Sumatra Is Burning

Hazy days are here again!

Yep, hazy days. Wish it was "happy days are here again" but not so when I woke up this morning. A nice weekend marred by the noticeable burning smell of charred wood.

Sumatra is continuously burning again, it has been burning every year it seems around this time of the year. Singapore is affected with its PSI level at 80 yesterday - at moderate range; a range above 100 as unhealthy.

Did not really noticed the deteriorating air quality yesterday until I went out of my office to cross over to the Production floor in the next building.

My son was the worst affected it seems, his eyes were itching and red from rubbing. The smell of charred wood was quite strong that we decided to turn on the air-conditioning in our room to get some reprieve from the irritating and unhealthy air.

All was good, in our "self-contained panic room" watching TV until we went to sleep. The whole nasty air pollution was all forgotten.... until I woke up this morning. Argh!

Wify was feeling too cold in the wee hours this morning, so she turned off the air-condition and opened the windows. The air was quite good then even with the haze blanketing the usual view out of our bedroom window.


My nose picked-up the charred smell as fast as my eyes opened when I woke up this morning. That was how strong the smell had gotten from last night.

Outside activity is not recommended because of this, so any outing will be limited to indoor shopping malls.

Met Wify at our shop and helped her with some displays of newly arrive ladies bags.

Before that, my son and I had to take the cab to the shop to escape the haze. The journey it seemed, like the of whole Singapore was in a dreamland. A nasty dream of chocking air.

All was good at the shop with steady inflow of Customers despite the haze, most probably they had to stay indoors to get out of the haze.

The reality hit me again when we went out to have dinner. The air quality should have worsened and should be at an unhealthy range as the smell was very much stronger.


The whole Bugis area was covered with a blanket of smoke. It was depressing to see. It was bad to breathe in, but life seemed to go on with the tourists there. They were out and about outside.

Looks like we have to spend more nights in our "panic room" until the haze clears up around mid October as mentioned by the NEA's Meteorological Services.

Something About Mom

I may sound like a Mama's boy, but being Asian and a Muslim, filial piety is the utmost virtue one can have. No amount of repayment is surmountable the love and kindness they have showered on us during our growing years and even now.

I just love my parents, love them dearly.

Being the third last child in the family, I do not really get to know them until I left the "nest" to build a life with my own family.

So spending time with them during outings, sit-down lunches and dinners really give me the time and opportunity to get to know them well.


Well enough to know the things they went through, the hardship, the joy, the better-sweet experiences when they start to reminisce.

I learn a lot from their life's lessons which sometime reflects the current predicament I have, sometimes the devil in me... and that motivates me and keeps me in positive mind to tackle it, face it upfront.

With every time spent, every tiny detail known, I learn to appreciate them even more. My love for them deepens and I can never take them for granted.

Just two Saturdays ago, an outing with them at Esplanade and Marina Bay, I go to know a bit about her childhood, before the 2nd World War...

"Is that Clifford Pier?" Mom, pointing her finger to the vacant landing steps of the pier.

"Yes, but now it is closed for conservation and will be turned to a leisure spot with the building of IR at Marina Bay" I answered as I pointed to Marina East across the bay.


Mom just nodded and was recollecting her memories from the old times, "You know... when I was about 5 or 6 years old, you grandfather used to take me for a sampan ride around this waters."

Sampan being a small row boat in Malay language.

"This is the first time I step onto this place since then" she said, looking out to the bay.

Wow! Sixty over years and she returned to her happy childhood place before the Japanese bombed Singapore and occupied it.

She lost grandmother during the occupation when she was just eight. Staying with relatives after relatives most of her growing-up years, while her grandfather was out at sea for months at a time.

"If not for you, I would not have remembered that fun time I had with you grandfather." She looked at me with a grateful smile carved in her face.

I just melted, but somehow did not show my emotions, instead just snapping picture away.

With a little smile casted, Dad was quiet. Yet looking very far in his thoughts as he soaked-up the afternoon sea breeze. Dad is the person who does not speak much. I just wonder what childhood stories had the place evoked in his mind.

I did not know it was that sentimental a place for Mom, but I guess I will never know Dad's story for now.


I just love the place because it is a tranquil spot to be in the afternoon, when the sun is blocked my the Shanton Way skyscrapers, leaving the place cool and breezy and quiet.

That day's casual outing, I felt, has rewarded me greatly when I was able to make my Mom so happy. Rekindled fond memories with her father, a man I hardly knew as I was too little when he passed on.

The place made Dad left his worries behind for the time at least. For the first time in a long while I got to see him in such a totally relaxed mood.

Three of us just stood there and were quiet for quite a long while... so tranquil... our minds so rested.

Like The Dinosaur?

I received a disturbing email from a friend a few days ago, but did open it until today.

It was about the end of life on earth as we know it. It was speculated that dinosaurs were extinct because of the aftermath and the after-effect of an asteroid impact on earth.

The email states that NASA's Near Earth Object or NEO Program has predicted that the mighty humans who controls the earth may very well go to extinction like the mighty dinosaurs who then ruled the earth plane.

An asteroid scientifically named 2002 NT7, measuring 1.24 miles across will come into earth's path and collide on February 1st 2019... 13 years from now.

The impact will be equivalent to 1 million megatons of explosion that can destroy an entire continent upon impact. A gloomy predicament for all life forms on modern earth.


I had to check the website and articles from CNN and BBC to confirm the truth of this claim. For my own sake. I just had to know.

The good news is that it is confirmed by NASA to be a low-probability after they have enough data to determine its trajectory.

The bad news is that I am far behind. Far, far behind in the world of being aware of this "near-life-extinction" news. Four years too late!

I think I am like a beam of light from a distant star, taking light-years to reach my awareness of what is happening now.

Earth to Imran... Earth to Imran, come in!

Guess this fast-paced place where I live has left me oblivious to the global and even universal happenings... whether trivia or life-threatening such as this real-life occurrence.

I am very much focused on the daily concerns, what will become of me, how will my family be better off in the future. The immediate concerns that directly affect me.

I think most of my countrymen would share the same sentiments. I can be wrong.

Then again, better late then... ever happening. The scientists still do not rule out the same possibility of impact in 2060. How old will I be then?


Hope my son and my grandchildren will still inhibit this earth happily after that date.

Else, we really need a Bruce Willis and his team to fly out to the asteroid and blow it up to smithereens to save humankind from Deep Impact and delay Armageddon... The Almighty willing.

Life Before Death

A funny thing happen very early this morning.

Well, something that was suppose to happen did not take place early this morning... at 4:30am actually.

The alarm clock rang, and I woke Wify up for her to prepare our Sahur (Ramadhan breakfast). She said OK and I dozed back into slumber... so did she.

I woke up at 5:33am and finally... after my grogginess dissipated, I came to realize that we missed our Sahur and the fasting for the day has started.

Guess no food or drinks for us today until 6:52pm when we break fast this evening. Well, we missed Sahur several times before last year and the year before last. In fact, is quite common for everyone to miss it because we overslept.

Nothing major. It is a part of life of being a practising Muslim.

But something major did happen!

I read a full page advertisement in Life! section of the The Sunday Times newspaper.

The Ad was from the Singapore Hospice Council which read "Hi, I've got lung cancer. How are you?"

It is about death or the terminally ill.

In the main section on page 14, was a sad, yet shocking... a whole lot of mixed feeling I felt for one individual named Mr. Mohammad Abdooh Md Ali. He has lung cancer, and is blind because of the disease. He is in his final stage.

His terminally ill condition is brought about by his heavy smoking habit since he was a teenager. In June last year, he coughed-up blood and six months later he was diagnosed with cancer.

A Chicken Rice stall owner, who now depends on his wife to care for him when she gets home from tending to their stall. He has 3 children aged 15 to 22 from his previous marriage.

He intends to turn his dying moments to a positive effort to make others aware of the disease and prevent it as other may still have a chance to learn from his mistakes.

The Singapore Hospice Council is doing a video clip of him and his family every two weeks until his last day. The first episode is already available online from its website www.lifebeforedeath.org.sg.

"The second video clip to be uploaded in two weeks' time, will feature his wife talking about how she takes care of him and how she copes emotionally.

Sadly, there is no way of knowing how many episodes there will be." quote from ST's reporter Sarah Ng ngsls@sph.com.sg


A little more about Singapore Hospice Council in this photo essay.

Ironically on Friday, 29 September 2006, one Technician who came back to work just explained to me his reason for the urgent leave he had to take.

His father was diagnosed as having liver cancer and in his last stage also. His was brought about by heavy drinking since he was 15. And now he has dementia too.

Life is just too short to waste in our later years from abuse of bad habits to our body from our younger years. The price to pay is ourselves that involves our family and loved ones too.

The best we fragile mortals can do is to keep a positive mind and attitude, practising healthy habits. Love our loved ones and spend time with them as much like there is no tomorrow, as we take each step forward on our life's journey... building career and family and our faith.

We must enjoy a balanced life before death, with The Almighty as our guide on earth and the hereafter.