Little Kathmandu

There's an outbreak in my ward.

An outbreak of err...Nepalis!

I had a field day on my call last Saturday receiving one Nepali after another. Poor guys. To leave your home country for the promise of wealth and a better life in bolehland is one thing, but to get bitten by the evil Aedes aegypti and end up in a third world health institution where nobody understands a word you say, is surely something else.

Some spoke a smattering of English, and some, remarkably, Malay. Then there were some who spoke neither, but somehow history taking was accomplished with the help of wild gesturing. I say wild because - trust me - there is no genteel way of communicating the meaning of vomiting, bleeding or diarrhoea. The only word I know to utter in Nepali (or Hindi, I think) is namaste, but I usually spare them the agony. I mean, there's only so much nee hao mas or apa khabars you can stomach from gwai lohs who visit our country, so I won't do the same to these poor Nepali souls.

None of them pulled a bleeding, plasma leakage or shock stunt on me that night (despite the fact that my very considerate boss Jimbo turned up in a RED shirt!). I hope they get well and get out of the hospital soon. And that they will return to their beautiful country Nepal when they have made enough money, where there's little chance of falling ill with dengue fever.

*bolehland = Malaysia, where nothing is impossible
Aedes aegypti = the mosquito vector that carries the dengue virus
namaste = ?hello and good day in Hindi
nee hao ma = how are you in Mandarin
apa khabar = how are you in Malay
gwai loh = cantonese slang for "white man"