Acik

Sat. 3rd. March, 2018.

Acik was the last of my aunties from atok Hassan and wan Tiamin. Acik died in her daughter's arms Thursday, March 1st., at 6.10  p.m. in her house in Beting. An auspicious day to be called to the Lord. Ati called at about 7. I left Seremban after Magrib, with Calit and my wife. 

Nosa ngat-ngat said her mother had not been feeling well the last 2 days, and had asked for water, and when she was trying to put the liquid to her lips, she simply slipped away. She was 81.

I remember when our family of  6 were in a taxi, all ready to move to Tanjung Malim in 1950, where dad was being reassigned to S.I.T.C., when Acik cried and cried, wanting to go with her elder sister, my mom. She was hanging on the taxi's window, and mom was consoling her from inside the car, and wan doing the same thing from outside it, and Acik was not consoled until mom pulled either her gold necklace or gold ring, I can't remember which, and gave it to Acik, saying she could come later, and only then did Acik let go of her hold on the car. 

She did eventually come to Tanjung Malim much later, and in fact attended Standard 6, I think, at the school there, for about a year. Klemot, my future sister-in-law, was with her there, as Cikgu Ujang and family were also there. Simple arithmetic puts Acik at about 12 years old then.

Acik was always close to mom, right until mom's death 10 years ago. She'd come to the house almost daily from her house in Batu 46, about 3 km away, and especially when mom wasn't well, as she was often in the last years of her 87 long years. Acik was the one who took care of the details when mom died in her own bed, and would often visit even when the burial and the "doa arwah" and other stuff were all long done. It's sad that in the last 2 years Acik had not been well, and had memory loss and all the aging afflictions. I would come as often as I could, from Seremban, but could never feel I'd done justice for the love and care Acik gave to mom. 

I'd tried to never miss my Raya visit to her house in Batu 46, and later when she moved into Nosa ngat-ngat's house in Beting. I would have visited more often, but for the horrendous Seremban-Kuala Pilah drive, especially on weekends and holidays. In the old days Seremban-Kuala Pilah was an easy half-an-hour drive. Nowadays you're lucky to do it in less than 2 hours. Last Chinese New Year's holidays, I had to even take a detour to Inas-Kampong Batu, Rembau to come back to Seremban, and that itself took two and-a-half hours.

Being the youngest, Acik was much attached to wan, her mother, who died 64 years ago, as her tombstone inscription says " 4.5.64", an easy number to remember. Now, in death, they're close again, in the same burial ground, about 100 feet apart, at the Kg. Jawa Muslim cemetry, in Melang. Both my parents, and the two grandparents, are interred here, as is Mak Tam, my other aunt, my niece Iza, and Udin Hj. Aso, Acik's  second husband, just next to her, so there's a whole family here.

Did I say "second husband"?

Idah, among others, was surprised to learn that Acik was married before marrying Udin Hj. Aso. It was Pak Bai and Amok Jompo, Acik's other elder sister, who were responsible for Acik's first marriage, to a soldier, Mustaffa. But it didn't last long. I remember Acik and wan going with Mustaffa to his camp, after the wedding. I can't remember where that camp was. But I remember Mustaffa, because he commented on my drawing when I came back from school. We were all staying in wan's house in Bukit Temensu then. After a few months, wan and Acik came back from wherever Mustaffa's camp was. I remember wan and Acik sewing a tear in the mosquito net that they brought back with them. It struck me as strange then, their sewing the torn mosquito net. Only later I learned that Acik was home for good, minus Mustaffa. To this day I wonder what caused the separation and divorce. I heard just now, at Acik's funeral, that wan didn't like Mustaffa for not being "alim" or something to that effect. Mustaffa remarried, and is back in Jempol, and must be in his 80's, like Acik. In fact Basit Abai brought Mustaffa to visit Acik some months ago, now that Acik was ailing. And in fact his daughter to that second marriage also came for the funeral.

The night before the Friday funeral, I lifted the veil covering Acik's face, and said to her, eyes closed and face pale in death, "do good, Acik" without knowing why I said those words that she could no longer hear. But my sadness was real. May God have mercy on you, dear Acik.

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