Renung-renung, bersyukur dan usah bersedih

 Sesungguhnya Allah itu maha pengasih lagi maha penyayang.

 Kita manusia dirahmatiNya dengan berbagai macam nikmat.

 Nikmat kesihatan, keselamatan, nikmat udara untuk bernafas, nikmat air untuk minum, mandi dan cuci, nikmat pakaian, makanan dan bermacam-macam lagi nimkat.

 "...Dan jika kamu menghitung nikmat Allah nescaya lemahlah kamu menentukan bilangannya...” (Surah Ibrahim 14: 34)

 Semua disediakan untuk kita umat manusia tetapi kita tetap hidup dalam kejahilan.

 "Tidakkah kamu memperhatikan bahawa Allah telah memudahkan untuk kegunaan kamu apa yang ada di langit dan yang ada di bumi, dan telah melimpahkan kepada kamu nikmat-nikmatNya yang zahir dan yang batin? Dalam pada itu, ada di antara manusia orang yang membantah mengenai (sifat-sifat) Allah dengan tidak berdasarkan sebarang pengetahuan atau sebarang petunjuk; dan tidak juga berdasarkan mana-mana Kitab Allah yang menerangi kebenaran”. (Surah Luqman 31: 20)

 Allah ciptakan untuk kita telinga, mata dan lidah, serta dua kaki dan dua tangan.

 “Maka yang mana satu di antara nikmat-nikmat Tuhan kamu, yang kamu hendak dustakan (wahai umat manusia dan jin)? (Ar Rahman 55: 13)

 Coba bayangkan jika kita berjalan tanpa kaki. Bayangkan kita tidak ada hidung untuk menghidu bau-bauan yang nyaman, masakan yang lazat dan menghidu bauan yang boleh memudaratkan.

Bayangkan betapa nyenyaknya kita tidur di katil yang empuk dan dalam bilek yang berhawa dingin.

Dan coba kita renungkan berapa ramai manusia yang tidak dapat menikmati tidur yang nyenyak seperti kita.

Apakah kita sudah lupa sedang kita menikmati makanan dan minuman yang lazat lagi berkhasiat, berjuta manusia yang lain kelaparan kerana kemiskinan, sakit dan menderita penyakit yang ditimpakan kepada mereka.

Renunglah betapa nikmatnya kita yang mempunyai telinga yang boleh mendengar dan mata yang boleh melihat sedangkan ramai lagi manusia lain yang tidak diberikan nikmat sedemikian.

Renungkanlah betapa nikmatnya kita dapat menggunakan otak untuk kita berfikir sedangkan ramai manusia yang ditimpakan penyakit mental tidak dapat merasakan nikmat sedemikian.

Sungguh betapa tidak ternilai harga nikmat yang Allah berikan. Semua nikmat itu sudah tentu tidak kita mahu ditukarganti dengan wang ringgit atau dengan emas sekalipun.

Tetapi manusia mudah lupa. Ia selalu bersungut, mudah bersedih dan mudah stress apabila hajat tidak kesampaian, apabila apa yang kita inginkan tidak dapat tercapai.

Manusia mudah lupa bahawa Allah sudah menyediakan kunci untuk kita melalui kehidupan yang dirahmatiNya dengan nikmat kebahagian hidup yang melimpah ruah.

Maka renung-renungkanlah dan bersyukurlah kepada Allah yang telah memilih kita untuk dicurahkaNya dengan rahmat nikmat hidup secara FOC.

Semoga dengan kesedaran sedemikian kita dapat melalui kehidupan yang tenang, sejahtera dan bahagia tanpa stress dan perlu depress. Walllahuwalam bisawab.

Endemic Phase – What it means

Brunei is entering COVID-19 endemic phase sooner than expected.

Thanks to its massive and rapid vaccination drive. As of today, almost 80% of the population in the Sultanate has taken their two-dose vaccination.

“With the vaccination success rate that has been achieved so far, Alhamdulillah, we have almost reached the target of 80% of the two-dose vaccination rate among the population in this country and will move into the Endemic Phase soon”, announced Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr. Mohd Isham Jaafar
Wednesday 24 November 2021.

He said the Ministry of Health is now actively monitoring and examining the situation of the COVID-19 infection in Brunei as well as current developments abroad.

“Given that the Transition Phase has been implemented less than a week ago, the COVID-19 Steering Committee needs more time to consider the implementation of the Endemic Phase”, said the minister in his media statement.

He advised the public to wait for the announcement of the start of the implementation of the Endemic Phase.

Endemic Phase – What it means

First, let us be clear about the words like a pandemic, epidemic, and endemic.

We have been hearing these words regularly when the COVID-19 virus spread all over the world resulting in a global crisis of unprecedented reach and proportion.

Over time, we became familiar with these words yet some of us perhaps still confused about the distinction between them.

What is an endemic, epidemic and, pandemic?

Now we are in a transition phase from pandemic to endemic.

So what does it exactly mean?

Understanding those medical terms is important.

It can help us digest public health news better and give appropriate responses.

So what is "ENDEMIC"?

"ENDEMIC" is a disease that affects a large number of people within a community, population, or region.

In this case, we are talking about COVID-19. The disease emerged in Wuhan, China in late 2019.

At first, it was an "EPIDEMIC", a sudden outbreak that spread rapidly among the people in that city.

Despite strict quarantine measures, public health officials were unable to contain the virus.

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared it a "PANDEMIC", meaning that it had spread widely around the world.

A year later, the COVID-19 pandemic was still raging. However, in early 2021, almost 90 percent of researchers surveyed predicted that it would become endemic over time.

In other words, they believe it will not be completely eradicated but instead will have a constant presence among particular populations in various parts of the world.
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If so, then, like other endemic diseases, COVID-19 may flare up from time to time, resulting in local epidemics.

So "ENDEMIC" is when COVID-19 is contained to a particular people or country.

The spread of the “ENDEMIC” disease is described as an “EPIDEMIC” and it became a “PANDEMIC” when it started to spread over multiple countries and continents.

Just remember a “PANDEMIC” is an “EPIDEMIC” that travels everywhere across the world.

What happened during the endemic phase?

This we have to wait for the announcement of the start of the implementation of the Endemic Phase.

However, of course, we expect most restrictions to be gradually lifted, mass testing, contact tracing, and quarantine will eventually stop, and travel without quarantine will be reinstated.

We will also expect some measures to stay in place because cases may continue to be imported.

People will probably be encouraged to continue wearing masks in crowded places and maintaining hand hygiene. Perhaps social distancing would still be around for a while.

Testing for COVID-19 may still be needed, but likely only to check if someone who is sick has the disease.

How about conducting tests in the community setting or tracing and quarantining close contacts of those infected? Maybe there is no need for that anymore.

Testing at the borders will probably be imposed, but perhaps more selective, depending on the country the traveler is coming from.

So, there will be so many other things that will need to be taken into consideration and looked into in how to carry on with our lives with COVID-19 in the Epidemic Phase.

As stated by the minister of health, given that the Transition Phase has been implemented less than a week ago, the COVID-19 Steering Committee needs more time to consider the implementation of the Endemic Phase.

Can Brunei move away from Covid-19 pandemic?

The answer is with us, the people of Brunei.

The first wave of the pandemic stormed the Sultanate in March 2020.

We were not that ready then to battle the raging virus. Daily caseloads of Covid-19 in the country rose, putting our health care system under pressure. Our education system and social economy too were impacted by the pandemic.

We immediately went on high gear to stabilize the critical situation. We put the country under semi lockdown. We imposed restrictions on people's movement, interactions, gathering in public places, temporarily closed mosques and other places of worship, schools, malls, marketplaces, shops, and offices in efforts to put the spread of the virus under control.

We decisively took action to ease the pressure on our health care system by setting up quickly isolation centers to care for those infected in categories 1, 2, and 3.

It was a hard battle but with people strongly behind the government efforts, we amazingly were able to prove our resilience and emerge from the shock of the first wave Covid pandemic.

Lives return to almost normal for almost over a year after months of vigorously battling the pandemic with the 'Covid Zero approach'

Then came August 2021, Covid-19 cases spiked at their highest in 15 months: 42 new cases to bring up the total confirmed cases to 406.

This time we were ready.

Brunei again immediately went into semi lockdown and began her fight to bring the Covid pandemic under control. Within over three months, Brunei managed to tame the spread of the virus at the same time launched a massive vaccination drive to achieve herd immunity in the Sultanate.

We did it once and we did it twice. No reason now that we could not this time around.

Brunei shall emerge stronger from the shock of the second wave Covid-19 pandemic that hit the nation over three months ago, in sya Allah.

On the path of living with Covid

On this auspicious day (Friday), Brunei with her highly vaccinated population begins its journey on the path out of the pandemic.

The nation is now moving forward, albeit in phases to adapt and live with the Covid-19 virus that will be around forever like SARS, H1N1, and other influenza-like
illnesses.   

As of yesterday, over 90 percent of the population have a single dose vaccination while over 70 percent have double dose vaccination.

Only 21 new cases were recorded yesterday with active cases going down to 444 out of which only five cases in category 5.

With the reopening of businesses and places, the loosening of restrictions for dining establishments, workplaces, and entertainment venues, Covid-19 cases - driven by over-excitement, complacency, and carelessness - are expected to spike in the coming days and months.  

Unless we behave well, contained our excitement, strictly follow the MOH Covid SOP and follow the lead by the government in living with the Covid-19, then we will not be far from reaching the endemic stage. In sya Allah.

COMPLACENCY, COVIDIOTS CAN RUIN OUR EFFORTS TO RECOVER

NOV 10, 2021: Businesses and places are reopening come Friday 19 November 2021. We are reopening them because of the economy and not because it is safe now.

Like others, our economy too is not shielded from the Covid pandemic's economic consequences.

We need to move quickly to recover from the serious economic downturn caused by the pandemic.

We need to quickly adapt to living with covid that will stay with us forever like HN1N1 and many other influenza-like illnesses.

We expect very minimal numbers of daily active cases during this first phase of 'Operasi Pulih' (Operation Recovery). Probably below 100 a day or less.

MOH will of course closely monitor the situation. It will be closely watching particularly the number of cases in categories 3, 4, and 5.

If it sees a sign that active cases in those categories are shooting up and will overwhelm our health system in no time if necessary measures are not taken immediately, then we will be back to square one; the whole nation's semi lockdown.

But this situation can be avoided if we continue to follow the MOH COVID PANDEMIC SOP when out and about in our daily life during the recovery period besides being fully vaccinated.

Complacency plus covidiots are the biggest threat to our health and safety during this recovery period.

Complacency leads to carelessness, covidiots couldn't be bothered, and reckless. Both spell disaster if not addressed, regulated, and managed effectively.

So during this recovery period, we need to focus more on managing these threats. We need to be extra vigilant against these two factors that can ruin our efforts to regain normalcy which we have lost during the pandemic. MHO

 

Kopi Talk with Malai Hassan Othman: Moving on with CovidSEPT 30,2010: The Internationa...

Kopi Talk with Malai Hassan Othman: Moving on with CovidSEPT 30,2010: The Internationa...: Moving on with Covid SEPT 30,2010: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was impressed with Brunei's recently released Economic Blueprin...

Moving on with Covid

SEPT 30,2010: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was impressed with Brunei's recently released Economic Blueprint. IMF said Brunei should continue to build on efforts to diversify the economy, further attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and enhance human capital and improve private employment.

IMF projected the country’s GDP at two percent this year and 2.6 percent next year.

It's quite a promising projection. I hope we could realize it considering these challenging times. I hope the authorities make public on how they are going to achieve it so as to instill confidence in this depressing time that the nation will survive and thrive.

We are aware of how serious are the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on Brunei's efficiencies and effectiveness. The pandemic badly impacted the productivity and production capabilities of the country - across the board, in all sectors - at an individual level, family, community, the society as a whole.

So it would be refreshing and motivating to see, for example, the Legislative Council, convening 'online' on way forward, more public debates on living with Covid-19, and so on and so forth. The narratives now should be more on the way forward. What do you say?

Kopi Talk with Malai Hassan Othman: Mengimbas perjalanan sewaktu giat dalam pertubuhan...

Kopi Talk with Malai Hassan Othman: Mengimbas perjalanan sewaktu giat dalam pertubuhan...

Mengimbas perjalanan sewaktu giat dalam pertubuhan politik

Wildlife at my backyard

Compilation of wildlife photos taken from my backyard.