Our Uncle Passing

On May 9th, I woke up to the sound of someone knocking doors. I did not realize it was 12:04 a.m until later. I was asleep on the couch since early evening. I thought it was already morning and my sister, Mook, getting ready for work. So I asked her, "Kenapa, Mook?".

Came the reply "Ni Lin lah.. bangun lah, Pak Man collapsed".

(Now Pak Man is our Dad's brother. The one who's really close to our Dad. He was admitted to the Johor Specialist since Tuesday, due to having difficulty in breathing. It all started weeks ago, when he accidentally fell when playing badminton and injured his leg. He resided in KL, but when things did not improve, he came back to JB for further treatment. It turned out that the injury has caused some blood clots which entered his lungs, and eventually disturbed his breathing system. Hence, he was admitted to the Cardio Intensive Care Unit, CICU).

Then I went to her room and asked, "Bila ni? Nak pergi sekarang ke? Pukul berapa ni?"

"Baru kejap, Doctor call. Ni dah pukul dua belas lebih. Cepat la".

According to Lin, our Dad rushed to the hospital with Fahmy minutes ago. Thank God Fahmy and Lin just arrived from Singapore.

So the four of us, Mom, Lin, Faiz and myself sped off to the hospital. (During which time, the medical team pronounced Pak Man in critical condition and was performing all the CPRs and emergency procedures).

When we got there, my brother Firdaus was already there, sitting with Fahmy. We went inside and saw Pak Man lying motionless, with all the wires and equipment and what not. I asked Fahmy what the condition was and he told me that the doctors said nothing can be done...

Cik Ana (Pak Man's wife) and their eldest son Malikin arrived a short while later with Pak Nan (another brother of my Dad). Cik Ana hugged both Lin and me when she entered the CICU. Yes, she appeared to be cool and quiet. Not a single tear was in sight. But I just can't bear to look at them sitting beside Pak Man. Neither Cik Ana nor Malikin was crying, at least not openly, even though they were very, very, very close to Pak Man. In fact,all the children were very close to him.

You see, kalau kita tengok orang menangis dan bersedih at this time, that is expected, right? But to see people being so strong and holding on like that, lagilah buatkan I rasa sangat sedih dan terharu.. I mean, they could cry all the want, but they choose to be strong and dignified.. walaupun dalam keadaan sedih yang tak terhingga tu. Betul-betul respect dengan diaorang.

It really reminded me of the saying "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. ~ Martin Luther King Jr ".

After a while, I went out to sit with my siblings. The doctors were of the opinion that we should bring him home since nothing else can be done. At that time, Pak Man was still breathing.

But when I went inside a little while later, I found Mom, Cik Ana and Malikin sitting quietly together. Then Mom spoke one telephone to someone and was making arrangements to take the body to the mortuary.And that was the time when I realised that Pak Man has passed away. I must say, it was really a shock to all of us, since he was a sportsman, a healthy person and was not known to suffer from any disease.

Later, he was taken to our grandmother's house in Skudai for the last time, and then to Bangi, his final resting place.

Al-Fatihah to him. May Allah Bless His Soul. Amin.