SIBLINGS 74: MANGLI MAN

Forlorn Pak Teh on 13.07.2011

Bandaged toes with the iron rod support

The guilty cabinet sliding door

Bandaged again on 27.07.2011

He is a very simple minded man who strongly believes that the Malays cannot do anything properly. If the traffic light went haywire, he would automatically blame the Malay engineers who could not do their jobs properly although it got nothing to do with any of the Malay engineers.

He would always blames others although he himself misinterpreted the newspaper reports. He would grumble why was a prominent figure was very stingy in refusing to donate to the fund @ dana because he has misinterpreted the word DNA. He would blame the judge for closing the case whereas it was actually the DPP who has closed their case for the prosecution .

It was fun for us to provoke Pak Teh when he was reading the newspaper because he would move into a tirade on the subject that he himself was confused. Although he has touched double seven yet he is the same Pak Teh that we are fond of. He is a very impatient man who cannot wait on anything. He does not listen to any advice that does not suit him. His famous quotation whenever he wants to leave our houses after his brief visits, his famous quotation authentically imitate by Farli:

"Nak balik dah haih."

His strong will power is legendary and we admire his degree of abstinence from foods that would increase his glucose reading the next morning. However he is always soft belly on his favourite food. When it comes to Chicken Chop, he would deviate from his principle whereby he does not care a damn whether his sugar level would rise the next morning.

It was indeed a nasty morning for Pak Teh on 12 July 2011. His impatience has barked back at him when in his rush to close the sliding door of his home cabinet, the cabinet sliding door was derailed and fell on his left toes. He refused to seek medical treatment although being asked by Mak Teh. He only agreed to seek medical treatment the next day, when his left foot swelled and he could not stand the pain anymore.

After his left foot was x-rayed, the medical doctor reaffirmed that one of his toes has suffered a fissure. His left toes was bandaged with an iron support beneath the toe concerned. He was advised to rest for two weeks and he must walk with the aid of crutches. His toes would be x-rayed again in two weeks time to ascertain whether the toe concerned has healed or otherwise.

Being an impatient man, Pak Teh could not endure the temporary immobility even for a short period of time. The feeling of boredom and itchiness on his bandaged toes. drove him to remove the bandage. He did not rest on his laurels but instead he wanted to show his prowess as compared to Kamal who use to remove his cemented plaster of Paris on his multiple fractured legs a few years ago. As compared to Pak Teh, Kamal knew the fatal consequences of his action and he would stay put in his house. Pak Teh wanted to show prowess and as such he would ride on his motorbike to his favourite rendezvous such as at my house or at Mek Tet's house.

Seeing him without his bandage riding his motorbike on his own, I advised him not to do that because he himself would loose in the end of the day. He would suffer in the end because the healing process of his fissure injury was through complete rest without any more load burden on his injured toes. His curt answer to me was that he was very mangli (accustom to) to fractures because he has experienced a few fractures before. I told him that the incidences has happened in those days when he was young and vibrant in health. It was naturally much speeder in the healing process during those years as compared to the present diabetic man of 77 years.

True to my words, when he went for another x-ray on his toes on 27 July 2011. the medical doctor confirmed that his toe has not healed properly. As such, the medical doctor again bandaged his toes with an iron rod support and advised him strongly to restrict his movements for another 14 days. When I visited him on the 28 July 2011, Pak Teh was a very coy person indeed. Otherwise I would be his scolding target for giving him a wrong advise. That was what happened to a stubborn man who has boasted on his mangli attitude. Perhaps, after this unkind episode, he would shred off his mangli attitude into infinity. Insya Allah.