Sadness

I don't get sad easily. In life I try hard to find the goodness and the greatness of things even for those that hurt. But sometimes when there are just too much sorrow displayed on the screen, I just have to let it be. Today I let myself be low and restless with sadness.

It started last night when I switched on the laptop to hook on the FB, I found myself muttering Al-Fathihah to the departure of two souls. First was the death of a storyteller whose work I really admire. It is such a big loss among Malaysian dwindling talents. Next, was the death of a university friend. He worked with primates and studied them in Sabah and he had earned a PhD for doing that. I just feel sad thinking that their deaths are sudden and untimely. There must have been many things left undone and unsaid. Anyway who am I to complain in the matter of life and death. I might be next on the list, one can never tell.

Also in the FB, today, an ex-colleague left a farewell message that is really touching. He was sacked for being himself, an abrasive Egyptian. There are other terminations before. But this one is sudden and untimely. He just got married. He has brought his wife weeks before, from Egypt to Dubai. Now he is jobless and in a month time they have to leave Dubai. Isn't it ironic? He might have his ego. He might be careless. He might struggle to fit into the template of associate profile the company prefers. But I think his termination is not justified. He can be warned and given feedback to improve. I am planning to talk this matter to my superior since it affects my sense of job security and peace of mind at work, apart from being sad and sympathetic for the dismissed friend. I'm sure they are prepared to give all the politically right reasons for the decision, but at least they will see the sign that many of us are not happy with the way it was handled and the inhumane outcome.

Of all the above, the one that really makes me sad the most is to see the photo of my little boy on my mobile phone screen, who is now down with fever. This is the boy who fell down from the bed just weeks before I came home in my last homecoming in April. Now when I only have less than 2 weeks before I return home, he's unwell. How I wish I could be there to hug him, kiss him and take away his heat and misery. And also the sad look of his lonely sister waiting for him to get well soon, to play with, just adds another pinch of salt into the already salty sadness........