Faith is in the believing

Daniel has been hiding in Uncle Meng’s house for the past 2 days to escape the madness taking place outside the streets. He hopes and prays for life to return to normalcy soon so that he could go home to be with his family. He is also constantly thinking about his beloved Janet. He worries for her safety. There is no means of communication; all phone lines have been disabled and curfew is still being enforced. Daniel and Uncle Meng whiled away their time by playing cards and chess games and they talked and talked. What else is there to do? They often talked about their families. Uncle Meng is particularly impressed with Daniel when he told him that he has been offered a scholarship by the British Museum to study anthropology in the UK. On the third day of the incident, they heard a loudspeaker announcing from across the street that curfew has been temporary lifted. This is to allow those who are displaced by the incident to return home to their loved ones. The army officer holding the loudspeaker urged those who were hiding could now come out to go back to their homes, much to the Daniel’s relief. There were army trucks lining the street and were ready to transport the misplaced people to their homes. Daniel was frantically looking for his car. He found his car. But, it was burnt beyond recognition among others. He wasn’t surprised. Without hesitation, he jumped onto the army van.
His parents, brother and sister shouted out his name when they saw him crawling out of the army van. They rushed to hug him, telling him how worried they were about him; not knowing whether he was dead or alive, tears of joy flew freely. Daniel now appreciated even more the value of the family institution and the virtue of traditions. His mind quickly turned to his beloved Janet. “Is she safe? Where could she be? She will be helpless without me”, Daniel talked to himself. He went straight to the living room and dialed the house where Janet and her university friends were staying. “Hello”, Daniel heard a female’s voice at the other end of the phone. But it was not the voice of Janet. Daniel then asked for Janet. It was one of Janet’s housemate and she told Daniel that Janet was still in the university when the incident took place and she was also worried about her. Daniel’s could feel his pulse beating faster and a biting sensation gnawing at his heart. Without second thought, he rushed to his brother’s motorbike and raced to University of Malaya, although it was nightfall and a thunderstorm was building up at a horizon. He kept up the speed, oblivious to the pouring rain and swirling winds, with only the image of Janet in his troubled mind. As he his motorbike was approaching the university’s dormitory, he saw Janet’s silhouette at the entrance looking out at his direction, as if she was expecting him. They kissed and embraced, never wanting to let go. “Oh darling, I am worried sick about you. What happened to you, what have you been doing all this while, are you alright?”, Daniel asked question after question, after both had returned to their senses. “I am ok dear. I heard some commotion outside the library. The university’s authorities informed us that there was a riot in the city and it was spreading to other parts of the Klang Valley. They told us to stay in the Uni, it was not safe to go home. They asked us to wait for further announcements”. Janet told him that she was worried and frightened of what would happen to him. She knew Daniel was having a farewell gathering with his friends. She said she could not sleep on the first night of the incident but on the second night she actually fell into a deep sleep and in her sleep she had a dream. “Really? You had a dream? What dream did you have dear?”, Daniel was curious. Janet took a deep breath and started to relay her dream to Daniel.
“There was this sleepy rubber plantation in the faraway country side surrounded by vast agricultural land. Its inhabitants edged out a living by toiling on the soil and tapping the rubber trees for their milky white latex. The latex would be sold to operators who have put up wooden and zinc factories at the fringes of plantation estate. These operators would dry the latex through a series of heating process and roll them out into rubber sheets. The rubber sheets would be sold to manufacturers of rubber products such gloves, boots, tyres etc. There are many smallholding families whose livelihood depends on the sale of latex tapped from their rubber trees. Adult family members would wake up early dawn and cycle to the their own rubber holdings, carrying with them empty baskets and steel chisels. They would use the chisels to cut and slice the rubber trees into a narrow spiral tunnel to induce the flow of the white milky latex.
In the deeper terrain of the plantation estate lived a family of 4. The master of the house suffered the misfortune of getting bitten by a cobra while tapping for latex in his small rubber holding one morning. He is paralysed and bedridden. Besides tending to the needs of her husband, the wife has to also look after their young son. This leaves the job of tapping the rubber trees and collecting their latex to their 15-year old daughter. Rubber tapping is their way of life and the sale of its latex sustains their livelihood. The poor young girl has to wake up very early in the morning, quickly change into some old torn clothes which smell of sticky oily rubber latex and cycle to the family’s small rubber holding to tap the trees. After the tapping job is done, she would then cycle back to her house to wash up and to change into her blue uniform for school; sometimes leaving her house without breakfast. She will walk to the bus stop in the main road to catch the school bus. After school, she would come home mid-day and quickly change into the same old clothes that she wore in the morning and cycle to collect the latex which had deposited inside the small cups tied to the trees. She has no other life. Life is hard for this young lady.
One day after returning from school, she was surprised to find that her latex cups have already been collected and were placed at the back of her house. She wonders who could have done this? It appears that who ever did this, does not want her family to know as the cups were placed at the back of the house which is separated and blanketed by a bamboo wall. No one inside the house could see through the bamboo wall. Later, she went to the village community hall and asked the folks there but no one knew about this strange act. Determined to find out who is this good Samaritan, she decided to skip school one day and hid in the bushes at the back of her house. She waited patiently, controlling her breath and trying not to make a sound. She preferred to tolerate the pain in silence when some ants sank their sharp teeth into her skinny flesh. Finally, at a distance, she saw the figure of a tall youth cycling cautiously towards her house. He was wearing a straw hat which covers his eyes, thick cotton gloves wrapped his palms and a basket at the back of the bicycle. When he was within sight of her house, he stopped and scooped up the latex cups and then one by one he placed the cups on the pathway leading to her house. Every now and then, he would turn his head round to glance at different directions to make sure that he is not being followed. The young girl gasps, holding her mouth trying hard not scream. Curiosity took the better of her. She could not contain her curiosity any longer and decided to come out of the bush to confront him. “Hey, who are you? Why are you transporting the latex cups to my house everyday? Take off your hat!”, she demanded. He jumped on his bicycle and started to paddle his way out. But, the girl was in his path. He swerved to avoid knocking her but hit against a boulder lying at edge of the road in the process. He fell onto the brown gravel ground, his straw hat came off. The young girl put her hands to clasp her mouth. “Oh my God! You are Ah Koon”, she screamed. Ah Koon is the tall good looking boy whose family lives not too far from her. He is two years older than her. She noticed that Ah Koon is different from other boys in school. He always carries books around him, often talks about things happening in other countries. Now she knows why Ah Koon has asked the Headmaster’s permission to attend afternoon classes instead of in the morning. “Err..I know your father is sick and I noticed in school that you always look tired and sleepy, so I thought maybe I could help. Moreover, I want to do good deeds”, Ah Koon confessed but dared not look at her. “Good deeds? What do you mean good deeds?”, the girl wanted to understand more. The boy then led her to a tree nearby and they both sat down underneath the big tree. He then began to relate his encounter with an Angel. He told her that each night he would pray before going to bed. “What do you pray for?”, the girl became inquisitive. “I pray to God that one day I could get out of this rubber estate. It is a dead end. There is no future here. I don’t want to be like my father and he his father. I am condemned here. I want to go to the city to have a good education. I can get a well-paying job after my education. I wish I could find myself a good and loving wife. We will start a family together. I hope I could find happiness”, the boy revealed his prayer to the young girl. Then, one night, just before climbing up his bed to have his sleep after his usual prayer, he saw a glowing shining figure wearing white robe with feathered wings appearing in front of him. It’s the figure of an Angel. “You have been praying very hard with a sincere heart child”, the Angel said. “I hear you child. You can have all your wishes only if you have a good heart”, the Angel continued. “What is a good heart?”, asked the boy. The Angel then lifted her arms and pressed her palms against her heart. Her fragile looking fingers dig right inside her bosom. She gently pulled out her heart from her chest. “Look at my heart child. Tell me what do you see?”, the Angel stretched out both her hands with her heart on her palms in front of the young man. The young man took a long hard look at the Angel’s heart. Suddenly, he stepped backward, covering his eyes with his hands. “No! This can’t be the heart of an Angel. It is covered with bleeding wounds all round!”, the boy exclaimed. “This can’t be a good heart”, he cried in disbelief. “Look deeper into the middle of my heart child and tell me what do you see?”, the Angel urged him. The boy stepped forward and concentrated his attention on the middle of the Angel’s heart. The heart opened. It radiates and pulsates with rays of shining white lights. It smells of sweet rosy fragrance with tantalizing aura. The sensation was so very overpowering, so mesmerizing. “Oh, my God”, the boy let out . “It’s so beautiful. Such a beautiful, beautiful heart”, he could not believe what he saw in front of him. “So, this is a good heart? I want my heart to look like that. What shall I do?”, pleaded the young man. “Don’t be too self-centred, do good deeds.”, the Angel advised him. “What do you want me to do?”, he was searching for leads. “Well, you can start by helping people who are less unfortunate than you”, pointed out the Angel. “I heard of your unfortunate situation and that’s why I want to help you”, the boy revealed his counter with the Angel to the young girl; finally came out of his secret deed. They became good friends. She continued to allow him to help her out.
One day, they heard that there was a middle aged couple from America came to live in the rubber plantation. They told the villages that they were from the American Peace Corp Organisation. Their mission is to learn the local culture and they also gave free tuition to youth of the estate to learn English. Ah Koon and the young girl were overjoyed. They wanted to learn. And so they went to this American couple’s classes. They asked questions all the time and they showed tremendous propensity inlearning. They were impressed by the American way of life and the American couple were equally impressed by the progress made by Ah Koon and the young girl. One day, the American couple called Ah Koon and the girl into their rented house in the estate. They told them that they would be returning to America soon as they have some research programme to do. They asked Ah Koon and the young girl whether they would like to go to America with them. They said they could arrange for their visas and that they would enroll them in a college in Atlanta. They told them they would support them financially. They genuinely wanted to help these two young couple. This kind hearted America couple wanted to help Ah Koon and the young girl to receive good education in America, which they would never be able to obtain if they stayed in the village. And so, they flew with the good American couple to the United States of America. After passing their high school level English, they enrolled into American universities. Ah Koon studied real estate and the girl pursued nursing. The fell in love and got married soon after graduating. They were also given American citizenships. After a year, they were blessed with a baby boy. Ah Koon’s career was doing nicely. After a few years, he left the company and formed his own real estate company. The demand for properties kept rising and Ah Koon became a millionaire. He even started a small charity foundation to help underprivileged children to further their education. He asked his wife to stop working to become full time housewife. He could afford all the luxuries they needed. Never in their wildest dream could they have imagined all these good tidings coming their way. They found happiness in the land of plenty.
One day, Ah Koon came home after work and saw his wife crying in the corner of their living room. “What’s wrong baby ?”, he asked his wife. Wiping away her tears, she replied, “I have not been feeling well for sometime Koon. I kept it a secret from you. I do not want to worry you. You need to concentrate on your business. The doctor told me I have cancer of the liver and he only gave me 6 months”. “Oh my God, oh my heart! This cannot be true. Is it a joke? Tell me you are joking darling!”, Ah Koon tried to reverse the irreversible. Not too long his wife passed away, leaving him with their young son.
Ah Koon still prays before he goes to bed each night. On this particular night, he could not pray. He is confused. And soon confusion turned into anger. “You asked me to do good deeds and I followed your instruction. You asked me not to do sinful things and I obeyed. You blessed me with a good and loving wife, a happy family and a thriving business enterprise of my own. Now you take away the one person I love most. My world has crumbled. What you give, you also take away. Why? My heart is bleeding”, he cried with deep despair, tears rolling down his cheeks. The Angel appeared. “There are things happened that you cannot comprehend my child. They happened for a reason”, the Angel consoled Ah Koon. Again she took out her heart. “ Look at my heart”, she asked of him. Ah Koon stepped forward to look at the heart of an Angel for the second time. The Angel’s heart opens. It depicts changing landscapes of sunset and then sunrise, sunset and then sunrise, sunset and then sunrise. It goes on and on. “I don’t understand”, Ah Koon lifted his head with his wet swollen eyes looking forlornly at the Angel. “Child, life is like sunrise and sunset. Both form a whole of the universe but they run separate paths. There can never be only one path in the universe of the human kind. But one thing you can be sure is there will always be sunrise after sunset. The greater scheme of things is not for us to decide or to know. Even I cannot comprehend sometimes. You see bleeding wounds in the surface of my heart. But, deep inside the core of my heart is where I feel eternal peace. When something happened that I can’t rationalize, I do not rationalize. When something happened that I could not seek an answer, do I need an answer. I just continue to believe. Faith is in the believing”.
“What happened to Ah Koon after that?”, Daniel wanted Janet to continue. “I don’t know darling. I woke up from this strange dream after that”, Janet answered. “But, I must admit that this strange dream played in mind while you were hiding in the Selangor Club”, Janet continued. “Get off it dear. It’s only a dream. We are together now. That’s what matters”, Daniel reassured.