Balai Bomba dan Penyelamat Jalan Perak.

I was trying to get the building manager of my apartment to draw up a Contingency Plan for Fire and Emergencies and to remove all obstacles that may prevent unfettered access of fire engines into the premises. Alone, I was a solitary voice crying out for help and achieved little. Mack saw that I needed help and roared loud on my behalf. Mack has elevated this crusade into getting the people concerned to come out with a systematic building evacuation plan for the mobility impaired living in high-rise dwellings nationwide. His banner campaign has beyond doubt reached a wide spectrum of people from all over Malaysia. He has also met with people from the media with the hope of getting them to draw attention to this cause. Unfortunately, editorial policies dictated otherwise.

Nevertheless, many bloggers have come out in support of this banner campaign. To all of you who have adopted the banner campaign in your blogs, I would like to thank you sincerely from the bottom of my heart. This means a lot to me because I have not met many of you but you were concerned enough for my well-being and the safety of thousands of others who are in the same predicament as mine to allow Mack and me to use your blogs to shout even louder. God bless you all.

Raja Munir Shah, despite his busy schedule, took the time to highlight my predicament to the Political Secretary to the Chief Minister of Penang. With his effort, a meeting has been set up with the Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang this coming Monday. He has invited all high-rise dwellers to join us. We are certain that many residential high-rise buildings are currently facing similar problems as mine, especially regarding indiscriminate parking of vehicles and other obstructions that may hamper rescue efforts. I hope this meeting will be the first step towards the objective of getting a full-fledged evacuation plan implemented nationwide.

If there is anything that I learnt from all this is that I now know that there are more kindhearted people out there than I realised. They are ever willing to lend a helping hand whenever there is a need. Mack Zulkifli and Raja Munir Shah are glowing examples of such altruism. All I needed to do was holler and they came to assist unconditionally in any way they could. This has proven that Malaysia indeed has a community of caring people. Collectively, both of them and all the bloggers who adopted the banner campaign have made my voice louder and the silent voices heard. I can never thank you all enough. The road ahead is still long. Lets persevere till the realisation of the systematic evacuation plan. That I am absolutely certain will save lives when the need arises.

Related category:
Building Manager from Hell

Photo by Wuan.

While we were chatting in ICQ last night, Mack remarked, “Imagine that a PFS boy and a SXI boy working together.”

Mack is an old boy of the Penang Free School. I am a La Sallian, studied nine years at the now defunct Penang La Salle School and two more years at the St. Xavier’s Institution, another Christian Brothers School. The rivalry of our alma maters go back a long way. I have participated in several such “skirmishes” during Scouts’ campfires and gatherings where we try to out-drown the singing of the Frees. It is all friendly and in good fun though. These encounters are what made the events more exciting. I do have many good friends who have studied at the PFS. Mack has just become another.

What Mack and I are doing is not about old boys of rival schools coming together and cooperating on a common issue. It is more than that. It is about a Malay and a Chinese working together. It is about a Muslim and a Christian working together. It is about the abled looking after the welfare of the disabled. But that is where our differences end. We are similar in many more ways than we ever realised.

This truly is a story about one human who saw the need of another human and decided something must be done before it is too late. It is all about one Malaysian coming to the aid of another Malaysian. This is what Malaysia is all about. This is what Malaysians should be doing, disregarding colour and creed and coming together to lend a helping hand in the spirit of muhibbah. This is what makes me proud to be a Malaysian.

Related category:
Building Manager from Hell

Related entry:
Life, or something like that ~ Brand New Malaysian

Some have the misconception that Mack Zulkifli’s banner campaign urging the building manager of the apartment where I am staying and the relevant authorities to draw up an evacuation plan is for me. No, it is not. This issue is not about Peter Tan solely. Take me out of the equation and there are still hundreds, if not thousands, of mobility-challenged people who are staying in high-rise dwellings in Penang and all over Malaysia.

My predicament is known because I have a blog. Think about those silent voices that need assisted-evacuation too. Their voices are not heard because they have no avenue to express their fears. Their lives are equally at risk as mine. They need a systematic evacuation plan as much as I do. Their lives are just as valuable as anybody else’s who is able and healthy. What if these are people you love and care about?

People who require assisted-evacuation are not only the physically disabled like me. The elderly and those whose pregnancy are in the advanced stages will need some form of assistance as well. Their predicament must not be overlooked. As I have mentioned in The Fiefdom of Taman Pekaka, people who live in high-rise dwellings will grow old. People who live in high-rise dwellings do become disabled. We continue staying here despite the circumstances simply because that is the only abode we can afford.

In our quest to become a developed nation by 2020, let us not forget to develop our compassion as well. It is people that make a nation. To be a nation that can truly stand proud and tall, we must be a nation that looks after the needs of our citizens, whether less privileged or not, without prejudice.

A nation that marches relentlessly on in the pursuit of development but ignore the intrinsic value of her most valuable asset, her citizens, is a nation that is devoid of a soul. Do we want to be that? No? We certainly are marching in that direction when the cries of the under-privileged are largely ignored.

Speak up for the silent voices. Make their plight heard through your blogs. They deserve as much help as the heartwarming concern some of you bloggers have showered me with. Every life is worth saving. I humbly ask you to help me here, not for me exclusively but for all those who need assisted-evacuation during disasters. Write about this. Add the banner to your blog. Every voice counts. Giving the less privileged hope and a chance to live is one of the noblest things you can do. Thank you.

Related category:
Building Manager from Hell

Related entries from Brand New Malaysian:
Too late is not early enough
Proposed Act for the enhancement of facilities to the disabled
Taking small steps forward

Photo by Wuan.

When my second maternal aunt heard that I am having problems with my kidneys, she called me up. “Try the small petai,” she said. “My neighbour here, dried the pods, steeped it in hot water and drank it. When she went back to see the doctor, her condition improved tremendously.”

There used to be a plot of vacant land beside my house. The neighbourhood kids and I would play there and occasionally pluck the petai belalang, peeled open the pods and ate the seeds inside. It tasted slightly sweet with a pungent smell, not unlike that of petai. It proliferates well in secondary forests and cleared lands. In Penang, several plots of vacant lands around Jalan Mahsuri are overgrown with the petai belalang trees.

Petai belalang (Leucaena leucocephala) is known among diabetics here for its blood glucose lowering properties. I have also heard of someone who was diagnosed with kidney cancer looking for petai belalang because it supposedly helps too. It is used most extensively as cattlefeed. It is more commonly known as cowbush because of that.

As for me, I will stick to my current regiment. Many who are concerned with my well-being have suggested alternative remedies. I know they meant well but I trust Dr. Liong best with the care of my kidneys. Moreover, there is no point in risking further damage to my kidneys by using folk remedies that have not been scientifically tested for efficacy and toxicity.

Photo by Wuan.

My mind has been muddled of late. Too many things have been happening at the same time. All needed immediate attention. Solving each needed more than all the effort I could muster. It is good that Wuan is here. Although there was little she could do to help me disentangle those issues, her presence is comforting. She had specifically scheduled her leave, travelled all the way from Kuala Lumpur, to accompany me to the hospital.

I have more or less adhered to the prescribed diet. Meat has become a luxury. I have never eaten as much vegetables and fruits and tasteless food in my life. Still, there was an unshakeable anxiety. Figures - it was all about figures. The three specific digits contained within my blood that would reveal if the effort of the past three months was successful. I have been waiting for this day. It has been the longest ninety days of my life.

249 were not exactly the numbers I had expected. All the same, that was less than the previous creatinine level of 262 umol/l. The past three months were not in vain. The uric acid had gone down to 393 umol/l from 433 umol/l which is below the reference range of 420 umol/l. It was a small victory no doubt. My diet is working. Dr. Liong was still not happy with that. He warned me about the problems I will be facing if I do not look after my kidneys. He painted such a grim picture of renal dialysis that he did not need to do much more to convince me to stick to my current medication, diet and intermittent catheterisation routine religiously.

That is one hitch straightened out for the moment. The rest I am leaving for another day. I am certain that in time, I will be able to find a way out for each of them. If I cannot, God will no doubt make sure that I do. For now, I am going to sit back and reflect on the goodness that I have been blessed with. I am still alive. That is what matters most. At the same time, I am going to enjoy Wuan’s company. Thank God for the little mercies that has made life beautiful despite the circumstances.