Thursday, July 17, 2008

Time Bomb

Last night I went for a casual committee meeting at Restoran Kak Nong, off Jalan Bundusan. It was raining quite heavily and only some of us Rotarians were able to make it. We had rojak ayam and ABC, so much for my plan to lose weight for the marathon!

Anyway, before we went into the meeting proper, we talked about so many other topics. It's quite a lot of fun exchanging views about current issues.

We talked about climbing Mount Kinabalu and altitude sickness; the several alternative routes to approach the peak. Also health issues and some technical matters on angiogram and cholesterol-lowering drugs. I was also pleasantly surprised that Dr Ravi will be joining the 7 km Sutera Sunset Run too next Saturday. At least now I know I have a running partner (that is if Dr Ravi doesn't leave me too far behind!).

Then we talked about politics—SAPP's vote of no confidence against the Prime Minister. We talked about some other politicians; we all agreed that Anwar did it.

This topic, that topic—and then we talked about HIV and AIDS. The phrase "time bomb" was used. I was surprised to have been told that the AIDS problem in Sabah is quite serious. It seems that a fair number of the folks from the villages are carriers fo the HIV virus. Apparently one of the most viable explanations is that some of the young men went off to the bigger cities, got involved in drugs, shared needles and became infected with the virus. The young girls went to the big cities (outside Sabah), became involved in the flesh trade somehow, and later brought home the virus. These people then infected some more people back home. I have a feeling this problem is not isolated to Sabah only; perhaps it's the same story throughout Malaysia.

If the above is true—and I can't see why the good doctor would lie—then I think that phrase "time bomb" is easily justifiable here. Many people are going to fall seriously ill and then die like flies. I doubt that we have the resources to treat these people.

I think Marina Mahathir has an uphill task ahead.

2 comments:

CK said...

im thinking of joining the 7k run also since i joined the previous two. still contemplating...

Cornelius said...

That's a good idea, CK. Your hunt partner, Teo, will be there too. But I don't consider him a running partner. I'll probably see him at the start whistle; and then will see him at the finish line. Immediately after the whistle, I will probably be eating his dust.

Teo, don't beat uncle too badly ah! Kasi muka sikit lah!

I don't know why, but I've never joined the Sutera run before. I want to ask you people, where do I park my car on that day? I was given to understand that there were about 7,000 runners last year; and they're expecting 10,000 this year. Will there be enough parking?