Near misses

Once, I almost got robbed. I was walking by a row of shophouses (all closed) in Jalan Sultan when someone who walk briskly in front of me suddenly took out a knife and asked for money.

Instead of giving in, I look pass him and said "Kau nak matikah. Ada polis kat belakang kau" (Do you want to die? There is a policeman behind you). He calmly put back his knife in his bag and walked away. It was my turn to walk away briskly as there was no one in sight.

My mother who was alone at my sister's house in Ampang opened the front door upon seeing a middle aged woman at the gate asking for a glass of water.

She innocently went in and took a glass of water for the stranger who had by then sat at the door. The woman did not drink but somehow, my mother felt sleepy and almost fell asleep.

Realising that something was not right, she recited some Quranic verses causing the other woman to be restless.

She immediately walked away.

In the 70s, a day after my grandmother passed away, we woke up to find some jewellery belonging to an aunt who slept over missing. The kitchen door was prised open. Everyone slept like a log that night.

The police came 15 hours later and dusted for fingerprints but the culprit was never identified.

A few years ago, I had to withdraw a large sum of money from a bank to be deposited into another bank located just 10 shops away.

Because of the amount, I had to be brought into a special room. That's a giveaway of the amount I had and everyone at the banking hall was looking at me.

I stuffed everything in my trousers pockets and the bank officers advised me to walk fast as an officer would be tailing me in case anything bad happened.

I felt everyone on the road was looking at me. Everyone looked suspicious, and I heaved a heavy sigh of relief as I stepped into the banking hall of the other bank.

The second incident was an attempt to "pukau" my mother while the third was apparently a "pukau" as no one woke up. The lightest sleeper among us slept through the night but it might have been due to tiredness as it was a busy day and night for us preparing for the funeral and also hosting a kenduri the same night.

Nevertheless, everyone should be aware of the surroundings. Better be safe than sorry and I admit i was foolish for not using the electronic transfer or a cheque for that matter.

My pet tiger

It was a sad day for nature really. A pregnant tiger was killed when a car rammed into the poor animal at Lebuhraya Pantai Timur (an expressway linking Kuala Lumpur to the east coast states) recently.
An autopsy showed it was carrying two cubs. Condolences also to the person who knocked into the magnificent creature. It must have been a heart wrenching experience for him too, never mind the extensive damage the MPV suffered.
The story reminds me of a wonderful experience I had in Malacca many years ago. I was attached to the Malacca bureau and one day a friend told me a man was keeping a tiger cub and a bear at home, apparently to train them to get acquainted with human.
I approached the man and told him I wanted to write about his experience in handling the animals. Fearing for repercussions, he was naturally reluctant but I managed to convince him.
I grew attached to the animals as I waited for a photographer from KL to assist me as I visited them almost daily to play with them.
Both were playful, but the tiger cub was especially naughty, and can be quite rough as I wrestle with him on the floor.
The bear was more subdued but I love the cat.
The house was sparse, no furniture as they clawed and scratched all over. It was a bungalow with ample space outside too.
When Saleh Osman arrived, the interview was done and there were photo sessions. The article was published in the Lifestyle section of the New Straits Times.
Then I was posted to the headquarters as a reporter with The Malay Mail (a then sister publication of the NST).
Several months later, an NST news editor came over to my desk and said "Your tiger was "detained" as it has clawed a neighbour's maid".
I was stunned. Later I was told the tiger which was playing in the garden had jumped into the neighbour's compound and scared the woman by touching her shoulder. She in turn slapped the tiger's face and the tiger must have slapped her back!
She screamed for help and police and the forest rangers came to pick up the tiger and sent him to the Malacca Zoo.
A few years later, when I visited the Zoo (it was my favourite pastime visiting zoos then), I asked the keeper which one was it. I came over to the fence and there he was, in all his stride and manificence, came to rub his body against the fence.
He remembered! Too bad I was not allowed to come close as I would have hugged him tight. Don't know if he is still alive but the memories came flooding after reading about the tiger which was killed in an expressway accident.
Her partner would have longed for her and the cubs would have grown into beautiful creatures roaming the jungle which has been reduced to size due to development.

Its a hospital life

It was not a good start for Shahrul Aiman. Just before he was due to enrol at Sunway College for his ACCA, Shahrul was down with dengue fever. And a few days into attending classes, he was attacked by measles.

I am writing this posting a few hours after taking him home after being discharged from KPJ Rawang, a private hospital, about 10 to 12km from home.

But he was determined to catch up with hs studies and wants to go back to his dorm, which is actually a condominium, right smack in the middle of Sunway, a satellite city in the fringe of KL.

I am sure he is strong enough to weather the storm.

Which reminds me of an incident which happened in 2010 at about the same time now.

My appendix burst before the ops and the doctor said it was a mess. I had to stay longer at Ampang Puteri as what supposed to be a minor op, turned out to be quite a major one.

Wifey had been going in and out of hospital for several years due to asthma but last year was a hospital free year for her.

My two girls are not unfamiliar with hospital life also because of asthma.

Hoping that our luck will turn for the better from now on. Insya-Allah. God willing.

A view from the hospital room and below is a selfie in the room as the patient refuses to have his picture taken