That would have been a beautiful and memorable parting, no matter how poignant and reluctant it would have been. But she left quietly. No parting words, no good byes, no farewell kisses, no motherly hugs. She left, taking with her a big part of me. And then there was only an immense emptiness that ached for the soothing comfort only a mother could provide, one that will take many years to heal, or perhaps never.

Wuan’s photoblog, Point and Shoot, has a domain name now. www.wuan.org is officially online as of today.

Related entry:
Point and Shoot

This morning, I had the privilege of previewing the newly upgraded walkways at Upper Penang Road with Tan Kuan Aw, Deputy President of Society of Disabled Persons Penang, Laurence Loh, an acclaimed architect whose firm designed the walkways and other ancillary amenities, and officers from the Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang (MPPP). We were invited to provide feedback on its accessibility from our point of view.

The walkabout began from outside Eastern & Oriental Hotel. The walkways have been designed and constructed with the physically disabled and visually impaired in mind. There are yellow studded tiles and beeping traffic lights to guide the blind. Gentle gradients up the walkways from the road allowed effortless wheelchair navigation.

Along way, Laurence had to ask some trishaw men to remove their trishaws that were parked halfway up the walkway and were blocking our path. I foresee that a lot of education is needed in this aspect because many people do not understand the inconvenience they are causing to people like us.

Outside the Catholic Information Service two extra-wide parking bays were specially allocated for vehicles of physically disabled drivers. In Penang where parking spots are difficult to come by, this is a refreshing change. Hopefully, people who are not entitled to use these bays do not abuse this privilege reserved for those who need to use it.

The walkabout ended at the traffic island at the junction of Penang Road and Chulia Street. Several tablets were put up there to explain the history of the surrounding areas. This is a nice touch that will enlighten tourists and locals alike on why Chulia Street is also known as Gu Gandang in Chinese and that once upon a time Penang had trams running on its street among others.

Generally, I could traverse the length of Upper Penang Road with little difficulty except for the haphazardly parked trishaws and motorcycles on certain parts of the walkways. My other complaint is that some of the iron grill manhole covers are potential wheelchair traps. Other than that I am satisfied with the thought that had gone into making this part of Penang Road accessible to people with disabilities. I applaud the MPPP and Laurence for incorporating disability-friendly features in the design. I would like to see similar blueprints adopted and adapted in walkways all over Penang to enable the disabled community some degree of independence on our days out.

Update:
The Star has an article here.

Out there somewhere, some people will never live to see another sunrise again. At the same time, some are counting down to their last sunset. Those are one of the most agonizing times anyone can ever go through for those that are terminally ill and their family as well. Like Paul, I could never have imagined how depressing it was to see a loved one slowly wasting away until I had to look after Mum.

She suffered chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, an incurable blood disorder where her body produced large quantities of malformed white blood cells. During her last two months, she was in much pain when the cancer cells began to invade her bones too. When I saw her writhing in pain, I wished I could ease some of that by suffering it on her behalf. Painkillers were not totally effective. The ache began to set in long before the next dose was due. The sense of hopelessness was simply distressing.

Fortunately, Mum had the privilege to be enrolled under the Penang Hospice-At-Home-Programme. Karen, the nurse charged with Mum’s case, would drop in to check on her several times a week. It was a great relief to know that should I need nursing and medical advice, I could always check with her. The most important aspect of this was that Mum was accorded the dignity to live out the remaining days of her life in the comfort of home while getting the essential care that she needed. I was truly grateful I had this kind of support in looking after Mum. It would have been very difficult had I had to go through it alone.

When Suanie asked for my suggestion on the charity to support for Blogathon 2005, the first and only organisation that came to mind was the Hospice-At-Home-Programme. No act can be nobler than easing the final journey of the terminally ill cancer patient like what this group of people are doing. After all that I went through with Mum, I wholeheartedly embrace and support this concept of caring. I hope all of you who are reading this will feel the same way. This organisation functions mostly on donations from the public. They need your support to continue with what they are doing effectively. Please pledge and donate generously so that someone somewhere waiting for his last sunset will have an easier passage to his final destination.

* This entry was posted at Bloggers are Morons.

Within us, there is a potential to make things better for ourselves and for others. All that is needed is a paradigm shift from thinking inwards to thinking outwards. The beauty of thinking outwards is that little effort is required. To achieve that each of us need only to genuinely care for our fellow humans, be it for their well-being or by offering just our friendship.

This coming August 6, bloggers from around the globe will be blogging simultaneously for 24 hours straight. We bloggers have been known to do weird things but this time it is all for a good cause. This is all made possible by the wonderful people at Blogathon 2005. We will be blogging for charities of our choice. In doing so, we hope we may be able to make a little difference for people who need it most.

Edrei participated in the blogathon last year. He will be doing it again this year and has selected the National Cancer Society of Malaysia. Yvonne Foong will be blogging for Eden Handicap Service Centre. Leo Goh’s charity of choice for this event is UNICEF. I have pledged RM50 each for the respective organisations they have selected. Ee Yean, a blogger from Penang, has chosen to do this for the National Kidney Foundation.

On my part, I have become a reluctant participant in this praiseworthy project. There is no way I can write an entry every thirty minutes for 24 hours. Suanie roped me in as a co-blogger for a new blog that she set up especially for Blogathon 2005. Together with Shaolin Tiger, Minishorts, Paul Tan and Kenny Sia, we will be blogging at bloggersaremorons.com. We will be blogging for the Penang Hospice-At-Home Programme.

Individually, we can only contribute so much to these charities. By coming together and contributing our time and effort, we hope to be able to draw the attention of many more people to these charities and hopefully be able to get them to contribute generously. The non-profit charitable organisations that we have selected have transformed the lives of many for the better. My sincere wish is that all you who have been reading my blog will donate and change even more lives. For details on how to donate, please read this.