Tuesday 14 September 2010

dear tok man

Watikah hari ini adalah...

I'm ashamed that I don't remember which year you were born. 
I'm ashamed that I don't exactly remember when you passed away. 
I only remember you as you were. 

Often applauding me whenever I seek for your hankerchief to iron.  
And favoured when I wake up far earlier than the other cousins during school holidays without trying.  
And I remember your collection of walking sticks, hats and mufflers.   
Those endless times you were in and out of ICU in HBKL as it was known then.
That only one trip I followed to Taiping.
You left before you could stay over in our then newly built house.

And you are my Grandfather.  
You are my Tok Man.
The only Grandfather I got to meet and know.
Whose life's work I only learnt from the school's textbooks.

I never saw you from any other angle.
Just from the perspective of a grandchild.
The granddaughter whom you often said looked like your beloved mom.
Then leaving me dumbfounded because each time you said it, you would cry.
You told me that she was a great woman.
I am sure she was.


Tan Sri Bahaman Shamsuddin
[1906 - 1995]

And you would have been 104 years old today.
Happy Birthday Tok Man.
You are remembered and missed.

~ Al-Fatihah ~


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