Tuesday, May 23, 2006

I was in the office when i received the shocking news.
It was so sudden.
My parents immediately booked a flight there.
They will be flying off to Brunei tomorrow.

My dad is still in a state of shock. He hadn't talked much since i came back from work. Well, according to my mum, he hadn't talked much after receiving the sad news.
Well, i felt sad too. I was shocked and sad.

A very close family friend of ours passed away this morning. A close, good friend of my dad's. My dad's best friend from Brunei.

I remembered him as someone who was very soft-spoken, humble and friendly. The last time i saw him was at Royal Plaza on Scotts together with my parents when he was here on a business trip in late August last year. He never failed to meet us whenever he's here in Singapore. If his schedule was too tight, he'd always gave us a call. It was always very plesant to hear from him.

The last time we went to Brunei to attend his one and only daughter's marriage was in 2003. Having a lot of guests in his house, despite being busy as a father of the bride, he fetched us from the airport, drove us around in his Mercedez or Honda Civic, or if he's alone to meet us for lunch before the wedding day, together with the other friends with their own Volvos and other Mercedez, he'll drop by in his 2-seater BMW (because his wife was using Benz, and his other relatives were using his Civic to run errands fr the wedding) which my dad got to ride in. He entertained us very well, making sure that everything's alright.

I think he was the richest and most humblest person i've ever met, always full of smiles. Only plesant memories i have of him.

I remember when we went to the airport to send my sister back to Sg, coz she had to go for a school meeting, and then the carpark was dark, he asked us in the car, "Ahh..tahu tak kenapa gelap disini? Sebab mereka tahu dalam kereta ini ada Lilin."(Pronounced as LeeLin.. think Wong Li Lin, the actress ) At first i didn't get what he meant by that, then i realised he was referring to me.. Lilin=candle. So, its darkk coz theres a Lilin in his car.. i.e. me. Yes, his jokes were very subtle.

He called me affectionately as Lilin..

Then i remembered he told us about a chat with his maid.

With three luxurious cars parked outside his home, one day, he asked his maid, "Tadi pagi bibik ke pasar bawa kereta, ya?" Confused, the maid said "Tidak, saya tidak bawa kereta.." And he said, "Betul ke? Tadi pagi saya nampak bibik ke pasar bawa kereta.. tu.. kan bibik bawa kereta sorong ke pasar..." Another subtle joke, i thought, that made me laughed.

Now, he's gone. According to his wife when my mum got the chance to speak to her, he mentioned of some pain at 7 am, 8 am his daughter took him to the hospital. He was taken to the ICU, and by 10 he's gone.

Uncle Aliddin bin Ali, or known by us as Uncle Din, our prayers are with you.
May your sould rests in peace. Amin.

Al-Fatheha...