Ignoring ill health to vote

Illness was an old companion of his. Given his age, that was no surprise. At 89, there were days that body parts refused to cooperate or chose to protest way too loudly. And it didn’t matter to the body whether it was voting day or not.


When I got there at the agreed time to take him out, he was lying in bed, feeling quite ill and I’m sure, sorry for himself.

“Why bother to vote at this old age?” asked his wife.


True to form, he sat up straight in bed, stubbornly declaring, “I MUST vote!”


Which was how my niece and I took him to the nearest polling station in 2008. Back home, he flung his cane away and went straight back to bed.


The story came to mind today when I saw yet another FB posting urging young adults to register to vote.


My father who could have dropped dead at any moment (he did pass away a couple of months down the road), had found the inner strength to fight his ailing body and do his duty. There were many other elderly people in wheelchairs and with walking sticks at the polls . Coming out to vote was not exactly a walk in the park for them, but that seemed to be a small matter. They were determined to do their part.


Yet, many from younger generations still take the right to vote for granted.


When will they ever learn that voting is a privilege, not to be taken lightly. And the fact that ultimately, their one vote can make a world of difference.

My lucky shot

Sometimes a little effort goes a long way.


The photographs that I think are so common brings about rather unexpected positive reactions.

Two weeks ago, I spotted a chicak (that’s Malay for gecko ) on the banana tree.

The excited photographer in yelled, “That’s a great shot.”

The lazy part in me was alarmed. It said, “Yeah, BUT the camera’s all the way upstairs. In the bag. In the cupboard.”
Fortunately, the short tussle that followed had the photographer winning hands down.

The shot with the lizard needs a lot of tweaking. BUT …

I got a great shot (by my standards-lah!) of an olive backed sunbird. Though it’s not perfect, I liked it cos it’s a first for me.

When I posted it on Facebook, I really wasn’t expecting anyone to comment on it. Hadn’t many professional bird photographers with humongous satellite-like equipment done fantastic jobs on bird photography?

A few clicks of the LIKE button made my day.

More importantly, it drove home the point that a little bit of effort can go a loooong way. Just because something’s been done before, it sure doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do it too in your own way.

Now, if only that gecko would model for me again.