event, unless one is silly enough to compare with another Olympic. The most pressing concern will be how the British manage the safety and security of the Games. We have in mind the terrorists, whether god inspired or self radicalized locally. Unfortunately, our colonial mentality does not go all the way of emulating. Our PM speaks well, with a BBC accent, but his aristocratic flair is with the third world. We are told that Malaysia is the safest country in Asia. That little “red dot” down south is often ignored in comparison. We have a new 3 R, which Singapore lack. The tiny nation’s draconian laws have frightened these people. The 3 Rs are: Rob, Ravage and Rape. We see them everywhere and every day in this country. Safety and security are the basic of Maslow’s hierarchy of wants and needs. If this basic need cannot be met, please don’t convince me about other aspiration, other than sex, which our politicians excel in every imaginable way. For my own safety and security, I was advised not to open my clinic too late. Staying at home, with video-cam, alarms and dogs may provide a false sense of protection. Supermarkets and car parks are where those scoundrels hide and prey on victims. Perhaps, due to my age and sex, I console myself that out of the 3 R, I am less likely to be raped!  Bless my soul, instead of being a potential victim, why don’t I change my “profession”? It requires little education, little skill, except the will to kill or be killed, and a little high on drugs, good income with little costing, and, if caught, just share the loot and everything is “boleh”. “Yes, we can”, President Obama repeated that rhetoric seven times in his Victory speech. The President was not the first to use those three “magic words”. Dr. M has better vocal, his “R” intonation echoes among our Forest Hills for three decades, just to keep his throne.

Mr. PM, Thank you for giving the tidbits, but help is urgently needed to secure them, not at the expense of rampaging the main meals and soups.

Ramble and Babble 3

The haze was truly terrible, for a second successive day. It worked as if the gods fired tear gases from above. Do not blame the pollution on burning Sumatran jungles. The weather was hot and dry. I had to work in my garden, without protest. I quenched my thirst with beer and wine. Mineral water was not allowed.

It might topple the government, even without carrying salt in the March. The logic for the strange ban was an Arabian inspiration. Only Malaysian leaders had such skewed epiphany. Their dominant ideologies were clogged up by the fat from the treasury. They think outside the boxes and within their pockets.

Fancied in a week, the municipality came and fumigated the houses thrice, for five households in my street suffered from Dengue Fever. How fragile life could be? The larva was found in the pure holy water meant for the gods; they were mating in the flower vases in the altar table. Had these “fallen angels”, the six-legged zebra-looking mosquitoes, bit me in my early morning or late evening exercises, I might not have time to read the latest national scandals. Honestly, I deleted all these forwarded e-mails. It’s not because they are banned now, but it is simply too stupid to read them.

The fumigation and the haze jeopardized our air quality .Widespread reports of burglaries, violence, kidnapping, homicide and suicide aggravated the unease of living. It’s not really that difficult to get injured, robbed or killed in your own street or supermarkets. And why do people still worry about the high cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension and chronic illnesses. The insecurity of living due to poor governance is the worst malignant cancer.

This reminded me of some statements stated in the ancient text, Yi Jing (Book of change), which I have translated thus:

When the system is impoverished, implement change;

When the right change is implemented, it will work again;

When the renew system works, it will endure;

When it endures too long, it becomes impoverish again.

 

Ramble & Babble II

My friend, who lived overseas, e-mailed me. He asked whether Malaysian economy had deteriorated to such an extent that the PM and the Lady had to operate a teh-tarik (tea pulling or pouring) stall. He had just browsed the recent Sunday Star, without reading its contents. It is not unusual to find some people jumped into conclusion easily, in an age of quick fixes.

As an Indian lawyer, he philosophized a lot at meetings, with no due consideration of old folks’ hearing capacity. It’s strange he was unaware of the philosophy of teh -tarik. The PM was only “pulling” a show, and the longer he “pulled”, the more he spilled. In contrast, his spouse was smarter. She just posed “cheese” for the camera to show her concern over their lives. Excessive actions would show the hidden bangles on her wrists or the designer clothing within. The lawyer read too much philosophical text without reading Malaysian Fiction, but was good in stating repeated “correct, collect, collect”.

In the same week, lots of news report about our youngsters killing themselves. Parents regretted not spending enough time or listening well to their children. They were too busy with their other pursuits, without understanding that when you gained one, you might lose the other, and whether the gain overrides the loss. Infact, they know all these, but the lesson must come in the hard way, and yet it’s easily forgotten with time. That’s a common folly.

 

Ramble & Babble on MOL 1

Now and then I like to ramble a little. It’s a privilege reserved for senior citizens before dementia, but at stage of dysnormia,their opinions are still sought for,  and even Dr. M’s gibberish are valued by some of the same feathers. An expert on political “wayang kulit”, he plays the game behind the shadows, pulling one figurine up and another down skilfully. Thereafter the seniors can be forgotten until the next feeding time or change of pampers. Until then, there’s still time for me to babble.

Recently a middle-aged Malay consulted me for a minor traffic accident. At the end of my care, I was taken aback by his query, “Doc, what do you think of Bersih?” The consultation fees covered only medical, not political opinions. However, I obliged just for good “public relations”. Frankly I hardly read the papers these days to really have an opinion at all. It’s hard to justify my meagre income to read some recycled papers. However, given the opportunity to voice, how many old people could refuse, for senile opinions are not often valued, except from VIPs.

“Bersih, the protest March? What about it?” “It’s a protest demanding for fair and just election”, he replied. “It’s a democracy, but only who’s really crazy.”  The argument was who were the people and who were the cracy ones. The topic then changed to  my views on Ambiga Sreenevasan. Frankly, I hardly know anything about her, except she won an award from USA. I think she’s brave enough to fight what she believes, at her own personal peril or future career.That is respected. However, I don’t think she’s that smart. “What makes you think so?” The other day someone told me there were a few monkeys harassing her in front of her house, and she called the police to help. It was of no avail. As a lawyer, she did not know there are two interpretations of the same law. In the past, with similar experience, I called the Zoo keeper, or the pet shop owner, or the restaurants chef. The later could have skinned their heads off and sucked their brains liked a delicacy. Do you recall the turmoil in Arab Spring? Nothing really changes, except different personalities in power. The corrupt structure is still there. In America, people voted for Obama, hoping for change, but what had change was the president himself, not the presidency and the system. Hope it won’t be the same here. Our people also want change, but each has different dream. There is no difference, only differance.