Father Sez

CNN Money wrote about the need to have our health insurance needs well taken care off to ensure a less stressful retirement.

This makes a lot of sense, as healthcare costs can wipe off large chunks of our retirement savings.  

Two years ago a friend of mine went in for heart surgery in a private hospital and the costs were exorbitant, to say the least. He is still paying off the debt. A month ago, my brother went in, also for heart surgery at a Government Hospital and it did not cost him a cent! It helped that his son and daughter in law are both Government doctors. 

Getting our own health insurance was more by chance rather than adroit retirement planning. I have changed jobs a number of times and each time lost the health insurance benefits as I moved. Though the “next employer” provided equivalent health benefits, the window when I was working in Ghana exposed my family and me to the risks of not having health insurance. I can only thank God that I was not forced to find out the hard way. 

We have a family plan with one of the local insurers. Apparently the fine print dictated that children over 18 were disqualified. I did not realise this until it was pointed out by a personal finance planner friend I met through blogging, KC Lau. (Thanks again, KC!) 

Of course, the silly insurance company with all its banks of computers did not have the sense to write to me and remind me of this fine print and suggest if I would be interested in separate packages for my two elder girls (Which I would most certainly have taken).

The two girls now have their own health policies.  I acknowledge that with the rising costs of healthcare, and despite my insurance I might still face a major drain, should anything untoward happen.  These healthcare costs and the strain upon the other family members is why I believe that it’s one of God’s greatest gifts when someone “goes” in a clean manner. Say, leading a reasonably healthy life and just not getting up after going to sleep or something like that. 

And I pray that when the time comes, God will give me this gift, Insya’Allah.

Last week I spent 4 days in Kota Kinabalu, the capital of the State of Sabah, more commonly known as “the land below the wind”. 

The principal purpose was business, but there are still too many loose ends to be settled. So I can’t write about this yet. 

I visited my wife’s younger brother, Zaini, and his family. They have settled down in a town called Papar, about 30 kms from Kota Kinabalu (KK). He married a Sabahan lady when he was posted to Sabah whilst serving the Royal Malaysian Air Force. They have 4 young lovely kids, all of whom are attending Chinese schools. 

I had last seen Zaini about 9 months earlier. And I must admit that when I saw him at the airport last week, he looked radiant. A poster good picture of good health. I wondered about this but kept my thoughts to myself.  

Later when I asked him about it, he showed me a plant he referred to as the “African Leaf plant.”  Apparently the plant was just growing in his rented house compound, when he moved in. One day, one of his neighbours, a Chinese gentleman who was an avid practitioner of Feng Shui came to his house and saw the plant. He pointed out that the leaves of this plant could be soaked in hot water (either green or dried) and the resultant tea could be drunk as an excellent health beverage. 

The leaf is slightly smaller than an adult’s palm.

The tree can grow to twice our height. It is recommeded that we prune them once they are taller than us. The cuttings can be planted or given to friends for planting.

And this was what Zaini had been taking, about 3 – 4 glasses a day for the past 6 – 7 months. And, believe me, the results are nothing short of spectacular!

The tree can be grown from cuttings and I brought some back for planting in my house. I also brought some of the dried leaves back and have started drinking the tea. 

We have planted 5 cuttings in our garden. Let’s hope the tree blossoms as well as it is doing in Zaini’s garden.

I have not done any research on the scientific name of this plant. A google of the name only talks about the African Leaf fish. 

Apparently the tree grows quite easily, so if all goes well, I should have my own stock in the next couple of weeks or so.

On Monday the 11 August, I spent a night at the Thai border town of Betong. The three Malaysian towns closest to Betong are Pengkalen Hulu, Baling and Gerik. I did not feel anything unusual after the visit and life went just fine.

Then on Tuesday the 19^th, I started feeling slightly feverish and slept it off. On Thursday morning the fever persisted and I went to see our local GP. I told her I did not think it was malaria as I did not get the alternating chills that makes us shiver and the fever that makes us sweat. She gave me some pills and antibiotics and I went home. 

Then the chills truck on Thursday night and I went to the nearby medical centre, where I was last treated for malaria. They took a blood test, said that it did not seem to be malaria and sent me home. Asking me to come back on Monday the 25^th. My first encounters with malaria was when I was working in Ghana. My colleagues would, (quite nonchalantly) tell me they needed a couple of days off due to malaria which was always given. (If I am not mistaken, the Ghanaian Labour Office suggests that all investors in Ghana should provide for about a week off every year for each staff due to malaria. This made me treat this disease quite lightly when I had a full scale attack when I landed in Djibouti from Mali in February 07. That attack left quite a deep scare in my mind.

My doctors have told me before that there was no trace of malaria (in the blood tests) during my afflictions in 2007. So I am not taking the current results lightly, as Gerik is known as a hotspot for malaria.  

Credit: http://www.fallingrain.com/world/TH/70/Betong.html 

Naturally some of my plans now have to be cancelled. 

a)    I made a sort of vow that (since my “retirement) I’ll try my best to do my Friday prayers with my son. Today I could not join him. 

b)    My second girl’s convocation is tomorrow morning. Looks like her Mama has to attend the ceremony with one of the kids.  Luckily she collected the gown last Sunday  and the serious family photography has already been done.

c)     This afternoon I was supposed to make a visit to another goat farm not far from where our farm is. This has been cancelled and a date will be fixed later. 

d)    On Sunday, I was supposed to go to Jakarta for a week to attend some meetings relating to the telecommunication towers. 

These are the appointments I cancelled. The next few days, I am just going to laze at home and drink lots and lots of water. 

Man, I assure you that this fever is a miserable one. It looks like once you are afflicted, the treatment just makes the viruses take a rest and continue to multiply. My last clear attack was in May or June 07, I think. Almost the 2 most miserable months of my life.