eHomemakers Malaysia

“ Be Strong When You are Weak, Be Brave When You are Scared, Be Humble When You are Victorious” (Author unknown) The quotation caught my eyes as I looked at the poster on the wall. The first time I saw the quotation was around 8 to 9 months after my accident. That was when I didn’t even have the strength to get up from the wheelchair on my own and needed help.   I remembered that day. The burn ward had been so cold. They wheeled me into the occupational therapist work room; it felt so good to feel the warm air. Staring at the quotation, I wondered, when I could feel victorious? If I am “strong” and “brave” would I be able to get through this? Whether I could fake the “strong” and “brave” part?  I tried to remember this quotation and write it down, to recite it whenever I feel weak and afraid. I didn’t have the strength to lift both my arms to my ears and my palm grip was weak. The occupational therapist gave me a device with two bottles attached to it, when o...

Examining the crusted brown flakes closely, my sister exclaimed, “they looked like KFC’s hot and spicy”. She was referring to the famous franchise restaurant chain. Part of me felt insulted being compared to fried chicken.  In my view, they bear a closer resemblance to the fried banana fritters that I used to eat in my childhood days. It was nearly the end of the year 2016, after certain parts of my wounds healed, my skin became dry and were flaking off. The sight of the dried flaking skin would deter my sister from eating at KFC for a long time. There was a point when I was flaking off a lot of dry skin until my sister suggested that she should collect them and make some weird artwork and framed them. She informed me about an artist who collected fish bones, made them into art and sold them for lots of money.      I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, and who will buy? They are probably filled with MRSA or other bacteria ” .   But then again, it...

Reading the newspaper, it amused me that some people dread the coming Chinese New Year holidays as they are trying to avoid nosey relatives who loved asking questions such as “Are you still single?”, “When are you getting married?”, “Why aren’t you working yet?” etc. Burn survivors around the world, they have more to cope than just annoying relatives. During the holiday season, the stress gets to them. Most preferred to be alone during festivities.  This is especially so when the celebration involves fire. The smell, sight, sound and feel. Any or all of this combination can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or triggers that reminds them of the trauma. There was an article in the Star newspaper on the 31 st of January 2019 about actress Joey Leong who suffered 5% of second-degree burn on her legs at the set of the movie ‘Amazing Spring’. In the article, Joey admitted that she often makes a hasty retreat whenever she sees a fire. She had concerns about suffering ...