The Orphans

Far away in the plains of Gua Musang are several acres of oil palm plantations. The groves are named Chiku 1, Chiku 2, and Chiku 3. Chiku 3 is nearest KL. There was once a Malay man who looked after the oil palm plantations of Chiku 3. I called him Pak De. His real name was Ishak bin Hussin. Pake De married Mak De and they had 5 children, 2 boys and 3 girls. Pak De worked hard and saved as much as he could to have his own home. He managed to secure a terrace house in a row in front of a tadika (kindy) and a mosque. He was happy. He retired and had some money so he bought a piece of swampy land to build his second home, which was by the largest Malay graveyard in Tanah Merah. However, when his second home was ready, and it was his daughter's wedding. Pak De passed away at the hospital where my husband works. My husband received the call that Pak De was at out Hospital USM A&E. We went to see him after work. That time his pulse was about to disappear and the resuscitation team came to his rescue. The light blue curtains were drawn on 3 sides and the lifesavers team set to work. After minutes of the best effort to revive him, Pak De passed away at our hospital. Everyone was very sad. I was sad too and I was standing closest to the blue curtains and once in a while I would peek and see what they were doing to Pak De. I saw the worst. I informed Pak De's sons who were also on site. They cried. I had no tears as I was too sad to even cry. The boys wanted to see their father, so the team allowed them. I then left the room, feeling totally lousy. That was February 2012.

Today, 16 July 2012, I was performing Zohor prayers with my husband (solat jemaah). When we completed, he had a message on his mobile and picked up his phone to check if anyone was looking for him. It was a sad message that Mak De passed away at 1 pm at the General Hospital in Kota Bharu (GHKB). My husband understood the message well - we had to go and help. I said to my husband to go back to his workplace first and finish off his job there, then clock out and we'll go to Tanah Merah to attend to Mak De's funeral. When my husband returned at 5pm, I was just through my solat Asar. My husband had light snack and made my evening cup of milk for me. As I was packing to leave home, I gave instructions to my elder daughter to pick up my youngest daughter who was still at school and would only finished school at 6.15pm. Since it would take 1 hour to drive from Kubang Kerian to Tanah Merah, my husband and I had to leave home before 6pm, and reach Tanah Merah before dark. Then we left. I didn't like the idea of leaving home without seeing my youngest daughter who was still in school. We waited for my husband to finish his call to Bank Islam KL and then we had to leave for Tanah Merah. This time the journey was quiet and I was unhappy. I had also forgotten to bring along my prayer mat and clothes. I was totally upset. We usually played a CD for this 1-hour trip but not today. I was not in a mood to listen to any songs. I was saddened by Mak De's sudden demise. Mak De suffered from diabetes and had her left leg amputated below the knee. She was apparently well after that but went to ICU and passed away there. She had complained of difficulty breathing and was put on a respirator but she passed away in the ICU. 

When we reached Mak De's house at about 7 pm, she was no longer there as her remains were already transferred to 'masjid besar', the main mosque in Tanah Merah. Affandi talked to Mak De's kids and talked to the eldest son, Badrul. We then left so my husband could drop me at my parent's in-law's place.

At the sound of Azan, my husband, his father, his sister's family all left to go to the main mosque to perform solat Maghrib. Then the men sat down to read the Quran for Mak De. They then performed solat jenazah before her remains were brought to the graveyard near her home. My husband, Mak De's eldest son and another son went down in the grave hole (liang lahad) to receive her remains. Her youngest daughter waited above ground to observe the burial process. That done, my husband returned to his parent's home to pick me up to go home. 

I had dinner before my husband returned from the burial ground. When he arrived, there were many people at his parent's house. I was attending to a couple with 5 kids from Padang Tembak. The father of the family, whom I called Li, was telling me stories about his encounter with is classmates, some of whom are doctors where I work. My husband stepped inside the house but he was drenched in his own sweat. He had to take a bath and then we could perform solat Isya' together. My father-in-law joined us and the 3 of us prayed together. He sat on his little portable blue chair while my husband and I stood on our prayer mats. Then my husband had dinner and I accompanied him as I had already eaten. But I had jackfruit (nangka) and durian. Li opened a lot of durians for me to try.

Coming back to Mak De, she was the second woman I met who liked my clothes and asked for them. She was a good seamstress and we bonded like sisters. She would take my clothes and re-modelled them into her clothes. That's like turning a size S to a size L but she turned my clothes into lovely pieces that she could wear. There was one instant she wore a brown two piece re-modelled chiffon garment, and she looked really elegant. Mak De was very tall. I think she was almost 6 feet tall. Mak De was 5 years my senior. She was 59 when she passed away. It made me very sad to lose a 'sister'. Now Mak De's 5 kids are orphans. Three of her daughters are still schooling and they are the same age as my last 2 daughters.