Rina De Silva
New Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR: She misses home-cooked food but the DeepaRaya open house spread at the National Heart Institute (IJN) was too tempting to resist.

Heart transplant girl Tee Hui Yi, 14, enjoyed satay, briyani rice and rendang. The only thing missing was her favourite food - Kentucky Fried Chicken.

“Now I can eat anything I want, but I haven’t had any Kentucky Fried Chicken yet,” she giggled.

Her plate was refilled quite regularly by IJN chief executive officer Mohd Radzif Mohd Yunus and her mother Dina Bato Sambua.

The staff at IJN were happy to see her tucking in.
Tee has not been in the mood to eat much since she received a new heart last month.

Looking radiant in a red baju kurung with her hair plaited in the latest style, Tee drew attention the moment she stepped into the room. Guests recognised the famous patient and came forward to greet the teenager, who was her usual bubbly self.

She posed happily for photographers, showing the peace sign.

It has been more than a month since Tee had her heart transplant at IJN, where she has been a patient since September last year.

She was transferred out of the intensive care unit on Nov 1.

“I’m very happy, only my legs still hurt when I walk,” she said.

Her physiotherapy regimen includes a lot of walking as part of the recuperation process.

Her one wish though is to go home and be with her family in Batu Pahat. But it may be a while yet as IJN cannot fix a date for her discharge.

“It’s hard to tell. She was just transferred out of the ICU,” said Radzif.

But she is pleased that she is no longer bound to the mechanical heart that kept her alive for more than a year as she waited for a donor heart. She can now sit and eat comfortably, and bathe like a regular person.

Tee was diagnosed with end-stage heart failure, after a viral infection, when she was two years’ old.

She became a regular patient at Batu Pahat Hospital and IJN.

Tee was placed on the heart transplant list in May last year. She has not attended school for three years because of her heart condition.

Bersih or the police?

The mass gathering in Kuala Lumpur by Bersih to march to the National Palace to submit a memorandum to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for a fair election yesterday happened peacefully without any untoward incidents. And if the gathering was to cause traffic chaos, it would be only limited to the routes used by the people to march towards the palace from the city center.

But why the traffic chaos in the whole city and surrounding areas? Is Bersih to be blamed for the chaos? At the very first place, Bersih has tried to apply for a permit and if the police would co-operate by issuing a permit and help monitor the procession, things would be fine after all. It would be just another usual events like Merdeka Countdown, New Year Countdown, Merdeka Parade where certain roads are closed but without causing traffic chaos like what happened yesterday.

After all, the gathering happened peacefully, save for the action of the police who shot chemicals using water cannons and tear gas to the crowd unnecessarily. Even the Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) has indicated that the gathering, as long as is peaceful, should go on while the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has consented to receive the memorandum from Bersih.

Now, the traffic chaos? Who caused it? Well, the police road blocks. Road blocks at entrances to the North-South Expressway (NSE) from Kedah to Johor. Well, that might not have caused severe jams in smaller towns, but the road blocks on entrances into Kuala Lumpur and many other roads within the city caused the severe jams! The entire city was in a stand still. Anyone seen wearing yellow were asked to turn back and not allowed to proceed!

Isn’t this a breach of freedom? Why, is it a sin for wearing yellow? Why cause the unnecessary trouble to the people? Yeah, the police apologized for the inconvenience, saying is their duty to do, but, is this necessary at the first place?

Sunday 11 November 2007

TODAY marks the 10th Anniversary of JOLmy. Established 10 years ago, on 11 November 1997, it began as an experimental personal website which is continuously refined and updated.

My personal website currently contains a brief personal profile, online photo albums, video gallery and a web-based messaging interface. Meanwhile, I started blogging in October 2005, stopped a while in March 2006 but relaunched the current blog in July 2006.

On another matter, well, today seems to be an auspicious day. Heard that many people are getting married today. And well, the countdown to Chinese New Year stands at 88 days today! Well, what a coincidence!