Chun Kiat ~ Secret Garden

This story is come from my colleague, Dhinnesh. I copy this story from my email and post it here…

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I wrote the story below and it happened to me last night after work.

"Aaaah!" I was in my room when I heard that high pitch scream. It sounded like a woman. I ran towards the window to check.

"Vrrrooom! Vrrroooom!" I spotted a motorbike carrying two riders speeding away from the scene.

"Shit! Mat Rempits?!" I wasn’t sure. It was a long day yesterday, I was about to get ready to jump into the shower when I heard the commotion. Quickly, I rushed out of my room and headed towards ground zero - the condo entrance. The street leading to the condo was empty and not well lit.

A guy in office attire was sitting on the sidewalk holding his head overlooked by a security guard. I focused on the guy’s hand. Blood. His hands. His arm. His shirt. Stained.

I turned to the guard. "Siapa? Mat Rempit kah?" I asked.

"Ah? Apa? Itu orang pukul. Lari."

"You ada panggil polis?" My hand in pocket about to pull out my cellphone.

"Dia punya kawan sudah pergi panggil," the guard answered.

The guard was standing there looking at me and then the injured guy. The victim’s hair shone under the light. His head was damp. More blood.

"Dia punya kawan sudah panggil itu ambulans," he added.

"You ada first aid kit kah? Ada bandage kah?" I asked the guard.

"Saya tak tau," he answered. "Saya tak boleh ini semua," he said as he stepped back and then walked away.

I walked to my apartment. What do I do? His friend has called the ambulance. I just go back home and sit front of the tv? Watch the highlights of the EPL game knowing that the ambulance will be there soon? Change and go take a shower? It didn’t feel right. Stupid guard! Poor guy is bleeding.

Do I have bandages in the first aid kit? I ran upstairs and checked the drawer. Hansaplast. No! Cotton balls. No! Where? Where? No bandages! Ok. Towel! There it is! I grabbed the white face towel and rushed out of my apartment.

I was back at the condo entrance. The injured guy and guard were joined by two other people. A second guard and the victim’s friend.

"Did you call the police?" I asked the victim’s friend as I neared the victim.

"Yes. I called the ambulance. The police."

I folded the towel, "Here. Put this on your head."

The guy removed his bloody hand. The hair was very damp. I placed the towel on his head and pressed it for a while.

"Can you hold this? Are you ok?" I asked the victim.

"Ok. Thank you," came the poor guy’s reply in a low voice.

I removed both my hands from his head. Red. Blood on my hands. Not mine.

"What happened to your friend? Mat Rempit?" I asked the victim’s friend.

"Yeah. Those guys tried to steal his laptop. He’s not my friend. He’s from China. I was talking to him here when those guys did this."

"F**king…this is happening a lot in this area nowadays. I experienced it once before."

Anger. I felt it rising in me. I turned to the first security guard. "Woi! You tadi tak boleh ambil towel kah? Atau apa pun untuk tolong? Kalau dia mati macam mana?" I was disgusted at him.

I looked at my hands. The blood was starting to dry up. "Toilet?" I asked the second guard.

(In Tamil)
"Pipe is there, anneh. Come. I also just arrived for work," he said walking to the pipe. "No, anneh. That guard is from Nepal that’s why…," the second guard answered.

"What do you mean from Nepal? Nepali. Malaysian. Malay. Chinese. Indian. A human being is a human being. And blood is blood. Don’t tell me he can’t do anything to help."

I washed my hands. The red on my hand washed away but I still felt the "stain" on my hands. I still felt the weight and warmth of his blood on my hands.

"You called the ambulance, right?" I asked the friend.

"Yeah. I think the police will come but not so soon. I’ll be here," the friend assured me.

"Ok."

"Thanks, man."

I nodded and walked away from the condo. I could still feel it. The stain. I went straight to the bathroom. Soap. First wash. My hands full of soap. No. I still felt the blood. I washed again. I still felt its presence. No point.

The "stain" still felt heavy on my dry hands. A reminder of the sadness I felt inside. Reminded me of the Nepali guard. OF what he said. OF what he could have done for a fellow human in pain but he didn’t. Apathy. Not just him. There are thousands. Millions like him in this country.

Walking down the streets at night is scary nowadays. Crime all over the city. What’s scarier than that? The thought that even if there were people in the vicinity, nobody would have come to the aid of the victim. Apathy. What have we become?

It’s ok. Go back to your EPL. Watch your HBO and Cinemax. Listen to the hitz.fm DJs. Watch that DVD you just bought last night. Sit back and enjoy yourselves. Just make sure you turn up the volume on the tv. Max out the volume on your radio. Just make sure the volume is loud enough to drown the screams on the streets. Because we all want a peaceful life.

*Fifteen minutes later, the ambulance arrived at the scene.*

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 18th, 2007 at 12:36 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.