Saturday, April 6, 2019

Akbar Baba, an epilogue.

Sat 6 April 2019.



My last posting on "A.K.Bear" was on 27th. January, slightly more than 2 months ago.

2 weeks ago, sadly, he passed away, at 6.45 am.  

We Malay Muslims in this country believe that Friday is the most blessed day of the week. We also believe that the larger the congregation for a funeral prayer, the more the supplications are heard  for the dear departed.  And we also believe that a son leading the funeral prayers is a great gift for a departing father. Akbar died on a Friday, and his son, tearfully, led the final prayers, with the whole Friday congregation of no less than 1,000 worshippers behind him.

Without any intent of trivia, I looked up the life expectancy in this country. It's  72.7 for male, and 77.4 for female.  Akbar was 75.

When Hank called that Friday at around 12 noon from S 2, I was already at the NS State Mosque. These last few hot months I'd chosen to do my Friday prayers here, because of the air-conditioning, and my house is only 15 minutes away anyway.  So Hank and I decided that both of us could still make it to the Paroi Jaya mosque, and we did.

I made sure that I was in the first row, when we stood and prayed for Akbar. When we finished, it was only natural that I grabbed one of the handles of the pallbearer  containing the remains of a dear friend.

It's always sad when we watch the departure of someone we know well. 

I was in  Form Four  when we first met. We were together when interviewed by the MB himself for the NS State scholarship for university. (Nowadays an MB is too "big" for such mundane chores.) We were together for the three years at the university. We were together in Felda in 1969, though he left after a few months to join the Civil Service. But he did help when in JPA to get the JPA's o.k. for about 40 of us in Felda at that time to be put into the "pensionable scheme" in view of Felda being a statutory body, when the Harun Commission made this particular option possible. For that alone I'm forever grateful to Akbar for as long as I live and draw that little pension.

I remember meeting his father at his father's house not far from his present house in Gedung Lalang. That was just before we went to the university. Azam, his younger brother, was also in Felda, who married another Felda staff. Azam was also a tennis player. He was the one who passed the word about Akbar's passing that morning.

Akbar's house is away from the main road. But maqam Tuan Hj. Said, the cemetry, is just off the road to town. I have many family members interred there. Now when I drive by, I have also dear old Akbar, "A.K.Bear", somewhere among the white marble markers. May God Bless you,  my friend. 



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1 comment:

kaykuala said...

As Salam Zam. Most poignant and most appropriately expressed. Thanks buddy!

Hank