Al-fatihah for Rehman Rashid
FOR many years Rehman Rashid ran his column “Scorpion’s Tales” in the New Straits Times. He had many followers who enjoyed his writing very much.
News of his death yesterday’ came as a blow to family, friends and colleagues.
He had been in a coma after a heart attack and was under the doctors’ care at Selayang Hospital.
The last remaining years of his life was spent in the quiet town of Kuala Kubu Baru, Selangor. If you are coming from Kuala Lumpur, it’s the last town before one goes up to Fraser’s Hill.
Rehman liked the quiet town, where he could think and write.
I’m not sure whether he was going to produce another book. But this marine biologist has left his own legacy in the printed word.
Many friends and ex-colleagues wrote about his demise on Facebook and took to Twitter to share their sadness.
Husband and wife journalists Wan Ahmad Hulaimi and Zaharah Othman, who are residing in London, with each having a strong friendship with Rehman, have penned separate eulogies in Facebook.
Wan Hulaimi aka Awang Goneng recalled that Rehman had said something prescient at their last meeting in Kuala Kubu Baru recently.
The two close friends said their goodbyes and hugged each other.
“I think this may be our last meeting,” Rehman said to Awang Goneng.
This line in the latter’s Facebook entry sounded poignant to me.
In Zaharah’s entry, she said: “I visited Rehman last week. We ‘talked’ and I am glad that we did... he responded when I mentioned my husband’s name and showed him the picture of both of them together.”
Zaharah wrote a lengthy piece on Rehman.
She said: “I want to remember the Rehman who teased me and made me blush the way that only Rehman could. But we had not spoken for years and I promised my husband that I would visit him on my short trip home.”
Zaharah’s last words on Rehman should end this column: ”May Allah place you amongst the blessed, Rehman. May Allah forgive you your sins and may Allah shower you with blessings as you go to Him in this blessed month of Ramadan.”
Al-fatihah for Rehman.
The mindless act of beating a person with a belt, rubber hose and a steam iron suggests a scene from a horror movie. Where did these students learn such methods of causing grievous hurt to a fellow being?