Night panorama from my window - 0411hrs.

It is common to hear the wailing of sirens here. The apartments are close to the main road of Jalan Bukit Gambir. After six years, I have gotten used to it. It does not bother me much. But this morning, one after another came blaring. The first thing that crossed my mind was something big must be happening.

Still groggy from sleep, I listened, my eyes closed. That sounded more like the sirens of a fire engine than an ambulance. It was getting too close for comfort. With the ineffective security guards here, I thought I better get up to see what the situation was. I did not want to be caught dead with only a sarong and nothing else should I need to evacuate. I groped in the darkness and finally got onto my wheelchair.

Looking out the window, I saw the flashing blue and red of a fire engine racing into the Taman Pekaka housing estate. It then made a left turn and stopped at the five storey flats. It was quite a distance from where I was and I could not see very clearly in the darkness. I looked at the clock. It was already 0400. Since I was already up, I thought it was a good idea to snap a few shots of the night panorama. The fire engines left a while later. It must have been a minor fire only. I went back to bed and woke up at 1100 this morning.

The setting sun backlighting the cerbera odollam.

The cerbera odollam is an innocuous looking tree with big round fruits hanging from its branches. They are green and glossy. Some of them looked good enough to be eaten but I knew better. Behind that desirable fa�ade of innocence lies a deadly secret. Its seeds are poisonous and are known to have been used for suicide and even murder.

This is the Indian suicide tree, also called the Pong Pong. It grows along the sandy coasts, riverbanks and near mangrove swamps. The insides of the fruit are enclosed by a fibrous shell that floats and is easily carried away by the water. The toxic seeds are used as rat poison, insect repellent or burned for light.

When I saw that tree, it reminded me of my primary school days. Several of these trees stood along the fence. Whenever we felt like playing ball and did not have one handy, we would use the dried fibrous fruit as a substitute. This tree used to be planted by the roadsides all over Penang. When the fruits ripened and fell off, they littered the ground.

Adriene turns 26 today. She had graciously invited me to celebrate this significant milestone with her friends and her at The Ascott Kuala Lumpur on March 26. I was unable to make it. However, I am delighted to know that she had a great time that day. She had blogged about it in My-Dream-Come-Through 26th Birthday. Oon Yeoh has an entry on that happy occasion too. Adriene, Happy Birthday. May you be as happy as you were on that day today and always. God bless you.

The Holy See Press Office
Bulletin N. 0184

The Holy Father died at 9.37 this evening in his private apartment.

At 8 p.m. the celebration of Mass for Divine Mercy Sunday began in the Holy Father’s room, presided by Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz with the participation of Cardinal Marian Jaworski, of Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko and of Msgr. Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki.

During the course of the Mass, the Viaticum was administered to the Holy Father and, once again, the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.

The Holy Father’s final hours were marked by the uninterrupted prayer of all those who were assisting him in his pious death, and by the choral participation in prayer of the thousands of faithful who, for many hours, had been gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

Present at the moment of the death of John Paul II were: his two personal secretaries Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz and Msgr. Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki, Cardinal Marian Jaworski, Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, Fr. Tadeusz Styczen, the three nuns, Handmaidens of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who assist in the Holy Father’s apartment, guided by the Superior Sr. Tobiana Sob�dka, and the Pope’s personal physician Dr. Renato Buzzonetti, with the two doctors on call, Dr. Alessandro Barelli and Dr. Ciro D’Allo, and the two nurses on call.

Immediately afterwards Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano arrived, as did the camerlengo of Holy Roman Church, Cardinal Eduardo Mart�nez Somalo, Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, substitute of the Secretariat of State, and Archbishop Paolo Sardi, vice-camerlengo of Holy Roman Church.

Thereafter, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, dean of the College of Cardinals, and Cardinal Jozef Tomko also arrived.

Tomorrow, Divine Mercy Sunday, at 10.30 a.m., a Mass for the repose of the soul of the Holy Father will be celebrated in St. Peter’s Square, presided over by Cardinal Angelo Sodano.

At 12 noon, the Marian prayer of Easter time, the Regina Coeli, will be recited.

The body of the late pontiff is expected to be brought to the Vatican Basilica no earlier than Monday afternoon.

The first General Congregation of Cardinals will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday April 4 in the Bologna Hall of the Apostolic Palace.