Just Who Can Be At This Phone At Night

Have you ever experienced this happening in your life ? I am sure you have , just as many of us do. This kind of phone call can be very disturbing because these night calls always harbor bad news - at least that 's what it used to be in my childhood days although it is no longer so with modern days kids. Kids these days are on the hand phones virtually twenty four hours, having something to talk over all the time. Hence you get those nuisance phone callers at your movie outings despite the advertisement to switch off their phones at these places.

We often wonder why is it that these days we seem to feel lost without a hand phone. On at least three occasions recently I happen to forget ti bring my hand phone . I feel so inadequate all those deprived hours and greatly consoled when I get it back with me later ! Need we phone at all at any time of the day then ? Somehow, because the phone is there with you, you cannot avoid the thought of contacting others because if you do not do so, others are bound to contact you either directly or by sms to which more often than not you are sure to response back.

In the early days of the hand phone it used to be in the form of dual instruments that need to be carried everywhere. There is the phone proper and then there is the battery unit which is the bulkier of the two. It looks very odd and conspicuous then and many are the eyes that stare at the contraptions that you carry then , not counting the curious ones who indulge in asking just how the thing works, how much it costs , how long can the battery last and where to get it if need be. It is eye catching to the crowd. Over time, these unseemly contraptions begin to be reduced in forms and styles until the emergence of the first one unit hand phone which at first is still big and bulky and eventually reduced in size and style into what it is today.

When we visited Farazil in Hokkaido two years ago, we happen to be in a shopping complex in which a floor is devoted to electronics and gadgets meant for the phones. There we see multicolored hand phones of sorts on display. they are very eye-catching indeed and on looking closer I cannot see any price tags on any of them. I ask Farazil why there is no cost on any of them . He says in Japan the offer of free hand phones is very common. Of course these are not the branded ones that we use here such as the Nokia. Erickson and others, but rather local products for the public usage. All one needs is to take any of these phones and buy the chips from the counter to get connected. In other words, you can have the phone provided you buy the chips from the complex counter. I think that is great indeed and little wonder in Japan everyone has a phone of sorts. In our country we need not have to have this kind of offer and already we hardly see anyone without a hand phone. It is communication made easy for the world of today.

Hence is it suprising to receive a call in the middle of the night these days ? For me, my sms channel opens the whole day and night to the extend that these sms are sent to me at the unearthly hours of the morning by my circuit sms friends. Fortunately, the user-friendly gadget can be put on silent mode and you only get to see these sms or even missed calls when you choose to see them in the morning at your own leisure and time. The only thing that still remains is the house phone which still rings in response to callers. I know that you readers may have those house phones that have the silent mode. It is not yet applicable to us and nor do we want one for fear that we might forgetfully have it on silent mode all the time ! Let it ring for all its worth for who knows there might be a very important call coming through !

I am fascinated by the development of the house phones too. The old fashioned phones are considered absolete by modern standard although we are still using one in our house. It is said the new house phones of today are user friendly and multifunctional. It can perform almost anything that is convenient to the user. It can send fax, sms, e-mail, record and send voice messages and trace callers numbers and saved them too. Of course it is also portable or hands free in the vicinity of your house. To us old folks, these friendly features sound complicated to use just as with the hand phones of today. For the both of us, we still try to maintain the old hand phone with the least friendly features and from our experience, we would rather stick to the Nokia series and that too on the one with the least buttons to manage. But then how alluring are these phones. They have uncanny music at receiving and at response to the callers. Izzat used to have one that sounds like a lazy man who keeps saying "hello, hello " s if there is someone on the receiving end ! And there are those whose reception is engulfed with funky music or even Chinese operatic songs ! How these irritate you when you call these people. My reaction is simple. If I come across such contacts, I will never call them again ! However, on the bright side, I like the wide selection of lilting music that is available by way of ringing tone and these seem to be improving with the models or more accurately, they differ with each model. What of colours next ? These are just unbelievable, more especially the phone covers. They are just wonderful to the eyes.

Anyway, there is that phone call again . It seems persistent since I cannot get to it in time to answer it just now. At this time of the night there can only be a few possibilities. A wrong number caller , an urgent message of illness or death, a need for urgent help, or a call from overseas such as from Farah or John, or overseas call from one of those foreign lottery companies who happen to get hold of our number. Definitely it cannot be from our dentist whose appointment we last missed. To get an appointment from our dentist Doctor Khoo has never been easy. His appointment is forever full despite the fact there are other dentists at his place. Dr Khoo is the most popular of the lot, nit because he is the owner and boss of the place, but because he is simply charming. He always remembers what his patience are intolerant off such as Ainul who simply cannot tolerate having to open her mouth for endless minutes without a thought for mouth wash and a short break from its gaping agony. He also knows how sensitive Ainul is to the rough brushing of the tooth scrub or the drilling needle for that matter. In today's appointment for instance, he finds that Ainul's teeth has suffered quite bad erosion as a result of heavy brushing by her. It has always been the point of discussion between us on this. Each time she brushes her teeth, it sounds as if it is the last time ever she is going to brush them , and the condition of her tooth brush after just a month use is like as if tornado has gone through them. This is just the opposite with mine which seems untouched ! Ainul always says I am not brushing my teeth thorough enough to be clean. Today when we see Dr. Khoo who is primarily to attend to Ainul's problem, the doctor says that I have very good teeth and well maintained ! That's one up against Ainul's assessment on my poor brushing ! Ainul's damaged teeth as a result of her severe brushing needed attend to so as to prevent more corrosive damage on them. Thus we both learn a new word "Bruxism" which means clenching and grinding of teeth while sleeping. The interesting thing is Dentists have now a new thing that can prevent or lessen the damage on teeth as a result of bruxism by inserting a kind of contraption to the gum lining the rows of teeth so affected. With the installation of his special contraption, the grinding and clenching effect will be considerably reduced. Bruxism is believe to be a major factor leading to headaches, damage to teeth fillings, implant failure and even neck pain. Little wonder why Ainul has been complaining of neck pain and headache all this while ! Most people are unaware that they clench their jaws while they are sleeping or even during the day when they are at work or more especially when the work load is heavy and they feel stress by it. At no time must our teeth be in contact with force such as when its grinding than when it is chewing food. Clenching ones teeth while asleep or during the day, is the result of some of the strongest muscles in one's body tensing when they should be resting. These clenchings can cause cracked teeth an d fractures particularly on crowns, veneers and restorative work on the teeth. The contraption known as the Myohealth Clenching Inhibitor or MCI for short will help stop the wearing away of teeth, prevents cracking or chipping of teeth and fillings, protects the expensive crowns, veneers, implants and fillings, and assist to relief jaw and neck pain. MCI is extremely comfortable to wear, drug free and noninvasive. Many dentists are now prescribing the MCI to ensure that teeth and dental restorations last long-term with minimal dental bills. The MCI replacement should only be necessary every two to three years but six monthly inspection of the teeth should be done regularly. The way to check if you have bruxism is if you have headache or jaw pain on occasions, or your jaw muscles or temples feel tender when pressed, or you feel discomfort when chewing or you have a clicking jaw. The other thing is to observe if your teeth make contact when not chewing or that you have damaged fractures of teeth, fillings or crowns. Be mindful of all these and if you have bruxism, go quickly to your dentist for early treatment less you lose all your precious teeth too soon. Teeth are irreplaceable. They grow only twice in our life time and that happens only to the teeth when we are young.

No matter who it is at the other side, I cannot ignore the call even if I have been awaken from my slumber because night calls are traditionally important calls that need immediate attention. In the olden days when phones are scarce. it was customary never to call anyone after midnight unless it is to convey death of family members or accident on the road. Nowadays that tradition does not hold anymore. Adolescent and even grown up children make phone calls to each other at any time of the night, not mindful of the fact that others might be asleep at that time. It used to be the case with ours too then and we got fuming mad with these antics then to no avail. The excuse was, it is cheaper to call at night, more so after midnight, which is true then and may be so till today. All the same these were nuisance calls as far as we are concerned then. Time has changed though. With the individual hand phone that they have, children can call reclusively in their bedrooms, away from the hearing crowd and such indulgence can drag on for hours on end. Anyway , who cares for as long as they bare the bills for these.

However that call can be from my squash partner, Tunku Besar Mukhriz who calls to confirm next week's game or to talk about the latest tennis or squash matches just like recently when our girl Nicol David trounced all her opponents to maintain her position as the World Champion Squash Player of the new year. Her achievement is historical for our country. It has never been thought that a Malaysian could rule the world in squash which has been dominated as far as the ladies are concerned by the Australians or the British all these past years. It just goes to prove, nothing is impossible these days if proper training and exposures are given to the budding champion in any game. Of late in the ladies world tennis, the Chinese have proven their mettle just as they have proven to be champions at swimming and gymnastics. In the men's tennis today my favourite is Roger Federer but even he has suffered two successive defeats by the same player who has been absent from the game for one year past.

Oh well, that aside, just who is calling us now ? It can also be from Ayon ( his name is Haroun al-Rashid ) who calls me "dad" because we used to look after him like a member of the family during his early childhood days in Kuala Trengganu when he took up his first job with the Rubber Research Institute and being away from home from Kajang for the very first time in his life and feeling lost and lonely then. Ayon has the tendency to call me at any time of the day when he feels there is something interesting for us to talk about. He is always browsing or surfing the Internet and e-mailing me stuffs of mutual interest to me. He is one character I will write on one day. Somehow, tonight I cannot think it is Ayon on the phone.

Just who is calling us then ?

At last, when we get to answer the phone, we are pleasantly surprised that it is from none other than Farah herself. It is nice and consoling to hear the family is now well and fully recovered from the recent flu, cold and cough. Chicago has been very cold of late and some while ago it has very heavy snows too. This is evident from the family photos of the three of them sent to us. In one of those photos, even the crab is not spared of the freezing cold. I dread the idea of living in such a place. The times that we visit them , both at Chicago and at Jim's ( John's father ) cabin in Wisconsin, the cold wind and weather really gets on me. Ainul seems to enjoy it though. I cannot imagine having to wear three sets of shirts and with heavy woolen jackets as well every time we have to go out of the house. At one time when Aziz and Jalnah and Joan ( John's mother ) are taken on a visit to the Chicago Museum, and it is then late Autumn, we three Malaysians really suffered miserably from the extreme cold Autumn blustering cold wind of Chicago , while walking to the Museum building from the car park, which happens to be quite a distance away. Oh my, I can feel my ears frozen stiff as if they are about to fall off to pieces like broken ice !

It is nice to hear the family is all all right now and Aisya is eating well again. Each time we get to talk to Aisya we realize that she is growing up very well indeed over there. She is beginning to talk like American kids already more especially when she dismisses us on the phone with a curt " I am done" and hangs up !

Well, let's see now. We hope there will not be another phone call at this time of the night !

Peace at last !!! Night, night everyone !

written by Tunku Farid