Thursday, March 12, 2009
I think I saw the Working of Samsara
March 11th will go down as an extraordinary day for me. Everything was normal when Matthew, Luke, Salim (not real names) and I
were in down town Kuala Lumpur for a business meeting. We met at a customer’s office at the famous Twin Tower building at 2.30pm.
The meeting went on fine and customer seems to be interested in our business proposal. So the 4 of us adjourned to a nearby mamak
restaurant to have our teh tarik and recapitulate the meeting we had with that customer.
While we were happily sipping our teh tarik, Matthew received a call from his wife Nancy (not her real name) saying that she has
stomach pain and feel like giving birth. Nancy is pregnant and is due for delivery on the 17th of next month (April). It's like more than 6
weeks away. Quickly we hopped into the car and headed for home. Except for Salim, he went off separate ways on his motorbike.
On the way to Mathew’s home, the phone rang twice. I told Matthew to ask his wife whether if the “water bag” has burst. Matthew could
not get any confirmation from his wife except to tell us that she is now giving birth. I then informed Matthew that it is not possible for
Nancy to go into labour yet because the water bag has not burst. I was trying to keep everyone in the car calm by reasoning through
logic thinking. But the traffic in KL is of no help at all. It was raining and the traffic was crawling. Anyway we made it to Matthew’s home
after about 30 minutes after fighting the traffic which on a normal day it will take 15 minutes.
Upon reaching home to our horror, we found Nancy and a new born baby in the toilet. Both are still alive. There were plenty of bloods
on the floor. I quickly instruct Matthew to boil some water. The first thing I did was to call my wife. I described the situation to her. But it
was of no use. She panic and started screaming on the other side of the line. She gave me all sort of wrong advice. However she’d told
me to call a Doctor for help. She asked if I have Dr. Kim’s number, which I don’t and she told me she will sms to me.
I did not wait for her sms, but search my mobile phone book. Yes! I found one and I called Dr. Oon. I described the situation to Dr. Oon
and she gave me instruction over the mobile phone. Matthew and I carried out the necessary things to do step by step as per
instruction.
We cut the umbilical cord and tight it with a rubber band as hard as we could. We took the mother out of the toilet and let her rest on the
floor in the living room. While Matthew and I were doing all this, Luke took care of the elder boy, Jason (not his real name). Jason is
only 18 months old and was the only person at home when his mum delivered his younger brother.
Luke was constantly on the mobile phone to get an ambulance. But luck wasn’t with us. Soon Luke informed us that there is no
ambulance available. We immediately took the decision to send the mother and baby to the hospital using our own car. Matthew
scooped his wife while I cradle the new born in my arms and headed to the car. But we need to walk down four flights of stair to reach
the car which was parked on the ground floor of the condominium.

With the help of a security guard, we managed to get into the car and speed off. Soon we arrived at the emergency door of University
Hospital. Thereafter, the specialist took over from us. It was quite a relief because we knew the mother and the baby are now in good
hands.
Coincidently, I had a prior engagement to give a talk about parenting later in the evening. I share the story to the awe of the crowd.
Anyway by the time I went home I was dead tired and hit the bed. My wife did not have the chance to hear my story.
Somehow, I did not have a good sleep. The scene of the mother and baby lying motionless in the toilet kept repeating in my mind like a
video tape. My conscience kept bothering me. I mull over with the scenario of, what if they were dead? How are we going to face it?
How is Matthew going to face it? He will not forgive himself for not being around during such critical time. Maybe I will also to be blamed
because we went for teh tarik instead of going home. My mind was restless. I can’t sleep. My eyes were wide open at 4am in the
morning.
Talking about coincident, that morning I attended a funeral. I saw a casket with the dead body of my friend Raymond’s mother being
pushed into a cremator furnace. Relatives and friends were seen weeping. More coincident, around that time I received a sms from my
brother informing me that our uncle has passed away the day before.
11th March will be remembered as a day I saw dead and re-birth. I think I saw the working of Samsara in a flash.
Uncle Bugs
12th march 2009