UPDATE: Tuesday Aug 7 2007 - Salhi has been found! No details yet.This is SALHI KHAESSA AHMAD. He looks normal and healthy, doesn't he? But he is not. The 26 year-old has mental illness and his family has been desperately looking for him since he went missing on July 13 2007. A police report has been made, but because he is an adult, the case is not given priority.
His family is fearing the worst because Salhi is off his medication.
His sister Dr Najmiah Ahmad sent an email to Pi Bani who posted on Salhi's disappearance.
Here is part of Najmiah's email:
"My brother Salhi has been ill with a psychiatric illness.Schizophrenia to be precise. He is 26 and he started having mental disturbance at 17 when he was in MCKK lagi.
He was the genius of the family, the badut of the family and the best little brother anyone could ever wish for.
Past 10 years saw him deteriorating and my heart sgt sgt sebak when this time, I went to the hospital in KB to find him locked up in a cage, together with people I would not even look at, bcos they scare me.
He had extra muscular twitches and gaunt facial expression.
Memang tak nampak mcm my used to be little brother anymore.
In between bites of coney dog ( dia suka A&W) he managed to tell me 'Nak sekolah balik Kak Mie please '. Repeatedly.
I just held back tears. We took him out, and he was stable during my wedding.
Masa reception I kept him occupied with a camera so people don't feel obliged to make a petty talk with a 'weird' looking man.
Everything was fine. On Friday the 13th, he left home saying he wanted to go for a walk. RM 3.50 in his pocket. He never came back.
Duit tak ada, IC tak ada. We looked for him everywhere, satu Kelantan. No news.
He hasn't taken his medications for 2 weeks now, I tak tahulah how he is now. Mungkin kalau you all jalan2 kat KL nampak budak gila (i have to accept this now) talking to himself, kotor, kurus tak terurus, kejap cakap english kejap cakap kelantan, that's him. Let me know.
What i fear is that he got hit by a lorry ke, in a ditch somewhere waiting to be found. I am writing almost with tears all the time. Partly because I am frustrated there wasn't much time for me in Malaysia, to do anything. Police report has been filed and my other brother has written in the Star. Now this waiting game is making me very apprehensive.."
Early this morning, Ibu alerted me about Salhi's disappearance.
Please help Najmiah and her family find Salhi who needs urgent medical help. God knows if he is ok.
As Najmiah said, if you see a dishevelled, unkempt and very messy/messed up man who fits Salhi's description (including having the Kelantan dialect), please contact their father, Ahmad at 09-786 6040, 017-970 3227 or 012-296 2642.
Aduh, kesiannya. Ena you should alert our friends in the newspapers. Get them to publish the story and his pic. And let's all pray that he's safe and sound.
ReplyDeleteMalay Mail, The Paper That Cares?
rocky (ahirudin),
ReplyDeleteThe Star carried the story dateline Pasir Putih, after he went missing. His father spoke to the Star.
I have already contacted our friends in the media.
I pray that Salhi is found soon, alive and well.
Dear Nuraina,
ReplyDeleteAnother heartbreaking story and we wait and hope and pray for his safety and reunion with his family.
Only they will know the pain and dark despair as they wait out the endless hours.
But to be "locked up in a cage" ..sounds like something from the middle ages. Hate to harp on the same issues, but if healthy, fit Malaysians have to scramble for their rights and scrape for the crumbs, what hope is there for the marginalised. As we trumpet our stupendous achievements,jumping into the North Pole, 'coptering into base camps in Nepal, spending money on faraway sports complexes, throwing more precious resources into projects that bring benefit only the corrupt and the cunning,getting back on track to create a truly civilized and civil society seem to diminish day by day.
Imagine, with all the god given resources, no one in this nation, whatever their illness, should have to be treated like Salhi. They should be given the best care and treatment befitting a nation that calls itself progressive, modern, and caring.Instead, we put him in a cage.
35 years ago we students laughed at the description by our economics lecturer, of a hospital somewhere in Africa that had the finest equipment and the most modern building. "But there was only one problem" the lecturer said,"there were no doctors". I pray that in some other place, some other professor will not be regaling some other students with stories of such bizzareness in Bolehland.
To the family of Salhi, our prayers are with you.
I feel for Dr Najmiah and I hope her brother is found soon. But I am rather concerned at her description of the psychiatric facility at KB. This is not Bedlam we are talking of. In these days, there is really no need for dehumanizing cages to restrain patients.I do hope this aspect of his treatment there could be looked into as well.
ReplyDeleteMental health issues among young people is apparently more prevalent than we think. And we are not treating them correctly. Instead we are shunning them and locking them up. We need more psychiatrists who understand these conditions and know how to treat them.
ReplyDeleteI hope they find him soon and get him some compassionate treatment. UMMC is quite good at this, if they can bring him to PJ.
Please God Almighty, let him be alive and well!
ReplyDeleteNuraina
ReplyDeleteMy heart goes to Dr Najmiah & her family.
I know the pain she is going through. I havee a sister who suffers from depression. She is smart and a graduate from a university in UK. We dont know what triggered her depression. She has been under treatement at UKM hospital & is on medication which she has to take daily for the rest of her life without which she will not be able to go through... even for a day. Without her medication, she could turn violent.
I share Dr Najmiah's pain and the family's anxiety over the disappearance of Salhi.
I pray that he is somewhere safe and will be found soon.
My doa is with her family.
Thanks for spreading the word. I don't know Dr Najmiah personally. She's very very much my junior in school. But I got so touced by her email I decided to post it in my blog.
ReplyDeleteDear Kak Ena
ReplyDeleteThank you very much.
I have tears in my eyes each time I read about Salhi, don't know why - I am who hardly cries. My mind keep playing back the mental pictures of Hafiz running away from home shirtless & shoeless sometime last year. All because of a water balloon. Lucky thing our house is in a cul-de-sac, Ayah managed to trace him back pretty easily. But it was a harrowing experience for me as a mother losing my boy even for that few minutes!!!
Kak Aina, minta izin nak copy and paste dalam blog saya and di forum saya, mana tau boleh membantu
ReplyDeletesang diva,
ReplyDeletesilakan. go ahead.. anything that can help him and his family.
thank u.
Update: Salhi has been found!
ReplyDeleteAlhamdullillah....
ReplyDelete