Al-Fatihah I missed you all….....

35 years today, my father passed away. He died in hospital suffering from a heart attack. As his death felled on the 1st April, I thought the policeman who called me to inform of his death was pulling an April Fool joke on me. Anyway, its history now.

I am sad that he didnt live to see his grandchildren, as my first boy was born in Jun that year. My children used to ask me how their grandfather look like?

Let me share this nostalgic moment about my dad. When I was in std.5, he use to give me and my brother 15 cent each for pocket money. 15 cents was a big sum during those days coz you can buy teh tarik and nasi lemak for 10 cents. In fact 10 cents is more than enough.

The extra 5 cents was for us to save and pay for the Straits Times newspaper that he orders from the vendor daily. So, we will fill up this small brands of essence chicken bottle that we use as a piggy bank with 5 cents coins daily to its brink and at the end of the month we will use that money to pay the vendor for Straits Times, my dad ordered. The Straits Times those days cost only 10 cents.

My dad will make us read the main headlines, the local news, a feature story and some sporting events, which we will have to relate to him every night before bedtime. At the same time he too will read a vernacular daily and compare notes to see whether we were telling him the truth. Thats how he thought us to master our English. What a brilliant idea it was. Though, I am struggling with my English skills, my brother is a much a better writer than me and is currently an editor of an English local daily in the Kinta Valley.

Apart from my dad, I also lost my grandmother, a sister and 3 more siblings- 2 boys and a girl that passed away when they were very young. Probably my other brothers and sister wont remember them, but I was there when all the 3 siblings passed away.

To my dad,grandmother,sisters and brothers...AL-FATIHAH and you were always be on my mind.....

Maybe I didn't love you
Quite as often as I could have
Maybe I didn't treat you
Quite as good as I should have
If I made you feel second best
I'm so sorry I was blind
You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind....

- Willie Nelson

Moga Allah mencucuri rahmat Ilahi ke atas roh-roh mereka dan diangkat bersama para salihin.....

My Al-Fatihah... to one of my favourite comedy actress Yusni Jaafar who died at Selayang Hospital early today. Moga-moga Allah mencucuri rahmat ke atas rohnya.

wasalam.