Life is short. Make full use of it as best you can...

It was early morning Friday last week 19 February when the call came in on my wife's mobile. I was outside in our small garden, just about to connect the hose to water my plants. From the opening greetings that I overheard my wife say on her phone, I knew that it was her younger brother on the other end.

The initial greetings then changed to serious tones and my wife started crying. My brother-in-law had called to inform us that one of our nephews has been invited by the Almighty. I could guess which nephew he meant. I had seen a Facebook post from this nephew's wife the day before about him being warded at the ICU in a hospital in Muar.

Ahmad Rifaiee Zaid was the eldest son of one of the elder brothers on my better half's side. His father, Hj Zaid Md Amin, had passed away two years earlier. At that time, we had the opportunity to visit the father when he was in a hospital in Kluang. This time, the Covid-19 restrictions did not allow us to visit the son before he left us.

After my wife had calmed down a bit, she obtained some information with regards to the burial process. The deceased was still at Muar hospital where the cleansing and shrouding process would be carried out before sending to his home in Tangkak. My wife then made a few phone calls to her other siblings to ensure that all close relatives are informed. We then made preparations to travel to Tangkak, roughly a two-hour drive away. But before we could start our journey, a police permit is required for inter-district travel.

Modern-day technology has allowed the death certificate to be quickly shared via whatsapp. I printed a copy of the certificate and together with copies of our identity cards, applied for the travel permit at our local police station. After answering a few basic questions, the approval was stamped on our application form. It was almost 11am when we entered the N-S highway and headed north. My wife was told that the burial would be held after Jumu'ah prayers. I was fairly confident we would reach Tangkak in time.

We exited the highway at the Bukit Gambir interchange. There was a police roadblock just after the toll plaza. The police officer on duty had a look at our travel permit and let us pass without question. When we arrived at our nephew's home, the deceased was already there and I was just in time to join the solat jenazah. Understandably, the mood was sad and sombre. There were tears and embraces even though the latter is highly discouraged under the SOP social-distancing guidelines. How can I not hug my other nephews (siblings of the deceased) who have just lost their eldest brother? The departure of Ahmad Rifaiee was quite unexpected although he had a history of hospital treatments. His previous admissions were due to gastrointestinal complications but he had always recovered. He had always been in cheerful mood and made light of his illness.

I got along very well with Ahmad Rifaiee. He had a joyful demeanour and a healthy dose of humour. He was a foodie like I am. We would regularly exchange information on where the best eating spots are. I miss him already.

The official COD mentioned on the certificate is Acute Coronary Syndrome. I assume that his heart did not obtain the required amount of blood due to internal bleeding caused by the gastrointestinal disorders.

Ahmad Rifaiee Zaid was 41-years old. He leaves behind a wife and five children. His eldest, Nurul Syuhada is presently taking the long-delayed SPM 2020 examinations. I could not imagine how the stress and sadness are affecting her right now.

Innalilahi wainna ilaihi roji'un. May Allah swt bless your soul and place you among the soliheen.

Our nephew on the right. Pic taken last year when he treated us to mee bandung at a local stall in Tangkak

On time delivery

There is no doubt that the Movement Control Order (MCO) enforced by the government to control the spread of the coronavirus is causing hardship to many people. It has been extensively argued that such a measure is necessary, otherwise more deaths due to covid-19 would occur and the increasing numbers of infected cases place a huge strain on healthcare facilities.

I do not doubt that our medical frontliners are most affected by the rising number of cases in this so-called 3rd wave. However, I do have reservations about the effectiveness of the MCO in its various forms (RMCO, EMCO etc). My main grouse is the lack of consistency in issuing the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) that the public and businesses have to adhere to. I would have thought that after a year of tackling the pandemic, the government authorities would have had some expertise in deciding what can or cannot be done.

I have previously written about how the pandemic is affecting my son who runs a food stall operation (Hard times during the Covid-19 pandemic). When MCO 2.0 was enforced a few weeks ago, dine-in at restaurants and food outlets were not permitted. All restaurants and food stalls had to rely on takeaway and delivery sales only. This meant that sales income reduced drastically. The dine-in only restriction has since been lifted a few days ago, but according to my son, the number of walk-in customers is still very low.

Apart from dine-in customers, my son's business is also registered on Foodpanda. In addition to this online delivery platform, he also takes phone orders for COD delivery within selected areas of Johor Bahru using ad-hoc runners. When his normal ad-hoc guy could not make it for whatever reason, I become the replacement delivery guy. To date, I have made four (4) deliveries. Three deliveries were within 10km from the outlet at Dataran Larkin while one was to a customer who lived outside the 10km limit. Technically speaking, this was against SOP rules. In fact, I just found out that the practice of cash-on-delivery (COD) for sending food by individuals (as opposed to the registered riders of Foodpanda, Grab Food etc) require a police permit. Failure to have one means the risk of being compounded to the value of RM1000.

My son's food stall business is really a very small enterprise. The money he makes barely covers his costs. In these very tough times, I have to help him out in any way that I can. Even to the extent of being an unregistered delivery guy and doing so at some risk. I sincerely hope MCO 2.0 would not be extended. There has to be a way in which the government can balance the need for economic activity against the risk of further disease outbreak.

While I'm on the subject, the photo below is the MCO Menu of Warong Noodle. Prices shown are not inclusive of delivery charges, which are very reasonable for customers located within a 10km radius of Dataran Larkin. Only RM5 per delivery, irrespective of the quantity of purchase, subject to the carrying capacity of the dispatcher. Thanks :-)

Menu for self pick-up. Delivery available for selected areas at nominal charge