LIFE IS SHORT, BE KIND

 Our lives run in cycles of unending change. I sometimes ask myself, “Did anything change in my life at all?”

Am I still the bashful slightly insecure child that got ‘trampled’ on occasionally? Did I really become tougher and erased the shadows in my mind? No one does erase ALL the shadows in their minds. When we erase too much, we are left with just an imperfect memory of our past. 

We just need to always look at life from different angles.This pandemic brought out the best in people, Lions "Feed the Hungry" project, Food Aid, 

and  Malaysians like Lee Shu Lin 

 Image Credit: The Star Newspaper.

who wakes up at 4am every weekend to prepare breakfast and lunch for 35 senior citizens in a nursing home. 

But, when our National Vaccination Programme started, I saw the opposite in some. People who just  moaned and whined. Nothing pleased them. When Pfizer opened for registration, 

many DID NOT register as they chose to believe fake news. We who registered, were on a long wait list. Thus, when registration for Astrazeneca opened on a first-come-first-serve basis, we grabbed it. Gizmo Man, Savvy K and myself were successful together with another 268,800 Malaysians and foreigners. 

"I want Pfizer or Sinovac, Cheap vaccine-lah that one!! Got blood clot one, Don't want take lah." These were some of the reasons.

The “anti-vaxxers” sat back as they worried about blood clot side effects and they wanted vaccines OF THEIR CHOICE. Unfortunately, Malaysia plunged into the 3^rd wave and our positive cases peaked at 8,000-plus daily. 

"Faster go book. Ya lo, don't care what vaccine-lah, just take! Wah very serious now."

Suddenly, these ‘anti-Asreazenecans’ changed their tune, "Why non-Malaysians given the vaccine before Malaysians." " Not fair! Citizens first." Please, please, …. you were the very ones who rejected the vaccine. Then, some who went for their vaccinations complained about the crowd, 

not getting the appointments at the exact time, not getting the correct dosage? YES, there was confusion and hiccups at the beginning, BUT 

Come on, with 7000 vaccinations per day in ONE centre, give the staff some slack. They even complained of having to walk too far from arrival point to vaccination booth. People, people THINK! How do you keep social distancing of 1 metre with hundreds of people, and yet not be expected to walk.

Constructive criticism is more effective than calling out names and lashing out. I MYSELF am guilty of  whining without doing anything. At 6,239 positive cases yesterday, are WE doing our part? NOT EVERYONE. They are Malaysians who book rooms in hotels to hold private parties away from detection, Malaysians who return to their home towns (and bring the virus home) as soon as lockdown is announced and Malaysians who gather at pubs behind close doors. And yet we complain why the government isn't doing enough to control transmission.

Some folks are QUICK to complain, yet SLOW to shower praise.   

It appears to be their life mission to apply to others the frost of criticism. WHY? 

WHEN ONE WORD CAN BRING SATISFACTION.  

This quote from a Zimbabwe ex-President may sound crude but it sure makes SENSE:

“Treat every part of your towel nicely, because the part that wipes your buttocks today will wipe your face tomorrow.” 

A video by Savvy K on her hassle-free vaccination.

We live 21km from the vaccination centre. It only took less than 2h to complete the process and she was home, safe in bed. 

For this effort, WELL DONE MALAYSIA.