Public service announcement

If you have any GENUINE information on William Yau who has gone missing since Wednesday (January 16, 2013), please contact the police on the numbers shown in the poster above. Your cooperation is very much appreciated to lead to the finding of little William.

Thank you.

Noramfaizul Mohd. Nor - A tribute to a complete stranger

Dateline September 2, 2011 -  it was a extremely sad day for Malaysia, especially the media fraternity. Noramfaizul Mohd. Noor a camera man with the Malaysian national news agency BernamaTV was killed in line of duty while covering Kelab Putera 1Malaysia's humanitarian mission to assist the Somalis facing severe drought and famine, apart from the civil war in which has been raging  since 1992.

I do not know the the late Noramfaizul at all. I never knew he even existed at all, working tirelessly providing Malaysia with news, especially news from the international scene. I am writing this tribute as a complete stranger because his untimely death shocked me to the core, I could feel the sorrow and grief that only family members and people who are very close to the late Noramfaizul could feel. I felt and is still feeling the surreal reality that this unfortunate incident just had to take place, and in the midst of the on-going Aidilfitri celebrations in Malaysia too.

The late Noramfaizul's untimely death has made me realised that journalists are working virtually almost everyday throughout the year; they are the unsung heroes of the press industry of a country. In fact, they have very few holidays here in Malaysia with the exception of a few gazetted press holidays. Not to mention, the unavoidable life-threatening risks they have to face in reporting up-to-the-minute news everyday that often would go unnoticed by many of us, and we take them for granted.

We often praise most front liners working during public holidays, especially during major festivals - the army, navy, air force personnel, police, emergency response team, firefighters, doctors and nurses but we forget the other people like journalists and service industry personnel who also work during these holidays as well.

I think it is time for all of us to stop and think how lucky most of us are working in jobs that have mostly fixed working hours and days, not to mention many may be drawing relatively high salaries plus enviable benefits and perks as well. And that we should show due appreciation to people who are working in jobs many of us would rather not do, especially high risk jobs.

I salute the invaluable and selfless sacrifices the late Noramfaizul had done all this time while answering the call of duty regardless the time of the year, be it a weekday, weekend and even on public holidays. Not to mention giving up the indescribable amount of time he could have spent with his beloved family. He died doing what he did best and with much passion too, covering news from the conflict front in Somalia. However, I firmly believed he did not die in vain.

The late Noramfizul's act of bravery I hope will never fade into a distant and forgotten memory with time. The legacy and life's lessons as a journalist he had left behind should be put into practice by the media fraternity as well as by every ordinary person on the street.

To the late Noramfaizul, may your soul rest in eternal peace in the loving arms of God; and may God also Bless your entire family for the days to come and give them spiritual strength and the reason to carry on in living life to the fullest.

Sometimes, you REALLY need to stop and smell the roses

Life can be very unpredictable. It can throw at you challenges so horrendous when you least expected it. Especially for people who might think life is treating them very well, they often forget the other side of life and tend to take it very much for granted, including yours truly. But of late, things have been extremely difficult for me that forced me to view and take life more seriously than usual.

An incident a few days ago, really jolted me into intense grief that made me realise life is something many people don't put much value to it nowadays. For me to prove my point, all you need to do is to flip through the pages of the newspapers daily and you will find plenty of news on fatal road accidents, cold-blooded murders and merciless armed robberies and snatch thefts happening rampantly, just to name a few. But I have digressed.

A very good and close friend of mine suffered a heart attack last Thursday. I only got the news Saturday morning when he sent me an email. He managed to get to the hospital in good time to have an angioplasty and a stenting procedure done to save his life. Thankfully, his condition is improving and I hope and pray that he will recover well and completely soon. I burst into tears after reading his email and the tears just would not stop streaming down my cheeks for the rest of the day. Unfortunately for me, unavoidable circumstances have rendered me unable to visit him at the hospital.

I am actually not able to fathom the idea of him succumbing to a heart attack at a relatively young age. The idea really terrified me very much. It makes me shudder with fear just at the mere thought of it. I think the idea of death of some one I care about a lot, be it a close and very good friend and even a family member has an extremely profound impact on my emotions in ways I can never imagine and comprehend. All the more it is strange that I could somehow foretell when a not-so-good thing is going to happen to someone I know and care about very much.

Prior to my friend's heart attack I had a dream in which I think it was a premonition or a warning sign the inevitable could have happened. And it REALLY came VERY CLOSE to happening. Two days before the incident in this dream, I had actually saw him standing in a very dark place (only he and I were visible) looking at me with a demure facial expression. I tried to reach out to him, only to find that he was drifting away from me into the dark oblivion, disappearing from my life altogether and forever. I woke up the next morning feeling awful beyond description.

This dream I had was actually the third in my entire 30 odd years in life, thus far. The previous two times a few years ago experiencing similar dreams has rendered outcomes I had never expected to face at all, and yet they did happen. They all had to do with the deaths of two family members whom I was really close to and care about a lot.

It is because of this kind of experience I had in the past that I view life and death more seriously, maybe too seriously than most people would. Thus, I have a very different outlook where life and death are concerned. That is why I work very hard to keep the friendships and relationships I have established because they REALLY mean a lot to me, each and every one of them. All the more, I try my very best not to take them for granted lest I would live a life full of regrets. And I always make the effort and time for all the people I know because life is REALLY like a box of chocolates, you'll never know what you're gonna get, as Forrest Gump was quoted to be saying in the movie Forrest Gump, starring Tom Hanks.

All the more we all should stop and smell the roses from time to time and not be caught up further with the rat race we are already in. Finding the right balance is my ultimate aim to fulfilling my goals in life. And this friend, who is recovering from his heart attack has taught me the invaluable lessons in life more than he could have imagined in just almost three short years I have come to know him, and at times even more than what my family members have taught me in my lifetime (I am not undermining the importance of the family institution here) thus far.

This blog is a fitting tribute to my friend who is always willing to be there for me through all the good and bad times I have been experiencing, he has never failed to give me encouragement from Day One I got to know him. Even the email he sent from his hospital bed has been optimistic, the very same optimism he would use to encourage me when I feel hopelessly discouraged.

Prof., my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family as always. I pray and hope very much you will make a full recovery soon. No amount of words could describe the gratitude and appreciation I am indebted to you for all you have done and are still doing for me tirelessly. May God Bless you always.

People should receive their bouquets when they are alive. 
~Allegra Kent, Once A Dancer... An Autobiography~                 

The BALD truth... how ladies should handle this sensitive issue

Disclaimer: The contents of this blog post may deemed offensive to some people. If you do find it offensive please navigate away from this page. I welcome positive and constructive criticisms and comments but not the ones that discredit me and/or ruin my reputation as a person and as a blogger/writer, not to mention my blog as a whole.  

For many ladies, the hair is their crowning glory and plays an important part in the overall physical look. However, in this day of modern and technological edge, not to mention at a life on the extremely fast lane, the hair style should be simple enough to maintain with minimal fuss and use of shampoo, conditioner, hair styling products and hair accessories. Also, less often visits to the hair stylist.

Ladies have been going bald for ages in fact, and for various reasons too. Some of them made their personal choice - religious reasons, illness (cancer), self-expression, to support charitable causes and joining uniformed training just to name a few; however, others might have made the decision to go bald due to unavoidable circumstances.       

I have kept long, medium-long, short and very short hair styles in the different phases of my life. Now, I am in my thirties, I have a very short hair style, the pixie hair cut. In fact, in a couple weeks' of time, I am planning to go for another hair cut and this time I will still maintain the pixie hair cut look, only that I will crop it extremely short and close to the scalp, preferably less than one inch in length.

For those people who know me well personally and face-to-face, you might be very surprised and may be even shocked at my action. I have reasons for this and they are very valid along the lines of practicality when I made the decision. What actually spurred me to this decision was the hue and cry that was made by an individual when she had to shave bald to attend the Fire and Rescue Training in May this year. She has since withdrew from the said training.

For most ladies who have actually gone bald and/or planning to go bald, except becoming bald because of illness especially due to cancer, where the hair lost might not regrow, doing it is normally NOT an issue unless there are hair and/or scalp problems. Not to mention if you also count the stares you get in the public, especially in Malaysia. When one is bald or virtually bald, hair grows to a reasonable length in six months, unless you are aiming for waist-length hair in a very short period.

I am saying from my personal experience, having lost 40% of mine for brain surgery several years ago. It would NOT even be an issue if I went completely bald then. Yes, I did get all the undesired stares when I was in public but that did not bother me because I know my hair would grow back properly. As I was already having short hair at that time, regrowing the lost hair was actually a cinch as I have a hair stylist who did a wonderful job in restyling my hair to blend the bald patch with the rest of the hair. Six months was all it took for my hair to be at its original state.

Most ladies, including yours truly here do look good in long hair. But once in a while, having very short hair or no hair at all can be very liberating in terms of self-expression. In fact many ladies DO actually look good bald, not counting celebrities becoming bald for acting reasons. If one has to go bald for any reason at all, there is always a choice to make, either to reject it completely or accept it as part of life's challenges.

It is time to for the society to shed the perception that only bald men look good but not bald ladies. And ladies should not be afraid to turn heads one in a while, as having very short hair or no hair at all could do some good to the general stereotypical perception of the roles females have to play in the society. It would actually be boring to see all ladies have long hair most, if not all the time. And DEFINITELY I would not mind to be one of the ladies who turns heads with her hair style. Yup, I am REALLY looking forward to going virtually bald in a couple of weeks' from now, and no I won't shed any tears because of it as this is a choice I have made. 

Source: The Star Online - June 25 2011

   

Facing life's BIG question



I have been keeping Siamese fighting fish for quite a few years now, I think it has been three years now. And quite a few times I have to deal with the BIG question in life... death, throughout the times I was doing so and am still doing so. But last weekend was particularly emotionally challenging for me in facing it.

I was doing the weekly cleaning out of both my male and female Siamese fighting fishes at the kitchen sink on a Saturday afternoon. I cleaned out the tank of the female fish first and did not face any problems doing so. However, as I was cleaning out the tank of my male fish, for some reasons unknown to me, I had managed to pour him down the kitchen sink by mistake.

My immediate thought was that he would be a goner, probably stuck to those crevices found in the drain outlets. However, in the state of shock and disbelieve, I had still managed to switch on the kitchen tap to let some water flow into the drain outlet, hoping it would flush the fish out. Mind you, this fish is actually a red crown tail male betta splendens similar to the picture above but he is smaller and slimmer.

Lady luck must have been smiling at me on that fateful day. The gutsy little male fish flowed out into the drain, still very much kicking and alive and unscathed; my housekeeper who was near the same drain managed to scoop him out and helped me put him into the holding container while I finish cleaning out his tank.

I thought this little adventure might have affected the little guy in a negative way. But he just resumed with his naughtiness in spite of the incident and continued his fussy and picky eater manners. I am just thankful and grateful that he is OK. I can always buy another male fighting fish should he had not survived his little adventure down the drain. However, it would not be the same as the bonding process has to start all over again.

I keep Siamese fighting fishes because they are quite fuss-free to care for and they don't cost a bomb when it comes to food as they are not supposed to eat a lot, even though they are actually gluttons to the boot. Plus, their pretty shapes and colours, especially the male fishes are simply stunning beyond description. Not to mention, their uniquely amusing antics.

My fishes also remind me to take responsibility in keeping them, as well as respect all other animals that co-exist with us in this world. In other words, they helped me become a less selfish person. Last but not least, they also remind me that life is indeed very short and not to forget life's little and simple pleasures.    

To have a smartphone or not to have smartphone?

The other day I heard a news report about representative from the telecommunication industry commenting that many Malaysians still do not own a smartphone. I was wondering if that person really realised the possible reasons of many Malaysians have yet to own a smartphone. A typical Malaysian like yours truly have several reasons for not owning one.

First the cost of buying a smartphone is extremely prohibitive. Next would be the high the telco charges, especially for the usage of 3G/4G and/or WIFI services. Finally, a smartphone like the iPhone would need applications that don't come cheap, let alone free of charge. Not to mention, possible other hidden charges not listed when a purchase of a smartphone and accompanying call/data plan are being made.

Although I am not very tech-savvy, I do like to own one of those smartphones to experience first hand what it is like to own one. But I don't think I would own one any time soon as I don't have the money to commit myself to owning a smartphone. Unless circumstances forced me to do so; but I could forsee that it will not happen in this near future yet.   

Does Malaysia really need nuclear power plants?

In the wake of the mega earthquake and monstrous tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan on March 11 2011, it also caused a nuclear fallout to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The successive days following the earthquake and tsunami saw four out of the six nuclear reactors at Fukushima Daiichi exploded and leaked out radioactive substances into the surrounding environment, prompting the Japanese government to issue advisory for affected residents to evacuate far away from the crippled nuclear power plant. And the Japanese authorities are racing against time to contain the nuclear contamination to the most minimum possible levels. No matter how efficient the Japanese authorities are, the radioactive contamination became a tremendous challenge and a national crisis.

Which brings me to the point - does Malaysia really need nuclear power plants for future power generation? From a layman's point of view, I would think that Malaysia should consider other sources of renewable energy for future power generation. Malaysia is actually blessed with plenty of natural sources of renewable energy, being located in a tropical region. Solar, wind and hydro energies could be utilised to complement the current fossil fuel power plants for power generation. I think that the utilisation of nuclear power plants should only be as the last resort when there are no more viable options for power generation.

In my humble opinion, renewable energy should be the way to go when seeking for alternatives to fossil fuel power generation. It is also because we need to ensure that the environment is taken into consideration in this matter. Using nuclear power plants means that there would radioactive waste to be managed. Radioactive waste could take aeons to bio-degrade and thus, would definitely affect many future generations of living things on the Earth.

Even developed countries that have vast experience in operating nuclear power plants face serious issues in managing them well, with Japan's current nuclear crisis as an excellent example. There were other serious nuclear crises, the notable one being in Chernobyl, Ukraine on April 26 1986. These nuclear accidents statistics could be found in International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports.


As Malaysia is a small country, a nuclear crisis is an unimaginable nightmare if it does happen. The possibility of the whole country and even the ASEAN region being completely wiped out because of a nuclear crisis is really unthinkable. As a very concerned citizen of Malaysia I sincerely hope this does not happen if nuclear power plants are to be utilised for power generation in the future. The least we can do for Mother Nature is to give all the care we can to conserve and preserve it for the future generations of all living things, and not destroy to it.  

  

Mental health - a serious issue not to be brushed aside

The Star, a Malaysian local daily has been highlighting on tragic suicide cases for the last two days. Mental health - a very serious issue but often being brushed aside due to the intense social stigma attached to it. Many of us would rather not acknowledge the fact we when may be suffering from mental illness compared to when we are suffering from some other biological disease. Not to mention, if we know of someone who is suffering from mental illness.

Mental health, like biological health should be taken seriously as brushing it aside, or worse still ignoring or avoiding it altogether could bring about dire consequences of unimaginable levels. As mental illness is often manifested in psychological aspect of one's well-being, it would very difficult for medical professionals to exactly diagnose the precise signs and symptoms of mental illness on just the first few visits by a patient. It would usually be through lengthy consultations over a period of at least three to six months that the diagnosis of mental illness could be identified.

I'm saying this from a lay person's point of view about mental health, from my own experience of knowing people suffering from mental illness. I found that by just being an empathic listener to people who are suffering from mental illness can make a whole world of difference to them. By being open-minded and receptive to the fact that mental illness is just like a biological illness, accepting and acknowledging it will be easier than most people would think. I'm not afraid to say I was initially wary and judgemental towards people suffering from mental illness.

However, I thank God for opening up my mind and allow me to be more receptive to the plight of people suffering from mental illness. It's because of this I now don't have issues to be an empathic listener and a friend to these people. At the end of the day, mental illness or not, all of us are actually created equal by God. Maybe one major difference would be some of us would have to struggle to cope with one or more chronic illnesses than others, but this doesn't mean that for those who have to cope with chronic illnesses especially mental illness, they would be less human than people who are completely free of chronic illnesses.             

I suppose the key to understanding mental health and mental illness would disseminating the right information to the public. In fact, the book shown below is an excellent source of basic information on depression and other related mental disorders/illnesses in lay person's language:

Title: The American Medical Association Essential Guide to Depression
Author: The American Medical Association
Year: 1998
ISBN: 0-671-01016-6


If the public have the access to the basic information they need to know about mental health and mental illness, hopefully this can change the skewed perception and banish the social stigma often associated with it. This is important to ensure any society for that matter to move in the right direction and treat people suffering from mental illness with more dignity and respect.

What goes around comes around in the end, a little kindness and fairness goes a long way to help these people out... won't you agree with me?     

No smoking please!

There are concrete reasons why smoking is extremely BAD for our health:

• It causes serious diseases and health issues, lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases being on top of the list;
• It reduces the quality of life;
• It is a HUGE waste of money;
• It is a serious health hazard especially to non-smokers;
• It affects economic productivity; and
• It STINKS and doesn't make you look good and cool!

I hope all my family and friends who smoke should consider quitting smoking for good for the sake of their own health and that of the people around them especially their loved ones who are staying with them. I have seen the negative effects of smoking on a non-smoker, i.e. my aunt who died of lung cancer two years ago. And yeah, the pain of losing her through no fault of her own still pains me tremendously even today. Thus, every day should be a NO SMOKING day.  

Petronas CNY 2011 Ad - Let us not forget to spend time with our loved ones

The Chinese New Year of the Rabbit has dawned upon us for six days already. Many of the people I know, Chinese and all other races, would have enjoyed the festive camaraderie that usually comes with the holidays with their family and friends. We often get caught up with our own plans and agendas that we tend to overlook the importance of spending time with our loved ones, especially our parents.

As usual, Petronas the national oil and gas company of Malaysia has commissioned Leo Burnett Malaysia, an advertising agency to come up with a memorable festive advertisement for this Chinese New Year. Although, the ultimate creative force of Leo Burnett is no longer around, i.e. the late Yasmin Ahmad, however, the creative team there has outdone themselves by creating an advertisement to remind many of us that we should not forget to spend time with our loved ones, especially our aging parents.

I have always like festive advertisements done by Leo Bunett for Petronas. That was how I got to know the late Yasmin Ahmad and her works. Truthfully, I have not seen any of Yasmin Ahmad's movies but I'm absolutely smitten by the advertisements she and her creative team at Leo Burnett have created for Petronas over the years. That is why I often look forward to the major festivals we observe here - Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Deepavali and Christmas, also Malaysia's Independence Day, although the latter is not a major festival.

This year was no different for me looking forward to the Petronas festive advertisements although Yasmin Ahmad is no longer around. I guess her legacy still lived on as her husband; Abdullah Tan Yew Leong is also attached to Leo Burnett. I'm sure he is working very hard to keep Yasmin's creative legacy alive there as well as in the hearts of many of us ordinary Malaysians, regardless of the fact if we personally knew the late Yasmin Ahmad.

I think Yasmin Ahmad would have been very proud of this noble effort of imparting the message of unity and harmony to Malaysians through festive advertisements like how Petronas has commissioned Leo Burnett to do every year. And I really salute Yasmin Ahmad to be the true Malaysian she had always been.   

May you rest in peace Swee Len, I will miss you dearly my friend...

This blog is written to pay tribute to a primary school classmate whom tragically fell to her death on 14 January 2011 at Radisson Hotel, Amsterdam. The late Chin Swee Len was my primary school classmate for six years in Convent Primary School in Kajang, and thereafter we were schoolmates when we went to Convent Secondary School, Kajang. Frankly, I don't really know her very well as we were not very close when we went to school together, however, I can say Swee Len was a very sweet and nice person.

Swee Len's untimely and shocking death has jolted many of us who knew her from our school days to a surreal and brutal reality that in this rat-race and materialism-infested world, quality balance in life could be worth nothing at all. Swee Len, like many of us working-class people often would have to endure many hardships in order to "make it in life".

My heart aches terribly  for her family who has to endure her untimely demise. There are no words I could find to describe this loss as only a friend, I cannot imagine the kind of immense impact it will have on Swee Len's family, especially on her husband and her only child. All I could do is pray and hope that her family will be able to come to accept her death and be at peace with this unprecedented blow of fate.

Swee Len and I found each other on Facebook in 2009, when I was then working as an administrative officer in a Malaysian public university and Swee Len had been working for Malaysia Airlines System (MAS) as a cabin crew. We managed to communicate on Facebook 18 years after we left school to chart our respective career paths. I was actually very happy to have found her and many other friends whom we went to school together.

I'm so lost for words that I really do not know what to say. Swee Len, I really wished we could meet each other face-to-face after such a long time but now it's just only a wishful thinking. May you rest in peace my friend and I know you will take care of your husband and child as how you would when you were alive. And I would like to offer the following prayer to you and your family:

My soul rest in peace in God alone;
    my salvation comes from Him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
    He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
Psalm 62:1-2

Amen.

New Year 2011... new beginning...

It is the time of the year again where we have wrapped an "old' year and beginning a new one. I am not the kind of person who makes New Year resolutions as things that had happened to me thus far have either never happened or not happened according to plans. Thus, I'm just letting whatever will be, will be, but I DO have some big plans for this coming year, and I just hoped they will come into fruition as the year progresses.

I am not saying what these plans are yet but all who have been following my blog faithfully will get a gist of what I have installed for this year. What I have planned, in time they will reveal that I will be giving acknowledgement and credit to all my family and friends for tirelessly rooting for me in what I am doing, most importantly they have NEVER given hope on me; just as I thought all hope was lost.

And to these family and friends I salute all of you with plenty hugs and kisses for just being there for me, and I know all of you will still be there for me, during the good times as well as the not-so-good ones too. May this New Year 2011 bring you much joy and blessings in the things you plan to do. Happy New Year!   

Pets are NOT things to be dumped when you have had enough of them

Having followed the blog posts by Au and Target entitled Katz and Other Tales at http://blog.lepak.com/, for quite awhile now, I think time is ripe for me to contribute my two cents worth on this topic. Taking in pets can do wonders to a person's life. However, there are many factors to consider if/when one plans to take in pets as a companion in life.

Some of these factors include time and money to be invested into taking in a pet, also space to be provided for the pet, especially when the pet is a dog or cat. Not to mention, the duration of commitment you can give to the pet and your health condition too. People who are allergic to animal fur should consider pets that either do not have fur or shed considerably less fur throughout its lifetime.

The most common type of pets that can be found in Malaysian homes are usually a cat or a dog. Some Malaysians also loved to keep fishes, common species of turtles or tortoises, hamsters, rabbits, birds or chicken. As for me, I am keeping a female and a male Siamese fighting fish, i.e. betta splendens as pets. This is actually a compromise with my parents as I am living with them, and they absolutely cannot stand the sight of cats and dogs in the garden.

Ideally, I would love to keep a dog as a pet but after seeing how irresponsible some of the neighbours are in keeping dogs as pets, I have resigned to the fact I don't want be a nuisance to other people. Also, I don't like the idea of dumping the poor animal once I'm unable to keep it as a pet. Thus, this reality check found me keeping two fighting fishes instead.

 The female betta splendens 

The male betta splendens






The neighbourhood I have lived in for almost 30 years is a nice and peaceful place to live. However, some inconsiderate neighbours dumping their cats and dogs once they were unable to keep them destroyed the niceness and peacefulness of the neighbourhood. Stray cats and dogs roamed the streets and deposit unwanted  pressies at the residents' gates and compounds.

Yup, now I even have two different stray cats that have taken a liking to my car. One cat is black and has white socks who likes to lounge on the roof of the car and another a charcoal grey striped one loves to lounge under the car. These two cats often leave clumps of fur on my car, at the very least not some sort of unwanted pressies. I used to shoo them away initially, only to find them stubborn as a mule and they keep reappearing. I have resigned to the fact that I should make peace with them and let them do as they please as long as they don't dirty and scratch my car; as well as they don't make any attempts to enter my house scaring the living daylights out of Mom.

However, the presence of stray cats, coupled with stray and owned dogs meant that I have to put with the constant orchestra of meowing and barking almost every minute of the day, and it gets worse during the night and early hours in the morning, before the break of dawn. It's no fun trying to catch the ever elusive sleep in this ridiculously continuous din.

No thanks to some incosiderate neighbours these poor animals cause unnecessary incovenience to people like my family who doesn't keep a cat or dog as a pet. And I noticed that my fishes are sometimes stressed out by the noise made by these kitties and doggies. They should NOT have kept these animals as pets if they were NOT able to commit themselves to do so. Keeping a pet requires discipline and commitment if one is to derive the benefits of doing so.

Unless one is willing to be disciplined and able to invest the required commitment in keeping a pet, let's not create unnecessary suffering to these innocent animals.

Has the world gone CRAZY?!

The article below showed the extremely SERIOUS moral decadence in our society:
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/teacher-stabbed-to-death-in-sungai-way-robber-escapes/

Are human lives worth so little nowadays that a robber is ever willing to kill someone for only a few hundred ringgit, which the teacher mentioned in the article above was probably carrying in her handbag. How many more lives are to be lost before the authorities start to pull up their socks to step up the safety of public places? And I have yet to forget how the robbers THREATEN TO KILL my Mom (a helpless strokee) earlier this year when our house got robbed. Not forgetting road bullies swarming Malaysian roads like bees out of the nest.

Another serious decadence to be given more attention is the state of mental health of our general population, as illustrated in this article - http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/8/25/nation/6916231&&sec=nation. People with mental illness need continuous support medically, as well as support from their family and society on the whole. These mental patients need to be accepted like any other normal person, and NOT BE DISCRIMINATED by the society. The authorities should also play their role to improve the national mental health support system to the general population, sad to say is very much left to be desired like our KTM Komuter services.

Parents need to play AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT role to help teach our younger generation to be better behaved and well brought-up individuals to lead in the society. Sad to say many parents fail to do so, in view of the endless moral decadence-related issues highlighted by the media of late. However, all is not lost, parents need to realise they are the people in the best position to take lead in teaching the younger generation to be better behaved and well brought-up individuals and NOT pass the responsibility to teachers in schools instead. A teacher's role is to provide formal education to young people, a role to complement that of a parent's role in educating our younger generation.

Something for everyone to ponder, including myself...