BOOKED

i couldn't sleep very well last night. i kept thinking about the tragedy that struck the house of Dato Zakaria Mat Deros. first the state of selangor fell to PKR-DAP-PAS onslaught, much to the surprise of everybody , particularly the umno people including Dato Zakaria. and to add insult to injury as the cliche goes, Dato Zakaria's daughter in law was also carried away in that little tsunami. she lost. she was widely considered to be the proxy for him in that little enclave which had been his turf for so many years. probably he had thought that it was a given that she being an umno candidate would win it hands down. and then another unthinkable happened. yesterday a tragedy occured. He died suddenly due to a heart attack as you can read here. he simply dropped dead - if you want to be unkind. but on the contrary, i felt sad and quite affected by it even though i don't know him personally or have anything to do with him . and to see one of his sons sobbing on tv3 begging forgiveness for his father was quite poignant.

and i kept tossing in my bed and thinking...well, that's life. one day you're on top of things but you never know what's the next day is in store for you. and kept thinking what a calamity for Dato Zakaria's family. that little 'palace' with 16 rooms and 21 bathrooms that he built will feel like a mausoleum now. but in his life, he did pretty well for himself. coming from the bottom and derided by the opposition parties (which are now the government party of selangor)
as a mere railway gatekeeper he had climbed up to become an umno VIP and amassed quite a fortune for himself along the way. and he expressed this achievement by building that showy mansion among his poor neighbours. and that was the start of his downfall. and i kept thinking, what a way to go. he couldn't even begin to enjoy the fruits of his labour, as another tired cliche goes.... his little palace was finished just about a year ago. there's a lesson there somewhere...as another cliche goes...