Malaysia Day

Finally I get to savour a long weekend break after having to spend the Merdeka Raya long holidays rotting in my clinic. And for this, I've got to thank Hari Malaysia, which recently was only declared as a public holiday (in order to woo votes from East Malaysia I suppose). Anyway, the main thing is that it's one day where we can just stay at home, relax and ponder on the meaning of our country's independence.

We've been bombarded with sensational political headlines in the local media; some ridiculous, some outrageous, and some agonizingly saddening. Somehow it made me feel that this country somehow has ended up as a joke. 54 years ago, this country was poor and divided due to British colonization. 54 years later, this country is still poor and divided, and worse, stagnant.

During my internship I could still remember one touching moment I've witnessed in my ward with my MO while we were doing rounds. There was this Chinese lady who had just undergone her Caesarean section the night before and currently was bedbound; she had no caretakers beside her and visiting hours were still long ahead. And just 2 feet away from her was a cot with her newborn baby inside, wailing at the expense of her lungs, demanding for milk. I suppose she was still vertiginous due to the remaining effects of her anaesthesia, hence she had difficulties reaching for her baby. 

What surprised me was another Indian lady next to her actually climbed out of her bed, walked towards this Chinese patient, and brought her baby to her from the cot. The Indian patient smiled at the Chinese patient, and gently tucked the baby between her armpits and asked her, "Achee haus tak?" 

The Chinese patient nodded her head and the Indian patient actually bent over and started to feeding her sips of clear fluids. 

At this moment, another pregnant Malay woman who just walked by handed the Chinese patient a pair of new socks. "Achee kena pakai stoking. Kalau tak, nanti kaki sejuk." And she  helped herself onto the patient's feet with the socks before sitting next to the patient, comforting her with supportive words.

This was nothing but a instantaneous tear-milking scene; they were 3 women who had barely knew each other and they were helping each other, honestly, sincerely, gratuitously. And at this moment MO whispered to me. "If only the politicians could stop squabbling between themselves and see how beautiful this scene is..."

I nodded, and tried to stop my eyes from tearing. 

No matter how screwed up it could be, this is still my country. Happy Malaysia Day.