Atuk Aji

My grandfather passed away this morning. He would have turned 86 on Sunday. But it wasn't meant to be. 

I want to remember Atuk Aji as he was, before he fell ill more than a year ago and became bedridden. 

Atuk was in the police force when I was a child. I remember staying over at Atuk's home in the police barracks during school holidays, in Machap and then later at the Bandar Hilir flats. His flat was only on the 1st floor but as a child in mid 1970s, I was so scared of falling off! I remember once Mak fainted at Atuk's flat after eating some tapai & Nenek was frantic. I must have been only 7 at that time but somehow I can remember the incident vividly. Anyway, going to Atuk & Nenek's house was always a treat as Nenek would fuss over us & cook only our favourite dishes & Atuk would buy us sweets.

Atuk was a jovial man. He laughed heartily even at his own jokes! He was diplomatic. He was always smartly dressed. Atuk was so proud of being a policeman that even years after his retirement, he still wore his PDRM belt all the time. I was so proud of him that when I was in standard 1 & 2 at primary school, my ambition was to be a policewoman. Seriously. He had that much impact on me when I was a little girl.

But as I grew older, I spent less and less time with Atuk. I just wish that I had spent more time with him in the last few years. Atuk wasn't happy after Nenek passed away 2 years ago. He stopped watching TV (his favourite past time) and he laughed less. I feel that he didn't have the will to live in the past 2 years. This was the reason why I didn't have the heart to visit him too often as I felt so sad every time I saw him. 

I will keep my last memory of Atuk when we visited him on Sunday evening: after the young doctor checked on him & was walking out the door, Atuk called out to him & said: "Doctor. Terima kasih ya doctor. Terima kasih." The young houseman was so flustered and looked genuinely happy.

That's Atuk Aji, always so diplomatic, so thankful.

Semoga Allah mencucuri rahmat ke atas roh datuk ku & menempatkan rohnya di kalangan roh orang-orang yang soleh.