Holistic ‘Hair’ Homeopath

What a hassle I went through to apply for a business licence! It took me nearly seven months of constant follow-ups with the local authority before they awarded me with one.

Actually, when I looked at the various forms I had to fill up for a business licence application, my first reaction was NOT to apply! Too many things to do! Then I decided to call up a friend to get his help. He was quite helpful but the things he wanted from me made me decide to do it on my own.

First thing to do was to buy and complete a stack of forms. This will get the new premise in Sungai Petani a business licence. But to get that done successfully I have to:-

1. Add this new premise to my present business registration certificate (which is different from a business license).
2. Get a supporting letter from the Fire Department…you have to buy two fire extinguishers.

3. Draw a floor plan (computer drawn and printed).. what about those who are computer illiterate, I wonder?..

4. Do a location plan. Lucky me Google map is here today…no need to pay the professionals.

5. Take four photos of me and of the premise…later they wanted four more..of the inside..thank God for digital cameras…makes it so much easier.

6. Sign board also needs to be licensed..got to make one..they wanted the layout of that, too.

7. Get a copy of a stamped tenancy agreement…got that.

8. And lastly, get a copy of the latest paid ‘cukai tanah’ and ‘cukai pintu’..the landlord was really helpful..he paid up and gave me a copy of the receipt.

I started the whole process in late December 2007, submitted the forms in February, and submitted the additonal photos and the ‘cukai tanah’ receipt in March. The election was held then so they were busy. Only in June did my application get through the queue to the council meeting..my application was numbered 55/08.

On the 28th of July 2008, I was the proud owner of a business licence…but I had to pay a fine of RM300 (later reduced to RM150)…for operating a business without a license, from December 2007 to July 2008…which was how long they took to process my application! Oh well, At least they did reduce it by half. The annual fees for the licences are RM150 for the business and RM 50 for the signboard.

Relief at last….

On the morning of the 6th of June, I picked up my phone at my office and it was still dead. It had been dead since the 4th. On the 3rd, my internet connection was down. I called up the provider help line to file a complain. On the 4th the phone line went dead. I was told by the internet technician that the phone line was the cause of the loss of internet connection. He would help me by reporting this problem. I also called the phone company to file a complain. Again I called in to re report my complain on the morning of the 5th. But this morning, on the 6th, I simply lost my temper upon calling the phone company to find that all my complains had not been registered.

It really spoiled my day. Throughout the day the morning outburst made me unable to focus properly on my patients. My practice depends a lot on my phone line as patients come to see me by appointment. The following day was a Saturday and Saturdays are usually my busiest days. Without the phone connection I would be affected. How true it was; that weekend my practise was not busy at all.

On Saturday even though the line was still dead I did not call the phone company until late afternoon as I didn’t want to spoil my day. I appealed to them to look into the matter. My phone line was not repaired until yesterday (Monday). Patients came in complaining that phone was ringing but no one picked up the phone. I explained to them that we have a service problem and Malaysia, in trying to be a first world country, still have a third world phone service.

TMB sucks.

Now we have Mothers’ Day, Fathers’ Day and Lovers’ Day (Valentine). There seems to be more special days around now than there were before. Yesterday was Mothers’ Day and we read in the papers telling us how to spend our Mothers’ Day…bring them for special meals at the hotel..with 3 children you get a free meal for the mother. Buy yourself a massage chair and get one free for your mother. It seems that the main purpose of this day is for commercial activity; to get us to spend extra on this “special day”. I wonder if by doing that for Mothers’ Day our children will love us more than our mothers do theirs.

In my practice, I see a lot of old mothers ; they come hobbling up my stairs (sorry mums) complaining of knee pains; difficulty in breathing etc. They also complain of the difficulty in getting their children to send them to see me. Once, a mother whose daughter lives with her, and whose children she is minding, told me how her daughter would just honk her car to get her to open the gate of their house, and, tearfully, how difficult it was for her daughter to send her to see me for treatment.

I saw how my mother and her brothers and sisters took good care of my grandmother when she was ill. Will I be able to do the same when the time comes? I see more children putting their mothers in old folks home saying that it is for the good of the mother. I see more children sending their own children to their grandma also supposedly for the good of the mother. Haven’t our mothers done enough already? They gave their most bringing us up till full grown and yet we have to let them shoulder another responsibility, that of bringing up our own children.

I promise to myself that I would never do that to my mother, nor will I be a maid to my own children.
My mother..Bibah Bt. Abdullah

Dear mum..you will not be reading this because it is in a language foreign to you; also the cyber space is not the place that you would visit. You are never the one who like to travel anywhere far, because the journey will make your head spin. I however owe all my travellings and journeys to you. You sacrifice a lot for us. You even stopped working to take care of us. I will never be able to repay your sacrifices; the only thing I can do is to pray that Allah will reward you. I will try my best to be a son that will be of help to you in this world as well as in the Hereafter. Thank you Mum. I love you from the bottom of my heart.

It has been quite some time since I last wrote, more than a year. Maybe what I had was a blogger’s block. Not that I don’t have the time; I just don’t have the push. Since then I have stopped my monthly visits to Damascus, Syria. However I still travel for the second half of the month, but this time to a nearer destination. I have since opened a new branch of my practice in Sungai Petani, Kedah. This idea of opening a branch all started when I was not able to continue my practice in Syria (this is another story). I was still going there for my Arabic lessons however until all of a sudden, one cold dreary evening, I decided not to keep my appointment with my teacher (I did phone and left a message). It was indeed a very cold winter evening and it had also rained on that day. Previously such a weather would be no obstacle for me. But on that day I knew I had lost my vigour. It was time to rethink my schedule. I found too much time at hand and was getting bored.

On my return to Malaysia, in December, I had to travel to Sungai Petani to arrange an engagement for my son Abdullah. So I also took this opportunity to look up some shops to rent, which marked the beginning of my new branch. Abdullah was duly married the 8th of March (on Election Day..12th Malaysian general election) and now he is helping me run this clinic.

The clinic is at 184, Tingkat 1. Jalan Legenda 1, Legenda Heights. It is next to Tesco Sungai Petani.

The earliest memory of my life has to be my first day in pre-school (aged 6). Prior to that, I can’t remember anything. I have seen a family photo of me, possibly 3 years old. There I was, a small dark kid sitting on my mother’s lap.
Back then when I started schooling there wasn’t any preschool yet. However I did one year seconded to my grand aunt’s class. I can still remember how I sat on the floor with the other kids at Sekolah Kebangsaan Kuala Sg. Baru (now renamed Sek. Othman Shawal). The first day was awful. I was dismissed early and was given a bicycle ride home because I got scared of the class teacher; not of mine but of the class next door! He was called Othman Rimau (Othman The Tiger). I however came back the next day. We all walked to school stopping along the way at relatives’ houses to quench our thirst with cool well water stored in earthern wares.

A year later I started proper schooling in an English school (Masjid Tanah English School). Students consisted of children of various races and there I had friends that I can still remember to this day..There was Lee Soon Lock; Lee Kong Kian; Sivalingam as well as Abdur Rahman and Idris .There was no need for a special intergrated school. We all got along fine.

What do I remember of my country? Back then, there was no Malaysia. It was Persekutuan Tanah Melayu or Malaya. We had no electricity in our village. We used the kerosene lamp. There were no proper roads. The roads then were laid using red earth. Water came from the well. I remember once we had a bad drought and had water delivered by lorry. This was done by a Chinese man, not by the government. We had to be issued coupons and had to wait for the lorry to come with water from a tin mine. They would come in the darkness of the night. I helped my father search the nearby villages for wells that still had some water. We carried the water home in plastic containers to be used for cooking and drinking.

What I remember of those earlier years is that I had a happy childhood. I am sure that our society back then was coexisting together happily despite the lack of modern convenience that we today cannot live without.

I have always been individualistic when it comes to educating my children. I have tried many systems from the traditional Islamic school to the modern home schooling. I had been involved in the setting up of two Islamic schools in Kuala Lumpur, but I was ousted soon after. Disappointed and hurt, I started home-schooling my own children. Years later, I arrived in Damascus with three of my children and by 9/11, my children had just embarked on a new chapter in their academic life. Prior to my departure many of my ex-colleagues in the school were sceptical and some were outrightly against my plan.

Now 5 years on, my daughter had graduated and I have 3 sons in the degree programme. My sceptics began to see the results of my taking the less trodden road. Now they are beginning to send their own children to Syria, too. I hope that they will also be as succesful, although they are 5 years late.

It’s been quite a while since my last posting. Many things have happened since then. I lost a dear friend less than a month after Eid ul Adha. When I was back in my village during that occasion we had had a late dinner. I never thought that it was to be our last supper. He was his usual self, and happily telling me how well his homeopathic practise was doing. He was planning to send his eldest son to Syria to pursue his studies. It was to be some time this month.

However Allah has something else planned for him. Weeks later, my dear friend suffered a stroke…and hours later he was gone. His son, the one supposed to go to Syria, called me up and broke the dreadful news. During his funeral prayer I couldn’t stop my tears from flowing. I couldn’t help thinking about my own demise. What if Allah has taken me instead?

This thought usually enters one’s mind when attending a funeral especially as one grows older. We begin to think of the things that we have done and the loved ones that we will leave behind. Three of my homeopathic practising friends have left this world and their practise died with them. Now I feel that it is important that I prepare someone to carry on my practise. Without delay, I asked my son to come back from Eqypt to continue his homeopathic studies and also to intern at my clinic. He needs to know the ins and out of this business before it is too late. Alhamdulillah, it has been a month now and he is a great help both at home and at the office. Hopefully when it is my time to go, things would be in place and my patients will still have a homeopathic practise to come to.

It has been quite a while since my brothers and sisters were able to gather at our family home. We are staying in various parts of the country, while I have been doing monthly travels to Syria. However on the morning of the 31st Of December on the day of Eid-ul-Adha we were all present at our parents’ home. Thus we were able for the first time in many years to take a family photograph. The last family photo that I remember was taken way back in 1977. We have all aged a bit since then and all are married. Only Allah knows if we will be able to do this again

It has been a long time since I have one. I have been sharing one for many years now. Sometimes when I need it most I can’t have it. Now I have one all for my self. She is small and cute, and she smells nice too…She is….

My new ..CAR….A Kelisa GXi 

Recently a close friend of mine lost his dear wife. He left his house for morning prayer after having an early meal with her (sahur). When he returned home about 30 minutes later she was calling for help from inside the bathroom. He forced open the door to find her on the floor, partially paralysed. She passed away 2 days later without recovering from her coma. She was only 45.
I visited him recently and wondered how he must have felt. The shock of losing a loved one when he least expects it…the loneliness that he must be feeling without such a close companion. How would I cope if it were to happen to me? I could only pray that Allah gives him the strength to carry on his life and take good care of their four children. As I told him we should aways think that Allah has our best interest with whatever things that happen in our life. Things always happen for a good reason.