Al Fatihah.
My cousin, Kamal or Atan as we fondly call him, was a good friend of Captain Yusof's (picture). Atan is a nautical or marine engineer or something. They met years ago, somewhere at sea, I presume.
Yesterday (Sunday) Atan called me to ask me whether it's true that Captain had passed away.
I happily told him: "Bukan dia, Ibu dia yang meninggal."
I was remembering Elviza's text message to me last Tuesday after she received mine telling her that Captain's mother had passed away.
Elviza saw the words "captain" and "passed away" but missed the word "mother". For a second, she thought the worst, that Captain Yusof had passed away. Her heart missed a beat. But she was so relieved after reading my message again.
We exchanged smiley smses, quietly laughed about it.
"No, Captain is fine..."
A while later after Atan's call (yesterday), I received a text message from Halimah Said, telling me that Captain had died.
Again, I "corrected" her to say that it was his mother....
Not a moment too soon, she called me to say that he had passed away in the night and as we were speaking his remains were being prepared to be taken to Seremban.
I was shocked. It must be a mistake.
"His mother just died....we just met him on Tuesday at the funeral...", I kept muttering...
Still refusing to believe, I did the darnest thing -- I called his number twice. Both times, I got the voicemail. I wished I had his wife's number or any of his children's.
I had to rely on our friends for confirmation.
I am still so sad. We will miss him dearly and especially on Tuesdays when a few of us meet for mee rebus at Kak Ton's.
He was a wonderful listener. I love his swashbuckling tales of the sea....his sometimes ribald jokes.
I would send him a text message Monday evenings to remind him about mee rebus. He'd never fail to give a prompt response -- "okay, see you there" or "sorry, I am still in.....".
Last week he responded, a little late: "Sorry, won't be able to make it today, because my mother passed away."
So we went to Seremban late Tuesday morning to pay our respects.
We got to meet his wife and children as well as his close relatives.
Captain was chatty, telling us about how his mother had not been well and he had been travelling to Serermban for her.
We told him that we never knew he still had his mother around given that all of us younger ones had lost ours years ago...
He spoke about how his mom's house would now be empty because all the kids had left the nest, and there'd be no one around.
He told us about his son's wedding. "You bloggers are invited," he said with a grin.
His final words to us before we took our leave: "See you next week for mee rebus...."
Bon voyage, dear Captain. It was your time. To Him you came and to Him you return.
May you rest in peace. We will miss you. And I will miss reading updates of your postings in your blog which I so enjoy reading.
Al Fatihah.
12 comments:
bon voyage, ancient mariner!
hi ena,
i didn't know the cap'n personally but was very much aware of his quiet presence.
will miss reading his witty but straight-talking blog.
al-fatihah!
Kak Ena...
i received the sms frm Elviza. Met him once during asam pedas gahtering. He'll be missed by fellow bloggers.
Take care dear.
I will miss him. He was a good man!
salam takziah buat keluarga Capt Yusof Ahmad. Al-Fatihah.
Nuraina...he was a friend, a classmate and a fellow blogger...I miss him dearly...
O Captain My Captain
a poem by Walt Whitman
O Captain my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up--for you the flag is flung for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.
My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
HH
steadyaku47
I am sorry to hear of his passing.
I will miss reading his postings which I enjoy very much.
He is a big loss to the blogging fraternity/
May Allah bestow His Blessings upon the soul of Capt Yusof.
Al fatiha
Hi...just wanted to share these e mails between captain and me that will show you that he is always thinking about the mee rebus bit with you guys...and the other emails are about Captain himself...
Great. If you are in KL/PJ on a Tuesday I can take you to Maria Samad's aka Tok Mommy's MRT (mee rebus tuesday) at her home in in Kelana Jaya so you can meet other blogger friends Rocky, Elviza, Delilah, Zorro et al. Give me a call. My no. is 012-2671100. Rgds/YA PS: I believe you know Maria (late A. Samad Ismail's daughter)
HH,
No, Ena is the younger sister. Maria blogs under "Tok Mommy". See the link in my blog. I attach a photo taken at one of the MRT's last year to celebrate MarinaM's birthday and mine. (Our b-days are only one day apart). Ena is on far right next to Maria in brown t-shirt. Behind her is her hubby Roslani, a retired lawyer. Behind me is Zorro aka Bernard Khoo. Budak yang tengah tengah tu dah tak ingat sapa. Rgds/YA
HH, That was profound and many thanks for sharing. Now that are are in a reminiscing mode, I now recall the first time (and the last!) I won anything in an interschool contest was a KK district schools 'peraduan membaca sajak' (now they call it 'mendeklamasi sajak' or something) while we were in Form 1. Our Malay language teacher, I forgot who, had picked me at random to represent the kolej. I remember I recited Usman Awang's 'Ke makam bonda' and even at that tender age, I was a bit 'over' then I think, grabbing the mike and going on my knees etc. But one quick look at the lady teacher/judges in the front row, I knew I had won ... heheh. I still have the book prize after all these years. Rgds/YA
"Ok steadylah. You know me... the 'in your face type' and dont take any prisoners, haha"
Many many happy memories of Capt...he led the good life and left us the better for knowing him.
Regards
HH
steadyaku47
strangely : NOTHING from aina on
TBH 's tragedy from macc office !!
anon@2:21PM,
what do you want me to say that has not been said...
i wanted to post about teoh's death. but then i saw hoe people are just too angry about the whole thing, some going for blood.
i know i will be opening the posting to too many angry and emotional comments.
we all want answers. but i see that Pakatan, in particular the DAP leaders are fuelling emotions. that's the way i see it.
The MACC was set up by the BN govt. So, of course, as far as the DAP is concerned, it is an evil instrument of the BN govt.
I can't agree. Just as I cannot agree if a BN supporter tells me that everything about the DAP smacks of chauvinism blah blah blah..
What I do agree is that the MACC must give us answers and come clean.
So..I'm tying my fingers and not post about Teoh's death.
My deepest and most heartfelt condolences to his family and his fiance.....so so so sad.
May he rest in peace....
Hi Nuraina,
"I happily told him: 'Bukan dia, Ibu dia yang meninggal.'"
Nuraina you were happy it was his mother who died?
I know in Islam death is considered a favor, but I'm sure that is not what you meant to say.
Anyway, what more can I add about the Cap's passing that hasn't already been said.
But I am sure after trying his darndest to unearth the truth behind the grand larceny that is the PKFZ, Cap must be relieved that he is again
"...sailing,I am sailing,
Home again cross the sea.
I am sailing, stormy waters,
To be near you, to be free."
Take care.
mr bojangles...
oh you know what i mean... i was happily saying it because...you know-lah...
saya suka baca blog arwah dan sampai la satu post beliau bercerita tentang kampung halaman beliau.Buat saya rasa rindu pula sebab dah lama tak pulang kesana.
Alahai,Rupa-rupanya arwah sepupu kepada abah.
Tak lama kemudian, emak beritahu ada saudara meninggal & kebumi di kampung,saya pula akibat terlalu sibuk dengan urusan duniawi,tak perasan pun arwah sudah dipanggil oleh Penciptanya.
Moga roh beliau dicucuri rahmat Ilahi.
Orang Linggi,sejauh mana pergi pun,tetap idam tanam di linggi jua.Moga jasad saya kelak dapat bersemadi ditanah Linggi(jika dizin Tuhan)
Post a Comment