She leaves behind a legacy made up of all facets of her life
A shining light has gone out of the Malay Community in Sri Lanka with the passing away of the doyen of the Padang Triumvirate (the Colombo Malay Cricket Club, the Sri Lanka Malay Association and the Sri Lanka Malay Association Rupee Fund), aunty Rowena Ahlip in September 2017, just two months short of her 101st birthday.
It was only in November last year that she turned a glorious hundred years, when past and present spread across the globe, from Down Under to Up Yonder, counting four generations, gathered at her Mount Lavinia residence to celebrate the life of this remarkable lady and rejoice in her hundredth birthday.
While not wanting to mourn her death, let us rejoice in Aunty Rowena’s life. In doing so, I wish to go back in time and provide some insight for people who may not remember that there was a world before the advent of facebook, world wide web and the internet.
The eldest progeny of that great Malay statesman and cabinet minister in then Ceylon’s first post independence government, the late Dr. T.B. Jayah, I have known Aunty Rowena for well over 50 years, which is more than two thirds of my lifetime. In 1972, as Assistant General Secretary of the Colombo Malay Cricket Club, which is the oldest Ceylonese cricket club, it was my privilege to have been in the committee organising its centenary celebrations and the Golden Jubilee of the Sri Lanka Malay Association alongside many stalwarts of the Club including Aunty Rowena.
Playing a pivotal role, I greatly benefitted in enhancing my organisational skills, thanks to aunty Rowena’s counsel. Whatever she embarked on, she did it with great finesse and it was indeed a pleasure to have her on board the continuing committee.
For everyone who has known Aunty Rowena, especially her dear children, she was a loving matriarch devoted to family and friends. For her six children and their spouses, nine grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren, she was not only a repository of memories from every family and holiday occasion or party — but someone who was always vibrant. To her children who grew up in her warm and loving home, she was more than a mother – she was an inspiration.
She leaves behind a legacy made up of all facets of her life. To my mind, a portrayal of her time in this world is that she chose to LIVE until death without spending the time dying until death occurred.
May her journey through the gardens of Jennah be devoid of all obstacles and in the fullness of time may Allah SWT grant her the bliss of Jennathul Firdouse.
Branu Rahim