Seeing Clearly Now

My brother's cataract operation went well yesterday, thank God. He had lenses changed for both eyes. He was on general anesthesia (local is the norm) as he has Down's Syndrome and they wanted to operate on him just once. Thank you so much to those who kept him in your thoughts, prayers. He's going for a post-opp check up today. I believe everything will be fine and he'll be watching Phineas and Ferb again by this evening (albeit further away from the telly!).

The day before, my sister won tickets to watch 'Life Sdn. Bhd. 6: ABUSE', directed by Dato' Faridah Merican, from KLUE's website. My sister very graciously asked me to watch it with her last night (although my having a car may've been part of the reason).

The performance is about stories of abuse in Malaysia, some of them told by survivors, all of them true. I was told by Dato' Faridah that some survivors wanted to remain anonymous as they were still afraid of repercussions should they speak openly, and so friends/actors had to convey their stories on stage. These are the times we live in, people.

The performance was more of a sharing session that a play: no plot or props, just people telling stories, with some great songs (by Ian Chow and Khairil M. Bahar) and one dance sequence in between. Not long into the show, many of the performers and audience were in tears from the riveting tales shared, but I can assure you those tears can come from one place: truth. I know they're true not because I read the pamphlet, but because I know (or know enough of) these performers.

It was enlightening to say the least and I learnt some subtle truths about abuse: it starts a vicious-cycle that is difficult to break, it can come in many forms, and from unexpected (sometimes painfully ironic) places, and our silence and ignorance creates more problems than it solves.

'Life Sdn. Bhd. 6: ABUSE' plays till this Sunday at the Actor's Studio Lot 10. Find out more here.

[Ed 24/2: My brother's check-up went alright. He'll go for a second check-up next week, and in the meantime wear large lab-glasses that make him look rather like a sci-fi cartoon character. They're meant to allow the lenses to adjust in his eyes properly without overexposure to light/UV rays, etc.]