Suratan atau kebetulan…

(Is it fate or coincidence?) Scene 1 July 2004. I was on my way home from the office. My mind was preoccupied with pressing work matters. Now I can’t remember what it was that bothered me, so it couldn’t be that important. As I reached the traffic light before the Proton plant, my hand phone rang. It was my DH, asking me when I would be home. As the traffic light turned green, I sped off. I didn’t want to keep my DH waiting. In my mind, I was still thinking about work. I reached home and his car was nowhere to be seen. I got upset, thinking that he led me to believe that he was already home. Or was it me who interpreted our conversation wrongly? At the back of my mind, work matters lingered. The automatic gate swung open. I made a right turn to enter the porch. Just as I reached the gate, I saw a huge hole right in front. It looked like it could swallow my Kelisa whole (ok it was a rectangle measuring about 2 ft x 1 ft). I panicked. I tried to brake but instead pressed hard on the accelerator. The Kelisa jumped through the gate and made its way to the fence on the right side of my house. There it stopped, with the front right tyre dangling above the drain next to the house. The wire mesh of the fence held the Kelisa while it swayed. My neighbours ran out of their houses towards my car. They helped me out. I was shaking inside, though not physically hurt. The worried looks on my neighbours’ faces were enough to make me cry. My DH was not home yet, so my neighbours helped to shift the Kelisa to safer grounds. The next day, I received my annual bonus. Slightly more than RM1K went towards repairing the car and the fence as well as replacing the drain cover (that gaping hole) that was stolen. Lessons learnt: 1. Be alert until you have parked safely, moved the gear to P and pulled the hand brake. 2. Get a drain cover that is screwed to the frame on the ground. Scene 2 22 December 2004 I received my year-end bonus the previous week and DH received his annual bonus a couple of days ago. We were very happy, as we needed the money for our new house. Sometime in the afternoon, my sister who was staying at my house called DH at his office. She just received this month’s water bill, and the amount was close to RM2K! DH rushed home. Apparently the water pipe had burst somewhere within the confines of our home. The first time it happened about 2 years ago, DH called PUAS to ask for a waiver. We didn’t get any and had to pay the whole bill. Last night he called PUAS again, and he got the same answer. The contractor came on Sunday to build new pipes that completely bypassed the old ones. For cost-saving reason, it was built on the ground instead of beneath. The damage : RM1,000. On both occasions, I did some soul searching. Is this a repayment for our sins? Are our incomes tainted in any way? I believe that everything happens for a reason. But I will never know for sure the answers to my questions. I can only pray for forgiveness and seek solace in God. Most recently, the tsunami hit Asia on 26 December 2004. Countries like Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India were worst hit and Malaysia was not spared either. In light of this calamity, I realise that my financial woes are insignificant compared to what the poor victims had to go through. Perhaps the tsunami happened for a reason too, but for now, what’s important is to extend aid to the victims. Al-fatihah and many condolences.