urn run - the first leg

 

My anxiety had growth over the waiting period; my shifts were packed as usual as I need to do 20 shifts in 25 days before I hit the airport. I later found out that the window I had planned was within the  school holidays and it also collided with Hari Raya Haji. No wander the flight ticket was expensive and hard to book.

After reminder from my dad about the holiday matter 3 weeks before the journey. I had to discard my plan of doing a last minute hotel booking. The best choice was hotel around the Mid Valley Mega Mall. The drive should be 20 mins or less; I had wanted to get something nearer preferably breakfast not included but yet it was not a good area for some food apparently. I had to settle with the Cititel Hotel which came with breakfast. 

During the scarce off day Ving and I had gone to IKEA and bought a basket made with rotan. It would be my container to hold the urn during the drive. I had done some math and estimated that the basket could hold the urn properly and could be secured with the safety belt on the back seat without any difficulty.

I had packed a simple luggage and booked the connecting flight from JB to KL 2 weeks before the journey.

Ving, dragon cat and I left home at 10am. It was a smooth drive and we reached the airport by 11am. I kissed Ving good bye and headed to the double A counter. The queue was long even with the frequent flyer lane.

I managed to check in my luggage after 40 min of lining up at the counter. The security and immigration check was fast though. In no time, I was patronizing the free duty shop and trying to get a cask strength whiskey for my brother.

My brother was lucky as I had managed to land my hand on a Omar Shirley Cask Strength produced by Nantou Distillery which he had sourcing for sometimes.

The boarding was smooth and I had fallen into dreamland as usual before the flight take off.

The Pak Nasir nasi lemak was tasty as usual; it had been 4 years since I had it. Not surprisingly, the ‘not enuf’ sensation had emerged when I swallowed the last piece of it.

Peace was with me as I closed my eyes and flashing back of what had happened since the CNY trip…Everything was in order and yet I had prepared for the worst as anything could go wrong especially when one is dealing with the dark side…..

The flight had landed uneventfully and I was greeted by my brother at the exit. 

We had had dinner at the Nine dragon ice shop where we had noodle and red bean ice campur(HK style of course). Nice meal but expensive though(no the price only, but later both of us had suffered from diarrhea the next day).

We had arrived late at the hotel  and enjoyed a sip from the whiskey which I purchased few hours earlier....

Misuse

 

I had this medical certificate request placed on my desk 2 weeks ago. I reviewed the medical chart grumbled a little while I figured how to write down the diagnosis.

There medical certificate here is something different than the Bolehland. During my service with the MOH, medical certificate a.k.a MC served as a permission for sick leave. It was very crucial for those people especially the laborer group. There were tons of reasons asking for one. It could allow them to take a day off either for rest or run some errant. The issuance of such MC had truly test the wisdom of the relevant MOs.

The medical certificate however was something more like a medical summary with a column for diagnosis and another column for comment. I had always been cautious to write down the diagnosis as it is an official document with possibility of landing into a medico-legal swamp.

The case of a bed-ridden patient who was brought into ED by ambulance for generalized weakness. I attended the patient 10 mins before the end of my shift. I reviewed the chart and found that the patient was seen in our ED the day before for head injury due to fall cause by weakness and poor intake.

The patient was alert on arrival with no sign of cerebral injury. I did not repeat the CT scan but order some blood test before I passed it to my colleague.

The patient was later discharged after 10+ hours of retaining in ED by the day shift physician. A diagnosis of R53.1 (Weakness ) was placed as diagnosis by the physician who discharged him.

The blood test came back normal and the reason of weakness was poor intake….

I was reluctant to issue the MC upon request but had to do so as my named was put under the attending physician column.

Few days later as young lady came and asked for my explanation about the diagnosis and content of the certificate. She identified herself as the daughter of the patient. Judging from her outlook, she appeared to live in urban area.

She had queried about the decision of discharging the patient. The conversation was not a comfortable one as she had a misconception regarding patient discharge. From her point of view which was based on common sense -> all patients discharge should be able to walk out from the hospital without aid. She had questioned our decision of letting a bed-ridden patient to leave the hospital.

She had expected a very detailed medical summary on the MC and asked us why we didn’t write any plan nor detailed instruction of discharge. She had barked on me claiming that she as scolded by my colleague who had discharged her father on that day.

I had asked around later and found out that an unpleasant conversation had occurred between the lady and my colleague. The daughter had requested an admission and was turned down; the reason of admission was that she was busy and she had wanted the hospital to act as an interim care node for temporary settlement. She was offended by the conversation and later she had come to us requesting medical certificate. After obtaining the certificate, she had utilized the diagnosis and the simple notation on the paper to query our decision; stupid but effective one.

The beat up and no retaliate strategy had worked out though and the daughter was in no ground to proceed as I had avoided the provocation by the relative.

The feeling was a strange one, I felt like a ghost being hit by a truck; no scratch over the body. However part of my soul was engulfed by something which I cannot describe.

It was difference from emptiness resulting from a successful striking back. Frankly said, I don’t like both of the feeling; but I need to make a choice…

urn run - prep

Lack of man power had been haunting the medical field for the past 8 months. Since the loosening of Covid control; hospitals around the island had been flooded with patients. Wards were full and admitted patients had been backlogged and kept in the ED. The major element leading to such condition was the lack of nursing staffs. The wave of resignation had swept through the island and we ward were closed down. We had similar problem and a whole floor was shut down. My name was marked on our roster for 22 times instead of the usual 15. Any straight leave would land me on a very long streak of continual shift. It was inevitable for me to tolerate such hardship should I decided to proceed with the mission.

K was the roster master and he would do everything to satisfy our need; thence the deciding factor would be availability of the flight.

Price was not much a difference as I was buying the ticket on a very close date.

Not much choice to choose from however it still took me 10 days to make the final decision.

I had consulted my parents about the ritual of moving when I finally get all the info and completed the relocation site selection. My parents had been followers of Soka Gakai for a long time and my bro was currently with Tzi Chi. I had asked them if they wanted to bring some local followers up for chanting/praying and they had told me it was not necessary. I had hesitated for a while about performing the ritual all by myself. I had experience facing the dark side but yet performing the ritual alone? It would be my first time for such ritual; not sure if I could handle the price to be paid....

The date was fixed eventually and I had planned to rent a car, put up one night in KL, proceed the relocation on D2 and returned to KL on D3 for final preparation of taking flight back on D4. I was still confused about getting someone accompanied me for the whole process.

The great one had however answered to my call; when I informed my bro about my decision and date of return. He told me that he would be back during that period and would pick me up in KL and complete the mission together.

The process had actually stretched over few weeks before everything was finalized. The uneasy sense cause by uncertainty was an agonizing event for me. Disturbance and unrest were diluted by stress resulted from overworking.

I did not feel any relief when I booked the flight ticket. There were so many events to worry about; the extraction process, the 380km journey, the return flight from Senai to KLIA and much more. I knew I would have to put my faith upon the Great one to take me through the process.

urn run - the first step

I had fragmented information about the temple and location of the urn. The Jalan Kerayong had 2 entry; one around the palace and the other around the old airport. All I know was the name of the temple and the number on the rack (3033 or 3303). I need to identify if the urn was still there before I proceed further.

The 1^st part was simple, just Googled and I had the address and phone number. The street view confirmed that it was truly the site I last visited 5 years ago. I Whatsapped the number as indicated from the FB. I got a late reply asking me to provide the information about the urn's cubical.

All I knew was the name of my grandfather and the cubical position of 3033 or 3303. It took the admin a few days before she replied me that no name similar was noted at both the position. However she showed a two letter name name which she thought might be relevant to what I described. I grinned when I saw the name; the surname was the same but the name was “進” instead of the “进” which I sent. It was traditional Chinese vs simplified Chinese; my bad for not knowing some of the young Malaysian Chinese did not learnt traditional Chinese.

It was the first step of starting the journey. A further inquiry about the procedure and payment needed was done and I proceeded to the next step.

Sourcing the relocation site was not an easy job as I had set down a requirement which I considered as crucial.

The cubical would have to be at eye level; so that when we visit the columbarium we could have a good view without torturing our neck or back. The sourcing job had to be trusted to my sister in law. She had visited two of the memorial park around Kulai. Movie clips and photos were taken to aid our selection process. For the N memorial park, most of the cubical were purchased and only a few leftover. The new one was undergoing construction and could only be available by the end of the year. The leftovers were either to high( 4 meter up !) or located at a very strange position. 

The P memorial park had however provided us with more choice but most the cubical were meant for couple with larger space to contain 2 urns. We were considered lucky as there was still some cubical that met my condition.

The price was however a little bit weird; a 25% discount would be given if you paid by installment. If the cubical was to be used before the installment end; the full amount would need to be paid up immediately upon the cubical usage. In our case as we need to use it stat, the price would be RM26k. I was satisfied with the result and my bro had agreed with my choice. Prior to the payment, the staff had however offered a 40% discount to my sister in law and we had taken up the offer with grace.

The procedure had however involved 2 police reports to be done prior to the shifting of my grandfather urn. One would be done in KL and the other would be done in Kulai. The ashes was considered as remnant of the deceased and would be treated as control item; the police would need to monitor such process according to the law. The temple side told me that the police reporting would be done by them and my sister in law would make the report with the Kulai police station 1 day prior to the relocation.

Everything was set though and I would need to fix the day of travel….  

urn run .....prelude

 

The second journey was planned soon after my return to the working desk. It was about 5 years ago when I had done a short escape back to the Bolehland and took my parents on a Qingming tour from the south.

My grandfather ashes were placed in the Thousand Buddha temple near the Sungai Besi airport. When my dad was still able to drive; my parents would take a drive up north during mid of the year; they would visit my aunt and complete the Qingming ritual every year. The ritual was suspended due to Covid19; I had a few discussion with my bro regarding the issue of relocating my grandfather's urn to Kulai so that it could be easy for us to complete the ritual every year.

It would be a difficult task when my brother told that he had suggested it a few years back but my parents had “strongly” objected such idea.

I told my brother that I would tried again on this CNY visit and I was determined to get it done with or with their consent…

I brought up the idea again during one of the conversation and my parent had objected it as usual.

I however told them that I am doing it for the sake of our third generation. So it would be easier for them to complete the ritual in the future. The conversation did not end in a good atmosphere from my point of view. But for me, It was good to go from that point as I had done the job of informing….

All the fragments of the task were difficult; extracting the urn, sourcing the relocation site, finding a window of at least 4 days….

It looks like a multiple visit tasks but I hope to do it in one attempt….

cohabitant.....

 

I had this 60 + years old male sent to ED in a drowsy state. Patient was found laying on the floor and later emergency service was summoned and he was brought over to us for help.

I attended to the case and decided for an early intubation as my impression was intracranial hemorrhage. I stepped out from the active resuscitation area and asked if someone had accompanied the patient. A man in factory working suit about the same age had come forward on my hailing. As usual, I asked him what was their relationship; out of my expectation, the man replied,” I am his cohabitant”. This was the first time, I had met male couple in the ED who did not hide their relationship. Well, as the first region that approved same sex marriage, I presumed it would be norm for me to encounter such condition. The son called later and asked me about his condition. I explained the patient condition and later told him that a man had accompanied his father to the ED. And He replied, “ oh…that was my father’s roommate”.

Cohabitant = roommate…..

Well, the same sex marriage had really posted a challenge to the community; there was this 18 years old adolescent who get married with a 28+ year old male and later committed suicide few hours after they registered. The left over heritage was over 50million ringgit…the marriage was later considered as scam by the prosecutor and currently under legal proceeding.

The same sex marriage had allowed the partners of same sex to proceed with medical consent when it was indicated.

I am an old fashion guy and a religious guy; I did not favored such condition but I had to complied as my job need me to treat them fairly.

In the past, male homosexual had been tagged as “A” disease patient. Family had treated them as disgrace and some were cut off from the family forever. The local law had prohibited the medical staff from tagging the medical chart as positive and barring us from testing them for the “H” test without consent.

However things had changed and more and more same sex couple had floated to the surface and you could recognize them easily on the road.

Once Ving had come out from the toilet and told me that a guy had just entered the female toilet. I calmed her down and told her that the “guy” that had just walked into the toilet was a female despite of her short hair and men style wearing. I told her that I noticed the tight bra she had worn under her shirt when she walked pass me…..

I remembered that a drowsy plumy patient that was brought into ED after MVA. Everyone in the resuscitation area thought that the patient was a he until we stripped the patient and performed a primary trauma survey. 

Well, there was so many grey area around us...1 + years ago , we had a new male nursing staff who joined our unit. She had undergone partial transformation surgery and she acted more feminine than any of our female colleague. We were very careful not to touch any sensitive topic; however she was more open minded than anyone of us....

A brand new experience for me and I am trying to coup with the situation....

 

2023 CNY visit: final run

 

After the IC run, I was left with 4 days that were blank without any plan. Well, it was up to me to fill it up. It was a difficult task as there were no many site of interest to visit after all around the area.

Top of the list at the most wanted to visit was the Kota Tinggi. It had all the element that worth for a visit; good food(BKT oh!!!), museum and waterfall . However the rain and flood around that area had popped my dream; maybe next time. I had decided to pay a visit to some nearby interesting site on day trip basis instead.

The 1^st day was the thunder tea and wall art at kelapa sawit township. The thunder tea was definitely not my cuppa of tea. Those that I had tasted in Taiwan around Menon area was sweetened however the famous thunder tea around the local Hakka community was a soup like dishes. Well, definitely not our favorite and we could barely finished 3 bowl with 5 persons at the table.

The visit to the wall art was disturbed by the rain however Xian was still able to take some shot for his collection. The wall art was not new to the Boleh lander however the element that attracted me most was the local food stalls that sell a variety of food. However we were sated after the thunder tea meal we taken earlier; we should have skipped it and came here straight for lunch. We headed back home later and called it a day.

We had rested for one days and I had taken a relax day wandering around the housing area. I spent most the time chatting with my parents and played with my bro pet dog, Tigergal. A stray dog before my bro adopted her. She knew who is the boss and interacted well with all the family members. She behaved well even though no one had trained her to do so…

The following day, I had brought my dad to the Yongpeng where my dad grown up. A village dominated by Hockchiew; We missed the Lao Po Bing(wife cake ) by one day as the sifu was still on leave even though the bakery was opened. I had however paid a visit to the Malay market- Arena Warna at the Ayer Hitam to buy some Malay biscuit. I had came along a new product apart from the traditional Ubi Sambal Basah; a greenish version using green pepper as its main topping. I tried and bought a packet. It would be my last definitely; it tasted ok at the store but later when I returned, no one appreciated it and I was the sole eater. The green pepper had a slightly different taste and frankly said I am not fond of it.

My verdict was the sambal version prevailed and it would still be my first choice always.

I left my parents on D6 to KLIA2. We initially booked a flight from MAS on D7 morning but the flight was postponed and shifted to noon where we had only a 2 hours window for check in to our connecting flight back to K city. It was a struggle to ask for a refund as the local office MAS staff refused to do so as they had rescheduled the flight instead of postponed without any replacement. The first call to request for refund had failed however after googling over the net; I found out that ticket could be fully refund if purchase was done within 24 hours. I was lucky as the 2^nd call center staff(likely to be based in India) had assisted me to get my refund. I grabbed a late flight later with AA. However I need to spend a night in KLIA2 before our return flight.

It was a long time since we fly with the AA; I had sworn that no more double A in the future and yet I broke the vow within months.

It was however a pleasant journey and we reached tune hotel slightly before midnight. 3 of us had squeezed ourselves that night in a double bed room.

The breakfast served by Tune hotel was excellent; nothing could go wrong with continental breakfast and nasi lemak.

Even with the great breakfast, we had still stopped by the Oldtown Café for a last taste of Malaysian Yummy….

The final leg of the journey was uneventful with Ving waiting for us in our sweat home…..

It enjoyed the longest stay with my parents for the past few years. I had a taste of local Malaysian life during this visit and found out that long stay might not be an option for me in the near future. However I would be going back on a more regular basis after this visit.

The next run would be 2 months later and I might need to fly double A again…..