The One With the Kiara Cemetery (part 2) 

Well. to tell you the truth.. I wasn't really taught about life and death matters when I was a kid.. my grandfather passed away when I was 4.. I still remember how I was too afraid to give a kiss goodbye to him, thus I just looked from far.. I also opted to be squeezed by my two elder brothers at the backseat of the car rather than sit beside the window.. The main reason? hmmm.. if you drive from Batu Pahat to Pontian using 'jalan pantai'.. you can see many cemeteries on the right or left side of the road.. so by sitting in the center, i felt much safer.. stupid me.. but that was what I'd being taught!

Heh.. I took me a while to overcome my Coimetrophobia (Fear of cemeteries).. The real break-through was when I stayed with my uncle and his family just 6 years ago.. I went through the last months of uncle's father-in-law.. from the moment he was struck by Angin Ahmar, sent him to the hospital, took care of him for almost 3 months, brought him back to the house, stayed beside him during 'nazak' until his 'roh' passed his body, 'mandi', 'kafan', etc.. I was also the one who went down into the 'liang lahad' to received the 'jenazah'.. from that moment I realized I'd totally overcome the fear..

My uncle is a bit religious.. I saw how calm he was.. teaching his little boys, (aged 6 and 3), to sit down beside the 'jenazah' and sent prayers to their grandpa.. such a shame coz I never have the same guts when I was at their age.. I really learnt a lot from that experience..

I don't blame my parents for not teaching me all those.. it was all in the early 80s.. but I felt disgusted when reading Star Metro's report.. even in this new millenium, people don't really teach their children about life and death.. they are still afraid of their future 6' x 4' land.. like they are going to live forever.. Hmm.. they are totally against the clear-up of some few acres green scenery.. What about many other hectars which turning into housing areas.. A reminder here, you might not need a bungalow, a Semi-D, a link house or an apartment.. but you will definitely need yourself a peice of land.. the 6' x 4' land..

It made me more upset to learn the Condo management spent a damn lot of money to hire lawyers to fight against the ongoing graveyards development.. whereby they should look into existing aging facilities.. how to get break-down-free-elevators, a better garbage disposing system, cleaner water supplies... the list can go on and on..