Two giants of the Malaysian Judiciary served at the courts in Miri. Top right is Tun Richard Malanjum, the former chief justice. On the left is Datuk Supang Lian, who was a former sessions court in Miri (and my boss then).
In 2020, she was elevated to the position of judge at the court of appeal. Datuk Supang is a Kelabit from Bario. An extraordinary achievement indeed!
In Malaysia, since the COVID-19 pandemic began:
29,500 people lost their lives to the virus
800,000 people lost their jobs (up till 2020 only)
77,000 couples got divorced
Over 1,000 people have taken their own lives (for each life lost, 135 people are directly affected)
224,000 calls have been made to helplines requesting for psychosocial and emotional support
30,000 businesses have closed down (up till 2020 only)
I don't know what else it would take for the people in power to show some genuine empathy and humility, and say no to bigger cars, bigger offices, more pay, pangkat, pingat etc for at least a couple more years...
Then we drove to Muzium Istana Lama Seri Menanti. The only other time I've been here was way back in the 90s when I was still working at the courts. Happy to report it's a very well maintained place and absolutely picturesque.
There's also a cafe as well and we had some drinks and cekodok. With a slight breeze in our faces, it was just simply perfect!
Yup, it's what we're striving for now. So far so good lah although ada jugak yg terkucil. Breakfast is easy; cereal, bread etc, settled. Dinners also ok cos wifey is very creative in taking out the proteins out of our meals. Lunch a bit challenging, altho most places have vegetarian meals as well now. Some of the stuff I've ordered/eaten: Portobello Bomb burger at KGB, egg mayo sandwiches, potato salad sandwiches, naan without the tandoori, salad, bagels...
(Pic is of wifey's aglio olio featuring homemade pasta and butterbean salad 😋)
Sejak covid, dah mcm2 sop solat berjemaah kita dah harungi.
Lepas masjid semua tutup lebih kurang 100 hari, Alhamdulillah dibuka semula utk 40 org jemaah (Selangor), solat jumaat pun sama 40, first come first served.
Kemudian kena apply utk solat Jumaat. Kemudian kena apply melalui app. Di KL dibuka utk 130 org, first come, first served. Ramai yg beratur awal, pulang kecewa.
Kemudian jadi 1/3 ruang masjid. Kemudian 50 peratus.
Oh, penjarakan 1m masa tu.
Kemudian pernah Selangor buka, KL tutup. Ada masa, KL buka, Selangor tutup. Kita kena keep track. Itu pun yg mana boleh pergi dua2, kalau tak, boleh dicaj rentas daerah.
Kemudian bila kes naik, tutup semua (kecuali imam, bilal, noja).
Bila bukak balik, utk 50 org, cukup je, pintu kunci. Penjarakan jadi 1.5m.
Di Selangor, utk anak kariah saja.
Baru-baru ni, di KL pun solat fardhu utk anak kariah saja, Jumaat 50 org first come, first served. Sekarang jadi solat fardhu dan Jumaat utk AJK saja. Yg lain solat di rumah.
Di Selangor, hanya 6 org utk solat Jumaat, 5 org utk solat fardhu.
I don't have to make any conclusions. Kita sendiri fikirkan kenapa kita diuji sebegini.
