A Death on Campus

He was a Sarawakian Assistant District Officer from Bau. He had been ambushed by communists before, was shot but he survived. He still had the bullet slug in his body as a grim reminder. So he decided to take a break and go to university. He was boisterous and convivial. We somehow clicked during orientation week in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in 1972.

We became fast friends. We were always looking for each other and looking out for each other's interests. He had a ‘fat’ Sarawak Foundation Scholarship but poor me had to be supported by a State Government loan. Since he had savings, he could flaunt a bit on campus. As he was a matured student, he had his way with the girls on campus. I was just his docile Tonto. He was also my SOS bank when I need some money to tide over until my loan installment arrived.

We did many things together. Having lunch and dinner together was a daily affair. Together on my motorcycle,we went for midnight shows in town; to the occasional dance at the Penang Nurses Hostel, had beer at the nearby army mess and shared many joyous moments clowning around.

During the term holidays he would go traveling especially to Haadyai, Thailand; coming back with many expensive looking bush-jackets to show off in the lecture rooms. On one occasion, he came back with a pipe and smoked in quiet elegance at the back of the lecture theatre.

Romance-wise, he has left his sweetheart, a nurse in Sarawak for someone else. Somehow things did not work out between them and there were many misgivings.

One day, somehow, he suddenly got sick and had to be warded in the Penang General Hospital. The doctors could not diagnose him precisely because his symptoms kept on changing. I visited him daily and he was most interested in completing his assignments in hospital. I would take back these completed assignments and hand them over to the respective lecturers or tutors.

One evening, after coming back from hospital, someone informed me that my friend has passed on. He had severe internal hemorrhage and virtually bled to death. I rushed back to the hospital with my friend, Param. Then I went into the morgue. He was covered in a white sheet from head to toe. On his big toe was a card stating that he was “Bukan Umat Islam.” I said my prayers with the fervent hope that God will resurrect him on Judgment Day and left.

His body was brought back to the new Central Facilities and laid in state. All the students then filed past the coffin to pay their respects before the body was flown back to Sarawak for burial. Before they shut the coffin lid, I put his copy of the Second Malaysia Plan, his favourite book, into it. He must have loved that book that much being an administrator in heart and soul. I was one of the pallbearers that carried his coffin to a waiting van that whisked his body to Bayan Lepas Airport.

In the ensuing weeks, rumours and theories abound. This was the story from the Sarawakian quarter. It seemed he had left his girlfriend for another girl and the ex-girlfriend was incensed and had put a charm on him. As the charm could not cross the sea, someone was commissioned to bring it over to Penang and when the carrier finally arrived in Penang, the charm worked to the detriment of my friend and brought his eventual demise.

So when the communist could not get him, his ex-girlfriend did. How sad and disturbing!

On hindsight, I think he died from dengue hemorrhagic fever. Dengue was not a big thing then.

Quote of the Day:

“A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out.” Grace Pulpit

Heartsong

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