One Late Pakcik
The last time my family organised an Open House was few months back, it was around the raya haji time. Friends came around, so did relatives and neighbours.
Never thought that it would be the last time I'd meet one of my Dad's cousin, who had been very helpful throughout his life.
I still remember in 1988, my parents went to Makkah for pilgrimage. This uncle was there to look after me and my siblings. Still remember the time when he took us on his fast bike. I can't remember the model, but quite sure it was Kawasaki. For at least 40 days, he looked after us, until our parents returned.
(I quite remember that few months after coming back from Hajj, my dad fell off the ceiling, and broke few bones here and there. That took him out of office for almost half a year.)
I still remember my last conversation with this Pakcik. He was talking about why he joined UTM some couple of decades back. He said, my dad persuaded him to join UTM to help educate the Malays. The salary was of course lower than the industrial wage at that time, but that was the sacrifice he was willing to make. Sadly, people hardly saw his contribution, and like my dad, they were just taken for granted.
He passed away a couple of months back. It was a great loss for the university as well as the malays. Although his departure may have gone unnoticed, believe me, most of the UTM undergraduate projects would never have been completed without his manufacturing and casting skills.
His skills allowed him to cast almost everything from any material, and with careful consideration on the importance dimension and tolerance, he himself was the backbone to the mechanical engineering faculty foundry.
When I saw him the last time, he was really thin. He had lost a lot of weight, and seemed so different from how he used to look like. I sensed something was wrong, but I dare not asking. I was not sure if it was something sensitive to him, so I simply did not ask.
Few months later, I was told that he has passed away. It was not something unexpected, considering how he looked like previously. May Allah reward him for all his kindness to us. May Allah reward him for taking care of us while ayah and ummi were away. May Allah reward him for his contribution in building up the nation. May Allah put him amongst his beloved servants.
Never thought that it would be the last time I'd meet one of my Dad's cousin, who had been very helpful throughout his life.
I still remember in 1988, my parents went to Makkah for pilgrimage. This uncle was there to look after me and my siblings. Still remember the time when he took us on his fast bike. I can't remember the model, but quite sure it was Kawasaki. For at least 40 days, he looked after us, until our parents returned.
(I quite remember that few months after coming back from Hajj, my dad fell off the ceiling, and broke few bones here and there. That took him out of office for almost half a year.)
I still remember my last conversation with this Pakcik. He was talking about why he joined UTM some couple of decades back. He said, my dad persuaded him to join UTM to help educate the Malays. The salary was of course lower than the industrial wage at that time, but that was the sacrifice he was willing to make. Sadly, people hardly saw his contribution, and like my dad, they were just taken for granted.
He passed away a couple of months back. It was a great loss for the university as well as the malays. Although his departure may have gone unnoticed, believe me, most of the UTM undergraduate projects would never have been completed without his manufacturing and casting skills.
His skills allowed him to cast almost everything from any material, and with careful consideration on the importance dimension and tolerance, he himself was the backbone to the mechanical engineering faculty foundry.
When I saw him the last time, he was really thin. He had lost a lot of weight, and seemed so different from how he used to look like. I sensed something was wrong, but I dare not asking. I was not sure if it was something sensitive to him, so I simply did not ask.
Few months later, I was told that he has passed away. It was not something unexpected, considering how he looked like previously. May Allah reward him for all his kindness to us. May Allah reward him for taking care of us while ayah and ummi were away. May Allah reward him for his contribution in building up the nation. May Allah put him amongst his beloved servants.
posted by Zacharias at 5:38 AM
3 Comments:
pakcik nazri ke?
innalillah..
May he be placed among those ranked as the beloved ones by Him, insyaAllah ameen.
Low pay. Little recognition. Boring (the phd bit... :P). But major satisfaction.
Satu je lah. The Muslim-Malays themselves:
1. don't take the advantage of having a fellow Muslim-Malay cikgu.
2. selalu nak 'abuse' that cikgu melayu fact by coming up with grandfather stories on why they:
2.1. flunked, and hopes to be 'helped'.
2.2. byk tak dpt datang class... and hopes that they will not be barred from sitting for the exams...
dan byk lagi.
I investigate the stories to ascertain their validity of course.
Kadang2, terasa capek para pendidik Islam Melayu dibuatnya.
No point to this comment what-so-ever. Just some general monday ramblings...
Talking about final projects, just got a call from a friend yesterday. Some U students today would sub their project to an expert in a particular industry for a fee. My friend was thinking of charging RM3k for the whole work right from the proposal to presentation stage.
I'm not quite surprise actually. I have indeed witnessed some cases before my very eyes.
This reminds me of the UK where some ppl have their MSc and PhD Thesis listed on Ebay! hahaha
Owh anyway, I wouldn't blame the students entirely. Its unfortunate to have some supervisors trying to show off they knew everything in the world.
Take this positively, this is indeed a business opportunity! huhu...
Fenin-fenin... kita dulu buat final project bagai nak pecah kepala. Bila kerja, jadi bahan lepas geram those from Manegerial Lines.
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