IN MEMORY

TO ALLAH WE RETURN

Inna lillaahi Wa Inna Ilayhi Raaji'oon



Shahrin, Allahyarham's son

Hubby and Shahrin

Getting ready for the Tahlil to start

Abang Ahmad (centre), Allahyarham;s twin brother

Tok Latif, led the Tahlil session

Tok Ansari and Abang Ahmad

Shahrin with his uncle

Cik Rohemy helped to serve

We ate Nasi Arab from Kg Melayu after the kenduri

Jugs of tea were made by Noraidah

Packs of Nasi Arab on the table

The house at Taman Suria

With Rozeenah, a cousin, whom we gave a lift to JB

Allahyarham's widow, Saedah with mum

Who's consoling who?

Noraidah with Saedah

A shot in the house

Saedah's daughter was in Sabah when her father passed away

Saedah;s friend helped her a lot that day

After the funeral

Saedah's family members from Singapore

Family members from Singapore

Aunties and cousins

My uncles - Cik Latif and Cik Majid

Ahmad exchanging numbers with Cik Ansari

Khatijah (2nd f left) also came to 'melawat'

Cik Ansari with nephews

Allahyarham Muhammad Bin Ali Hassan

27 June 2010

Al-Fatheha

I was flipping the morning papers when the phone rang. A voice through the mouth piece asked, "Have you heard the not so good news, already? Cik Ansari enquired. I felt uncomfortable with his tone and question for it only meant the passing on of someone we all knew.

My cousin in JB had passed away in his sleep peacefully, leaving behind his wife and two grown-up children. Allahyarham Muhammad was close to us. When I was young, my aunty (Allahyarhammah Jamilah Bte Sheikh Madar), whom we called Mak Long would bundle us into her car and drive us up across the causeway to 10 Jalan Storey. She had no daughters so her nieces became the apples of her eyes. The bungalow house was so huge that there was ample space for a badminton court, an orchard where mangosteen trees grew, a huge compound for a marathon to take place and seven bedrooms to boot. All of her children had their own room and as visitors we dared not stepped into any of these rooms. Forbidden space!

Come every holiday, we would wait anxiously for Mak Long and her driver to ferry my cousins and I faithfully across the Straits of Johor. There were no projects, extra lessons or homework to bother us. We had time and childhood in our hands. The time I owned allowed me to pursue my passion in knitting, tatting, embroidery, cross stitching, floral arrangement and dabbling with still life. Notice I did not mention cooking or baking. Not my forte but throw me some silver thread and a golden needle and I would stitch your life on the plain material.

That was also the time during the 70s, mind you, when I was introduced to whole-meal toasted bread and I started my love affair with dairy products - Fernleaf fresh milk and butter from New Zealand. This was because my late Pak Long, Allahyarham Ali Bin Hasan (a famous architect in JB in those times) had those for his breakfast and dinner. I would slurp the milk like a cat, relishing its creamy taste at the same time extending and flicking my tongue to lick every drop which remained at the bottom of the glass. Milk had never tasted so good for me because my dad could not afford such enriched-calcium luxury nutritional drink for his underweight and bamboo-stick like daughter.

So where did Allahyarham Muhammad come into the picture you might ask? He was the youngest of a pair of twins out of a family of four boys. He would be the one to fuss over us - bringing us around JB, sending us to the circus and carnival to occupy our time and buying hawker food and ice-cream for our forever growling stomachs. We also exchanged some serves and drop shots at the court.

There was once during my JB holiday retreat, I noticed a red, yellow and black striped snake beside a drain near a fig tree. I alerted Abang Muhammad. Grabbing a stick, he relentlessly combed the area and hunted the reptile with his 'killer instincts' looks. Though the snake outwitted us and was never found, he made sure that our room was not intruded by that unwelcomed guest. He was rather stern and serious looking but behind that facade and persona lay a warm man with a soft heart. He had our welfare in his heart and truly ensured that we were entertained every time we spent our holidays in JB.

The last time we met at Abang Muhammad's terraced house, his hospitality did not stop though he was not too well and looked frail and weak. He got us drinks and we ended up talking about old times and his present state. He even offered us his Mersing Chalet should we need to use it on our drive up to that coastal town. Sadly, his last days were spent on a wheelchair. His demise was too premature but Allah loves him more than us. We could only send him off with Surah Yasin and Alfatheha.

May Allah Bless Allahyarham Muhammad Bin Ali Hassan.

Al-Fateha.