Well, I'm off to Ipoh for another round of treatment begining on the 28th. I'll be hospitalised for 5 days, at least. In the meantime I'm slowly turning into a tree...  

I was watching the American Idol final tonight and Astro kept hitting viewers with their Akademi Fantasia advertisements. They must think they're brilliant - targetting music fans. At the risk of getting bashed up by my fellow patriotic Malaysians, all they proved is that it's possible for 12 retarded monkeys to say "Duh...got da fever?"  

Two women have died recently as a result of snatch thefts. Many others have suffered trauma and related problems. I say whack the bastards to death. "Dare to do, bear the consequences." 

Yes, another snatch theft victim has died, shortly after the first. The media will now go into a frenzy, highlighting everything that remotely resembles the flavour of the month, i.e. a snatch theft.

Anyone who's mother's regular tailor's friend's sister-in-law's 3rd cousin removed who's had a snatch theft experience will now be interviewed and splashed all over the newspapers.

Sigh...we never learn, do we? This blog has always been bitching about Malaysians' reluctance to take constructive action on issues that matter. Read my post "Ho Hum...another day in Malaysia".

Now another innocent life has been taken. Another young family has lost a loving mother. There will be a hoo hah for two months - the public will express outrage, politicians will jump on the bandwagon calling for action, the police will make the right noises and token gestures and then everything will die down, as usual.

Untill the next death. I have said this many times. We need long term solutions, not short term stop-gap measures.

The only good thing to come out of this unfortunate mess is that the public actually went to the aid of a snatch theft victim in Klang, caught the perpetrator and beat the crap out of him. He was sent to hospital, went into a coma and died.

The police naturally issued a statement praising the public for helping the woman but urging them not to take matters into their own hands.

Heeelllooo, what do you expect?

I for one, unashamedly salute those guys who whacked the snatch thief bastard to death. Good job, you guys. Let them know that there WILL be consequences.

This is no fun...trust me. 

I am slowly turning into a piece of wood, day by day. Approximately one month after the IVIG treatment, the effects are quickly beginning to wear off. Dr Prefix had pronounced a 50% improvement just 2 days earlier and I was beginning to have some hope of recovery when everything crashed and started to go downhill.

Those who are new to my blog are probably wondering wtf I’m blabbering about. Please read “our changing values in life parts 1,2 and 3” in the archive section if you have the time and inclination.

So it looks like I’m probably never going to recover. Instead of spanking the monkey, I’m probably going to have to carry this monkey on my back till I die. Oh well, I’ve had a good life so far and I can always pull the plug if I get fed up enough.

Today’s last and final “lessons from the hospital” that I wish to share with you is that you should take the effort to consciously look after your health. Yeah, yeah, I know you’ve been there, heard that repeatedly, want me to shut the fuck up cos its boring stuff.

It’s your choice, dude. There’s no two ways about it. You can either look after yourself or you can pay in Ringgit. Trust me, when I say pay, I mean PAY. You have to stay healthy to avoid serious financial loss.

What’s that? You have insurance, do you? Well, so do I. RM4000+ worth a year in premium to be exact. The agent assured me I was covered for everything when I forked over my money. Now he says “Sorrylah, that one not covered.” Insurance companies are not stupid. They’re in business to make money, not for charity.

Don’t even get me started on the government hospitals here in Malaysia. You’ve either just had a Lobotomy or desperately need one if you think you can depend on them.

Anyway, it’s good to have insurance and to know that the GH is there, but these are not the solutions. The solution is simple really – take care of yourself. If you do look after yourself but still end up with some horrid disease, than blame your bloody karma and go smoke some Jamaican weed to forget your sorrows.

Talking about sorrows, in today’s “instant” society and ultra fast paced lifestyle, we have to watch out for heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol. Add excessive drinking and smoking and you’ve got a potent mix.

Medical costs are rising. The cost of medical supplies is going up. The cost of medical procedures and treatment is going up. The cost of managed healthcare is escalating. Imagine the medical costs for someone who has a disease and who needs to see six doctors before he can be diagnosed accurately.

You do the math. Can you afford to pay specialists’ fees on a long-term basis? On a life-long basis? Treatments may need to be repeated. There will be many hospital admissions over many years. Most insurance companies will make a one-time-only payment on diagnosis of a lifelong illness. You will experience loss of income as you become unable to work.

I’ve already forked out close to RM30, 000 so far. It costs about RM40, 000 for a coronary bypass, RM40, 000 to 85,000 for a device known as an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator, a life saving device for post heart attack survivors. Temporary alternatives to heart transplants cost upwards of RM100, 000.

Do I have your attention now? You need to invest in your health right now.

Start simple. Monitor what you eat, because the calories you eat now will hold you accountable in the future. For example, a plate of nasi lemak complete with chicken and sotong (cuttlefish) is not only 1230 calories; it is dripping with saturated fat from the santan (coconut milk).

You will need to walk for more than three hours to burn that off. We only need about 1800 – 2000 calories a day. Just because you are in good health now is no reason to neglect yourself. Everybody ages, and our bodily systems start to slow and break down.

I care about you, that’s why I wrote this
- look after yourself, dude

The same arch, on the reverse side 

A Chinese Temple entrance arch beautifully lit up against the night sky, also found in Klang while driving back to KL  

A close-up of that same hawker center... 

This is a newly-opened hawker center in Klang that believes in innovative lighting 

Went to Klang recently to have dinner with my sister Manjit, who was down from Myanmar. Ended up in a place called Port Seafood Village in Tg Harapan, which has a loooong walkway to reach the seaside restaurant. How long? See for yourself. 

Today I'm the mood to bitch, mainly cos some motherfucker blocked my car and made me sit on my ass for 45 minutes waiting for him to return. He then calmly got into his car and drove off when I politely inquired why he had blocked my car. Apparently I was invisible. Talk about adding insult to injury!! I should have given in to my darker side and scratched his lovely car. Mine's the ugly green proton. Arrrrggghhhh!!!  

Here's a picture of my doctor. At least, that's how it feels...