A Grain Of Sand Indeed!

Not too long ago I posted that inspirational poem about the oyster and the grain of sand inside it. Little did I know that I would be given "a grain of sand" in the passage way(urethra) that passes out urine. Anybody who has had this "grain of sand" would know what I am talking about.

It starts off as an irritation and then develops into a third degree torture. You cannot find any comfortable position and you feel nausea as well. Then your whole body sweats due to the extreme pain. You double up with pain and couldn't care less what people are thinking when they see you walking to the doctors' office with one hand on your side and your head looking down on the floor. You just want the pain to go away. Before the pain can be made to go away you will receive more pain. The needle into the arm to get blood for tests. Another prick on the finger tip to check for diabetes and a double on the rear, the pain killer, which is what I was waiting for. Even that shot took two hours to take effect. Then another needle on the back of the palm to give the drip.

When the drip filled up my bladder I was taken for an ultra-sound scan which didn't clearly show the "grain of sand". When I went to the 'loo' I was able to let go of all that fluid. The doctor said maybe it got flushed out. I was able to go home around 5.00pm. I checked in at 10.00am.
At least now I know it wasn't my kidneys, or some other serious thing that had gone wrong inside my body. Thank God for that.

Now I have to drink lots of water. A friend said she heard that drinking beer could also help. So, cheers mate! I am certainly no oyster! heh heh ... it's good to be free from pain.

An Oyster

An inspirational poem :

An Oyster

There once was an oyster

Whose story I tell,

Who found that some sand

Had got into his shell.

It was only a grain,

but it gave him great pain.

For oysters have feelings

Although they're so plain.

Now, did he berate

the harsh workings of fate

That had brought him

To such a deplorable state?

Did he curse at the government,

Cry for election,

And claim that the sea should

Have given him protection?

'No,' he said to himself

As he lay on a shell,

Since I cannot remove it,

I shall try to improve it.

Now the years have rolled around,

As the years always do,

And he came to his ultimate

Destiny ­ stew.

And the small grain of sand

That had bothered him so

Was a beautiful pearl

All richly aglow.

Now the tale has a moral,

for isn't it grand

What an oyster can do

With a morsel of sand?

What couldn't we do

If we'd only begin

With some of the things

That get under our skin.

[ Author Unknown ]

Injustice

I read in the paper today that it has been eight months since the last arrival of aid to the Tsunami victims in Aceh Besar. Why? Is it because of inclement weather? Is it because there is no access to the site where the victims have taken refuge? Is it because of lack of manpower to distribute the aid or lack of transportation? None of the above.

The newspaper reports, "The Belawan Customs and Excise Office has detained 117 containers filled with tsunami aid such as food, clothes, medicines and generators, at Belawan Port in Medan for the past eight months due to 'inadequate documentation' ". And the acting regent of Nias Selatan who is also the secretary to the North Sumatra Disaster Management Committee said that there was a major likelihood that the tsunami aid officially being detained at the Balawan port could actually have been stolen. It doesn't say if he is taking any action on this disturbing news. The newspaper article also mentions that several months ago, canned fish donated by the World Food Programme to the tsunami survivors were instead found being sold in the Medan markets!

My question is, if all these things are known by the authorities, what the hell are they doing about it? How can a nation of over 200 million allow a few corrupt civil servants to do as they please at the expense of so many suffering survivors. Or is it because the corrupt number is not just a few but in fact a larger number? I wonder. This is one place where justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done to get back the confidence of its people and the international community in the elected government.

In the local scene our Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has stated that matters concerning religious conversion needed to be spelt out plainly in the Federal Constitution and other laws to prevent confusion among Malaysians. This is a timely statement especially after the ugly wrangle between family and religious authority for M. Moorthy’s soul.

One local daily reports that "For the family — Kaliammal’s and others in a similar predicament now and in the future — it has been shown beyond dispute that conversions to Islam can no longer be left as a private concern, as they can in legal systems where there is a clear separation of church and state." This country is multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-lingual with some atheists thrown in. We need to have tolerence of each other's beliefs and customs. We cannot demand that one must adhere to the others' laws. It will never happen. History has shown us that there will be blood baths whenever religion and politics become bed fellows. Let's hope and pray that such a thing never happens to this country.

If the country is allowed to be run by religious characters who hide behind their 'holy books' or 'holy garbs' we are in for a terrible time. Take the fatwa issued by Rashad Hassan Khalil of Egypt, a former dean of Al-Azhar University's Faculty of Syariah. He says "being completely naked during the act of coitus annuls the marriage." For such a 'learned' man, couldn't he have explored something to improve the quality of life or encouraged his followers to be honest, sincere and caring to his fellow men so that such incidents like the tsunami aid being stuck at the Belawan port does not occur. What happens to a husband and his wife in their bedroom has become an international issue now! So, the message is very clear. Leave religion out of politics and leave politics out of religion. Otherwise we will have 'religious nuts' running the country. Vote wisely.