Surrounding Eidul-Adha

I took a few days off surrounding Eid-ul-Adha to rest and take my mind off work. The latter seemed impossible. I keep getting reminders for example of my editorial tasks of our journal, of which I had already made my intentions of leaving the position before. There are many other unsettled matters too. I really wish I have some time off to really pursue what I am really interested in before the new semester starts. To this too, I'm pushing all my postgraduate students to finish off their studies if possible within this year since I will be retiring next year. What happens after retirement, I am not sure. Situations seem to push me to look for another job then. Certainly my scientific ambitions have yet to be fulfilled. Some of the things I wish to pursue have been given to my present and past students but there are still open problems yet to be solved. I hope for some miracles to happen at this very late stage of life.

Things are not looking bright these days. The Covid-19 infections do not seem to show any signs of easing. Below is the current numbers given yesterday.

On the social media, things are rife with rants and divisive issues; the latest being the squabble between religious public figures, which is really embarrassing because it only displays our immaturity (no matter which side one is on). If not for some beneficial aspects of the social media, I would probably have turned it off. People tend to be very judgmental and easily siding with their own circles of influence, amplifying differences, rather than finding solutions. Perhaps they have not realised that we are facing a much bigger crisis at hand. Found the pic below that is suitable in describing the situation.

On the brighter side, my eldest son Khairuddin and my youngest Izzuddin just got their first shot of Covid-19 vaccination. Apart from the usual sore on the arm, they seem to be reacting ok. Hopefully all my sons will receive their second dose soon. This will put some worry off. Currently we are hearing reports of infections of the delta-variant of the virus in Rembau, which is really worrying.

I really hope there are happier news ahead but things are really looking gloomy.