The current state of affairs

Returning to Malaysia I am aware of an uneasiness among the people here.  There seems to be much to worry about these days.  I have lived in this country for 16 years and I've never seen such unease.  The crime rate is higher than ever before, it seems everyone has either direct or indirect experience of theft or robbery or assault.  The price of food is escalating, the government is racist, traffic is getting ludicrous, the weather is getting hotter, unemployment is rising and the cost of gas is exorbitant.  The cost of gas here is pegged by the Malaysian government and rarely adjusts.  The government had promised to hold the price of gas constant in the country until next year; however a week ago it was increased unexpectedly by 40%.  Immediately there were incredulously long lines at the gas pumps as people jostled for hours just to save a few dollars.   

How do we maintain our healthy minds, bodies and spirit let alone our relationships with our loved ones with shrinking personal time and growing demands of ourselves?  

A friend of mine spoke with me last week.  It was an emotional conversation for her since she was communicating the poor health of her father following his heart surgery.  Her mother and her had consulted a seer who told them that he had a year or two left to live.  They were convinced about this but had not told him.  She said she was really cherishing the time with him left and was maximizing their time together and allowing him all the freedom to be and choose as he wished.  I reflected about this, who among us knows when this life of ours will be up?  Or how many of us know with certainty the number of days left with someone before they are taken away forever?  I questioned if it was fair not to tell him what they believed to be the amount of time he had left.  She said that he knew also.  "How do you know that he knows?", I asked.  In response, she recalled the recent event of the gas price hike which was unprecedentedly large.  Each time that a price increase had previously occurred her father would call her immediately and tell her to get in line at the gas pumps.  "This time I was waiting for his call but it never came", she said.  "He waited for me to come home instead, that is how I know that he knows".