Among those present were president Lioness Sakuntala Rajadurai and Juliet Putra, Hjh. Edith Fatimah Naburi and Annie Arul.

They were met at the school by headmistress Datin A.D. Saraswathy and senior assistant Mrs R. Shanmugavalli and teachers.

One day an elderly man in his early 60’s came to see me. He was very concerned with his poor health and wanted to know how to write his will to ensure that his estate is distributed fairly to his family and avoid any dispute among the family members when he passes away. After explaining to him, he said he will discuss with his wife first and then come back to me. I told him not to take too long as life is uncertain and unpredictable. When I phoned him two days later, he said he was quite busy and did not manage to discuss with his wife. So I told him again not to delay this matter of such urgency in which he asked me to give him another two days and call again. I followed his request and phoned him again. This time his wife picked up the phone and told me that her husband suffered a massive heart attack the night before. When I heard the news I was very sad and at the same time angry. Sad because I could not help him fulfil his wishes and angry because I did not push him hard enough to take action when the power was in his hands to do it.

Very often people approach me and say they know the importance of writing their will but when it comes to taking action, the level of procrastination is as high as our weather temperature. The common reasons for delaying their actions are ‘I have to talk to my spouse first; I  will discuss with my son when he returns from overseas; let me sell this house and move into a new one first; I am really busy now; see what happens next week‘ and the list of reasons go on and on.

Do discuss with your spouse but do it quickly and draw up your will quickly. It is also important to ensure that your spouse also draws up his/her will as well. If you are waiting for your son to return from overseas, it is advisable to do your will first and then tell him who the executor is when he returns because you are distributing your estate and not your son’s estate. However, if you really need to communicate with him or seek his opinion as to who is to be appointed as Executor, it is important not to delay speaking o your children on this. Individuals or a Trust Company like Rockwills Trustee can be appointed as Executor(s) of your estate to carry out your instructions and to take care of all the duties that involve legal, tax, administrative and business related matters. If your spouse is not ready, you must immediately do one for yourself because the power is in your hands to plan for your family when you are alive. A will can cover the distribution of your entire present and future assets. Therefore, one doesn’t have to wait to sell the existing property and buy another one, then only do their will.

The most common word in the workforce nowadays is “I am busy”. Doing a will is not very time consuming if one understands how to do it. Equate it with receiving your monthly salary because it empowers you to provide the basic needs for your family such as food, shelter, clothing, electricity and water bills etc. when you are alive and a will continues to provide such needs when you are no longer around. Just imagine if one morning while you are having your breakfast you suddenly feel you’re having a heart attack. Can you tell your heart to hold on because you are busy? Under such circumstances, you won’t be able to think about anything else except going to the hospital and fighting for your life. So spare your family the agony and do your will immediately for them when the power is in your hands.

Peter Lee is an Associate Estate Planning Practitioner (Wills & Trust) with RockWills International Group. He is also an Islamic Estate Planner providing Wills & Trust services for Muslims. He is based in Ipoh and can be reached at: 012-5078825/05-2554853 or excelsec@streamyx.com.

Eyesore in OA Village
Next came the Orang Asli Village which is an absolute disgrace and not worth the journey. We are sure that at one time this was an untouched sanctuary where the people lived as they have for centuries. But today the village is spoilt by an ugly, government built, water treatment and distribution plant, right in the centre of the village consisting of bare steel girders with tanks on top. It could not be uglier if it tried. Now of course, providing clean water for the people is a noble and necessary thing to do, but when it is done with no thought for nature or the village environment then it becomes an eyesore. We implore the government to be more thoughtful of the environment in their future projects on the islands.
Rafflesia and Leeches
The trek up to see the Rafflesia was wet, a little steep and suffered from a galaxy of friendly leeches who attached themselves to the ankles with gay abandon. The children screamed and cried, but nonetheless made it to the top to see their first Rafflesia, although not yet properly open. One smart trekker had brought the salt and the leeches were soon vanquished although the bleeding continued. Next time we shall wear Leech socks!

From Talikali viewpoint

Permits Needed
Pulau Talikali was quite different. The walk was steep in places and there were plenty of signs of elephants, wild boar and others. Fortunately we did not meet face to face with any of them, but there was no doubt they were around and probably heard us coming. The view was breathless; as we were by the time we got to the viewpoint on the top. At this point you may be wondering why we did not actually visit the protected Royal Belum Forest and State Park, said to be the final frontier of our disappearing virgin rainforests. The answer is two fold. First we did not know what we were to find in the area and took this short trip as an introduction to future trips and secondly we had not allowed ourselves the three weeks that are often required to arrange a government permit to visit the park. But rest assured, we shall be back for a longer trip soon that will take in more of both Temenggor and the State Park, for there is so much to experience.

Banding Island's useless jetty

Litter and Useless Jetty
Turning to more general aspects of our trip, we were very disappointed in a number of things. First, our joy at arriving at Pulau Banding Jetty soon turned to dismay when we saw that, despite the huge red sign that prohibited littering, there were polystyrene food packets, plastic bottles and paper covering the entire jetty area with Roti Canai curry sauce all over the seats. Nothing short of disgraceful and if we understand correctly the stall holder who sells these offending items is responsible to the government for the cleanliness then he is just not doing his job. From all accounts punitive government action is long overdue in this area.
Secondly the solidly constructed boat jetty cannot be used as its designer did not taken into account the rise and fall of the water and apparently being designed for low water is completely submerged. We therefore boarded our boat over the muddy, litter-strewn bank. A standard floating jetty, in use all over the world is what the government should have spent our money on! Why didn’t they? Surely Perak must have someone with knowledge of such basic requirements. One wonders how the contractor qualified for the job.
Future Ecology Threatened
Then as we made our way around the lake over the next three days we were surprised to see how many islands are occupied by government departments, we believe as private recreational facilities. Add to these the small tour operators who provide campsites and floating chalets with doubtful control of effluent, litter and use of the lake and again, we worry for the future of the ecology of the area. Unless properly controlled, more people invariably means more pollution, degradation and destruction of nature’s gifts, all in the name of profit. Malaysia really needs to take a leaf out of Australia’s or New Zealand’s book as to how to control reservoir and forest activities without stifling tourism.

Logging barge Temenggor

But if the above is not bad enough the worst is yet to come. Logging! Yes this desecration of our ever diminishing rainforest continues unabated and as we understand it, perfectly legally, the evidence being in the barges on the lake and lorries that abound on the road, carting away the giant trees that Mother Nature took so many decades to grow. Of course there are promises that this will all stop soon, but there have been many earlier, empty, promises which have allowed the destruction to continue, changing the whole face of Malaysia by displacing people, destroying the ecosystems, driving animals into extinction and turning green lands into almost barren deserts.
Take Action Now
So what can we, who proudly call ourselves Perakians, do to stop all these problems? The answer is simple. First support the MNS and WWF as strength is in numbers and secondly, employ democracy. Let your government representatives know your feelings. We shall not be accused of sedition or being anti-government as long as we do this sensibly and within the law. Can you imagine the effect on your local Exco representative if he was to receive 50,000 individual letters from unhappy constituents? Surely he would act on your behalf or face the rest of his life regretting his inaction. Our failure to take action now will only result in more destruction.

It will be held over a weekend from Saturday, March 13 to Sunday, March 14 commencing 11 am at Heritage Hotel, Ipoh. Datin Faridah Din, the President of Puspanita Perak, will officiate at the opening ceremony. All are welcome. to attend. Admission is free.

Prominent businessman, proponent of Chinese education and regular Hasher, Foo Wan Thot recently celebrated his 75th birthday.  The date was also his 45th year with HHH or Hash House Harriers Ipoh Chapter and hence it was a double celebration.

Joining him in his double celebration were 1800 runners from 51 HHH chapters throughout Malaysia and some from Thailand and Indonesia.
Among the guests present were Dato’ Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadziah, the MP for Hulu Kinta and Tambun State Assemblywoman Dato’ Rosnah Kassim.
The birthday bash which was held at the car park of the Lost World of Tambun saw the guests participate in a birthday run through the hills behind the Lost World. Wan Thot too participated though being the host his was a stroll.
The party started before 4pm for registration of the runners and carried on till late evening. The events included Dinner, Showtime, fireworks and Supper before the night was done. In true HHH tradition the beer wagon was well stocked with 100 barrels of beer and 30 barrels of Guiness draft.
Wan Thot’s family joined him on stage to cut his birthday cake after which the various HHH Chapters presented him with souvenirs.
Regular Hashers say that hashing is a very effective method of relieving stress and Foo Wan Thot at his age is testimony to that theory. On On!

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