MUM-SON REUNION SHORTLIVED
Former taxi driver’s mum succumbs to blood infection 3 days after they met
SEPARATED from his mother for 33 years, a former taxi driver reunited with her in Kampung Mengketil, Machang, on Aug 14. However, their reunion lasted only for a short while as she died three days later.
Tuan Kamaruzaman Tuan Meli, 43, met his mother, Massimah Musa, 61, after his wife’s friend showed him a Facebook post about a woman asking the public for help to locate her son.
The reunion was a joyous occasion, but shrouded in sadness as Massimah was in critical condition after suffering from blood infection.
However, Tuan Kamaruzaman took care of his mother, albeit only for three days.
“I cannot describe how happy I was when l met my mother after spending 33 years trying to find her, including publishing her picture in newspapers five years ago. Since I brought her to my house in Kampung Sungai Gali on Aug 14, I was by her side and took care of her the whole time.
“For me, as a son who had been separated for so long from his mother and who had been longing for her love, this was what I had been waiting for — to fullfil my responsibilities as a son to her,” he said at his mother’s grave here yesterday.
The eldest of four siblings, who lost his right leg to diabetes in 2013, said although their reunion was short, he was grateful that his dream to meet his mother was realised.
“We were separated when I was 10. I thought about her all the time, but could not find her. When my parents divorced, my father took my siblings and I to Pasir Puteh.”
He said he began searching for his mother when he was 18, but his efforts were futile until 12 days ago.
Talking about his three-day experience, Tuan Kamaruzaman said his mother would call out his name and wanted him to be by her side. She died at Tengku Anis Hospital here on Aug 17.
Massimah was laid to rest at the Changgai Muslim cemetery here.