Chances are...

My better half suffers from a skin ailment which afflicted her just after we got married. The cause of the disease is still not known and scientists have yet to find a definitive cure.

In September of last year, the situation became a bit serious and she had to spend a week in hospital. After a regime of antibiotics and other medication, her condition improved but the specialist doctor still could not pinpoint the exact cause.

Six months ago, the skin inflammation recurred and she had to be warded again. As I was helping her `check-in' at the time, it surprised me a bit that she was assigned the same bed in the same room of the 1st Class Ward at Hospital Sultanah Aminah, here in Johor Bahru. The HSA is the oldest government hospital in the city. Its 1st Class ward is located in a new wing and the rooms are quite comfortable. Nearly on par with that of private hospitals. The sad thing is that, admission to 1st Class is quite restricted and upon direction of the specialist doctors only. The rest of the common folk have to make do with beds in the lower classes. The Malay proverb of `duduk sama rendah, berdiri sama tinggi' does not apply in this case. How I wish that one day, all Malaysians can have access to equal health treatment.

The duration of my wife's second stay at the hospital was as long the the first. Again, still no clues as to what caused the recurrence.

Last night, her skin flared up again and I took time off from work to accompany her to the hospital earlier this afternoon. While waiting for the administrative work at the admissions counter, I casually mention that it would be a very slim chance indeed if she gets the same bed again. Once registration is cleared, a nurse leads the way to the room, and lo and behold.... it is the same bed, three times in a row! What a coincidence. My wife shares this fact with the nurse and we are all amused. I jokingly add that my wife has signed a long term tenancy with the hospital for that particular bed.

I did a quick mental calculation on the probability of such an event happening. The women's first class ward at HSA JB has 16 beds. That means 1 in 16 chance (or 6.25%) of being assigned the same bed on the second visit. If my memory of Probability Theory serves me right, the chances of the same thing happening the third time is not doubled but squared.... i.e. 1 in 256 or a teeny-weeny 0.39% only. How's that for great odds.

Well.... the jesting aside, I wouldn't want my missus to be spending time in that bed (or any other hospital bed for that matter) longer than necessary. I hope she gets well soon.

Original blogger creations

Two separate packages from two different bloggers came in the mail for me yesterday. I hadn't expected the items to arrive that early because I just placed the orders and made payment the day before. I salute my two blogger friends for their efficiency.

1. Emila's Illustrated Calender 2012

When illustrator-blogger Emila Yusof announced last month that she may produce a calender for next year, I immediately sent her a message that I'll buy one. She had previously made a calendar for 2010 which consisted of 12 pages of her own drawings. I was the owner of a copy and had written about it here -> 2010 calender. There wasn't one for 2011and so, when she was mulling about her second calender product, I was among the earliest fans to say yes.


Emila's calender is still available for purchase from her website or you can click on the following link to visit her online webstore -> Emila's Littleshop. The price is RM15.00 per copy not inclusive of postage. Pop over to her shop to see larger sample images and maybe also browse the other unique items on offer.

2. Coretan Xnuripilot

I first became acquainted with blogger Major (Rtd) Nor Ibrahim Sulaiman when he dropped a comment in the post where I wrote about Mee Banjir Udang Kuala Sepetang in May 2010. Following that comment, I made occasional visits to his blog to read stories and recollections about life in the Air Force. Major Ibrahim is a retired helicopter pilot who used to serve our country during the communist insurgency. His stories about struggles and confrontations with the enemy make very interesting reading.

I had missed dropping by his blog for quite some time and somehow late last month, I made a chance re-visit. The retired Air Force Major had apparently went on a mission to self-publish his collection of stories in book form. He is attempting to get the support of Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka to assist in a 2nd re-print.

I requested the Major to reserve a copy for me should DBP agree to help him out. He quickly replied that he still has a few odd copies in hand and would sell one to me if I don't mind some minor defects on the cover. No problem, I said... and after a few further exchanges of information and cash, I am now in possession of a book containing first-hand accounts of life as a pilot flying the Nuri (Sikorsky) military helicopters.

Thank you, Pak Ibrahim for sharing your stories with us... and thank you too, for your service and sacrifice in defence of our nation.

Inside cover of the book has the author's biodata and autograph

The spreader of false news

In the days before there were social networking websites, dubious and misleading news tend to make their way across cyberspace via forwarded emails. Usually such news sound sensational in the first instance and carry some form of warning or community advice. The forwarders of such emails normally do not care to check the authenticity of the piece being passed on, preferring to resort to the maxim of `better safe than sorry' or `no harm to let others know'. It is as if by forwarding the news gives them this `feel-good' feeling of having done a great service to society.

Unfortunately, quite a number of such forwarded news are plain false, misleading and in some cases, carry ill-intent. The Malay word that applies to this situation is `fitnah'.

An example of such an erroneous email is the one I received in June 2009 about the so-called humiliation that Apple is bringing to the religion of Islam by opening a bar in New York resembling the holy Kaabah in Makkah. A simple google search on `Apple Mecca Bar' will yield the true story. The perpetrator of this piece is not a dumb fellow. He was banking on the emotions and naivety of a section of cyberspace citizens by touching on the sensitive subject of religion. The people who blindly forwarded his message are the dumb ones.

I replied to the person who sent me the mail, saying that the story is a hoax and to check the truth before forwarding. She still forwards me similar stuff, although not as often as before... probably because such news have found a new medium of transmission. Facebook.

Last week, I spotted a niece of mine posting a link from her friend's wall, warning readers not to partake drinks from a certain manufacturer. The message goes like this :

Untk beberape hari akn dtg,jgn ambil mnuman dr mana2 produk dr syarikat PEPSI spt pepsi,tropicana juice,slice,7up,coca cola dll kerana ada pekerja dr syarikat itu tlh menambah darahnya yg trcemar dgn HIV.Keluar berita dlm NTV7.Tlg sebarkn kpd org yg anda sygi.

I immediately posted a comment to my niece, asking if this is true. For starters, Pepsi and Coca-cola are 2 different companies. She then posted a similar query on her friend's link. The reply from the friend was a nonchalant, `Better xpayah minumla.. Lgkh brjaga2..'. So disappointing.

Since there was mention of NTV7 in the message, I sent an email to them asking about it. The television station replied that they had never broadcasted such news. And as if on cue, the very next day The Star Online carried an article quoting the response from Pepsi, saying that it was a hoax. The story originated as an sms in India since July this year. The full news article can be read here -> Rumours of HIV-infected drinks untrue, says Pepsi. This same link was given to my niece, who then extended it to her friend. I had a peek at this person's wall to see what her response was. Sadly... nothing. The least she could have done is to say sorry for perpetuating the lie.

I guess the spread of such khabar angin will not end any time soon, if at all. Information nowadays, travel at the speed of light. And we will continue to have ignorant and arrogant people who think they have done a good thing by being the spreader of false news.

Ditelan mati emak...

Back to another posting about Malay proverbs. In a previous post, I had mentioned how the late Pak Sako gave excellent commentaries on the use of peribahasa Melayu to suit any given situation. In general, the old Malay proverbs make use of metaphor to get the message across. Most of such sayings have deep and sometimes sarcastic meanings, but there are some that actually sound a bit inappropriate, whether used in the distant past or mentioned in the present day. Pak Sako took swipes at some of these and the following is an example.

`Duduk sama rendah, berdiri sama tinggi' or its equivalent `Hati gajah sama dilapah, hati kuman sama dicecah'.

The underlying message behind both these proverbs is equality. Not of the sexes, but of class. The Malay word for it is darjat. More often than not, the users of such sayings are those who are well-to-do and they apply the usage to curry favour or empathy from those who are not. According to Pak Sako, in almost all occasions (events, ceremonies, wedding receptions), persons of a certain standing will always be treated a bit special compared to the common folk. No such thing as equality. Which sort of reminds me of the quote from George Orwell : All animals are equal... but some animals are more equal than others.

So why am I again writing on this subject of perumpamaan Melayu? Dah takde idea lain ke?

Well.... earlier today, an old schoolmate named Zaim Mahmood, posted on his FB wall, a list of modified peribahasa purportedly uttered by the TV3 news reporter Karam Singh Walia, who's famous for such idiomatic quotes. Most of the sayings are hilarious and I doubt if Mr Walia actually said them, but even if he didn't, I'm sure he wouldn't mind the credit. I have chosen some real classical samples to share :

1. Terlajak perahu boleh diundur, terlajak kereta pun boleh undur. Terlajak kapal terbang takde gear reverse, sori.
2. Sudahlah jatuh ditimpa pula tangga, lepas tu tercium pulak tahi ayam.
3. Biar mati bini jangan mati anak (boleh kahwin lagi ape...)
4. Kalau tiada rotan, pelempang ajelah....
5. Hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri. Kalau macam tu lebih baik tak payah hujan.

There is plenty more from where that came from. Muahaha!

Ok then..... let's end this post with another of my own contribution : Ditelan mati emak, diluah mati bapak. Habis tu, kalau tak telan atau tak luah, sendiri yang mati lah ye....

Sour and spicy

In the days before there was the North-South Expressway, a trip by car from Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur would eat up time in the region of 6 hours. You have two main routes which you can choose; the first is by way of Yong Peng - Segamat - Tampin - Seremban on the Federal Route1 while the second involve turning on to Federal Route5 at Air Hitam and onwards to Batu Pahat - Muar - Melaka before rejoining the route at Tampin.

I usually prefer to take the 2nd alternative even though it means passing through more small towns and villages (i.e. a longer journey time). I like to travel this way because I can break my journey at a few places of choice where I get to taste some lovely foodstuff. Depending on the time of travel, I could either stop for makan at Batu Pahat for mouth-watering nasi beriyani, or at Muar for some delicious mee bandung.

Ever since the completion of the highway, it has been ages since we last drove on the Batu Pahat - Muar road. That meant that it has been quite a while since we last sampled the original beriyani Batu Pahat or mee bandung Muar. Over the years, we hear more recommendations from friends about good makan places in BP, Muar and even Melaka but unless we have specific reasons to make a detour, we were unable to try them out.

On our journey to KL last Friday however, we decided to take the old road, just so we can try and taste a dish that has been highly recommended by a few friends and relatives. It is a dish that both Johor and Melaka folks claim to cook better than people from other states in Malaysia, and it is called Asam Pedas. According to word-of-mouth and also TV reports, the place to get the tastiest asam pedas is at the small town of Parit Jawa in Muar.

We have never been to this place before, so our decision to check it out is purely based on trial and error. Driving from south, Parit Jawa is located a few kilometres before reaching Muar town. As we approached Parit Jawa, we spotted a signboard saying `Medan Selera Asam Pedas'. We followed the sign and later reached an area by the river that looks like the place where fishermen unload their catch from the sea. There are a few food stalls claiming to sell the famous asam pedas so we simply chose one that seems to have more customers.

The stall we patronised is called Asam Pedas Mak Ngah. I left it to my better half to pick the dishes and she chose kepala ikan jenahak, kupang (mussels) goreng cili, tauge masak lemak, telur asin and ulam sambal belacan. It was a lovely spread and the taste was not disappointing. The trick to delicious asam pedas is in using fresh fish. The three of us (wife, son and myself) wiped the plates clean. Truly worth the extra miles in making the detour and the damage was only RM48. Now that's real value for money.

A view of the spread

Jenahak fish head

Tasty fresh mussels

The fishermen's jetty at Parit Jawa