My 14 Days in HUKM

It took 14 days for me to discharge from HUKM which normally 4 - 5 days for ACL Recons. Why? I got infected with bacteria.

In this 14 days, i suffered pain, experiencing the ghosts, seeing things that i bet you will never ever see it outside the hospital ...... In this 14 days also, i have new friends, from the nurses in Ortho Wad Lelaki, doctors, future doctors (all ladies, hehehe), physiotherapists (also all are ladies). Too many of them, i shall name them in another blog later, from my Day 1 till Day 14.

I experienced two OT in 1 week. Going through hell pain in 2nd OT! And i was thinking, when the animal is being slaughtered without anaesthetic, how the hell they are suffering.

As currently when i am blogging it, i can bend my knee to about 90 degree. Hopefully by next week, i can achieve 120 degree and then 140 degree.

So many people to thank. Speechless! Of course must thanks my wife and my family members!

And lastly, TIME TO CHANGE!! I even changed my ligament, why can't you make a change also in another 40 days time!!! Think now, think ahead!

14 days in HUKM (Final)

Day 10 (Saturday):
A boring as well, nothing much to do besides physiotheraphy of my knee. Of course, Saturday also waiting for PL to send the foods, you know la the standard of foods in hospital.

Day 11 (Sunday):
Having my 1st bath since 4th January 2008 with the help of my wife, not the nurse! 10 days without bath....... just imagine!

Day 12 (Monday):
A day that been waiting for...... the lab test result of the liquid sample aspirated from my knee. But waited till cow come home, result still not coming, knn. Later in the afternoon, Ms Tan came and asked me to lift my leg to strengthen the hamstring. From a leg that totally lost of power, i able to lift it within 1 hr and started to walk around with crutches, without much problem. Toi toilet, to watch TV, to bath myself......

Day 13 (Tuesday):
Still waiting for the lab result and yet no result till end of the day. Today also came another final year student (physiohterapist)Ms Heah and assisted me on the exercise. New exercises introduced to me.

Today, student of Prof Sam, Ms Tiong was being assigned by Prof Sam to handle me. Asking all sort of questions related to my injury, operation etc. Helping final year medical student. I am the white rabbit.

Day 14 (Wednesday):
Finally obtained the lab result and it was negative. Quickly asked for discharge. Dr Syed came and all the doctors, inspected and gave the approval to go home.

Now i am going to miss all the nurses, medical students, future to be physiotherapists and "neighbours". Hope to meet again, outside the hospital.

I must thanks all my colleagues, ex-colleagues, boss, friends, medical staffs, of course my wife and my family members for visiting me, taking care of me and the help during my 14 days stays in hospital. 14 days is the longest time i was away from home!


Part 4
Part 3
Part 2
Part 1

14 days in HUKM (Part 2)

DAY 2:

7.00 am: Wake up & ready for my knee ops.

7.30 am: A group of doctors including my surgeons came to examine me again.

7.50 am: Final call for me to get myself ready to OT. Have to naked myself and put on the ops' shirt. Kaw Lat. Some more need the help from the nurse to tie the strings of the shirt for me.

8.00 am: Climbed up and laid down on the bed that transfer me to OT, of course the nurse covered me with a blanket lah, or else sure "expose" one! The journey from Ward to OT was really like i was acting in ER. Reaching OT complexe about 10 min later. After confirming my name and i/c, i was transfered to OT 14, the number really sial! No wonder i needed to stay for 14 days.

Approx. 8.20 am:

Dr Salmah, the anesthesiologist, injecting the drug into my spine, it is epidural, like what my wife experienced during giving birth of HH. Pain like hell! And you know, i can't even sleep after took the sleeping pill, Dr Salmah need to further put in extra doses to get me sleep. However, i wake up about 2 hr later.

Approx. 8.30 am:

A group of five (5) ( i think so as i was almost fall sleep by that time) came in and prepared themselve for the ops. The OT was damn cold! Damn cold! I can't move my legs now, what ever they want to do on me, i can't stopped them.

Approx. 11.00 am:

I wake up after 2 hr plus of sleeping. Start to chit chat with Dr Salmah on every topics. What to do, too boring listening the sound of plyer, cracking sound, drilling sound, knocking sound, etc. The topics involved on personal life, on medical, on politic. I even asked her why she looks like chinese and i found out that she has 25% chinese blood. Her grandmother is chinese.

At one point, she offered me wanna to see what the surgeons were doing on my knee, therefore, from the small TV, i can see clearly what they did to my knee. Lasering, drilling, knocking, pulling using plyer, screwdriving. Seem like they were installing a mechanical knee for me. Haha.

Untill about 12.40 pm, my waist was pain like hell as i was not moving myself for more than 3 hr.

12.40 pm - 1.10 pm:

Ops was done, pushing me out from OT14 and rest for 30 min while waiting for report. Maybe due to the epidural, i felt very cold. Now i wonder why my wife had that effect also previously. Luckily, HUKM has the warm air blanket, kheng.

1.10 pm:

Transfer me back to Ward. Haiyah, can't move myself, the nurses did whatever they want to do on me, motionless. They help to change my shirt and covered my privat part with a sarung, luckily they never help me on that! Or else, fully expose!

When i thought the worst has gone, i was damn wrong! In fact, it was the beginning! The pain gradually came back and tortured me kaw-kaw. I had to keep my left leg straight till Monday, that was 3 days, to prevent i got the shorter left leg. For the record, i laid on the bed for more than 72 hr without leaving the bed! Another record breaking for me. I need to take pain killer, plus another 2 injections then only i was able to sleep at night!

Due to anaesthetic, i can't felt that i want to pee until i felt very pain near my abdomen. I thought i want to pangsai, but the nurse did not allow me to move around to prevent the new joined ligament putus. They suggested me to do it on bed la, use pamper la, etc. Really siao, on bed! So finally, i choose to pee, and one thing the surprised me was that i can keep approx. 650 ml of urine in my body.

14 days in HUKM (Part 1)

You heard before 7 years in Tibet, now i have 14 days in HUKM.

DAY 1:

The day to check in. I asked my wife to drop me at traffic light near the Taman Bukit Jalil and i walked half an hour to Bukit Jalil LRT station. Took a train to Pudu Station and went to my MIL house. Spent some time there and drank some soya drink at Jalan Pasar, breakfast as well. About 11.00 pm took a taxi to IRB Maluri to submit some documents the official. While on the way there, the Malay pakcik tiba-tiba talked about Dr. Chua sex video and he condemned kaw-kaw the present BN-lead-government and said he will never vote for BN anymore. Wow! Surprised me! Settled everyting, took another taxi to HUKM. Reached there about 12pm.

After submitting all the relevant documents to the counter at lobby for checking in, i carried my small red back-pack with some shirts, pant, underwears, book, newspaper and even income tax documents to Ortho Male located at 4th Floor, without fear and in fact a little bit excited. Dunno why, maybe this is the first time stay in hospital and tomorrow also will be the 1st time go to OT and feel like ER-type of scenario.

Nurse Azizah was the one who arrange all the necessary stuffs for me including asking me to change into HUKM's patient attire, interviewing me and orientation.

Even the 1st day that i admitted to hospital at 12 noon, i already attracted four (4) future young pretty doctors. What to do ...... They (Patricia L., W.Y. Lou, Joanne C., Y.T. Bong) came and asked me to become their white rabbit. One by one tried on me - only my knee, turned here and there, pulled up and down, all sort of angles, like kamasutra. Then a group of doctors showed up and started taking photographs of my knees, drawing red line on it, etc. Actually they are documented it for teaching purposes. I should charge them instead!

And this day also was my last day to watch TV programme (called dunno what anak potianak) before i can watch it again 11 days later. Longest ever record for me to stay away from TV. I don't even had the chance to see the TV casing.

14 days in HUKM (Part 3)

Sorry for the delay. It takes me about two months to continue my story. Of course the delay was due to 12th General Electi0n, then i was very busy in work since then.

Day 3:
A tiring and painful night for me. The nurse came and measured the blood pressure and provided the pain killer on 11pm, then again on ~6am. Each day four (4) times without fail. At 7am, the fluorescent light in the ward switch on. Hey man, you got to wake up, it is breakfast time and get yourself ready for the doctors and future young doctors. You will become the white rabbit for them. Hey, i felt proud to be able became their white rabbit.

Few doctors then came at about 8am and reminded me to keep my leg straight till Monday. OMG, which mean i can't move my leg and had to sleep on the bed without leaving it for more than 72 hour.

Day 4:
Sunday, "no-doctors-day", only normal Medical Officer came and wrote some report. Actually my left knee is a bit bend and harden, i think out by 10 degree. Because if i kept it straight line, it is not comfortable to sleep. But i need to pay the price of not listening to the doctor......

For the past few days, i did not have enough sleep due to pain that i suffered and things that we can't see disturbing me.

Day 5:
Wake up early morning preaparing to go home. At 8am, all the doctors came including the surgeons and surrounded me. The nurse was called to open up the bandage. The wound was ok. But one thing was not ok, very not ok. My knee was infected with bacteria, i was the "lucky" fella, maybe less than 1/1000 possibility and i just got it! It is now became a complication case. Damn. Doctor gave me antibiotic and the powerful pain killer "Arcocia" 120 mg. Now i need to stay at least one more week on this number 10 bed.

Swollen being observed at my left knee, very tension around the knee. The surgeon, Syed, suggested to open up the knee again and washed in order to remove the bacteria. Further discussion with the head was needed.

Today also started the real pain, the pain i called hell pain. Doctor lifted my ankle and place on top of a pillow. My bend knee now was force to become straight again and imagine the pain. After about 1.5 hour, the pain only gradually reduce. In the afternoon, the physiotherapist, Ms Tan, came and taught me four (4) techniques to strengthen the muscles, strecthing the muscles etc.

My parent reached KL today. While waiting for them, I slept in the afternoon and i was disturbed by the "good brother". While sleeping with my right hand placed below my head, i was shaken up by someone. Again at night about 9.20pm, i was waken up in my dream. In my dream, all the surrounding area was spinning and i felt so dizzy and cold. This incident not only happened to me but to my neighbour, the Pakcik opposite me and the Indian Muslim brother as well. The also experienced it, for example, Pakcik wife was "lebam" all over the body and the pakcik also heard someone walking through the walkway to toilet in 3-4am but no one is there. Our indian muslim brother felt dizzy, his wife being pushed by something while standing talking to her husband, etc. More ghost stories from the nurses after i was discharged from hospital. And you know what, the nurse told me that 3rd floor is left empty and the lift sometime will stop there and open the door. To scare you further, the bed i slept had patient that pass away...... And when i told the nurse my experience, she smile at me and replied: "hehe, katil awak ni tidur pernah ada patient mati".

Part 2
Part 1

Room 1414 & The Hawker Foods

What a room number i got tonight. Repeating from what i got during my knee operation in January, OT 14, stayed 14 days in ward.

Never mind, i don't have any problem with all number. And i will buy this number + kasi pao in the next bet.

Back to Penang, what is the first thing thinking in the mind? EAT LAH, CHEAP MAH!!!

Just came back to hotel (Pearl View) hour ago from Penang Island after having my "supper" at East Jelutong with my friend, SY & EH. We took "leng Lui liong sui" & Penang Lok Bak, then again i took Asam Laksa (RM2) & Fried Koay Teow (RM2.50 with three medium size prawn). Of course the leng lui is now leng auntie, after more than 17 years of calling them since form 2.

14 days in HUKM (Part 4)

Day 6 (Tuesday):
Early morning, the doctors came back and informed me that they will perform the Aspiration in ward, not necessary in OT again as my knee is swollen, full of liquid in it.

Doctors cleaned the area around my knee, inject some drug (local anesthetic) so that not that pain. But somehow it was pain like hell especially when the long needle touched my joint! A total of 85 ml of fluid was removed and sent to lab for analysis (swab & culture).

Day 7 (Wednesday):
Just after a day, the knee swollen back again. Today student cum future physiotherapist, Isniza or "Is" came and taught me some techniques to strengthen my muscle. I think she is from Johor as her IC show 01 code. I never asked anyway. Today also my parent balik kampung as i can't dischardged from HUKM yet.

Day 8 (Thursday):
Today was Public Holiday, no specialist around. A quiet day for me.

Day 9 (Friday):
The common thing in all government related organizations - WAITING. I was still waiting for the lab result of my knee's liquid sample. The doctors came in the morning and decided to carry out another aspiration on my knee. It is local anesthetic again and drug was injected into my knee. But this time around, only 5 ml of fluid removed after "searching inside out" my knee like treasure hunt. Imagine the hell pain! The drug only worked on the surface of the skin, not in the joint!

At 3.30pm, Dr Shaidi came with a shocking news, the fluid sample that was sent earlier detected with bacteria culture. I need to go through another OT and was asked to sign the letter of consent. The operation was performed by the final year master student from Arab & assisted by a local student.

Waited till almost 10pm, the nurse asked me to get ready and i was pushed into the OT again. With nice music was on, nurses and doctors around me, considered in naked, the hell pain process begun. The cold like hell OT was just another damn hot hell for me. I was sweating from the moment they inserted the needle into my knee due to pain. The doctor even ask me to get ready for another OT as they can't find the fluid, asked me to get ready for full anesthetic, luckily they succeefully cleaned the infected knee. The painful process took almost 40 minutes. The pain just can't be described in words. I never suffered such a long period of continuous pain before. The ops finally ended in 10.50pm and I was finally sent back to ward at around 11.20pm.

FYI, my MIL went to seek some advice from "ang kong" regarding my story of ghost disturbing me. The "ang kong" did tell something to my MIL, that i will need to undergo another OT before i can be discharged and they never told my wife. Kheng! It had happended finally.

Part 3
Part 2
Part 1

After Milk - 15 days

Baby Khang Henn Update 14 February 2006 , Jalan Pasar, KL:

Baby Khang Henn got his own birth cert and MYKID I/C number already. The MYKID will be ready somewhere August this year. Today the efficiency of JPN is very good, in less than 15 minutes, i got the birth cert. This is because i am the 1st one who reached there and got the number 1001.

This photo was taken after i came back from JPN and he is on his way to meet "zhou gong" (after having his milk milk). i quickly snap the photos as a lot of pakcik pakcik, makcik macik, kakak, abang, adik, grandma, grandpa, grand grandpa, grand grandma, god grandpa, god grandma, B2K, colleague .... bla bla bla want to know his latest development.

Tax Money Gone

News from MalaysiaKini. This is why KL should be "returned" to Pakatan Rakyat since PR control 10/11 MP seats in KL. Or else this Mayor et. al. will spend the money like no body business. Time to Change!!!!

KL mayor the 'frequent flyer'

Rahmah Ghazali and Fauwaz Abdul Aziz Oct 21, 08 7:42pm

Kuala Lumpur mayor Abdul Hakim Borhan has gone on overseas trips amounting to RM1.329 million - all paid for by Malaysian taxpayers.


MCPX
KL mayor the 'frequent flyer'

Kuala Lumpur mayor Abdul Hakim Borhan is sure to be among the airlines' top 'frequent flyers' for his official trips overseas.

In a written reply to Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai, the Federal Territories Ministry said Abdul Hakim has gone on 11 trips overseas - almost one trip every two months - since taking over the post of mayor in late 2006.

Of these, the transportation costs of only two trips were borne by foreign governments - the rest, amounting to RM1.329 million were paid for by Malaysian taxpayers.

The allowances, meanwhile, provided to Abdul Hakim and the handful of officials who usually accompanied him on the trips - mostly to destinations in Asia - came up to RM133,490.

"The trip that was most criticised by my constituents was the one taken by Abdul Hakim and four other Kuala Lumpur City Hall officials to Canada, UK and Germany.

"Though the trip took only five days, it cost slightly more than RM390,000 in transportation costs and allowances," Tan told reporters at the Parliament today.

阿都哈金上任2年出国公干11次
陈国伟揭隆市长公务团耗150万
李伟伦 10月21日 傍晚6点27分

政府官员再涉滥用公款出国考察丑闻！民主行动党蕉赖区国会议员陈国伟（右图）今日揭露，吉隆坡市长阿都哈金自2006年12月上任迄今，共出国“公干”11次，耗费了公款近150万令吉，或相等于陈国伟3年的选区拨款款额。

陈国伟今日在国会走廊召开记者会，发布他从联邦直辖区部获得的一份书面答复。该份答复列出了阿都哈金上任后，在近21个月的任期内，参与的所有海外公务团详情。

陈国伟表示，他本来准备下议院内提出这道问题，但后来被国会办公室通知，该问题已从第15题问题的排序，挪后至第26题，以致他无法在议院内针对此事辩论。

英德5天公务团耗39万

根据该份答复声明，阿都哈金（左图）曾率领官员出国公干11次，共耗路费132万9197令吉与13万3490令吉的津贴，总额为146万2687令吉。

声明说，市长的海外公干地点包括日本的东京、澳洲的珀斯、阿拉伯联合酋长国的杜拜、土耳其的伊斯坦布尔、英国的伦敦、韩国、菲律宾的马尼拉、中国的上海与北京、泰国的曼谷、德国与加拿大等地。

在11次海外行程中，耗费最多的公务团是今年5月29日至6月8日的加拿大、英国和德国的5天行程，花费39万188令吉50仙。

陈国伟指出，这项加、英、德公务团，也是最为人诟病和投诉的行程，“很多人都怀疑市长和官员带着朋党随行”。

怀疑到土耳其只为肚皮舞

他说，虽然市长声明出国都是公干考察，惟据他所了解，公务团在国外的工作只是蜻蜓点水，更多的是吃喝玩乐。

他甚至怀疑，阿都哈金在去年7月到土耳其“公干”，主要目的是否为了当地著名的肚皮舞。

他表示，由于阿都哈金在上任后的短短21个月，已出国公干11次，因此被下属和市政局官员在背后戏称为“频密的旅行者”（frequent traveller）。

“历届吉隆坡市长经常出国公干已不是一件新鲜事，但阿都哈金的频繁次数，却是有史以来之最。”

再揭荒谬理由请假翘班

陈国伟也揭露，阿都哈金与随行的官员经常在出发前后，以一些荒谬的理由请假，其实主要是偷懒翘班。

他有点气愤地说：“这班家伙都很懒，在出国前2天拿假，说要收拾行李。回国后又说头晕要休息，往往再请假1个礼拜。”

他批评市政府耗费巨资出国，整150万令吉的团费已相等其3年的选区拨款。

形容阿都哈金“生人勿近”

此外，陈国伟也炮轰阿都哈金自上任后，腰斩了历届市长维持每个月会见公众1次的活动，导致市民面对投诉无门的窘境。

他形容阿都哈金就如同“生人勿近”，既不愿会见公众，平时也面无表情，鲜少与市政局官员开会议事。

他说，吉隆坡市政局的2008年财政预算案高达21亿令吉，甚至比被称为“先进州”的雪兰莪州14亿令吉预算案拨款更多，但老问题依然一箩箩，30年来毫无改进。

马青炮轰阿罗街突易名

另一方面，市政局日前把著名美食天堂阿罗街（Jalan Alor）改名为克佐拉路（Jalan Kejora）一事，今天也在国会发酵。

马青总团长魏家祥（左图）在国会走廊召开记者会，炮轰市政局此举毫无建设，反而让外国游客摸不着头脑。

他指出，既然外国游客和国际的旅游网站，都早已熟悉阿罗街的名字，市政局如今硬要易名，无疑缺乏理由与建设性。

家祥：一人得益万人愁

他说，在目前全球出现金融危机之际，市政局更改阿罗街路名，且耗资更换路牌，肯定不符经济效益。

“除了负责更换路牌的承包商外，这件事对谁都没有好处，可说是一人得益万人愁。”

魏家祥说，他已指示联邦直辖区马青分团，向吉隆坡市长阿都哈金提呈一份备忘录，以反映马青的反对立场。

NO HOLDS BARRED: Gelombang Kuning

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

From the seventh to the ninth of November 2007, Umno will be holding its Annual General Assembly. The last party election was in 2004 so it is actually time for another one. However, it appears like they are, again, postponing the party election so that Abdullah Ahmad Badawi can remain the unchallenged Umno President until at least 2009 -- that is after the next general election. This postponement will allow Abdullah to purge the party by dropping the remnants of the Mahathir regime from the general election candidacy list and all his people can then be put in place before the party election is held. This will also mean it will be very difficult for anyone to mount a challenge to unseat him in the 2009 party election.

There is much speculation that Abdullah might close the convention with an announcement that he will be having an audience with the Agong the following Monday to request the dissolution of Parliament to enable the Twelfth General Election to be held on 25 November 2007. Or maybe he will meet the Agong beforehand to inform His Majesty that he will be making the announcement on Friday, 9 November 2007, of the dissolution of Parliament.

25 November 2007 is one of the four dates the feng shui master gave Abdullah for the Twelfth General Election to be held. The other three are 19 May 2007, which has since passed, 15 December 2007, and 15 March 2008. This is the same feng shui master who gave Abdullah the 21 March 2004 date to hold the Eleventh General Election that saw Barisan Nasional sweep 91% of the seats in Parliament, the most impressive performance ever.

Political observers, however, feel that 25 November is too early to hold the general election as MCA and Gerakan are not ready yet. According to the word on the ground, there will be a massive swing of Chinese support to DAP, which may end up getting 20 to 25 Parliament seats. There is the added danger that Penang might fall to the opposition -- or at least the Chinese seats might fall even if Umno still retains its seats in Penang. This would mean that even if Barisan Nasional can still retain a simple majority in Penang it will be an Umno government minus a two-thirds majority and with a very strong opposition presence in the State Assembly.

Umno appears to still have 70% Malay support nationwide (and 50% in Kelantan and Terengganu) but Chinese support has shrunk to only 40%. This augurs well for DAP -- and probably for PKR as well in ‘Chinese’ constituencies where they field Chinese candidates. PKR has the potential to secure five to eight Parliament seats with PAS bringing in another 25 to 30 in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu -- giving the opposition a combined 50 to 60 seats in Parliament.

Of course, this still allows Barisan Nasional a 72%-77% majority in Parliament from the present 91% -- more than the two-thirds majority it needs -- but 50 to 60 opposition voices in Parliament will certainly make life very uncomfortable for the ruling coalition.

Barisan Nasional is not sitting pretty though. It has injected hundreds of thousands of ‘new’ voters into Kelantan and Terengganu to ensure its Gelombang Biru (Blue Wave) will achieve the Pembangkang Sifar (Zero Opposition) campaign it has launched. The Terengganu Gelombang Biru campaign proved successful in 2004 when PAS was reduced to just four State seats with 28 State and eight Parliament seats falling to Barisan Nasional. The 2004 election success in Terengganu merits the same campaign being implemented nationwide.

Sabah, a PKR target, has seen an influx of 1.5 million foreign voters while Kelantan and Terengganu have about one million or so combined. This almost assures Barisan Nasional a clean sweep of Sabah, Kelantan and Terengganu. In the other states where ‘foreign participation’ is a bit more difficult, opposition supporters have been relocated to other constituencies while government supporters have been moved in. Then there are the postal votes, which invariably are always in favour of the ruling party, plus the dead voters and those above 100 years old still on the electoral roll -- and the previous elections have proven that they always come back from the grave to cast their votes.

DAP has discovered that many of its supporters have been removed from the electoral roll while ‘new faces’ have been added to the list. Since some constituencies saw margins of only 1,000 to 2,000 votes, 2,000 voters moved out and a new lot of 2,000 moved in would mean that Barisan Nasional can win with a most comfortable margin. Expect many of the DAP kingpins to be sent into retirement. Lim Kit Siang alone has lost 8,000 votes over the last few months. Bye-bye Kit Siang and Guan Eng. Maybe you can now become a fulltime blogger like me.

Yes, the outcome of the Twelfth General Election has already been decided even before Parliament is dissolved. Barisan Nasional is serious about its Gelombang Biru and Pembangkang Sifar program. In 2004 it was 91% as follows:

UMNO: 35.9% of the popular votes and 110 seats or 50% of the seats.
MCA: 15.5% of the popular votes and 31 seats or 14% of the seats.
MIC: 3.2% of the popular votes and 9 seats or 4% of the seats.
Gerakan: 3.7% of the popular votes and 10 seats or 4% of the seats.
Others: 5.5% of the popular votes and 39 seats or 18% of the seats

Total BN: 63.8% of the popular votes and 199 seats or 91% of the seats.

Opposition: 36.2% of the popular votes and 20 seats or 9% the seats.

This time around Barisan Nasional wants 100% of the 219 seats which they hope to win with about 70% of the popular votes.

Anyway, that is what Barisan Nasional wants, but the people are not sitting pretty either. In anticipation of the dissolution of Parliament soon after the Umno General Assembly on 9 November and the general election being held on 25 November, BERSIH, the coalition for free and fair elections, is holding a rally at 3.00pm on Saturday, 10 November 2007, at the Dataran Merdeka in front of the Selangor Club. The target is to gather 100,000 concerned citizens who will then march to the Istana Negara to present a Memorandum to the Agong calling for massive electoral reforms. It is going to be a sea of yellow or Gelombang Kuning (Yellow Wave) as many will be dressed in yellow. This will be the peoples’ response to Barisan Nasional’s Gelombang Biru.

Electoral reforms are long overdue. Not only are voters being transferred out and foreigners being registered as voters, but many who never registered as voters in their entire life have found, much to their surprise, that they are now registered voters. Who do you think will be voting in their place? In the last election many who voted in the same constituency for the last 20 or 30 years found that they had been transferred to another state. They then rushed to their ‘new’ polling station and found that they had already voted. In short, someone had voted in their place.

Gerrymandering, ‘phantom’ voters, ‘imported’ voters, transferred voters, postal voters, etc., can of course work to a certain extent. But when the swing is massive even this can’t help. This would be when Barisan Nasional plays the race card and threatens the voters, in particular the Chinese voters, with another ‘May 13’ if the ruling coalition loses its two-thirds majority in Parliament or ‘Chinese’ states like Penang fall to the opposition. Well, if they try that ‘Remember May 13’ trick again, the opposition will come forward to address it.

To demonstrate what I mean, read this old article I wrote in 20 August 2000 called ‘Politics of Fear’. This is what I said then:

Two days ago, Umno Youth confronted the Chinese about the demands the Chinese had made, a long time ago, during the Tenth General Election. Why, after almost a year, does Umno Youth dig this issue up? Why did they not confront the Chinese then, at the time the demands were made, back in 1999? Is it because they needed the Chinese votes then but no longer need it now?

Maybe it did take Umno Youth almost a year to realise what the Chinese demands were, or to pluck up the courage to stage an illegal demonstration in front of the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall. I was told it was a boisterous demonstration complete with four-letter words -- and I am not talking about the Umno word (which is also a four-letter word) but of the ‘F’ type. Some people were roughed up and one journalist-photographer was assaulted.

But that’s not the issue. The Chinese tried to pacify the Umno Youth demonstrators and explain what the demands were all about, but Umno Youth would hear nothing of it. Taking a very confrontational stand, Umno Youth told the Chinese they refuse to listen to any explanation and insisted that the Chinese apologise. Again, the Chinese tried to explain the issue but Umno Youth shouted them down and would not allow them to. Umno Youth only wanted an apology and nothing less.

Umno Youth was very abusive and vulgar in their treatment of the Chinese. Clearly their intention was to spark an incident but the Chinese knew better than to engage Umno Youth in a boxing match. The Chinese knew, either way, they would come out the loser.

Umno Youth has given the Chinese a week to apologise and warned the Chinese that they run the risk of angering the Malays if they do not. This, in turn, raises a greater risk of racial tension, possibly followed by a racial conflict. In short, if you don’t play ball, there may be another May 13 looming over the horizon.

Yesterday, the Chinese announced that they will not apologise, as there is nothing to apologise for. Furthermore, the issue is ‘dead’ and had already been previously clarified to everyone’s satisfaction.

Both sides will not back down so it is now a stalemate.

This was a major booboo for Umno Youth. They have thrown the challenge and the Chinese have stood firm. What will Umno Youth do next? If Umno Youth keeps quiet it will lose face so will it now start a racial conflict as promised?

Anyway, what Umno Youth is going to do is not important as it is no longer significant in Malaysian politics. Maybe when Anwar Ibrahim was the Umno Youth leader people took notice. Since then Umno Youth is seen as merely Mahathir’s tool to provoke issues whenever Umno proper cannot be seen to be behind it.

What is more interesting in this whole issue is that Barisan Alternatif (BA) is going to make history and change the way the many races in this land live with each other. Yesterday, PAS, DAP, PRM and keADILan had a ‘roundtable conference’ in Kuala Lumpur. The conference had nothing to do with the Umno Youth threat. It was to plan the opposition’s strategies for the future. I must admit it was a fantastic conference and if they implement all the plans adopted it is going to make the opposition coalition a very credible alternative to the ruling government. But that is a story for another time.

At this conference, the youth members from the four Barisan Alternatif parties pledged to stand united in the face of Umno Youth’s threat. And they will be issuing a media statement to that effect in a day or two.

Pemuda BA (and three out of the four BA Youth leaders are Malays mind you) is going to tell Umno Youth that the Malays will stand united in defence of the Chinese. If Umno Youth tries to harm the Chinese they will first have to cross the line of Malays. The Malays in BA will stand between Umno Youth and the Chinese.

“Let the Umno Youth Malays kill the BA Youth Malays first before they can touch the Chinese,” said one Malay from keADILan.

“The Malays will stand between Umno Youth and the Chinese,” said another Malay from PAS.

“It is time we stop talking about Malays and Chinese and start talking as Malaysians,” said the DAP chap.

“PRM will take the initiative of drafting the press release to tell Umno Youth that Pemuda BA is guaranteeing the safety of the Chinese,” said the PRM Youth leader.

I felt a tear in my eyes. Umno Youth may not realise it but they have just made history. Their threat to start another race riot if the Chinese do not apologise has brought the Malays forward. The Malays are now standing in defence of their Chinese comrades. The Malays are prepared to face their fellow Malays in protecting innocent Chinese lives.

What really moved the crowd was when Dr Hatta Ramli of PAS got onto the stage and announced to the assembly of Malays, Chinese and Indians that Umno Youth would have to “step over our dead bodies first before they can harm the Chinese” (“langkah mayat kami dulu”).

The hall reverberated with applause. I felt like crying. My wife is, after all, Chinese, though of Siamese descent. 43 years of independence and, finally, Malaysians have learnt to set aside racial differences and stand up for one another. Yesterday we stopped being Malays and Chinese and emerged as Malaysians. What a great Merdeka Day celebration this 31 August is going to be.

Umno Youth had better be warned. Nearly half the voters voted for the opposition the last general election. It is also said that more than 70% of these people are Malays, as the Chinese had been intimidated into voting for the ruling government.

Maybe Umno Youth is trying to win back Malay support by showing how aggressive they are and that they will take no shit from the Chinese. But this move has backfired badly, just as Dr Mahathir’s move to put Anwar in jail for 15 years has.

Umno Youth has not won back the Malays. They have only forced the Malays to come out in defence of the Chinese. And, to make matters worse, Umno Youth is probably going to now lose the support of the Chinese, which they had in the first place.

The Chinese were scared the last election. They were scared because they thought they were on their own. Now that they know the opposition Malays in BA will not let any harm come to them there is no longer any reason to be scared of Umno.

Umno Youth had better be warned. The Malays in BA are not just paying lip service. They mean what they say. The Malays in BA are determined that race riots are a thing of the past. The Malays in BA will take the punches first before a single Chinese hair can be harmed. The Malays in BA are not ‘talk only’ like Umno Youth but are ‘battle seasoned’ through years of Reformasi. And there are more BA Malays than there are Umno Youth members.

If at all any good has come out of the Reformasi movement it is that Reformasi has successfully set aside race and elevated justice as the rallying call. Umno is all about ‘Malay rights and privileges’. Reformasi is about justice for Anwar and justice for all Malaysians.