Ervan’s Weltanschauung

Alhamdulillah, my dad, Umar Junus was given the green light by the doctors to return home. After spending a total of 21 days in the hospitals, it can be very taxing and boring for anyone. 15 days were spent at Damansara, and the final 6 days were spent at University Malaya Medical Centre. Most of the time, he was in ICU.

My dad will have to go for physiotheraphy and have to be taken care by the family. It’s him being a baby once again. To think when I was small, he took care of me, now, it is  now my turn to take care of him. It would be temporary, and it will take time. But the most important thing is, he’s out of the hospital.

People might ask why he spent his time at two different hospitals. Damansara was his primary hospital and his myasthenic crisis was well taken care by the doctors at Damansara. However the long process of rehabilitation is best to be done at UMMC where it is cheaper. I do not know why I suggested UMMC to my brother and sister when they to consider for a transfer. But it helped that my cousin, Dr Kasmini helped to support my suggestion for UMMC. Turns out that my dad did not have to stay at UMMC for long. And I do have to say this, UMMC have better facilities than private hospitals. Yes, they may be understaffed, but they do have the expertise and are more in touch with the latest in medicinal breakthroughs. Well, one must never put down Government hospitals from now on, and you do not have to pay an arm and leg for it too.

Of course, we had trouble finding the beds in UMMC, but thanks to a few good samaritans, we managed to secure one.

In the end, sometimes, we humans never appreciate what we have. And when it’s gone, that’s when we finally realise it. My dad’s incident has been scary, but we have learned a lot from this. And my family (including the extended family) became stronger, and more united than ever before. For that, I thank Allah.

And to all my friends who sent their wishes and prayed for my dad. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Only Allah knows how much your wishes and prayers meant to me and my family. And it is even heartening to know that the prayers came from everyone regardless of their beliefs, be it Muslim, Christian, Buddhist or Hindu.

I read someone’s blog. She was writing about shocking death and how she thinks that there is no such thing as a shocking death. One may be in shock upon hearing of someone’s death. But the shock is actually a form of regret that where one lost the chance to do the little things that was taken for granted. And her last paragraph is very profound…

"Death should have never come as a surprise. God forbid if it ever does. We should really just begin to identify what’s important  in our life and spend the time we have now wisely."

Indeed, once you learn how to die, then you’ll learn how to live….

Entering an ICU ward is never easy. Especially as my dad is the one being treated in ICU. The sight of the many wires and equipments can be nerve wrecking for some. And the sight of your own dad, totally weak, is very disheartening.  The same person who carried me when I was still a child. The image of a strong and jovial person of the yesteryears kept coming to my mind as I look upon the frail body of my dad. Still jovial, but, frail.

Indeed, age, and his own disease, myasthenia gravis contributed to this. I do not know why I brought the book, Tuesdays with Morries with me today as I headed towards the hospital. Morrie suffered from ALS, while my dad is suffering from myasthenia gravis. Both disease can be fatal as both can paralyze the lungs, and thus suffocating the person to death.  Hmm, reading back the book, Morrie, and my dad do have some things in common….

My dad is living on borrowed time. He can recover, it just that it will take some time. The one thing I am proud though, I am my father’s son. A lot of people aome to meet my dad to give their morale support. Even my friends, friends of different races and religions, offered their prayers, which I thank you all. Some even took me out for a while, just to make sure that I don’t worry too much of my dad.

Whatever the outcome, it would be for the best.

Today is Thursday. Hmm, had a good sleep, and woke up at 3:30 am, and could not sleep at all. I guess today I will be off to the office earlier…about 3 hours earlier than usual.

It’s not been a good week at all for me, I was down with a high fever and flu on Tuesday. Decided to take half of the Tuesday off, and it did me good. And I slept the rest of the day. I guess now, that’s why I could not sleep any longer, I have taken up all my quota!

Plus. my dad was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday. Guess all these made me worry a lot. The good news is.  he’s recovering well. Plus he’s in good hands. Let’s just hope that he can recover soon.

So, if I can’t sleep, I surf, and found this interesting news. Since some of us are missing a few things, let’s hope we will eventually find it!

Geez, honestly,  I do think Malaysians are the worst drivers in the world…

Note 1:

Jalan Mahameru exit into Jalan Duta. Because of inconsiderate drivers who jump queue, they inconvenience others who want to go to KL Sentral / Bangsar. If you want to go to Jalan Duta, then you should have kept on the left most lane, and not use the middle / right lane. True, you can arrive faster, but you inconsiderate fool inconvenient others!

It is actually faster if you kept on the right lane, then head towards KL Sentral, and make a u-turn into Jalan Duta from there! And you wont inconvenient other people by jumping the queue. Try it!

Note 2:

Jalan Syed Putra near the Volvo heading towards PJ. The left most lane is for bus and taxis. And yes, they do stop at that lane! Why the hell do you have to use that lane? But at least it is better here than Jalan Mahameru. I stayed on the right lane and its normally smooth sailing except for inconsiderate drivers who use the right lane only to change back to the middle lane or left lane after the buses.

Note 3:

When you want to switch lane, make sure you signal (that’s what it is for!) and then do not assume the car on the lane you are moving on to is slow. I nearly had an accident because a stupid white Kenari decided to move into my lane from stationary as I was driving close to 100 km/h. Thank God there was no car on my left that allowed me to avoid a really bad accident. Yes, that Kenari was switching lane from the right to the left on seeing that the lane I was on was rather empty…

A lil bit of common sense can actually make the traffic jams we have smoother. But I guess, we are rather selfish eh?

1. Anwar Ibrahim alone is not enough to bring in the votes. You need the team effort to bring in the votes.

2. The opposition needs more than just corruption and allegation of mismanagement in order to win an election.

3. The real winners of the Ijok by-election are the people of Ijok themselves. After all, they got their schools repainted, roads mended etc. Hmm, wonder if my MP / ADUN will die anytime soon?

4. English Premier League is seriously not that great even if they do have 3 semi finalists in the Champions League. Thank you AC Milan for preventing an all English final.

5. Even if you are on top of your domestic league, it does not mean that you can win easily in Europe. You need that lil edge to be a champ.

6. Manchester United is a good loser. Okay okay, when compared to Wenger and Mourinho.

7. Tune Hotels have a minimum one night policy, so it is not hourly rate (for those people who thought they have to pay RM 9.99 per hour)

8. Tune Hotels charge for the air cond. Hmm, no centralised air cond…?

9. The Uncle John kopitiam at Tune Hotels look, feel and menu are surprisingly similar to Ipoh Oldtown

10. The Nidji band did not perform the Heaven song for Heroes, Starworld use the Heaven Song as a promo for Heroes… in case some of you thought that Nidji really hit it big time. Dewa is way infinitely better than them..