Jalan-jalan cari makan! *

Spoilt for choice!

We say so many things about food. That we eat to live, not live to eat. That food be treated just as we treat medicine; not to overconsume, over-indulge or abuse. Like the Tamil proverb says, in excess, even honey turns poison. When we have the stomach to taste, we don't have the means; when there are the means, we don't have the stomach for it!

Some would insist that eating to satisfy the senses is a sin. It is viewed as disrespecting Mother Nature, who provides and protects. Why go far? Gluttony is listed as one of seven deadly sins that Man should not commit. Various food abstinence regimes are considered highly by many religious beliefs. Fasting during Lent and Ramadan is recommended. So do Hindus during their multiple prayers. Then there are the Jains and Pythogorians with their dos and don'ts about eating and the types of foods that can be consumed. Tubers and root vegetables are avoided by Puritan Jains as ingestion of these foodstuffs kills underground organisms or deprives them of their food.

Yet some believe we are given one life, and our chance to be born as a human is our reward for enduring whatever lowlife and insignificant births before this. To be immersed in bliss is, therefore, our right. Who knows what we will be later. We are here right now and probably never again, so indulge in satisfying all our worldly senses to our soul's content. 

What better way to stimulate our gastronomic senses after tickling the olfactory bulb and arousing the gustatory juices than to go on a foodie trail on the sideline whilst attending a secondary school get-together. And which better place to reminisce the nostalgic taste of the yesteryears than in the hometown that we grew up in. If, in those days, the economy was the stumbling block to giving a go at various foods all at once, now it is the guilt of going against medical advice. But what the heck, we told ourselves, we only live once. But again, we only die once but a happier person.

  

From top to bottom:

Mee Rebus & Ice Kacang

Potpourri of Penang Street Food - Ice Kacang & Rojak

Char Koay Teow & Hokkein Mee

Cendol of Penang Road

Various Pohpiahs

Wan Tan Mee & Toast

Popiah & Grilled Stingray

P.S. Thanks to Yew Teik Hock for the photos. When others say grace before a meal, he religiously snaps a picture on his mobile. Also, to George Ho for choosing the various outlets for each particular dish.

* In the Malay language, the literal translation is going on a stroll, looking for something to eat. Equivalent to going on a food trail. A 'tongue-in-cheek' meaning would be sneaking around to sow your wild oats. Or like ‘Have Gun Will Travel’, how a fornicator scavenges for free meat. Go figure!

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Preying on the past?

Descendants (Documentary; 2022)

Written and directed by: Margaret Brown

We often tell us to put the past behind us and use the past as lessons to propel us forward. Refrain from brooding over the past, but look at the future, which is within our means to write. The past is a done thing which cannot be rewritten. 

Is there any merit in prodding the past and trying to write the wrong that our ancestors did by omission or commission?

This documentary makes one thing of this very point. Can we blame all our misgivings on how our ancestors were treated? Is transgenerational PSTD justified enough to be the reason for the current generation to be dysfunctional, economically backward and in a quandary? Is validation of the deeds of our forefathers needed for us to prosper in life? Or is the mere lack of their recognition just an excuse to remain as sluggards?

It is good to put the facts straight. As history is written as dictated by the victors, their version is just one aspect of what really happened. A big chunk of what the losers experienced will inevitably be lost in the annals of times. It is good to know the other version, but are we duty-bound to correct the past, to right the wrong? 

Then there is the question of the descendants of the historical aggressors being penalised for the misdeeds of their ancestors. Are they culpable of their sins? Then, there is a question of reparation. Is a simple apology sufficient? Whenever there is money involved, the intention is always suspect. 

A poor part of the area around Mobile, Alabama, called Plateau, had a local tale. Local folks have been saying that they were descendants of more than 100 captive Africans who landed at the shores of the town on a particular slave ship, Clotilda, way back in 1860. The legend goes that, even though slavery was outlawed in the US in 1808, the clandestine international slave trade was very much alive. Slave ships would arrive on the shores of Mobile in the cover of darkness. Slaves would disembark off the shores and make a beeline to the overgrowth, leading to the slave traders' den. The ships would be burnt off so as not to leave any evidence. 

This trade ended after the Civil War ended, and the Emancipation Declaration was passed by Congress in 1865. 

The descendants of slaves and slaveowners carried on with their lives. Many of the affluent people of the area may have benefitted from the slave trade, whilst many of the slaves' downlines remain downtrodden and poor. Some would have left the nest as well. The family of Timothy Meaher, the owner of Clotilda, still possess their old estate and many parts of the town. They remain secretive about their ancestors and their activities. 

Word has it that some slaves who were freed from slavery lived in an area called Africatown and had plans to return to Africa but never really made it back. The present generation still lives in their memory and yearns to connect with them, perhaps via their belongings. As the African tradition dictates, people communicate through their personal belongings. 

Tracing the remains of Clotilda was a challenge as the site of their last whereabouts proved elusive for lack of documentation. They had some film footage and written interviews of the last living slave on the Clotilda, Cudjoe Lewis, by America's first Black female filmmaker, Zora Neale Hurston. Her book about Lewis, Barracoon, was published in 2018. It was used as a reference in this documentary.

Clotilda

A group of divers found a piece of Clotilda's wreckage and positively identified it as the 1860 ship. 

The excitement then began. The question of Africatown/ Plateau and Mobile being a tourist destination and how the vicinity would prosper came to the fore. In a town hall discussion, the question of reparation sneaked in, too. 

The point to remember is that whatever stimulus package or economic opportunities are handed out, the occupants of the lower rungs of the food chain rarely grab their chance. The high-heeled would grasp no matter how difficult the odds are stacked against them. 

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The truth will set you free?

Dead to Me (S1-S3, E1-10; 2019-22)
TV Series

The fallen will often be pacified with the conviction that truth will eventually prevail. If someone is accused of something he did not do, he will find solace in telling himself that the truth will set him free. Everybody thinks the Universe will take its own sweet time, but justice will meted out in the end. 

Everyone is told to look at the bigger picture and concentrate on winning the war, not merely the tiny battles. At least, this is what the lawyer will advise his client. The truth will not come out breaking through the walls with a flying cape to save the day. It has to be fought with tooth and nail. Court cases are won by shrewd legalese minds with all the money they can continue paying. The promise of justice at the higher courts is shrouded by the need for more retention fees.

Therefore, I have come to think I will follow the wise words of the not-so-wise Malaysian parliamentarian who went Hansard saying, "It is not wrong to take a bribe; it is also wrong when you get caught!" One has to look in all directions, cover the bases, dot his 'i's and cross his 't's as and when he is caught in a potentially incriminating situation or even commit a crime himself. Even if he does not get away scot-free, his defence team can at least create an element of doubt in the prosecutor's arguments. 

The law is such a pain that it favours those in power. Even God cannot save his priest, as witnessed by the numerous pending court cases. The only thing that is keeping them away from being cooped behind bars is not God's grace but good old-fashioned moolah that gets them good representations!

This dark comedy starts with a mother of two, Jen, a realtor, mourning over the death of her husband. He was hit by a speeding car at 2 o'clock in the morning. Jen attends a support group where she befriends Judy. Unbeknownst to Jen, Judy was the driver of the hit-and-run vehicle. Judy, remorseful of her act, tries to make amends with Jen. Meanwhile, Judy herself is moaning over her five previous miscarriages and her imminent divorce. 

Things become complicated as police investigations hit an impasse. The plot thickens as Jen finds out his loving husband had an affair. Judy discovers that her husband is involved with the Greek mafia. Meanwhile, an argument with Steve ends with Jen killing him and hiding his body in her freezer. The story becomes increasingly complicated with Jen covering her crime, Judy concealing her accident, and both developing an unbreakable bond. Only on the TV/silver screen, a morbid subject like death and murder can be turned into entertainment. And a perfect crime is actually possible.

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Forgive for peace?

Rubaru Roshni (Where the Light Comes In)

Directed by Svati Chakravarthy Bhatkal

 The general order of things in the Universe is such. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. An eye for an eye, a tit for a tad, and 'you do the crime, you do the time'. Even the karmic rule dictates that we pay our dues. We have been taught to take responsibility for our actions with no recourse. The others will jump at the slightest chance to pounce and breathe down on the perpetrator as if he, in the wise words of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, is eligible to cast the first stone.

Rumi once wrote, 'The wound is the place where the Light enters you'. A person who is heartbroken but remorseful after a regrettable act is open to amends. Unfortunately, it is not as easy as swiping the slate clean and turning over a new leaf. As practised by Roman Catholics, confessions may offer solace to the perpetrator but not to the victim. The aggrieving party will also have to deal with their own heartaches and trauma. A face-to-face meeting is a logical choice to reach conciliation, but is it really the solution? Can it even happen in this day and age?

This whole exercise of vis-à-vis intervention is, as solicitors would term, perverse to natural justice. In a world where nobody turns the other cheek anymore but slaps back instead, resolution and forgiveness are unthinkable. In an environment where one seeks 'justice' that all the money can buy or the highest court they can go to, it is terrible for business. Unless, of course, you are a nobody. Then, God is your witness, judge and executor of the 'other' party.

Rumi

A wound is where Light goes in. Light heals. Like that, cracks can be filled up, as is done in the Japanese pottery craft of Kintsugi. Defects repaired with powdered gold or silver dust end up being more robust than before.

All these sound nice and easy, forgiving and moving up. In reality, it takes a lot of courage and patience. Courage to accept the tragedy affected both parties, the perpetrator and those close to the victim. Patience to hear out what either party has to say to each other. On top of it all, both parties must have suffered enough. The offender must have done time and must have remorse to descend the throne of grandiosity.

That brings us to the case of commuting pardon to Najib, whose innumerable cases are still ongoing. First, he must have been comprehensively grilled and laid bare of any other possible crimes, lived to have paid his dues as decided by Law and be remorseful of his actions, as he is deemed to have committed the crime by Law. Otherwise, it is putting the cart before the horse.

Forgiveness is what we see in the three real-life events that are shown here. Forgiveness only comes after deliberation when both parties realise that carrying the burden or guilt is self-defeating. Tackling it head-on with empathy and humility goes a long way.

Avatika Maken and her father's 
assassin, forgiven.

In the first case story, following the 1984 Operation Blue Star, after the alleged desecration of the Golden Temple, there was nationwide resentment against the Indian Government. Never mind that weapons were stored there and anti-nationalist activities were in full swing. PM Indra Gandhi was assassinated later. A riot broke out between the Sikhs and Hindus, claiming 17,000 Sikh lives in three days. A neutral report on the riot blamed the Congress Party M.P.s for the mayhem. Sikh separatist groups noted that and put Delhi Congressmen on their hit list. By chance, they shot Lalit Maken. His wife, Geethanjali, was collateral damage. Their only daughter, Avantika, then 6, grew up an angry orphan. Of the assassins, two were apprehended, charged and sentenced to death, while the third, Ranjit Singh Gill, escaped to the USA. Ranjit was arrested and spent a good 13 years in the U.S. prison before being expedited to India. In India, he received a life sentence. He appeared for parole three years later only to be opposed by Avantika.

Sr Selmy and her sister's murderer, forgiven.

The rest of the tale is about how Avantika and Ranjit, both feeling drained out because of the turn of events, met each other by chance. This led to reconciliation, with both starting a rejuvenated new life. It takes someone extraordinary to forgive and guts to admit mistakes and make amends. Ranjit realised he had been used as a pawn by power brokers who just scooted when things went south.

The second case study involved the brutal stabbing of a Malayali Catholic nun, Sr Rani Maria, in Udainagar, Madhya Pradesh, in 1995. The talk around town was that the Christian missionaries were busy converting tribal and Dalit communities. Riled by this, Samandar Singh, a farmer, with many landowners, stopped the bus Sr Rani was travelling and stabbed her more than 50 times in broad daylight. Cooped in prison for more than 11 years for his crime, Samandar felt remorse after seeing his accomplices go free.

Kia Scherr

Meanwhile, Sr Rani has a sister who is also a nun. The sister, Sr Selmy, and their mother did a lot of soul-searching and concluded that it was all God's plan. God and Sr. Rani would have forgiven Rani's killer. So when a Swamiji contacted the family about Samandar's regret, Sr Selmy made a trip to the prison where Samandar was imprisoned to tie Rakhi on Raksha Bandhan. From then on, it was raw emotion all the way. After his release, he makes a trip to Kerala to the mother. The family adopts him as another sibling.

Kia Scherr's husband and daughter had come to Mumbai for a meditation retreat. Unfortunately, the Oberoi Hotel where they stayed was in the way of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack in 2008. Rather than hating India as she lost her whole family there, she has resorted to making annual trips to India as a peace entrepreneur and co-founding a global peace initiative that works to bring tools of peace to education, business and government.


P.S. I struggle to comprehend why some forgive their aggressors while others go all out to throw the heaviest weight of the Law at them to get the maximum of incarceration for them. They would insist that no form of punishment is adequate enough.

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Nothing personal!

Doctor in The Dock (2022)
Author: Ariza Mohamed 

I have known Staff Nurse (SN) Theresa since 1988. She embodies what I perceive as a true manifestation of the lady with the lamp. Though she may not be the social reformer and statistician that Florence Nightingale was or her contemporary, the flamboyant Mrs Mary Seacole, the nurse who nursed convalescing Crimean War soldiers to health, she did her own share of saving lives.

Growing up in an orphanage, Theresa felt a need to repay society. She did not see the need for a family of her own.

"The world already has enough children and enough broken families!" She commented once.

Outside her regular busy duties at the Maternity Ward of a public hospital, she managed to squeeze time for inmates of an orphanage, old folks' home and church.

Her dedication at work was exemplary, earning the best employee award many times over. She would go out of the line of duty to help her parturient patients, even teaching them the minor points about breastfeeding during the graveyard duty.

I was reminded of her while reading this book. An Obstetrician was sued for negligence 16 years after the event. The Obstetrician, the author, had seen a mother who presented in an advanced stage of labour at 26 weeks of pregnancy. The mother was in the process of being transferred to a tertiary centre that could handle premature babies when delivery ensued. The baby later developed cerebral palsy. 16 years after the delivery, the Obstetrician was sued for not suppressing labour when the mother presented at her practice. The plaintiffs' (the baby and parents) bone of contention was that delivery could have been averted or delayed if labour had been suppressed.

Four long, harrowing years later, after reaching the stage of the Court of Appeals, the doctor was relieved of her negligence. Still, the complainant was awarded the most enormous compensation in a Malaysia medical negligence case, RM 8.9 million.

The author describes her experience dealing with the bureaucracy of the legal system. The emotional and economic turmoils that the doctor endured are indescribable. Her whole life appears in front of her as a wasted one, serving, helping the needy, forgetting food and sleeping, all just to be assessed condescendingly. All her academic laurels appeared pale in her current position. Netizens, with a crystal clear vision of hindsight, were quite brutal with their opinion and caustic with their remarks. Even before the courts had set the hearing, these armchair judges, jury and executioners had already crucified the accused.

Leaving the fate of the future of a person of science to be determined by the learned who could not differentiate between ECG and CTG seems unfair. No matter what they may say about practising being an art, ultimately, it is science that decides what this or that modality of treatment is appropriate. Assessment by members of the medical fraternity is more relevant. But, in reality, are the men in robes and sharks really going up their chunk in the game of medico-legal interplay? That is bad for business.

Coming back to the case of SN Theresa. It happened during one of the nights she was on duty. A mother had just delivered a few hours previously. Theresa, after helping her out with breastfeeding and settling her with her baby, continued with other duties. A colleague saw the patient sprawled awkwardly on her bed. She alerted others, and soon, a code blue was initiated.

The patient had collapsed due to a non-obstetric reason. An aberrant splenic artery had ruptured, and she bled in her abdomen. Surgery was prompt and successful, but the patient succumbed to lung complications two weeks after the episode.

The family sued the hospital for medical negligence. During the trial, Theresa was called in to give testimony. So when the Plaintiff's lawyers inquired about the events before the collapse, Theresa narrated what actually happened. She was taken aback by what the learned lawyer had to say.

"You mean to tell me that a government hospital teaching and guiding a recently delivered mother through breastfeeding at 1.30 in the early morning, and you want me to believe that," he went on all four barrels. "I put to you that your whole nursing team neglected the patient and only discovered to be out cold."

It had come this. An armchair critic, a lawyer who makes a living out of others' misery, who taught himself medicine through the clinical practice guidelines online minus the pressure of peer assessment telling a dedicated nurse who answered her calling she must be doing her work. I do not know the trial's outcome, but as was narrated, that incident got stuck in my mind.

Seacole and Nightingale

The author left clinical practice for a teaching career. The last time I heard, Theresa had retired from Government services. She divides her time between extending her much-needed services to her private patients, orphanage and old folks home.

The era of a paternalistic attitude of the medical staff towards poor, helpless patients is long gone. A medical personnel is just a spoke in the machinery of modern society. Health is a commodified product sold to individuals who demand perfect health as an undeniable right with no margin for error. Then, a small fraction of people gain from falling sick. Sometimes, unaffected parties have nothing personal against the medical workers. They are grateful to them, but they see a lot of money, if unclaimed, going to waste, but it could come in handy to ease the pain of falling sick or being debilitated.

N.B. Florence Nightingale OM RRC DStJ was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, in which she organised care for wounded soldiers. Mrs Mary Jane Seacole was a black 'doctress' who did her style of treating weary battle-fatigued soldiers, which involved spirits of the beverage kind. A British born in Jamaica to a Creole mother, she ran a boarding house and dabbled with herbs. In 2004, she was voted as the greatest black Briton

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