The Departed List (updated to 12)

On 12 January 2011, my Facebook friend and former classmate at MRSM Kuantan, Roswati Abdul Wahab wrote a note in her FB page. In it, she listed out the names of our friends from the MCE/SPM 1979 batch who have departed ahead of us. At the time she wrote that piece, I already had some inkling of her intentions. It was a poignant reminder that our time on this Earth was only temporary and that we would be leaving it behind none too soon. Roswati herself was under treatment for liver cancer.

When she left us in October 2012 while performing her hajj in Makkah (which I wrote about here), I made a copy of her note and amended it by adding her name. She became the 10th name on the list.

Last week on 6 March 2017, after a lapse of more than four years, I made the latest amendments to the list. But this time, adding two names at one go. Indeed, the Almighty has written it to be so...

At 4.35am, our friend Puan Noorleha Darus exhaled her last breath in Johor Bahru. At 9.30pm, our friend Sdra Azmi Abdul Samad passed away in Seremban. Both succumbed to the vagaries of cancer.

The photograph below was taken in 2012 at the residence of our batchmate, Capt Norhisham Kassim, for the Aidilfitri gathering of that year. The late Azmi was standing at the back, 8th from the right as we view it. The late Noorleha was sitting at the front, 1st from the right. The late Roswati was sitting 2nd from the left.

May Allah swt have mercy on their souls and place them amongst the soliheen...

K79 2012 Raya gathering at Norhisham's

Oscitant...

I have installed on my mobile phone, an app which I regularly use to check the meaning of words and their spelling. Unsurprisingly it is called Dictionary.com. This app has a `Word of the Day' feature, where it sends daily notifications of a selected word, its meaning, pronunciation and example of use.

Most of the time, it sends me words that I very seldom use or have not heard of (which I guess, is exactly the reason why they have such a feature). In such cases, I would often ignore the notification by swiping it away, without even opening the page to read the definition. However, the particular word chosen for last Friday had an eerie sense of coincidence. Or perhaps, synchronicity.

I was in Melaka two days ago. I decided to perform Friday prayers at the Masjid Selat Melaka, a relatively new mosque built partly on reclaimed land and partly with its main structure sitting on piles above the sea, thereby giving it the `floating' appearance. It is my first visit to the place and I like the beautiful view of the mosque with the blue sky and green sea as its background.

It was a hot and sunny day. The interior prayer hall is kept cool by three huge industrial-sized ceiling fans. In addition, the large open doors at either side of the hall allow the refreshing sea-breeze to flow through. It was as comfortable as can be. To the extent of making me sleepy. I was trying hard to remain awake during the khutbah (sermon). The tasty lunch of asam pedas ikan jenahak I had before coming to the mosque did not help either.

To help me snap out of the drowsiness, I took out my mobile from my pocket (which I should not be actually doing) and noted that I have not checked on the day's `Word of the Day'. I opened the page. Lo and behold... the selected word exactly described the situation I was in a few moments before.

oscitant (adjective) :

1. drowsy or inattentive
2. yawning, as with drowsiness; gaping
3. dull, lazy, or negligent

And that killed my drowsiness immediately...

Masjid Selat Melaka

Sarah

I have a thing about babes...

The real ones, those tiny tots or newborns.

The latest one is this lovely beauty from New Zealand whom I'd like to call my grand-niece. Because among the large family of MRSM Kuantan brotherhood & sisterhood, any grandchild of yours is a grandnephew or grandniece of mine.

Sarah is daughter to Aida Farhana Zamri and Angus Archibald. Granddaughter to Norlaila Hussain and Ahmad Zamri Zahidin. Norlaila is a friend and sister from my MRSM days, more than 30 years ago.

Comel bangat....