Beware of Rabid Dogs

A Kadir Jasin

سْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ "In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

THE NORTHERN states of the Peninsula have been affected by an outbreak of rabies. Some 1,000 dogs had been exterminated and several persons were reported to have been bitten.

We thought we had eradicated rabies. Maybe we had but like malaria and polio, the dreaded disease appears to be making a comeback. That’s the price we have to pay for being negligent.

If you’re bitten by a dog, including “anjing persepit” (a trapped dog), and have the following symptoms - fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, agitation, anxiety, confusion, hyperactivity, difficulty swallowing, excessive salivation fear of water (hydrophobia) because of the difficulty in swallowing, hallucinations, insomnia and partial paralysis – you could have contracted rabies.

Please immediately get yourself to a hospital. Mantra, jampi and pooja are not known to cure this dreaded disease.

A rabid dog salivate excessively

But if you have not been bitten by a dog but experiences headache, anxiety and confusion, your affliction could have been caused by the extraordinary events now taking place in the country.

If your headache, anxiety and confusion continue for a long time and are not relieved by Panadol, please make a visit to your doctor.

If you nauseate, vomit and feel agitated, that could be due to being forced to watch TV3 news when you call on your friend who is a rabid supporter of Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Mappadulung Daeng Matti­mung Karaeng Sanrobone) Mohd Najib Abdul Razak.

[Rabid in that sense is defined as “having or proceeding from an extreme or fanatical support of or belief in something”.]

But if you continue to nauseate, vomit and feel agitated after having a good cup of teh tarik and posted a stinging critique of TV3 on Facebook, please pay a visit to your doctor.

If you are a critic of Prime Minister and you have hallucinations, insomnia and partial paralysis after reading the mainstream media reports about 1MDB and the “tindak-tanduk” of the new Attorney General, (Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali), just take two Panadol tablets and a two-hour power nap.

But if your hallucinations, insomnia and partial paralysis persist, please pay a visit to your doctor.

When I was growing up in the kampung in Kedah in the 1950’s and 60’s, rabies was very common. We called it “penyakit anjing gila” (mad dog disease) and associated it with excessive salivation and fear of water (hydrophobia).

If you’ve not been bitten by a dog and have not seen the most voluptuous “tante” from the Minangkabau highlands of Sumatra but you salivate excessively, please pay a visit to your doctor.

She should cause any healthy man to salivate

On the other hand, if you have seen the most voluptuous “tante” from the Minangkabau but you do not salivate excessively, please also pay a visit to your doctor. You could be experiencing impotency brought about by a “koro” curse.

Remembering My Uncle’s Dogs

Excessive discussion about dogs and rabies brings back memories of my teenage years when I would make trips to my auntie’s house in Selama, Perak during the durian season.

Her husband, Haji Abdul Wahab was the patriarchof a large Rawa clan. He was well respected because he owned a large durian orchard and many acres of rubber plantation. He was religious and because of his wealth he performed the Haj at a reasonably young age.

He kept several dogs to guard his farm from wild boars and his domestic animals from tigers, thieves and possibly communist terrorists.

Because Haji Abdul Wahab was well respected, his dogs too enjoyed the respect of his neighbours. Nobody would dare to venture into his property without first calling out his name and they would not dare taunt his dogs.

Blessed are the dogs whose owners are respected and revered!

Those days, the Malays did not show off their piety. They were not judgmental. Those with dusun, huma and kebun kept dogs. Dogs were “najis” (dirty) but they made no big issue about it. Of course they didn’t go crazy wanting to hug dogs.

They kept dogs for a purpose. There wasn’t such a thing as a lap dog. And a dog knew its place. A respectable dog earned its keep by driving away wild boars, tigers and thieves. It did not wag its tail and stick out its tongue to beg for handouts.

The Arabs keep dogs too. The best-known Arab canine breed is the saluki. They were superb desert hunters. 

An Arab gentleman with his salukis and falcon

An Arab proverb says: “He is a gentleman. He grew up with the saluki”.

POST-SCRIPT: Since no debater raised any question about the Javanese wisdom I quoted in the last posting, I assume that there are no Javanese debaters in this blog or, if there are, they do not know Javanese. For the record, “gemrincinging ringgit” means money, gebyaring wentis kuning (women) and klubuking iwak ono kedung (power). According to this old Javanese wisdon, money, women and power are the causes of the undoing of powerful men.

Wallahuaklam.