Care For Your Life (生命关照)

Many lives lost during school holidays or long holidays because these are times when we and our family members gathered together to spend time.

Having spent most of our times in the office or factory, most of us are oblivious on the approaching danger out there in the wilderness. 

Although there are many books on survival techniques in the wild, most of those techniques are not relevant to our local tropical environment.

I am not a survival course expert but just to mention a few points that could save you from approaching dangers that could spoil your holiday:

Forests:

1. Avoid walking in the forest after heavy rainfall or on windy days. Tree branches may fall onto those passerby and cause serious injuries. Poisonous animals or insects may fall onto whoever was under the tree.

Slopes:

1. During rainy seasons, if you notice that water flows out from the edge of a slope and that there are signs of cracks on the wall of slope; then stay away from the slope as there are possibilities that landslide may occur.

Open area:

1. Avoid jogging or walking in an open area such as a recreational garden after or before rain as there are possibilities of lightning strike.

Rivers:

1. Torrential floods (山洪):

Torrential floods take many lives in Malaysia every year. It is best to avoid swimming in a river or picnic near river bank during rainy season. However if you must go to the river, there are tell tale signs if torrential flood will happen:

a. If once clear river water suddenly turned muddy accompanied by some tree branches and tree leafs. If gentle breeze is felt blowing from the upstream direction, then torrential flood is almost certain to occur.

b. If it is known that the upper stream of the river is experiencing heavy rainfall.

2. Leptospirosis （鼠尿病）

a. Avoid going into a river during dry season when the water is less as there are possibilities of leptospirosis infection. This is true if there are food stalls nearby the river bank. Animals such as rats or even monkey may not only bring leptospirosis but also leeches and the river may be contaminated by trashes thrown by other visitors.

On the road:

1. Avoid driving at night especially on rainy nights through woody areas. It is also best not to drive during 4am to 6am as this is the period that accidents tend to occur.

There are many more pointers to be added to the list as I have only just mentioned only a few based on my past experiences. Perhaps you can work out a list on your own and educate your loved ones so that at least dangers can be reduced to minimal.