Category: Articles

Adventures of a first time voter
by Peter Tan. Posted on April 6, 2013, Saturday

THE announcement that had the entire nation waiting in anticipation has come to pass. Our Prime Minister finally dissolved parliament on Wednesday.

Once again, as a citizen, I am raring to exercise my right to vote for candidates who will serve to protect my interests and that of the people and our nation.

I recall the very first time I voted. It was in 2008. I was residing in Selangor but my voting constituency was in Penang.

On the morning of polling day, my wife Wuan got up early to cast her vote at the polling station just down the road from our house.

The plan was that we would make our way up to Penang after she had performed her duty as a citizen. We expected to begin our journey latest by nine o’clock.

We did not set off until an hour and a half later as the polling station was packed to the brim. Wuan had to wait for nearly one hour for her turn.

We did not even pack anything as we planned to drive back immediately after I had voted.

As soon as we hit the North-South Expressway, we were caught in a crawl due to road widening works and unusually heavy traffic.

Most of the vehicles had Perak, Penang and Kedah plates. They were probably like us rushing back to their respective home towns to vote.

The sky that was blue when we began turned dark halfway. Rained pelted our windscreen mercilessly. We had to slow down due to the limited visibility.

I wondered if we could make it in time before the polling station closed and how I was going to get out from the car in that rain.

There were several nasty traffic accidents along the way. We even counted a 10-car pileup that caused a jam several kilometres long.

Upon nearing Penang, we almost got into an accident. Three vehicles that we were following suddenly stepped on their brakes.

Right before our eyes, the lorry ahead of us skidded. It swerved and almost toppled over, the cargo on its load bed shifted violently from one side to another.

I floored the brake pedal. The road was slippery. I mumbled a silent prayer and swerved the car. It did not skid and came to a stop. That was a very close call.

Traffic came to a crawl again as we crossed onto the island. It was already quarter to four. At the rate we were going, we certainly could not make it in time.

I took several shortcuts to avoid the jam but we were not making good time. As the seconds ticked away, I became more and more edgy.

At close to half past four, we were stuck in another jam. The polling station was just 2km away. The rain not only did not let up but became heavier.

That stretch of road we were passing was notorious for flash floods, especially during monsoon seasons. We inched our way slowly in the fast rising water.

When we finally reached the school where the polling station was located, a policeman at the gate stopped us.

I wound down the window and told him that I am an OKU. He waved us through. It was half past four. We had been on the road for six hours already.

Wuan took my identity card and went to get the number for my polling stream. Each polling station has several polling streams. These were rooms where we collect out ballot papers and cast our votes.

As Wuan was getting the wheelchair out from the car boot, a helpful polling station staff came with an umbrella to shield her from the rain and for me to get out from the car.

There were numerous steps from the car park to the polling stream. Wuan had to lift my wheelchair over these barriers several times.

After the officers in the polling stream verified my identity card and gave me the ballot papers, I wheeled myself to the booth.
I had some difficulty holding the pencil to mark the ballot papers with my weak hand.

After marking the paper for parliamentary seat, I pondered over who to vote for for the state seat. Penangites have a tendency to give the vote to BN for state and DAP for parliament.

I must have taken a little too long to decide because the ballot box officer stood up to peek at me. I quickly marked the other paper and slotted them into the respective ballot boxes.

As I got out from the room, I felt relieved and happy that I made it. That long journey was not in vain.

Traffic on the expressway was smooth the entire trip back. When we reached Ipoh, news trickled in that the alliance of DAP, PKR and PAS had won the majority of seats in Penang.

We reached home at one o’clock in the morning, tired, hungry and in serious need of a warm bath to soothe our aching muscles. A quick check on the Internet before bed revealed that BN also lost Perak and Selangor.

All in all, I had driven 800km in 15 hours for the round trip. I am proud to have exercised my right to vote for the first time after 42 years as a citizen. It was truly an unforgettable adventure.

Comments can reach the writer via columnists@theborneopost.com.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/04/06/adventures-of-a-first-time-voter/

Unstoppable Fariz
by Peter Tan. Posted on March 30, 2013, Saturday

INSPIRATIONAL: Fariz aims to get a PhD in disability studies and publish a book to share his experience.

WHEN faced with devastating life-changing situations, many of us wished we could turn back the clock. We wished we could have done it differently, led a healthier lifestyle or avoided that split second before a horrific accident.

The reality is that there is no turning back in life. Time marches on regardless. We have to move forward and make the best out of the prevailing circumstances, or get left behind. Some retreat from society, unable to accept the tragedies that have befallen them, while others pick up the pieces swiftly and move on in life.

This was what happened to Fariz Abdul Rani after an accident in 1998. Hailing from Kota Kinabalu, he was a first year physics student at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in Bangi when fate dealt him a cruel blow.

The motorcycle that he was riding pillion on skidded. He was flung off and landed on the side of the road. The impact from the helmet hitting the ground severely injured his neck. His spine was fractured at the fifth and seventh cervical vertebra.

Fariz and I got acquainted recently at a Disability Equality Training (DET) course that we both attended. We worked very closely together for two weeks. As I got to know him better, I was impressed by how fast he had climbed up from the depths of his shattering injury to become a successful entrepreneur, and more.

His injury level is similar to mine. He lost the functional use of his arms and legs after the accident. Fortunately, he regained the use of his hands after three months of intensive therapy and is very independent in his activities of daily living.

After he was discharged from the hospital, he went back to live with his parents in Sabah. He spent most of his time at home watching television, chatting online and listening to music. That became his routine as he struggled to come to terms with his impairments.

At one point in time, he really wished he could turn back time as he saw his friends enjoying their teenage years while he was confined to his wheelchair in the house. He wished that he had not ridden pillion on the bike that fateful day. After three long years, he finally decided that there was more to life than just going through the same routine day in and day out. He got a job as an administrative officer in a company specialising in prosthetics where he worked diligently for seven years.

In 2007, Fariz attended the Disability Equality Training (DET) course organised by the Welfare Department and Japanese International Cooperation Agency (Jica) in Kuala Lumpur. He has since conducted DET workshops for the Kota Kinabalu City Hall, Ministry of Transport and many other organisations.

At the same time, he established an advocacy group called Young Voices Sabah under the auspices of the Leonard Cheshire Disability Global Alliance. This group consists of young disabled persons speaking out on disability and development issues, and human rights, among others.

Through the advocacy activities of Young Voices Sabah, many disabled persons became more aware of their rights to full participation in society. It was that time that Fariz noted many of them were unemployed although they were capable.

With that in mind, he established JB Prosthetic and Rehab Supply in 2009 and recruited disabled persons to work for him. The company supplies artificial limbs and rehabilitation equipment. The other reason for setting up such a company was also because he wanted disabled persons to use better quality assistive devices to further enhance their independence.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Fariz co-facilitated a two-week DET workshop in Jordan with Dr Kenji Kuno of Jica in October last year. According to him, it was a good learning experience but also very challenging due to the language and cultural barriers that are totally different from Malaysia.

Nevertheless, disabled persons in Jordan have the same aspirations as disabled persons everywhere else. They too want to live in an inclusive society free from discrimination and systemic barriers. Through the DET workshop, they now have a better understanding of what they need to do to move towards that direction.

Fariz obtained his certification as a senior trainer for DET early this year. That was where we first met and then became good friends. There are four senior trainers in Malaysia. He is the only senior trainer in Sabah. The other three senior trainers, including myself, are based in the Klang Valley.

When asked what he wants to achieve in life, Fariz — who is 33 years old now — said that he wants to get a PhD in disability studies and publish a book to share his experience with other disabled persons. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Psychology with Open University Malaysia as the first step towards realising that ambition.

He is gratified to see that the advocacy activities have borne fruit. The DET workshops that he conducted have changed the mindset of the authorities in Kota Kinabalu as more and more public facilities are being made accessible. This is good news for disabled persons who always had to contend with countless physical barriers every time they went out.

From spending three years in a wheelchair doing the mundane, he has risen back up to become a role model to other disabled persons, an agent of change to make society more inclusive and a successful businessman. That is something many people can only dream of doing.

It has not been easy for Fariz to get to where he is today. He certainly has come a long way since that tragic day in 1998. He has triumphed over his impairments and lived up to the adage that tough times never last but tough people do.

Comments can reach the writer via columnists@theborneopost.com.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/03/30/unstoppable-fariz/

Life on the edge
Posted on March 16, 2013, Saturday

VISITS to the hospital are humbling experiences for me. Seeing sickly people with an anguished demeanour is a stark reminder of my own mortality.

For that reason, I used to dislike going to the hospital. I still do. The smell and the long wait for consultation with doctors are the other major pet peeves.

These visits are necessary for me nonetheless. My kidneys are in bad shape. The periodic check-ups are to ensure that I get proper medical care should there be any change in their condition.

Kidney failure is one of the leading causes of death for people with spinal cord injury. I have been living in the shadow of that fear long before I was diagnosed with it. Many friends in similar condition have succumbed to this disease.

How I came to discover my kidney problem is a story worth telling, however far-fetched it may sound.

I was half-asleep when I heard a familiar voice telling me in Hokkien, “If you don’t take care of yourself, you will not live longer than two years.”

Those words alarmed me. I opened my eyes to look around.

The curtains fluttered in the cool breeze blowing in from the open window. Street lights basked the room in a warm glow.

There was no one else. I was alone in the room. That was my mother’s voice. And she had passed away a few months earlier.

I wanted to dispel that as another dream but those words lingered at the back of my mind, nagging me until I finally got a blood test done a couple of months later.

The results indicated anaemia, unhealthy cholesterol levels and impaired renal function. The damage to the kidneys had progressed to Stage 3 Chronic Kidney Disease.

My serum creatinine level was 188 umol/L. Creatinine is a waste product of muscle activity. It is removed in the kidneys. When the kidneys fail, the creatinine level in the blood rises.

Kidney disease is categorised into five stages. At Stage 1, kidney function is normal with signs pointing to kidney disease.

Stage 5 is also known as End-Stage Renal Failure. Kidney function is severely impaired. Treatment options at this stage are either dialysis or kidney transplant.

At Stage 3, my kidney function was moderately reduced. The urologist put me on medication to relax the overactive bladder that was pushing urine back to the kidneys and advised me to continue with intermittent catherisation.

He then sent me to see the dietician to learn about a low-protein diet. I had to limit my meat and sodium intake. This was to slow down the damage to my kidneys.

Had I not started on the low-protein diet and adhered to the regiment prescribed by the urologist, the condition of my already damaged kidneys would have quickly deteriorated.

A urinary tract infection one year after the diagnosis nudged me into Stage 4. I had to reduce my protein intake even more.

From that day onwards, I was very cautious of what I eat. Each mouthful could potentially damage my kidneys further.

My most recent trip to the hospital was last Monday. It was my first visit to the nephrologist there. Blood test result showed that the serum creatinine is at an all-time high of 301 umol/L.

I have been displaying some of the classic symptoms of severe kidney disease like chronic fatigue, itching and difficulty in concentrating for some time already.

The nephrologist explained that at some point in time I will need dialysis. He prepared me for that eventuality by elaborating on the two options that were available to me other than kidney transplant.

Haemodialysis is the first option. I have to be hooked up to a machine to draw out waste from my blood. Each session takes four to five hours and has to be done three times a week.

The other option is peritoneal dialysis. A catheter is used to fill the abdominal cavity with dialysis solution. The solution draws waste from the body using the membrane in the abdomen called peritoneum as a filter. The waste is then drained away through the same catheter.

With haemodialysis, I have to travel to the centre and spend half a day there. Peritoneal dialysis can be done at home or while I am travelling.

Whichever option that is suitable for me will be assessed by the nephrologist when the time comes. I certainly prefer one that does not restrict my time and freedom for other activities.

I was more saddened than shocked as I listened to the nephrologist. This is an outcome I had expected although I fervently wished it would not happen so soon. I am living on a thin line now. This makes me appreciate life and the people around me even more.

Last but not least, was that my mother coming back to warn me that night? I want to believe that it was so because the blood test prompted by the ‘timely advice’ and subsequent preventive measures in all probability gave me a longer lease on life.

Comments can reach the writer via columnists@theborneopost.com.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/03/16/life-on-the-edge/