CNY trip - the errand...

 

IC run was one of the major events for our returning. Yun and Xian had signed a declaration during the passport renewal that they would have their IC change on their next return as they had attended the age of 18. Well, the worrying part was Yun had dyed her hair into pink color. I had advised her that the IC change is nothing to fool around with and we would be at the mercy of the official. Yun had however told me that she would let the hair fade naturally. After two months, the hair was not completely faded off and Yun told me that she would tie up the hair into pony tail and the pink color would not be visible from the front….

The day had come and the throbbing sensation over the chest when I laid my eyes on Yun’s hair. It was no retreat for us and I would have to gamble with her and placed my faith upon the great one.

We had our breakfast at a Hainan restaurant near Jalan Wong Ah Fook. It was nearby the old shop that my father had worked in.

We had later proceeded to the UTC JB and hit the office by 9am. A short queue was noted and all of us were accepted at the counter and given a number. Yun had finally started to tie her pony tail when we sat down waiting for our turn. She was apparently right and hidden the pink color successfully. I was however sitting on hot plate as I found out that no cash payment accepted in government department; only through card. The worst was there was only RM20 in my newly received Bigpay card(from the initial deposit), that would be enough for 2 persons and there were 3 of us. When both of them was called I had tried to pay up the fee with my credit card issued by Taiwan bank and none of them was accepted. I had to bailed out the RM20 for both Yun and Xian payment. And it was not long when I was called; while walking toward the counter, I recalled that my father had owned a Bigpay card as I had applied one for him during my last visit. And I was lucky as he had brought the card with him….

Both three of us had received our card hours later….

That afternoon after our lunch, Xian and I had proceeded to local PB bank and applied for a bank account. It was a long wait and we had managed to get it done after three hours wait…..

With a local bank account plus ATM card, big pay card; I was almost capable of doing any transaction without help from anyone back in the Bolehland.

CNY trip...the initial run

 

Two trips were actually planned when I started to plan for the home going trip in October. I had booked both trip tickets within a few days gap. The first trip was a success however dragoncat had deteriorated markedly after we sent her to the vet hospital for lodging. Her posterior limbs had become weaker and could only drag around with her forelimbs. After months of effort, Ving had decided to stayed back during Chinese new year to take care of dragoncat.

The CNY trip was a long one as we had to visit both side of our parents. However after Ving’s decision to stay back, we had the luxury to stay for a longer period at Kulai.

The trip was not an easy one for us though despite of Ving’s staying back.

Yun had met her biggest challenge when her business partner cum BF had gone into a dispute. She was disturbed and not focusing on the home returning event.

The day had finally come and Xian and I had packed our staff and left home late in the afternoon. The feeling was not good as we had to leave Ving and dragoncat behind. With Yun in such a chaotic state, the condition had become worst than ever.

Yun had chosen to visit her friend up north to seek some comfort/advice prior to the trip and would meet us at the motel around the airport that night.

The drive was smooth however the temperature was intolerable as the north had gone down to a chilling 12C and our area was about 26C in the daylight when I started our drive. We met up with Yun and her friend at the airport and we proceeded to the motel. We enjoyed our supper at a night market around the motel and retreated to our room around midnight. I had a shallow sleep as I need to wake up at 4am and perform the final check. We left the motel at 5am and parked our car at the pre-booked parking at T2. We had our baggage checked in and waited for our boarding without any difficulty.

I hit dreamland as usual prior to the taking off.

 

 I woke up when the meal was served and played the plant vs zombie again. I had chosen Singapore as our entry point as the connecting flight from KUL to Senai was limited after Covid. The transit time would be 3-4 hours and we would only reached Senai by 9pm if the flight route was chosen. However driving down south would also take same amount of time. The flight ticket from KUL to Senai and taxi fare from Changi to Kulai is however the same.

Passing the immigration was smooth however the luggage waiting part was an agony; the luggage came out one by one and there was no sign of our baggage. The shadow of losing baggage had still haunted us; luckily our final baggage came on the final batch.

We came out from the arrival hall and met up with my brother who came to picked us up.

The drive from Changi to the Woodland was smooth; passports were stamped and we passed the kastam without hazard. Another 30minutes drive before we reached Kulai where we enjoyed a late tea time meal of wantan mee and chicken rice.

The Bangla who prepared the rice had garnished the food with style before serving. Well, even the foreigner knew that to hug his job as tight as possible….

No peace of mind for me that night after the gathering meal… I was disturbed by everything….Yun, Xian, dragoncat and Ving…..

I spent the rest of the seven days thinking of our future.

Few things to accomplish during our stay; the IC changes, bank account and much more.

New Fe....

 

The new Fe had under my command for more than 6 months at the moment. It was truly a great experience with all those new gadgets.

The L2 driving assist had eased home driving stress especially on my post call journey. Unlike the FSD with traffic light sensing and overtaking ability, the L2 of new Fe was more basic; but with steering left and right and keeping an eye on the traffic light left for me to manage; driving had become more relaxing than ever.

A few trips up north had proven its value; I had enjoyed half a dozen of trips up north which were very relaxing.  

The 360 degree camera and collision warning system was a plus and had saved me a few time on some very close impact incidents.

The fuel consumption is a way improvement from 9-16km/l to 14-19km/l; nothing to complaint for a beast of nearly 2 tons.

I had escaped two embarrassing events of stopping at the roadside waiting for help situation; the built in independent tyre pressure monitor had proven it worthiness.

20000+km had passed and I thought the money was well spent; even though it caused a big hole in my pocket

The only cons will hit me years later when all the electronic gadget starting to fail; hopefully it would last as long as it could.

Justice served

 

This was one of the most joyful news that I had read recent few months….

The bicycle lajak case had finally closed when the Court of Appeal acquitted Sam. I had downloaded a review article from the net that had described and analyzed the facts of the case in detail. The act of prosecution and trial were truly bias and injustice according to the article. Poor Sam had to remain in the jail for 1 week before she was put on bail. Condolence to the families that suffered losses however the culprits and other accomplices where still out there being untouched.

There were so many efforts that could be done to prevent such tragedy; the imam, school teacher, parents, local police. How big could a village be ? No night patrol ? Magic was cast upon those bikes so that no one could see it in daylight? who was the source of finance for the bicycle? answer was obvious, may the relevant persons sleep well....

I remembered the day I encountered a traffic accident when I drove from Slim river hospital back to Tanjong Malim during my service. A car had collided with a truck and 6 passengers were trapped in the car with no sign of life. I stopped and help the police to confirm their death on site….I remembered my hand shake during my drive back home even after more than 100 autopsy done; seeing such a massacre grade scene was still a shocking event for me. For Sam, I couldn’t imagine the psychological stress that she had undergone.

However justice had prevailed  and life goes on…..

social service ..... cxxp....

 As a first line physician in ED, I had to deal with family violence case from time to time. I had seen simple contusion to severe case ended up in ICU. However for pediatric trauma cases, we were to stay alert as most of the victims were brought in by the persecutor.

The kid was brought in by his father with a swollen elbow. I had been a detail questioner; always asking detail so that I could compose a nice and lengthy history. The father however had shown a hostile manner when I asked him about the detail of how the kid had fallen. The act had instantly raised my suspicious of family violence. I had told the father politely that I had to evaluate the story and construct a trauma mechanism so that I wouldn’t missed out any possible hidden trauma.

It was partially true as I need to dig the story out. If the story was false, you would find inconsistent content and conflicting statement.

The triage nurse had later came to me and told me that the kid had told her that he was beaten by his mother when his father was making a call. Well, I told the triage nurse to call the police.

The kid was isolated to the resus room after the xray and the police came minutes after the xray shown up on my pacs system. A fracture was noted over the elbow and the police was introduced to the father. I told the father straight that I knew the incident from the beginning and this was against the law.

I told the young cop who came with his colleague that the kid needed to be sheltered tonight. It was almost 11 when the police finished the interrogation and told me that he would bring the kid back to the station and hand over to the social service for custody.

Well, everything seems nice. I was actually tied up at that time as 3 chest pain patients had poured into ED and I had a few a trauma patients to attend to at that time. By 12 midnight, the young cop had however came back to me and told that the kid was released back to the father for care as the social service felt that no shelter service was needed. I couldn’t believe my ears and told the young cop I would call up his senior/social service and tried to make things right.

I had called up the social worker on call and he told me that the shelter plan was rejected by his supervisor even though he opposed with the decision. I told him that I need to speak with the supervisor and tried to push for the sheltering the kid.

The supervisor had called me back moments later as the social worker on call said that he would relate my message to his supervisor and asked me to wait.

The call back was received about 15 minutes later. The supervisor said that they had handed over the kid back to his father so that he could be protected by his father at his home. Protected my ASS, I grumbled in my heart and trying my best not to burst out any would stating with F and ending with K. I asked the supervisor did them interview the kid and his father tonight. She told me that they had conversation over the phone while they were placed in the police station. I asked the supervisor had she heard the conversation of the father calling the mother while they were in ED. They supervisor just kept quiet. I told her that I would not tell her what was that content and that was very crucial for the shelter order to be issued. I further told the supervisor that I had glanced through the kid medical chart and found that he was admitted 8 months ago after he ingested some detergent in the house. The kid was later referred to a medical center and suspect of child abuse was impressed at the time. The supervisor asked me that did we report the case as she had not received any report while reviewing the case just now. I replied that I was not the attending physician and did not know about the condition. She immediately told me that than the social service department would fine us as we fail to do so. Wow, I was irritated by her act and told her that it was her jurisdiction to do so but I demanded that the kid to be sheltered tonight as I felt that he would be in danger further more how could the social service made such reckless decision without even seeing the case in person. The supervisor had however had told me that they would visit the case tomorrow morning and avoiding my question. I was tired of her bringing me rounding the park tactic and told her that I strongly suggest that the kid to be sheltered and hung up.

It was 3am when most of the patients were cleared out from the ED.

I spent another 30 mins written a long complaint letter to the email of county director of social service. I went off at 8am that morning, slept till afternoon and woke up wasting my life as a couch potato that day.

The next day was Monday after the morning patient rush, I decided to called up the local police officer in charge of the domestic violence division.

He told me that the kid was still under care of his parents and he was frustrated as I was because he could do nothing to change the situation.

I called up the director’s office and told the secretary to check the email and referred the matter ASAP.

1 hour later, I received a call from the domestic violence section head. She had looked into the matter and apologized for what had happened. She told me that they had visited the kid the next day and the family had only opened the door at 10am. I replied the section head that this was the best proof that they family could not provide any proper care. The parents had slept through the morning without proper feeding the pain killer to the kid in the morning. Well, however the section promised me that in the future they would see the victim before any decision is made. I told her the supervisor threat was the most irritating part as I was the civilian and the official had tried her best not to make things right but tried to threaten me just to fence the incident off.

Later in the afternoon, I got a call from the director herself. It was quit embarrassing as she had apologized and thanked me again which I thought was unnecessary as all I wanted was proper care of the kid.

Well, I had felt not right after the incident and brought all of my AR and Glock to the shooting range and sprayed thousand of round of BB that weekend.

I had however read through some info after the incident. The country social service was evaluated by the Convention of the children right in 2017, the committee had found that the shelter rate of abuse children was too high and since then the social service of all county had tried their best to reduce sheltering abuse children. Really pain in the Axx and the local children protection alliance had objected multiple times regarding the government of reducing sheltering rate.

Well, I had told myself if the we had a rotten policy than I shall walk the edge and try something…

Next time I would keep the kid in ED/ward until daylight where I could face the social service and tried my best to fight for something better……

                         

GE15 ..... no looking back

 

My anxiety increased after I sent out my ballot. I had glancing through the net trying to find any trace that would suggest and turnover. I was disappointed though as without support from the eastern bloc, no miracle could happen.

I clearly understood that if the religious gang remained at the seat in the parliament; the condition would be worsened.

I was working on the day of vote casting. I had switched to astro awani channel on the net and Malaysia Chinese News channel for a precast speculation.

The info I received was stunning as most of the commenter had claimed that Malay folks had switched their support to the moon/become-one pact as the bribery issues torched the arena.

I was disturbed the whole day and the vote count was not even half way when I drove home.

I slept late even though I knew that DSAI would not make the cut but yet I still cross my finger hoping for a miracle.

I woke up after few hours of sleep; hung parliament as expected.

The next few days are games of poker with bluffing and calling out for support.

Twisted view of how to form a parliament were presented over the media but politicians and experts. I still remembered the book written by Lord Jeffrey Archer, “First among equals”. It briefly described how the parliament would be formed after an election.

The status declaration was actually not the key for party’s leaders as proof of having enough support. However those backdoor walkers had tried to hypnotized the public about the SD myth since the triumph by Sheraton’s move.

The formation of government is something between the YDPA and various party leaders. Party/coalition with the most member of parliament electees will be consulted first and given a reasonable period to form the government. If the leader could not form the government by the period thence the leader with 2^nd most electees will be consulted and so on.

However those leaders from the religious/become-one pact had under estimated the wisdom of our ruler persistently trying to spread the news that they had enough SD as proof of support.

After 1+ weeks of struggle, a unity government was formed. The Brits had really done a good job of leaving back a good system. Every key component had acted accordingly and the name of back door had vanished and hopefully not heard again for a very long time….

It took another week for the cabinet to be formed and yet some supporter had expressed disappointment about the list as it was not distributed according to the ratio of MP.

I would praise the leaders of DSAI pact that they had done it beautifully generating the list. Attack from the racist bloc was fenced off with the rocket faction making way as a strategic retreat.

As I watched DSAI sworn in from the TV live; a thrill had flown through my nerve. I was excited and finally we got a chance to move forward. A small step at the moment but hopefully the path to my retirement in the homeland could be paved bit by bit in the future.

 

 

GE15 - the begining

 

The bolehland was having a rough ride after GE14. I was quite upset the result of the Sheraton move. I hate to see good fella leaving some crucial spot. However nothing could be done as everything was lost.

Those ministers from the religious based pact had expressed their point of views which were unacceptable from the point of view of human right and gender equality. I was hoping thing would change during GE15. However DSAI’s faction had slowly dissolved bit by bit as time passed. The result of by-election and early election of southern states had made me more worried. The chances of DSAI to gain control had faded and I was not optimistic about the final outcome of GE15.

Traitors and jokers were those figures that I wished to see their fall.

I had opted for oversea voting as I had not fixed my date for my home going plan when the rumor of parliament dissolution spread over the media.

We had four votes in the family as the age for voting was lowered. I did the application for four of us and hoping that we would get the ballot paper in time for GE15. The approval came shortly and all I could do was wait for the date.

When the date was declared and detail of oversea voting came out; my anxiety increased day by day. Over the chat group, some fellow Malaysian had gotten their ballot paper and there were no a single trace of our mail.

Finally the fedex envelops came and only 4 days left for me to return it to the office. No way to get it in time even if we sent it via courier.

However there were dedicated Malaysians in Taiwan who had coordinated a great project to get those oversea ballots to the proper offices in time. Collecting point was set up and all we need to do is to hand over our sealed envelope at the relevant spot. A network was established; volunteers would relay our ballot from the local pick up spot to the airport in Taiwan. Those home going Malaysians would spare their luggage capacity for those ballot. On arrival in Malaysia, more volunteers would dispatch the papers to the local office.

I was post call on the day of handing in my papers. I drove home after my shift, take a good shower and left our house with Ving. I called up the volunteer when I arrived in K City. The pickup point was in front of a tall business building. It was difficult to find a car park and I had walked 1km to the pick-up point. I called the fellow Malaysian and he had shown up minutes later. The handing over process was done in detail with proper signature. After the completion of the handover, I show my fist and told the fellow Malaysian, “lets drag them down” and he returned a grin….

I handed over 5 papers and please don’t ask me how those envelops were sealed….

I told Ving that we had done our part and the fate of our homeland would be decide by all other our fellow Malaysian...

I enjoyed a good hong kong styled lunch and headed back home for a good nap before my night shift that day….