"SOMEWHAT EMPTY WITH HIS PASSING" - TEROPONGSKOP

MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2007
In memoriam: Ahmad Faizal Ahmad Fadzil
Truth be told, I only know Ahmad Faizal Ahmad Fadzil at a professional level. He was deputy to my current boss when my boss was serving the State Government of Johor. I think it must be circa 1999 when I first met Faizal. Since then, we would meet now and again whenever IKIM and the Johor State Government co-organised programmes. Then about two years ago, both my boss and Faizal left the state government to lay the groundwork for the establishmen of Yayasan Ilmuwan in Kuala Lumpur. By now, we would meet more frequently as I was also in the midst of leaving IKIM to join this foundation. Faizal was Executive Director of Yayasan Ilmuwan.

When I officially joined Yayasan Ilmuwan on 1st December 2005, our relationship as colleagues brought us closer as friends. But fate would have it that Faizal and my boss parted ways sometime in the middle of last year. Faizal left Yayasan Ilmuwan, and I was asked to fill up his position - something that I felt very reluctant to do. Even after he left the foundation, we still maintained contact although we didn't quite see each other that often anymore.

Today is indeed a sad day as Faizal has left all of us forever. I have always dreaded days like today, for when I have to mourn the passing of a friend. This is a first for me, as this is the first time in my life, a friend has passed on. Even though we were not that close, but because of our good working relationship, I feel somewhat empty with his passing.

I am very sure that those who know him better will miss him very very dearly. I know for a fact that his loved ones - his wife, his children, his parents, his siblings and his relatives - would undoubtedly feel saddened by his sudden and untimely death. I could only imagine how they are feeling at this moment. And I could only sympathise with their loss.

I pray that his family would remain strong. I pray that Allah SWT would place Faizal amongst the souls of the blessed ones and that he would be placed in Paradise.

Although our friendship was brief, I shall dearly miss Ahmad Faizal Ahmad Fadzil.

Al-Fatihah. ( From blogger Teropongskop, 12 March 2007)