Park at Car Park Operator's Risks

Many Malaysians have experienced having their cars being broke into and stuff being stolen from their cars. What can you do after that? Report police and cry all the way home while driving with a broken window apparently hacked by thieves who broke into your car.

What can you do with that police report? Claim insurance to fix your window?

Can you claim against those car park operators who have a big signboard hanging at the car park entrance telling all car owners that they are going to park at their own risk. So how? Blame yourself for parking at that spot? Blame yourself that of all car parks and you have to choose that car park?

From now onwards, all car owners can park at the car park operator's risks ....... hahahaha. Yes! It's true. A magistrate court in Penang has set a good legal precedent (good for me lah) that a car park operator cannot rely on their big signboard discounting their liabilities, one of which is theft.

In this case between a car owner who has lots items such as compact disc and cassette player with a CD of a compilation of Neil Diamond’s songs, an amplifier, and a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses.

The car owner stated that he has paid RM2.40 to park at the car park facilitated by Timur Car Park Sdn Bhd ("TCP"). I assume that you have to show the official receipt for that RM2.40. Keep your receipts from today onwards. Throw it after you have driven your car away.

The victim also claimed he parked near a lamppost with 50 to 60 other cars being there at the same time. He also stated that one or two of TCP's workers do patrol the car park on a motorcycle.

TCP argued that they had only provided parking facility and do not provide any security service to ensure that the cars are safe from any theft. Besides that, TCP also said that the victim may have not lock his car / activate the alarm system / failed to ensure that the alarm system and the locks of the car doors were all functioning well.

TCP lost the case anyhow. The victim was awarded RM1,668 and with interest and cost on top of the amount claimed. What a victory! If you are a car park operator cum owner reading this blog post, you better buck up if your car park area is prone to theft.

As for those who still leave their laptops, digital cameras or mobile phones ...... don't know what to say to you if it had been stolen from your cars (presumably in the car boot). Nowadays, the thieves have those battery 'electrical current' detectors and it could detect whether your cars are keeping any of those gadgets at a car park bay located in shopping centre, hotel, condo area or public/private car park.

In this instance, I'm not sure how the court will rule. Maybe you are at fault too. Or the car park operators are now liable for any theft.

Reading: ‘Park at own risk’ sign no shield from liability - Star
Tags: Park At Own Risk, Car Park, Car Park Operator, Car Theft, Timur Car Park Sdn Bhd, Magistrate Court

Pizza Restaurants Facing Threats?

Will Malaysian pizza parlours face threats from the latest pizza company?

This new company can run with the lowest staff personnel, lowest shop rental rate or lowest operating cost. How are you going to challenge this new frontier?

The founder, thinker, inventor, the big dreamer went all the way to create a vending machine to produce a pizza. Yeah, only a vending machine.

This vending machine, named "Let's Pizza", will have containers pouring out flour, water, tomato sauce, and fresh ingredients to produce the pizza as requested via buttons on the vending machine. It will take only three three minutes. This is much faster than those local pizza parlours.

How much is one of this pizza then? Only US$5 or 4 Euros minimum for either the Margherita, bacon, ham or fresh greens choices. Much cheaper than those local pizza parlours.

What if you want to be part of this business venture and challenge the likes of other pizza parlours found in Malaysia.

How much is it to set up this venture? First, you have to buy that vending machine at a cost of US$32,000. Then pay for the high transportation cost to Malaysia where the customs may tax you double or triple the amount, topped up by other local taxes and licensing fees.

Might as well just eat at the local pizza parlours hehehehe. Well, never try never know forever.

The inventor, Claudio Torghele, gave a try and will be going places soon ...... at the moment, in Italy only.

Reading: In Italy, a Vending Machine Even Makes the Pizza - New York Times

(Picture sourced from CNET Asia)
Tags: Claudio Torghele, Let's Pizza, Margherita, Pizza Parlours, Pizza Vending Machine

Long Walk in Dubai Airport

Arrived at Dubai around 12.15am on Tuesday early morning. Walked fast to the transfer desk to collect my ticket for the connecting flight to KL. Lots of flights came and thus, the long queues.

The long queue is not just at the transfer desk but at the security checkpoints before you are allowed into the departure area. Just have to have the right sense to pick the line that is moving faster than other lines. This time, I was correct.

Down at the departure area where they have big signboards to direct you to the right places in this big Dubai International Airport. My boarding gate back to KL is at 121, on the other side of the Terminal 1. Long long way to walk.

I never walk alone here as this airport has registered around 9.5m passengers just for the first quarter of the year.

Their duty free shopping area is just like a large departmental store located in the centre of the airport.

The Perfume section is where I get perfumes for my ownself. I bought myself a Davidoff Silver Shadow Private.
You can almost find anything in this duty free shopping area. You would see passengers queuing up at each payment counter.

Gate 121, Gate 121 ......... wow still long way to go and just look at the crowd. It's more like a departmental store than an airport.

Gold and Jewellery - gold stuff is much cheaper here compared to KL market. Forgotten the rate but I know it's cheaper.

Of course when you buy a big quantity, you'll see the difference.

They sell more watches here than any other departmental stores found in KL.

The middle eastern designed teapots? Aladdin's genie lamps? Lots of them and it's too big for me to bring one back.

The latest mobile phones and cameras are definitely found here. Prices for such gadgets are not cheap in Dubai. Advisable to buy it back home in KL.








This is the connecting section between Terminal 1 and the new Terminal 3 building.















This is the duty free shopping centre area for Terminal 1.

The crowd has certainly dwindled much as almost all flights would land in Terminal 3. Only certain flights will depart from Terminal 1, flights like mine.

Compared to the yesteryears when I took a picture in Sept 2006, the crowd here was madness as this place was very much smaller than the current huge Terminal 3 building.

Got into my 3.15am flight and managed to catch up with three movies by the time I reached KL, namely Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia, Eagle Eye and Max Payne. Yeah, I'm quite far back.

Oh yes, I watched Transporter 3 during the flight from Khartoum to Dubai.

Tags: Dubai International Airport, Dubai Airport Terminal 1, Dubai Airport Terminal 3, Davidoff Silver Shadow Private, Transporter 3, Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia, Eagle Eye, Max Payne

Guy & Gal Colleagues Sharing Room

Heard of any male and female colleagues going overseas for office work purpose and forced to stay in the same room because the company didn't book two rooms?

Tourist guides in Malaysia face that scenario for umpteenth years. The Malaysian Women Tourist Guide had tried to fight for female and male tourist guides to be given separate rooms ever since 2006. It was met with resistance from some travel agencies as the new association started their campaign.

The Ministry of Tourism has at last decided to impose a ban on such room sharing between female and male colleagues with effect from 1 June 2009. I got one very big question. If the government deemed it to be a very serious case in sharing rooms, why effect the law only on 1 June and not with immediate effect? This, I really can't comprehend.

Why do such travel agencies practise that? It's all about money. The owners of those few travel agencies are just saving a few more hundreds at the expense of those female staff. Do they care? No, precisely!

What if those female tourist guides were to protest to their bosses? They won't as they will lose their job for sure.

Well, I would urge those female tourist guides to complain straightaway to the Ministry of Tourism as the new law states that any travel agencies that repeat the same threat, their licences will be revoked. Bravo! That's the way to force those "profit oriented at the expense of female staff" owners.

I have this friend who has the same situation and if you are reading this, don't worry, I won't reveal your name or even your ridiculous company.

She's comes from a different industry. Her company will showcase their company's products in international exhibitions. One of the bosses will go for sure and two colleagues would go along to assist in the exhibition. She requested to go along for exposure purposes.

As the day came, she was called to see the boss and was told to keep silent that she will be sharing a room with another male colleague. Reasons were not given and she didn't ask. When the husband came to know about it, he was mad and said that it's all because that the wife didn't question and protest about it. The husband kept quiet too and was angry inside but let her go for it ????????????????

My lady friend said the guy whom she had shared the room with is just a mid 20s fella and innocent fellow. Yeah, tell me about it. That was early part of the year which I didn't know about it.

In the coming month, she's about to go again for another overseas exhibition. It's only when I sounded to her that it's total ridiculous on such arrangement, that she said it's ok because she had done it already and he's innocent. Nothing happened to them on the first trip and they draw their lines very strictly. The husband? He let her go.

I told her to protest loudly, not by shouting but make it known to them vocally. She said it's quite difficult and anyway, she don't intend to stay long in this company. She had few reasons. One of the them is to gather as many overseas contacts as possible and move on to other companies that see her overseas contacts as an asset. The other reason is that the economy is not good and it's not easy to find a job nowadays. She's quite sure the company may ask her to quit if she protest.

I only asked her a few questions and asked her to think of it seriously:-

1. If the guy picks up his guts and do something funny to her, to whom can she complain to as it was not a known arrangement but kept secret from everyone.
2. If the guy decides to molest or even managed to rape her, is she prepared to face the rest of the colleagues, family members and her kids/husband. I told her that she has agreed to share room and a legal suit against the colleague may not succeed as she indirectly said yes to it. Is she prepared to fight it out in a legal suit in the first place?
3. For the sake of overseas contacts, she was willing to risk it for her future?
4. She rather take the risk then to protest against the bosses fearing the loss of her job?
5. What made her think that a mid 20s guy is innocent in sex or say lust? I told her that she's too naive to think this way about a guy who's sleeping in the same room (though different bed).

I said that as a friend, I'm asking her to re-consider her decision to which she said that I don't understand her situation. I have done my part and it's all up to her now. She's confident that she can handle him.

I want the government to know that such practise is not found within travel agencies only. Don't be so naive either.

In most cases, the ladies are at fault for not voicing out fearing loss of jobs rather than protecting their dignity. You, as a lady, may argue on a different point of view as I don't look at situations faced by the ladies. Yeah, this world has changed and such things are not looked down nowadays but rather ............. "Wow, you are brave to do it" or "Did anything happen between you two?" or "C'mon, don't tell me you didn't feel the urge".

(If you want to comment on this posting, please ensure no lewd remarks)

Reading: Female tourist guides welcome ban on twin sharing - Star
Tags: Female Tourist Guides, Colleagues Sharing Room, Ministry of Tourism, Malaysian Women Tourist Guide

Best Offer from Bank of China

Before receiving such email as below, I have been receiving tons of emails from supposedly Africans of African nations. This is the first time such email has been linked to an East Asian bank.

Such fraudsters will be hoping that you respond to their emails and get you to commit a certain sum for the purported legal and administrative fees to cover whatever expenses required to obtain those funds supposedly stashed up in the untouched bank account.

I would have been a multi-billionaire by now if all those emails were true hahaha. In the first place, how did they obtain my email address?

And this Liu Yan has the audacity to tell us that this fund is legal (if it was true). This would have been considered money laundering.

One thing about this guy or girl or people, it's written in good english / they got the Bank's wrong / the Bank's address is correct / there is such a BOCHK Charitable Foundation.

Now the big catch. When you google for the name of General Mohammed Jassim Ali, you can find it all over the google search results.

------------------------------------------
FROM: Mr.Liu Yan
Bank of China Ltd.
13/F. Bank of China Tower
1 Garden Road
Hong Kong

I sincerely ask for forgiveness for I know this may seem like a complete intrusion to your privacy but right about now this is my option of communication. This mail might come to you as a surprise and the temptation to ignore it as unserious could come into your mind; but please consider it a divine wish and accept it with a deep sense of humility.

This letter must surprise you because we have never meet before neither in person nor by correspondence,but I believe that it takes just one day to meet or know someone either physically or through correspondence.

I got your contact through my personal search, you were revealed as being quite astute in private entrepreneurship,and one has no doubt in your ability to handle a financial business transaction. I am Mr. Liu Yan a Transfer Supervisor Operations in Investment Section in Bank of China Ltd., Secretariat of the BOCHK Charitable Foundation, 13/F., Bank of China Tower, 1 Garden Road, Hong Kong. I have an obscured business suggestion for you.

Before the U.S and Iraqi war our client General Mohammed Jassim Ali who work with the Iraqi forces and also business man made a numbered fixed deposit for 18 calendar months, with a value of (I will disclose amount upon your reply) in my branch.

Upon maturity several notices was sent to him, even early in the war,again after the war another notification was sent and still no response came from him.

We later find out that General Mohammed Jassim Ali and his family had been killed during the war in a bomb blast that hit their home.After further investigation it was also discovered that General Mohammed Jassim Ali did not declare any next of kin in his official papers including the paper work of his bank deposit. And he also confided in me the last time he was at my office that no one except me knew of his deposit in my bank. So, (I will disclose amount upon your reply) is still lying in my bank and no one will ever come forward to claim it. What bothers me most is that, according to the to the laws of my country at the expiration 3 years the funds will revert to the ownership of the Hong Kong Government if nobody applies to claim the funds.

Against this backdrop, my suggestion to you is that I will like you as a foreigner to stand as the next of kin to General Mohammed Jassim Ali so that you will be able to receive his funds.

I want you to know that I have had everything planned out so that we shall come out successful.I have contacted an attorney who will prepare the legal documents that will back you up as the next of kin to General Mohammed Jassim Ali, all what is required from you at this stage is for you to provide me with your Full Names, private phone number and Address so that the attorney can commence his job. After you have been made the next of kin, the attorney will also fill in for claims on your behalf and secure the necessary approval and letter of probate in your favor for the transfer of the funds to an account that will be provided by you with my guidance.

There is no risk involved at all in the matter as we are going adopt a legalized method and the attorney will prepare all the necessary documents.

Please endeavor to observe utmost discretion in all matters concerning this issue. Once the funds have been transferred to your nominated bank account we shall discuss the percentage issue on your reply.

If you are interested please send me a mail on (liuyan_9bnkofchn@yahoo.com.hk) and your full names and current residential address, and I will prefer you to reach me on my private and secure email address below and finally after that I shall provide you with more details of this operation.

Kind Regards
Liu Yan
------------------------------------------

One short sentence before I end this posting - there is no short cut to become rich, only hard works. By the way, any one want to contact Liu Yan to check on this deal?
Tags: Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, Bank of China Tower, BOCHK Charitable Foundation, General Mohammed Jassim Ali, Liu Yan, Hong Kong Government

Prices of Cars in Canada

One evening after work, we wanted to buy some groceries or simple food stuff from a supermarket but ended up at Ozone Cafe located across the other side of the city.

As it was only 6pm plus, I ordered a Strawberry Tart (7 Sudanese Dinar), a cup of Vanilla Milkshake (10 Sudanese Dinar) and a small bottle of Safia Pure Water (3 Sudanese Dinar). With this it's already around US$8.70.






Chocolate Truffle ordered by Nazril. I think it was 7 Sudanese Dinar too.

This cafe is situated at a large roundabout. There's parking within the place and if you were to come later at night, you may have to park and cross the road to come into this large roundabout.

Don't know why they would approve such a restaurant in the centre of a roundabout. I'ts quite dangerous for customers to run across the heavy traffic roads around it.

As we relaxing ourselves, I picked up The Gazette newspaper from Canada at their newspapers stand. It's outdated anyway. As I flipped through the newspaper, I felt sad for my fellow citizens of Malaysia.

Managed to take a few snaps of some advertisements for your viewing.

Firstly, the BMW 323i model in Canada is available at a monthly instalment of C$445. That too, your downpayment is around C$6,000++.

Bearing in mind that this monthly instalment rate is for a four year financial loan period, not a nine year loan period as found in Malaysia.

In Malaysia, you have to incur above RM2,000 per month for this BMW model for a nine year loan period. Malaysia priced it at RM338,000.

Next you could purchase the 2009 Honda Accord LX model at a monthly instalment of C$268. Maybe we can afford to purchase the Honda's four tyres with RM268 per month. Malaysia is selling the 2.0L model at RM136,800.

The 2009 Honda CR-V LX model is available at C$298 per month. In Malaysia, it's only RM147,800.

If at a dollar to dollar comparison, Canadians could afford to buy any car they want and replace their car within a short period of usage. At the rate of RM298 per month for example, we can't even afford to buy the cheapest national car of Malaysia.

Next few pages, the Nissan cars. You could obtain a 2009 Nissan Versa Hatchback at C$159 for the monthly instalment payment.

Best of all, you could get yourself the 2009 Nissan Murano at a bargain price of C$21,898. In Malaysia, the price is going at a staggering price of RM370,000.

How come? Why deny us the privilege to drive such a nice car?

This 2009 Mazda 3 Sedan is being retailed at C$15,995 compared to Malaysia's retail price of RM133,515.

The Mini Cooper 2009, another latest model, is found in Canada at a best price of C$349 per monthly instalment. Very cheap in Malaysia for the rich and famous people of course, retailing at RM195,000 only.

Monthly instalment at nine long years, as permitted by banks, could be around RM2,000 with a 10% downpayment.

Any Malaysian would have been able to afford a Mercedes Benz.

The B170 model is being sold at C$23,900 compared to Malaysia's price of RM220,000.

The C-Class Merz is being retailed at C$24,900. The Merz C-200 Kompressor in Malaysia is being sold at RM238,888.

The mouth watering SLK Merz convertible ..... oh my ...... only C$41,900. In Malaysia, don't even dream about it with our salaries, the SLK200 Kompressor is being sold at RM468,888.

Ok, Ok, don't talk about expensive car models. Why don't we just compare it with much more affordable cars found in Malaysia.

The Toyota Yaris Hatchback in Malaysia is being sold between RM92,800 to RM98,800.

In Canada, it's being retailed between C$11,315. Beat that!

Why can't Malaysian car dealers sell at those prices? Simple answer is found on my two other blog postings about Proton and Perodua car models. The prices are jacked up in Malaysia using various taxes, direct or indirect, to protect the Malaysian car industry.

Ok, Ok, I would understand if we are protecting the Malaysian car but we are paying high prices for electrical goods too.

Say for instance, a LG 50 inch Full HD Plasma TV is being retailed at C$1,498.99. In Malaysia? It would be close to five figures for sure. Wrong?

Today's exchange rate for One Canadian Dollar = RM3.01. Just look at the big difference!

Please note that all car prices quoted in Ringgit Malaysia are estimates only found at Car Standard website. So, don't quote me.

What about car prices in Sudan? It's almost similar pricing. Third world countries rely a lot on taxes and this would be their main source of income but for a much developed country like Malaysia .............. sigh.

That is why Malaysia has to produce mini cars like Proton Savvy and Perodua Kancil to please Malaysians who can't afford affordable cars.

In Sudan, there's only a few Petronas petrol station. Being Malaysian, when we are running out of petrol and if we are nearby, we wil pump Petronas petrol of course.

Related posts:-
* Proton Cars Being Ridiculed in UK
* Perodua Cars Being Ridiculed in UK

Tags: Ozone Cafe, Strawberry Tart, Chocolate Truffle, The Gazette, BMW 323i, 2009 Honda Accord LX, 2009 Honda CR-V LX, 2009 Nissan Versa Hatchback, 2009 Nissan Murano, 2009 Mazda 3 Sedan, Mini Cooper 2009, Mercedes Benz B170, Mercedes Benz C-200 Kompressor, Mercedes Benz SLK200 Kompressor, Toyota Yaris Hatchback, LG 50 Inch Full HD Plasma TV, Proton Savvy, Perodua Kancil

Alice in Cancerland

“Sometimes we are too engrossed in the grand political narratives, and we lose sight of the ordinary Sarawakian. The following story below about a sick Sarawakian lady makes up for that neglect. - sky”
By Keruah Usit

Alice was already a young mother when she found out she had cancer of the nose. She was in her mid-twenties, the target age of trashy magazines and “natural-looking cosmetics”. She had a shy smile and dimples in her cheeks, and she had passed on her pretty smile and dimples to her two little daughters.

Alice’s husband Abel, a hunter and farmer, loved her, and, unlike most other husbands the world over, listened to her. Her small children hung on to her every word.

Alice lived by a river in rural Sarawak, three hundred kilometres (as the helicopter flies) from the nearest hospital. She had noticed a swelling growing around her left eye for six months, but she could not afford the two hundred Ringgit it cost to get to Miri Hospital.

The Penan way of life
Alice was a young Penan mother with no cash income to speak of. Her parents had been born in the rainforest. Her grey and stooped father still went out hunting, carrying a blowpipe and a machete, with a surprising spring in his step.

Alice loved her Penan community; they were close-knit, ready to share, and they looked after their neighbours’ children as a matter of course. Alice, one of 15,000 Penan forest-dwellers - like many other indigenous people in Sabah and Sarawak, and the Orang Asli - depended on the rainforest, not for eco-tourism and adventure, but for life itself.

Alice had never even seen a fifty Ringgit bank-note, but she had led a good life, until she grew a tumour the size of a hen’s egg around her eye, and suffered continually from a blocked nose. Alice was alarmed. She walked an hour to the closest rural clinic, a standard government-issue, ancient, wooden house on stilts.

Need to be treated in Miri
The nurse there, a girl her own age, advised her to go to Miri Hospital. “We have no budget allocation to pay for you to travel to Miri,” the young nurse had told her. The nurse repeated the same mantra, week after week, to all her patients needing hospital care.

Alice knew patients were only moved to Miri by helicopter in emergencies, such as obstructed labour. Even then, the helicopter service was unreliable - it had even ceased altogether, for an entire year, without any explanation offered to the nurses, or the villagers.

When the Health Minister at the time, Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek, was asked why the Sarawak helicopter “medical evacuation” service had been interrupted, he was quoted by several newspapers as saying the contract had been awarded, by the Ministry of Finance, and not his own Ministry - to a company that owned no aircraft. The well-connected owners of the helicopter company, as nimble as a dodo, were still paid handsomely, as stipulated in the contract.

Finally, to Miri
Eventually, six months after the onset of the swelling, Alice met four doctors in her own home village - a surprise. The doctors had taken leave and had raised their own funds to visit several remote villages, including Alice’s. A kind doctor from Kuala Lumpur, in her twenties like Alice, made a diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. She accompanied Alice and Abel on the long journey to Miri.

Alice had never been to the loud, alienating oil town, Miri. She was terrified. The Ear, Nose and Throat doctor took a biopsy from her nose. She waited almost a month for a CT scan appointment. The scan results were disheartening: the cancer had already eaten its way into the base of her skull. Alice was sent on to Kuching, the capital, for radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Then to Kuching
She was, once again, in a strange place, but at least Abel was with her. Abel spent his nights sleeping on a hard armchair in the visitors’ room near the Cancer Ward. Alice shared her trays of food with him. When a kind nurse was on duty, Abel would receive his own portion of food. Alice and Abel preferred their own harvested sago pith, or na’oh, to the clods of grey rice served up on grey trays with plastic compartments, but they persevered with the treatment.
After six weeks of radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and unspeakable food, the swelling around Alice’s eye vanished. She started to eat almost normally. Local volunteers drove her around town, urging her to try kolok mee, Kuching’s famed noodle dish. Alice ate noodles for the first time in her young life - and liked it almost as much as na’oh. Her winning smile returned.

A day at the beach
A local volunteer took her to Santubong beach, for Alice had never seen the sea. Alice was delighted, feeling the sand beneath her bare feet, laughing and skipping away from the water as the waves swept in, almost dancing on the shoreline.

Abel and Alice walked, too, among the trees near the beach. They murmured to each other, pointing out plants, those familiar and those less so, to each other. They wandered hand in hand along the concrete path beneath the quiet canopy, longing for their own forest, the forest they knew so well, far away.

More treatment
Soon afterwards, Alice and Abel were sent back to Miri, for Alice to have five more cycles of chemotherapy, one dose a month.

The doctors did not offer Alice and Abel contraceptives - an awful oversight, you might say, and less rare than you might think. Alice became pregnant. The doctor advised Alice to have an abortion. She recovered from the operation, but her chemotherapy was delayed for several weeks as a result.

Alice and Abel were allowed to visit their small children on two or three occasions - you can imagine the joy of those embraces, and the meals of na’oh and wild game shared.

But Alice dreaded each return to the urban hospital. There was the occasional encounter with a vicious nurse or accounts clerk, berating her and Abel for not paying their hospital bills. She would explain, head bowed, quietly and patiently, that she could not afford the bills.

(Most Malaysians know little of the lives of indigenous people. This has not been helped by the government hype surrounding announcements of internet access in rural communities: “e-jekitan”, “e-bario” and the like. One might be led to imagine the Penan carrying iPhones through the forest, tracking wild boar using GPS.)

Doctors!
There was also hardship for Alice, when she had to endure nausea, caused by the inexperience of her doctors in the use of potent medicines. Her doctors were unaware, and a few doctors were perhaps unperturbed in their ignorance, that Alice’s retching could have been prevented easily.
Alice never complained about her difficulties, and her doctors never learned to ask her about her symptoms - in Penan, or any other language.

Home at last
Yet Alice and Abel stayed the course. Alice’s cancer was in remission, and she was able to go home at last. She returned happily to caring for her daughters, and began sending her older daughter to school, walking an hour to school with the little girl, and walking an hour back home after classes.

The Cancer Returned
The cancer returned two years ago. Alice was offered chemotherapy again, for palliation, but she declined politely. She preferred to stay at home with her children. She talked it through with Abel. To Abel’s credit, he supported her.

Alice took to covering the swelling around her eye and in her neck, with a towel. Towards the end of her life, she found it painful to swallow. A volunteer doctor visiting her village gave her pain relief, and some comfort.

Death in dignity
Alice understood she did not have much time left, and she lived with dignity. She remained in her small house with Abel, her parents and her children. She cooked for her family and weaved baskets by daylight and by the timid light of a kerosene lamp at night. She died at home a year ago. Abel, with the support of Alice’s parents, is bringing up the young children.

Alice’s story, of deprivation of basic health care, is echoed all over Sarawak, Sabah and parts of Peninsular Malaysia. Alice never had the benefit of a quick diagnosis. Nose cancer can be cured if it is found early.

Enforced Silence
Our national health care system, flawed though it is, does reach out to many women like Alice, but access to basic health care remains desperately unequal, and under-funding is painfully obvious.

Alice and Abel never had the opportunity to have their voices heard. The rural poor, Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu in Sarawak, Kadazan, Dusun, Murut in Sabah, plantation workers and Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia suffer the same enforced silence.

Urban Malaysian voters, on the other hand, have finally found their voice, and have become increasingly vocal in the last twelve months. Our political institutions have had no choice but to respond, albeit in a distorted and confused way. But will the voices of our dispossessed rural population ever be heard?

May Alice rest in peace!

Copied en-bloc from Hornbill Unleashed.
Tags: Penan, Orang Asli, Sarawak, Cancer