The Custard Apple Syndrome

Last Sunday morning I had an attack of vertigo. I woke up that morning feeling very fine and went about my daily morning chores as usual. Then, just before breakfast at about 7.45 a.m. I began to experience a slight disorientation. I tried to ignore it but at the back of my mind I knew that I was about to get the attack. I have been having these attacks since 2003, so I know what to expect. True enough, immediately after breakfast it came crashing like a tsunami. The moment my head touched the pillow, the whole world was spinning madly. I had to close my eyes tightly to lessen the spinning effect. Through experience, I avoided moving my head since this would aggravate the spinning further. With my eyes partially closed, I groped for some left-over medicine in my bedside table drawer, prescribed to me during my last attack - betahistine 16mg.

Before I could swallow the medicine, I threw up everything I had for breakfast. Then, I hastily took the medicine and continued lying down quietly with my eyes closed. By 5p.m. I realised that I could turn my head and open my eyes! The spinning was gone. What a relief!  My previous episodes took about 2 days to go off.

I don't really know what triggered the "tsunami". My breakfast that morning and dinner the night before were pretty much the same as all the others before them. However, I did something a bit out of the usual that morning before breakfast. I have a custard apple tree (buah nona in Bahasa Malaysia) in my backyard and I happened to notice there were several ripe ones ready for picking. They were not within reach so I took out a ladder and climbed right to the very top of it to pluck the custard apples.I had to look up to get at the fruits. May be the triggering factor was my rather awkward balancing act on the ladder.

Well, for those of you  who have never experienced vertigo, let me try to describe it. It is a condition when you suddenly experience a severe headache accompanied by a spinning sensation. I know it does not sound very complicated but I tell you, it is simply TERRIBLE.

"It's Tolerable"

Before I was diagnosed with Hepatitis C (Hep C), I had very little knowledge of the disease. I don't really want to share my experience of the disease, not because I am selfish but I hate to recall the misery that I had to endure for 6 months while undergoing treatment. However, after giving it a second thought, I figure that my story may be useful to all Hep C patients who are currently undergoing  or about to start treatment.

I was not aware that I had hepatitis because  there were no symptoms whatsoever. It was indirectly detected through my routine 6-monthly blood test. There was an abnormality in the reading of my ALT from the liver function test. As a result of this abnormality, the doctor ordered a Hep B and Hep C tests be carried out on me through another blood test. My worst fears were confirmed when I tested positive for Hep C. At this juncture, I was still not fully aware of what was in store for me. Of course, I did what most people would do - surf the internet. I gathered a lot of information about the disease. I thought I was quite prepared to face the challenges. The only thing that haunted me was the condition of my liver. I was terribly scared that my liver had reached the cyrrhosis stage or to put it simply, a stage where the liver is so severely damaged by the virus, that treatment is quite useless.

I was referred to a gastro- enterologist,  at the Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah Alor Star. He ordered more blood tests be carried out explaining that sometimes errors happen during the scanning of the blood sample. I was completely ignorant of what he was trying to explain but I prayed hard that my earlier blood tests results were indeed a mistake. There was a flicker of hope.I had another appointment with him about ten days later and after studying the test results, he told me what I already knew, of course. All hopes were dashed. I had to do another blood test, this time to determine the strain of the virus, more precisely, the genotype. Alor Star hospital has no facilities to carry out this test. My blood sample had to be sent to The Liver Foundation in KL, so I had to wait for about a month for the results to come. The doctor told me that the type and duration of the treatment would depend on the genotype of the virus in my body. I remember asking him about the effects of the treatment and he briefly explained as requested. But, as if to lessen my fear a little , the good doctor (the gasro-enterologist) added "It's tolerable".

While waiting for the results from KL, I had to do a liver biopsy. This is a minor operation where a small incision is made in the abdomen to extract a bit of the liver tissue for the purpose of determining the extent of  damage to the liver. I remember being wheeled into the operation theatre for the biopsy. First they scanned my liver and marked the exact spot for the incision. The lady doctor told me my liver looked good. I was quite happy at this piece of news. Soon after, two male doctors, a Chinese and an Indian, walked in and told me that they would begin the biopsy. Frankly, I was quite scared and I prayed that it would not be painful. The Chinese doctor told me that his friend the Indian doctor would do the biopsy and I just nodded my head. What followed was something quite amusing but at that moment it made me want to jump up and run away. The Chinese doctor was giving instructions on how to use the instrument for the biopsy to the Indian doctor. The Indian doctor was toying around with the instrument, presumably practising how to make the incision and extract the tissue. I was trembling with fear and my heart was beating at an F1 speed, but there was nothing I could do. It would have been a liitle easier on me had they been a little bit more discreet with their " teaching and learning" process. A local anaesthesia was admininistered and the Indian doctor proceeded under the supervision of the Chinese doctor The whole procedure was over in less than 5 minutes and I remember asking "Is that it? ". The Indian doctor answered "Yes, That's it". I was so relieved and exclaimed "Why doc, it's quite painless! " and to which he retorted "Thank you, maam, that's a compliment".

I spoke too soon, for the moment I was wheeled out of the operation theatre, I felt an excruciating pain in the abdominal area. It was very painful and even more intense with every breath I took. I told the nurse to inform the doctor and she left me on the stretcher to seek the doctor's help. After a few minutes she came back and told me that  the doctor said it was quite normal to feel the pain. I was taken back to the ward. Anyway, inspite of the pain, the doctor told me the biopsy was sucessfully carried out without any complications and I was discharged later in the evening. The pain was gone the next morning but like any other operation, minor or major, each time you sneeze or cough or laugh, you feel the pain. After about a week, the pain was completely gone.

The results from the Liver Foundation and the biopsy were revealed to me during my appointment with the good doctor, the gastro enterologist. He told me that my genotype requires a 6-months treatment period and that the biopsy results showed that the damage to my liver was at stage 2.Well, at least it had not reached the much-dreaded cyrrhosis stage!

I started my treatment on the 3rd of March 2008. I was warded one day earlier  so that when they administer the first treatment, they were able to monitor my tolerance to the medication. The gastro enterologist told me if there were no complications, then I could go home the following day. The treatment comprised of  daily oral medication of ribavarin and a weekly injection of interferon. At this point, I knew what to expect. The good doctor told me the effects of these two drugs are headaches, nausea, loss of appetite, loss of weight, loss of hair, tiredness and in some extreme cases, depression sets in. But again, the good doctor  repeated his signature phrase of " It's tolerable".

I was given my first dose of ribavarin and interferon at about 2.30p.m. I remember telling my husband who was with me at the hospital that I felt OK one hour after the medication. Two hours passed and still there were no effects. In fact, I was OK throghout the night and I was confident I could pull through this one. The good doctor came round the next morning to check on my progress and when I told him I felt fine, he warned me that some people took a longer time to experience the effects. Anyway, he was quite satisfied with my progress and he allowed me to go home.

Later that same evening I  began to feel a little dizzy and I realised that the food tasted bitter. By the next morning, I knew for sure that the effects of the medication were slowly but surely taking  its toll on me. I woke up with a terrible headache and felt very weak and drowsy. All foods tasted bitter especially plain drinking water. I told myself that I would eventually get used to these side effects. I read from the internet that slowly your body's tolerance to the drugs would improve. I prayed that my condition would not worsen. Unfortunately. it got worse. Most of the time, I would be lying down, largely due to the constant dizziness that plagued me. I became very weak because I had no desire to eat or drink, everything tasted bland and bitter. Before the treatment, my weight was 49kg. After 2 weks , it went down to 47kg. After much persuasion from my husband and mother, I forced myself to eat a little bit more than what I really wanted.

Every 2 weeks, I had to do the liver function test (LFT) and a full blood check (FBC). Based on these results, the good doctor would then advise me on the dosage to be taken. The medication has a significant effect on the haemoglobin level in the body. If the haemoglobin level gets below 7.0 g/dL, a blood transfusion is deemed necessary. After only 2 weeks of treatment, my ALT reading showed a marked improvement from about 90 U/L  to about 14 U/L. However, my haemoglobin dropped from  about 11 g/dL to 8 g/dL. The sudden drop in haemoglobin contributed to my extreme weakness. I was so weak I was no longer able to climb a short flight of stairs. The good doctor had to juggle between lowering my  ALT reading and  raising my haemoglobin level. I was closely monitored so that he could compromise these 2 variables. I was also losing my hair at an alarming rate. I remember asking the good doctor about this and his reply of " You won't go completely bald" prevented me from pursuing further on this issue. I suppose, to him, semi bald is better than Hep C. Well, I have to agree to that, though reluctantly.

During one of the scheduled appointments, my haemoglobin dropped to 7.2 g/dL. In fact, my headache was so bad, I had to lie down in the good doctor's room while waiting for him to come. He glanced at my blood test results and immediately warded me. Fortunately, when they did another blood test, my haemoglobin went up a bit, 7.8 g/dL. So, I escaped the blood transfusion. I was discharged the next day.

To make matters worse, I had an attack of vertigo in my fourth week of treatment. I thought the headache was bad enough. This was TERRIBLE. The drugs were invading my body with a ruthless vengeance but I guess  I fought back, too. The vertigo went off after 2 weeks and after that I was beginning to show some improvement. I realised then, that my body was beginning to relent  and accept  the drugs.All the side effects were still there but I was slowly  getting used to them. My life was "better" from then on.

Five months after I started the treatment, I developed a severe backache. It was so painful, I could not sit  down at all. The good doctor then referred me to an orthopaedic surgeon. An MRI was performed but no slip discs or bone dislocation were detected. The orthopaedic surgeon told me that this might  be one of the side effects of the Hep C treatment. When I queried about this probability to the  good doctor, he was non-commital. He just smiled. Whatever that means, I don't know. The back ache went off after 1 month. I woke up one morning and discovered that I could sit without feeling any pain.What a relief.

I completed my treatment on the 14th of August 2008. I slowly regained my energy. After a month I was almost back to normal. I got back my crowning glory, thank goodness for that!  To all Hep C patients, just hang on, don't give up. To sum up my experience, I think I will have to borrow the good doctor's cliche of "It's tolerable".

SYUKUR ALHAMDULILLAH.

Eureka!

Yesterday I learnt something new. I learnt how to upload songs/music to my blog. This is an achievement for me because I did it without any help. I even helped my husband  put a music widget in his blog. To some, this may seem like  kindergarten stuff but to me it is a major breakthrough! I spent days trying to figure out how to do it and when I succeeded, it was a dream come true. I am still at the preliminary stage, though. I am experimenting how to put more songs with only one player (Is this possible?). I hope you understand what I am trying to say. I don't really know how to communicate in computer language. Anyway, until I'm successful again, do enjoy the two songs/music that I have uploaded. Wish me luck.

In Memory of PPSMI

It saddens me that the government has decided to discontinue PPSMI. After having taught Science and Mathematics for more than thirty years, I must say that the most challenging part of my career was when I had to teach Science and Maths in English. This medium of instruction was not something new to me because when I started my career way back in the mid 70's, English was still the medium of instruction in English-medium schools.

I was teaching at SMK St. Mark's Butterworth, when the government introduced the policy of making Bahasa Malaysia (or is it Bahasa Melayu)  the medium of instruction in all Government schools. Those days we were directed to change to Bahasa Melayu without so much as attending courses in preparation for the switch-over. It was so abrupt, if I remember correctly. Being a Malay, I did not encounter a lot of problems merely getting acquainted with new terminologies. However, the same could not be said of my non- Malay colleagues who were educated in English and had been teaching in English for so long. There were moans and groans but we survived and succeeded, both teachers and students. After a year or so, it became a norm in schools. All the grumblings about the language switch-over came to a halt, at least in the school I was teaching.

Looking back, I marvelled at the speed my non-Malay friends got adapted to the change. Please take note that we were from an era when English was considered an "elite" language.We communicated mainly in English. Some of my  friends sounded very English in class. I don't blame them because all their lives, at least from Standard one, they were exposed to English. However, all these English tendencies and inclinations did not make us any less patriotic than we are now.

When PPSMI was introduced, Maths and Science teachers were required to attend numerous courses and workshops in preparation for the introduction of teaching Maths and Science in English. I lost count on the number of courses I had to attend, some in Alor Star, some in Sungai Petani, some in Langkawi and some in good old Jitra where I reside. It was very hectic. We not only had to attend subject-related courses but also computer courses. All maths and science teahers in my school were  given a laptop and an LCD each. I belive, the same was true in all schools throughout Malaysia. I think most of us were more excited with these gadgets than we were with the prospect of teaching the two subjects in English! But, coupled with this excitement was our constant fear of losing these expensive teaching aids. We were reminded time and again to be extra careful with these items.

I was quite enthusiatic and excited about this PPSMI. For me, it was like going down memory lane once again. I must say that it was not difficult for me to switch back to English but I was not prepared for the challenges that awaited me this time around. It was entirely different from what I was used to when English was still the medium of instruction. I remember conducting my first PPSMI lesson. I was teaching a bunch of students who could not make out head or tail of what I was talking about. They did not understand a single word of what I said. It was very disheartening but I was quite optimistic that they will gradually come to understand the language. However, when I noticed that there was no change for the better, I began to panic. Here I was equipped with all the teaching softwares provided by the Ministry to make  lessons interesting and easy for the students to understand and yet they just stared blankly at me when I asked them questions. It was very, very frustrating.So, I devised a method to make them understand. After I completed a sentence in English, I translated it into Bahasa Melayu. Phew! at the end of every lesson I was competely drained of energy.I not only lost weight, I lost my voice,too.

We were closely monitored by various people from PPD, JPN, KPM and our very own PPSMI school commitee headed by our Principal . There was no way we could cheat by trying to teach in Bahasa Melayu. These officers would just pop in and observe us in the midst of our lessons.I must say it was not a nice experience to have them looking and staring at you and trying to find all the mistakes. I am sure if the situation was reversed, these officers would be no better than us.

Anyway, after one year, when my students were still the same as when they started, my enthusiasm began to dwindle. They refused to communicate in English, partly beacuse they were jeered at each time they tried. This was a rural school and when someone tried to speak English, he or she would be labelled a show-off. Hence, they shut themselves off completely from the language for fear of being ostracised.

We were instructed to set exam questions in both languages and the students were given the liberty to answer in whichever language they prefer. They all answered in Bahasa Melayu.  This, I feel, also contributed to their indifference to the English language.We, teachers, were compelled to teach in English and yet at the end of the day, the students could choose to answer in Bahasa Melayu.

A few years after PPSMI was introduced, everything was still the same. We continued to teach in English and they continued to answer in Bahasa Melayu. My first batch of PPSMI students did quite well in their PMR - over 80% passes but 99% answered in Bahasa Melayu, of course! I realised then, that my translation was quite effective.

Much as I loved teaching Maths and Science in English, I feel that the government is right in abolishing PPSMI because it is not working out as planned, at least not in the school I was teaching. Inspite of what the government had done to ensure that both teachers and students were adequately prepared to face the challenges of  PPSMI, the project failed disastrously. ( This was what I gathered from the local media). I can't help but wonder what went wrong. The government spent millions of ringgit (or is it billions) and yet it was a complete flop. When the government decided to switch over completely to Bahasa Melayu in the late 70's, they were successful. This time around, when only two subjects were involved, logically speaking, it would have been plain sailing. But, sadly, everything failed.

I hope  the much talked about MBM and MBI will not have a sad ending  like PPSMI. I am quite confident that MBM and MBI will be successful because many quarters are happy with this new education policy. Once again, the Ministry will be conducting numerous courses and workshops for the teachers in preparation for the switch over in 2011. We did not have to go through all the training back in the 70's when we changed everything to Bahasa Melayu, and it was successful. History is repeating itself again this time. The difference is that, this time around, teachers will be thoroughly prepared to undertake this new venture. Good luck.

The Quick Brown Fox

My husband and I bought our first computer in 1983. We were in Labuan at this time. My husband was attached to the No. 5 Squadron and I was teaching at SMK Labuan. This was a time when computers were still at its infancy in Malaysia, I presume. Nevertheless, everybody seemed to be talking about the many wonders that a computer could do. My computer knowledge at that time was ZERO and it has not improved much since then. Anyway, my husband convinced me that a computer would lessen my workload in preparing  tests and exam questions. I suppose he noticed how I used my two fingers to tap furiously at my Olivetti typewriter until the wee hours of the morning every time a school exam was approaching. I remember asking him how a computer would help me and I think his answer was "You only have to type once and then all the questions will be stored and then you can recycle the questions". That sounded good to me and so we set out to get our computer.

Those days there were not many shops that sell computers in Labuan, may be only one or two. We headed for an electrical shop called Keharsons, very famous then. There was only one computer on display, an NEC model. After staring at it for a few minutes, both of us agreed that it was quite impressive, so we decided to purchase it. The transaction was very fast because we didn't know what to ask and the shop assistant also did not volunteer to supply any information. I suppose he was equally ignorant. My husband paid the bill, about RM2,500, and we headed home to try out our new toy. My husband's philosophy is very simple. Once the property belongs to you, you can experiment with it. He had done so on many occasions like with our refrigerator, TV, VCR, washing machines and countless other electrical items. All that he experimented with were successful and this computer should not be of any problem!

The moment we arrived home, my husband wasted no time in assembling the computer. It went straight to our bedroom and on top a government-issued writing table. The whole ensemble comprised of a CPU, a monitor, a keyboard and an external storage device.There was no mouse. After attaching all the cables and wires and satisfied that everything was according to what was stated in the instruction manual, he switched on the computer and I could see the pride on his face when the monitor screen came to life. He was successful again this time.

The next stage proved a little bit more trickier. He started by testing the keyboard and immediately the characters appeared on screen. Alright, he was getting somewhere. So, my dear husband typed "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" and waited for a few seconds to see what would happen. Nothing happened .He repeated the process and still there was nothing. Equipped with a total ignorance on computers, we were not able to do much that night except to have the satisfaction that we finally owned a computer. My husband confidently promised that everything would be OK tomorrow.

I do not know whether WINDOWS was available at the time we bought the computer, I doubt it. Those days it was WORDSTAR and it was not as user friendly as WINDOWS. In fact, to the both of us, it was not friendly at all! I do not know how many rows of "The quick brown fox......................." my husband typed the following day but he never got any further than that. Finally, out of desperation, he consulted a friend who happened to have just completed a course on computers. This friend lent us a book on computers. Unfortunately, we failed to understand what was described in the book. Finally,after comtemplating on what to do for a few days, we decided that we were not ready for computers yet. So, my husband put everything back in their respective boxes and we set off again to Keharsons, hoping and praying that we could exchange it for something else.

The people at Keharsons agreed to take it back, but at a second hand price, in exchange for some other electrical item. This was good enough for us for we feared that they might not want to accept it at all. There were not many choices. We already possessed the basic electrical gadgets in the house so we settled for an Akai hi-fi  set. We had topay a few hundred ringgit to acquire it and headed straight for home. This time there was no excitement merely a sigh of relief that our mission was accomplished.

Once again my husband took all the components out of their boxes and connected all the cables. He put on a record on the turn table and within seconds, Tom Jones' "Love is in the Air" filled the household. There was a smile of satisfaction on our faces. Why would anyone want a computer. This was a better deal, it was able to provide sweet music for our ears! That was how we consoled ourselves.

So, I went back to my good old Olivetti for many more years after that without any complaints. One day in 1995, I had to attend a  course on preparing Mathematics questions in Port Dickson. We were required to prepare many questions using the computer. It was very embarassing when I had to confess that I did not know to use the computer. From that moment onwards, I decided it was time for me to get acquainted once again with the computer. After returning from Port Dickson, I did not waste any time in enrolling myself in a computer class. It was the beginning of a new chapter in my life. There was no turning back after that.

Fourteen years have passed since then. When the government introduced PPSMI in 2002, all of us, Maths and Science teachers were each given a laptop to enhance our lessons in class. Whether we liked it or not, we had to use it, so, indirectly, we had to learn. My computer literacy has improved but only up to a point where it  serves all my purpose. My husband, on the other hand, was not interested after "The quick brown fox.........." incident. He could only type a letter and print it. That was all the progress that he made UNTIL he started blogging last June. He became so engrossed with this new hobby that inevitably he had to learn how to use it to write his blog. I must say say that he has improved by leaps and bounds. He keeps on bragging that his blog is very colourful compared to mine, which, according to him, is plain and dull. I refrained from retorting that only beginners are excited over colourful fonts and highlights. I passed that stage a long time ago.

About two weeks ago, I decided to get a new netbook, simply because I have no access to my old one since he started blogging. I thought he was going to object to my idea but instead he was all for it. I told him to get one for me but he insisted that I follow him to the shop. When the shop assistant showed us a few models, he kept on nudging me to ask questions about the computer. Honestly, I did not know what to ask and I bet he was equally helpless. So, you see, we have not gone very far since the "The quick brown fox.............."
Incidentally, my Olivetti typewriter has found a comfortable resting place in my closet.

The Unsung Heroes

Once again I am called to write  after having read my husband's letter in the Utusan Malaysia dated 3 October 2009. It is indeed a pity that all my husband's efforts in trying to secure an allowance for all PTU recipients are , as at today , all in vain. Under normal circumstances, I am not a fighter by nature, like him, but I feel that I have to voice out my opinions in this particular case. Before I proceed, let it be known to all that we are NOT PAUPERS, far from it,  but I feel that it is my duty to support my husband in his struggle to achieve what he is rightfully entitled to. If , by any chance, he is successful, then I can proudly say that I have contributed my bit towards the issue.

Sometimes it makes me wonder whether the  One Malaysia tag line "Rakyat didahulukan, Pencapaian diutamakan" is, at all, relevant. My husband has already achieved one of the ONLY five categories of bravery awards in the country and to me that  is indeed an achievement which translates into pencapaian. Now why all this sudden furore over this award. The answer to that is purely DISSATISFACTION. My husband is dissatisfied because the relevant party has failed to justify why he should not be given an allowance. If the other two bravery awards, the SP and the PGB are given an allowance , why discriminate the other remaining three. The recipients of PTU, JPP and KPK had also done their bit for the country. May be the degree of  their contribution is less than that of the SP and PGB recipients (this is again a very subjective issue)  but , nevertheless they had exhibited their brave and courageous streak in defending the country. The country has acknowledged their acts by bestowing the awards to them but unfortunately, there is no conformity with regards to the allocation of the allowance that comes with the awards. If, at all, all the five categories of the awards were not to be  monetarily compensated , then I think there is no cause for all this campaign. But when the top two awards are accompanied by a generous allowance then naturally the remaining three categories would want the same treatment accorded to them. IT IS ONLY FAIR.

I am sure many will argue that it is their duty to fight for the country. After all, they are soldiers and soldiers are paid "handsomely" to fight for the country. Very true indeed. But, the bravery awards are only given to those  who go BEYOND their scope of duties. This fact is clearly stipulated as shown in the corresponding link http://www.malaysianmonarchy.org.my/portal_bi/rk6/rk6.htm . It is these extracurricular activities that earned them  their medals.

I was very disappointed when I read an e-mail to my husband trying to explain why his quest for the allowance was rejected by the government. According to the e-mail, only the SP and PGB are regarded as "prestigeous" medals and so the recipients are justified in getting their allowance. I can't help but wonder, how and when  these medals came to be catagorised as "prestigious and non-prestigious ". If that is the case, then why did the government created five catagories in the first place. I think the relevant authourities should now put in a proprosal to abolish JPP, PTU and KPK since these three are non-prestigious. That should keep my husband quiet.

Datuk Lee Chong Wei is given an allowance of RM3000 a month for winning a silver medal in the last Olympics. I think all Malaysians will agree with me when I say that he deserves it. I saw the spectacular game on  TV. He displayed a non-compromising attitude when confronting his opponent . I have seen many Malaysian badminton players in action but, in my opinion, Datuk Lee has a very strong fighting spirit. I salute you , Datuk.

In the case of Datuk Lee Chong Wei, it is easy to see what he has done for the country. Most of his games were telecast live throughout the whole of Malaysia and some other parts of the world. We saw how he "fought" to glorify his country not once, not twice but many, many times.

The same analogy is applicable to all those who fought bravely to defend the country but unfortunately their acts of bravery could not be displayed live for all to see. Unlike Datuk Lee, they will never be thrust into the limelight while in action. The nature of their work is often classified 'secret'. Most Malaysians are unaware of what these special breed of people  had to go through to bring peace and harmony to the country. Most Malaysians are unaware of how they sweated and toiled and put their lives at stake to ensure that, Datuk Lee can continue to bring glory to Malaysia, Datuk Nichole Davids can continue to pursue her fifth World Championship title,  Datuk Siti Norhaliza can continue crooning all those beautiful ballads, Datuk Shah Rukh Khan can continue to entertain us through Hindi films, Dr. Faiz can follow in the footsteps of Datuk Dr. Sheikh Muzaffar in space exploration,  and last but not least, so that ordinary folks like me can go about our daily activities without fear of being attacked or bombed by the enemies.  Hence ,is it too much for our "unsung heroes" to ask for a small allowance in return for what they had done for the country. As a wife, I know what my husband and his friends went through during their fight against the communists. It was a period of intense anxiety and stress, to put it mildly. Every time, he was tasked to fly to the border, we could never be sure whether we would ever see him again ALIVE. Many of my husband's friends perished whilst in action and this , in turn, made many of my friends widows and their children, orphans.

Now, readers, you be the judge. And, with that, ladies and gentleman, I rest my case.

Ucapan Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri