When I was in Kuala Lumpur in June 1999, one particular song was playing in William’s car while we were cruising down Jalan Loke Yew. Or was it Eric’s car? My recollections of those times are scant. It was early evening; that I am sure of. Exhaustion from the previous night’s clubbing was catching up. I was exhausted and did not pay much attention to it. Besides, the song was monotonous.

A few months later, my sub-conscious memory tossed out some parts of the catchy lyrics. They made sense. Indeed, those bits were already words of wisdom. I searched for it in Yahoo! and Alta Vista. At that time, I have never heard of Google yet. That song was commonly known as The Sunscreen Song. Its title is Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen).

According to Wikipedia, the lyrics were originally an essay written by Mary Schmich and published in the Chicago Tribune in 1997. It became an urban legend when it was wrongly attributed to novelist Kurt Vonnegut as a commencement speech at MIT. Baz Luhrman, the Australian film director bought the rights to it. The track was read by Australian voice actor Lee Perry while Quindon Tarver performed the chorus.

Whenever I needed a pick-me-up like today, I would play the song to death. Inherently, some parts of it would reach out and touch me. Good sane advice those lyrics. I can identify with many parts of it. It has taught me how to be a better person. Yes, all that from a song that topped the UK Charts in June 1999. This is a song everybody should listen to at least once. Who knows? It may touch you they way it did me.

Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)
Baz Luhrman

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ‘97,

Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable then my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice… now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind, you would not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they’ve faded, but trust me in 20 years, you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future, or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind: the kind that blindsides you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts; don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive; forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters; throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives; some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of Calcium. Be kind to your knees - you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll divorce at 40; maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.

Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body: use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it or what other people think of it; it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.

Dance… even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions even if you don’t follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines; they will only make you feel ugly.

Chorus
Brother and sister together we’ll make it through
Someday a spirit will take you and guide you there
I know you’ve been hurting, but I’ve been waiting to be there for you.
And I’ll be there just helping you out whenever I can.
Everybody’s free.

Get to know your parents; you never know when they’ll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings: they’re your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but that a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps and geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.

Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old; and when you do, you’ll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you’ll have a wealthy spouse, but you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair or by the time you are 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia; dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal - wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me, I’m the sunscreen.

Chorus
Brother and sister together we’ll make it through
Someday a spirit will take you and guide you there
I know you’ve been hurting, but I’ve been waiting to be there for you.
And I’ll be there just helping you out, whenever I can.
Everybody’s free.

Peter, Cheng Ee and I went to pay our respects to Mum on July 8, three days before her Third Death Anniversary as I had to come to Kuala Lumpur on that same day. It began to drizzle just as I alighted from the car. I have forgotten when I last said a prayer for Mum at the columbarium. Nevertheless, being there was enough to invoke sadness in me again. As always, I played the only two songs I know with the harmonica - What A Friend We Have in Jesus and Amazing Grace. Halfway through Amazing Grace, I was overcome by grief and broke down. Seeing her portrait in that niche stirred up so many emotions - the unsaid words, the emptiness, the pain…

Disabled persons and the elderly can breathe a sigh of relief with the announcement that Malaysia Airlines will maintain the discounted airfare for these two categories of passengers. Both categories are accorded a 50% discount for all domestic flights.

I have been commuting between Penang and Kuala Lumpur frequently lately. Flying is the only convenient mode of transportation when I am travelling alone. Getting up and down an express bus is a hassle in addition to the time spent immobile inside it.

Although it is more expensive to travel by air, the journey from the Penang International Airport to Kuala Lumpur International Airport and finally to Stesen Sentral Kuala Lumpur is barrier-free. The various services provide staff to assist me from the moment I check in at Penang up to the time I get out of Stesen Sentral. Until a time when express buses become accessible or high-speed trains are in service, I will continue to travel by air. The extra that I have to pay as compared to an express bus or train ticket is worth the convenience many times over.

Discounted MAS fares stay

By WONG SAI WAN

KUALA LUMPUR: Domestic travellers, particularly the disabled and senior citizens, will continue to get discounted domestic fares on Malaysia Airlines.

The discounted domestic fares on the national carrier due to be discontinued from Aug 1 will go on following a Cabinet decision two weeks ago.

The Cabinet also ordered the national carrier to fly on three more domestic routes – Johor Baru-Kuching, Kuala Lumpur-Tawau and Kuala Lumpur-Sandakan as part of its new aviation policy.

This development is good news for travellers in general as it would mean an open competition between MAS and AirAsia, thus causing fare prices to drop, although the low-cost carrier is unhappy about the decision.

The Government reversed an earlier decision to impose a minimum floor price on MAS for its 22 domestic routes from that date as part of the rationalisation of the domestic routes to allow AirAsia to take over the bulk of the local flights.

Previously, under the Feb 27 agreement between the two airlines, MAS was not allowed to sell its tickets below certain prices and the national carrier even announced that it was withdrawing all its special discounted fares from Aug 1 including the popular supersavers as well as the disabled and senior citizen discounts.

If the decision had stayed, the disabled, senior citizens, members of the security forces and students would have to pay full fare to travel within the country if they chose to fly by MAS.

These special groups used to enjoy a 50% discount of the normal fare. The supersavers fare also gives out a similar discount but was only available during lean periods when air travel was low.

It is reliably learnt that these discounts will now be maintained with this latest decision.

In a statement issued yesterday, the national carrier said it had received a letter from the Transport Ministry informing it of the latest decision.

“The additional three routes are re-instated because all these routes have high international traffic and/or high business class passengers.

“Recently, it was reported in the media that Johor and Sarawak had appealed to the Federal Government to allow MAS to fly the JB-Kuching route. This would provide a genuine choice for customers to choose to fly either via MAS or AirAsia,” the airline said.

MAS managing director/CEO Idris Jala welcomed the latest move by the Government, as it would give MAS a greater flexibility in fixing its domestic prices.

However, the latest decision will not sit well with AirAsia, which sees the floor price as a means of keeping the competition fair between the two airlines.

Last Friday, AirAsia CEO Datuk Tony Fernandes said the floor price needed to be maintained as MAS received a RM1bil subsidy from the Government and the funding made it an unfair competition if MAS did not adhere to a minimum floor price.

In response to the budget airline’s claim, MAS executive director and chief financial officer Tengku Azmil Zahruddin said the national carrier did not get any subsidy from the Government.

“Let me make it very clear that under the new domestic aviation policy, MAS does not receive any subsidy or any other form of assistance from the Government for any part of the domestic business.

“Penerbangan Malaysia Bhd is paying compensation of RM650mil to MAS in line with the contractual terms of the domestic agreement under the Widespread Asset Unbundling Agreement. This is not a subsidy but a one-off contractual obligation. We are using the funds to restructure the business, as this has become necessary as a consequence of terminating the agreement.”

Source: The Star Online

Housework is bogging me down again. Several days ago, as I took a breather after cooking, I pondered over all the chores that I had to perform as a routine. No doubt I could manage most of them but they were also wearing me down physically and mentally. Most evenings, I go to bed totally exhausted.

Many, even disabled persons, have the misconception that to practice Independent Living, the disabled person must be able to live by himself, do everything by himself and at the same time be financially independent. There was also the question of whether securing the services of Personal Assistants in the context of Independent Living will make the person lazy.

Independent Living is a about choices and self-determination. It was initially established to support persons with severe physical disabilities to decide on the kind of life they want to live with the support and involvement of government and society. Among others, this was achieved through the services of Personal Assistants helping the disabled person in his daily activities.

The question of laziness does not arise as severely disabled persons do not possess sufficient motor function to perform tasks unaided. Secondly, disabled persons, either through self-oppression or through the prejudices of society, have been expected to perform at par with the non-disabled. This skewed expectation seldom takes into account the limitations of the environment and the capabilities of disabled persons.

I thought I could live independently without assistance. I did, but at a price. After completing all the chores for the day, I have little time left to do anything else that is meaningful. Essentially, I have been pushing myself over the boundaries of my own abilities. A little assistance would have eased the workload immensely and freed up time for me to work on more significant issues. In short, I was tormenting myself with a jaundiced view of how to living independently should be.

I must recognise and accept my disabilities and its limitations and that there is only so much that I am able to accomplish. While it is commendable for me to attempt to live without assistance, there is a need to draw the line on where I should stop in my attempts to push the limits. There must be a fine balance between ambition and capabilities. The importance of one over the other should not be discounted.

It is imperative that I have the desire to push myself to achieve the seemingly impossible goals. My eagerness to prove that I can make it in spite of my disabilities should not compromise my quality of life. Ultimately, it will boil down to me against myself – my desires against my capabilities. One without the other would make my life less meaningful. On the other hand, too much of one or too little of the other could complicate things.

Having understood the wisdom of that, it is only prudent that I rearrange my priorities. There is a need to get assistance to help me with the chores that are taking too much of my time. I want to be freed from those to enable me to do the things that I love and also work on Independent Living projects. One of my neighbours has been helping me voluntarily with some of the housework.

However, assistance such as this must be sustainable and a service that I can rely on in the long run. Surely I cannot expect my neighbour to do all that for me without any kind of renumeration although time and again she had refused to accept it. What about those who do not have kind neighbours such as mine? This is a learning process and a good case study for me to assess how Independent Living can be initiated and adapted to suit Malaysian culture.

(This entry was written several days before I left for Kuala Lumpur last Saturday.)