The death of someone we know always reminds us that we are still alive

A family close to me lost their eldest grandson, aged 21, yesterday to the rat bacteria, known as LEPTOSPIRA interrogans.  He was admitted to hospital last Thursday,  put in the ICU on Saturday and passed away yesterday (Wednesday) morning.  Damage to his organs had spread very fast and he could not respond to antibiotics. The family is so devastated and I feel their pain.   

http://www.hmetro.com.my/articles/Meracautahanderita/Article

The death of someone we know always reminds us that we are still alive - perhaps for some purpose which we ought to re-examine. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

May the spirit of Mother's Day expand to every day of the year!

My children treated me to a nice restaurant on Mother's Day.  The fancy restaurant was full to the brim and we had to wait quite a while for a table.  When at last we sat down they had ran out of pizza dough!

While waiting for our food, I looked around.  Everyone in the restaurant seemed to be making their mothers quite happy.  No doubt it is a nice gesture and I am so happy my children took the trouble to show me thier appreciation.

But I was thinking. Treating Mother as Queen for a day is nice, but making sure we treat Mother with respect, love and consideration everyday of the year may be harder. Mothers rank among the most taken for granted in our society. It's not enough to to be nice to the Mother for only one day in a year. I wish the spirit of Mother's Day would expand to every day of the year!

Perception about the elderly

I was at a shop a few days ago and started to look at the latest mobile phones.  I requested the shop assistance for help.  But instead of giving me the assistance I wanted, he said "Oh aunty, no need to look at those phones.  Those are for youngsters who know how to use the internet, email, twitter, you no need lah".  Although he meant well,  obviously he has a certain perception of the elderly.  Maybe he thinks I am like his grandma.  If he knows that I am a very regular internet user who uses technology for everything, from entertainment and news to online banking and social networking, photoshopping etc,etc, I think his jaws may drop.  I walked away.  Maybe somebody else would not look at the elderly in a nagative light and maybe it isn't time for me to upgrade my mobile phone anyway.   

Maybe I should just be knitting and listening to the raido instead?

 

A time honoured tradition

In the end, it was too much to expect the man to do the right thing. He should have
graciously conceded defeat and congratulated the winner - it is a time honoured tradition for leaders around the world, but not him. Instead he announced he would not accept the result.

At 7 pm before even a single result was announced and counting was just beginning he tweeted that his party had won and he urged the other side not to attempt to hijack the results.  It then became obvious to me that he was paving the way for his excuse if his party was defeated,  namely that he was cheated and robbed at the ballot box.

Yes, the opposition won about 53% of the popular votes, against the government's 47%.  However, this does not mean the opposition can rule the country.  The fact is that the government had 133 seats against the opposition's 89.  How is that possible?  Well, a first-past-the-post (abbreviated FPTP or FPP) system is one that is won by the candidate with more votes than any other(s). It is a common feature of electoral systems.  Let me illustrate very simply:

Area A has 5000 voters, 4000 voted for team A, 1000 for team B (Team A wins)
Area B has 8000 voters,  6000 voted for team A, 2000 for team B (Team A wins)
Area D has 12000 voters , 11500 voted for team B, 500 for team A (Team B wins)

Total number of voters for team A:  4000+6000+500 =10500 or 42% of the total  
Total number of voters for team B:  1000+2000+11500=14,500 or 58% of the total

Well, in the example above, who will rule the country? Team A, because it has 2 seats, although it only took home only 42% of the seats.

If we think this is unfair we could redesign the electoral system and give more weightage to the criteria of population rather than the geographical coverage of an area.  For the time being, until a change in policy is made, I guess we have to accept the decision, frustrated or not.  My two cents worth is that we should all focus on reforming the system.

After 5 years of blogging, this is the first time I am making a posting with a political slant!  I must avoid this in the future because the blogosphere is a place where I come to relax, not to get involved in "heavy" stuff.  I guess I was somewhat carried away by the political atmosphere in the country at the moment. Guess I won't do this again!