I received a message on my mobile phone about the passing away of a dear friend this morning and immediately drove to his house in Bukit Damansara. I was quite surprised that traffic was light and I reached the place in a short time. I thank Allah Almighty for the ease of driving which I always dread when driving to the city in the rush hour.
As I made the turn to the address, lorong Setiapuspa 1, Bukit Damansara, the Boom gate was down, but as I approached, the security guard raised the gate and I followed a car which presumably was going to the same place. I saw many cars parked along the sloping road, so I made a u-turn and proceeded to enter the lane to the house. I parked my car about 70 metres from the house and walked slowly right to the end of the row of double storey link-houses and I saw the people sitting on chairs near the entrance. I met another old acquaintance who was serving at the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah who was busy helping with the funeral preparations and he must be a member of the qariah Masjid since the funeral rites must be arranged with the officials of the Mosque nearby.
As I entered the house, the late friend's brother greeted me and showed me inside. My friend who messaged me was already there together with another friend. We were all once Members of the Public Service Commission and a close knit 'family' as it were.
I sat down next to the "Jenazah" and started reciting the Surah Yasin and as I was doing so, a close relative of the late friend came and he opened the shawl covering the face of the "Jenazah" and I could see the expression of serenity on my late friend's face. He must have been prepared to face the inevitable of being called to face his Creator because he had been in frail health after his open heart surgery and he had to undergo dialysis almost every day.
I mentioned to my friend, that the most poignant moment that I recalled of him was when we were performing the Hajj in Makkah in the 80's where I went to his place of lodging and he gave me a plastic plate when I complained of the difficulty of finding one at my lodging place. Allahyarham Dato' Mohsin Khir would always be remembered by his colleagues as the fearless "Commissioner" as he liked to call himself then and always spoke his mind. We shared the same spirit and insisted that we must always remained independent as provided for by the Federal Constitution and serve without fear or favour. During the monday weekly meetings only a few of us spoke our minds and always reminded the Chairman of our role as the gatekeepers to the public service and we should not be subservient to no one. Farewell my dear friend and May Allah place your soul amongst the pious and Al-Fatihah.
It is a small village in the kecamatan of Tambusai, Kabupaten Rokan Hulu in the Province of Riau, Sumatra. During the Padri Wars of 1830's , Tuanku Tambusai (aka known as Fakeh Hj Muhammad Salleh ) fought the Dutch forces together with Imam Bonjol and Tuanku Rao in West Sumatra and in Northern Sumatra .The last defence was in Benteng 7 Lapis,Daludalu which fell in 1838. He escaped capture and came to Malaya. He was buried in Rasah in 1882.
8 comments:
Dear Hal,
innalillahiwainnailaihirojiun
I don't know him personally. I thought he was from Kedah and a Dy Minister once.
Hank
Dear Hank,
Yes, he was from Kedah, very much our senior actually. When we were in Form Six, he played a key part in a play entitled "Atap Genting Atap Rumbia" performed at Dewan Bahasa put up by the PBMUM. That ex-Dy Minister is his brother.
Tuan Haji,
I believe our dear friend would have always want us to remember him fondly for the great times and not of his passing.Allahyarham Dato' Mohsin Khir would always be someone who would be remembered for his firmness and righteousness. My wife, Rosaling and daughter,May will never forget the memorable moment whereby our dear friend chose to forego his full plate of meal in front of him because they were informed that there was no more food at the Hotel buffet spread. Allahyarham Dato Moshin had spoken firmly and sternly to the hotel staff that it was impossible to believe that the best hotel in that township could run out of food to serve their guests. Indeed, he believed to stand up for the rights of his comrades (and their family members). We watched with awe as we saw how this lovable man,stood up,and left the dinning room with us in the presence of the hotel staff!!!Allahyarham Dato' Moshin had put aside his needs (to fill his stomach) for others(my wife and daughter).
I had several opportunities to catch up with Allahyarham Dato after we left our Public Services Commission tenure. Even when he was unwell , he would always put up a happy outlook and would readily share and chat about the good times as well as the recent news of our friends.Rosaling and I were blessed to meet up with him at his son's wedding function on the 30.06.2012 ,he was one very happy and proud father. Unfortunately that was our last meeting with him..."What the heart has once known,it shall never forget.-Author unknown."
Allahyarham Dato Moshin, you will be missed dearly and always remembered for all the goodness you have brought about ,the changes , the sharing of opinions and mostly the happy times together.
Ti Thiow Hee
Dato'Ti,
You wrote a very fitting tribute for Dato' Mohsin's sterling character which I very much agree. He was the epitome of the examplary civil servant and I wish he could have written his memoir. I share your admiration of his excellent conduct both on and off the job. May Allah Bless his soul.
Before moving back to KT my home was in that Damansara area but I donot recall knowing him. I know of many other fine Govt retirees, the like of late Dato Wan Mansor, En Nawi Embong, Dato Dr Shaari and so on.They were nice people and wqe odten met one another at our mosque there.
As expected I share the tragic lossess of people I know. To be by the side of a deceased and to see the peaceful face is a moment we all are brought to earth. One day we too will be watches that way. I am sorry for your loss. At our age the loss of these people is great because we have known them for decades.
Selamat berpuasa.
I was prompted to come when I saw your comment. From trecent experience I did not expect a regular posting from you.
Pak Cik,
My gratitude for your comment. Dato'Mohsin does not belong to the vintage group you mentioned and perhaps he only kept himself to his peers in that area. Nevertheless he was a colourful person and always stand by his principles and beliefs which I shared very much. I talked to all the colleagues who came to visit to pay our last respects, our turn will all come when the time is up, indicative of the feeling whenever a loss is experienced. Selamat mengerjakan ibadah Ramadhan.
OP Abdul Halim Shah,
Al Fatihah.
Allahyarham's late father was related to my family, Penang side.
He was from Penang but lived in Yan Kedah.
He was very close to me and family then.
I do not know Allahyarham that well, maybe met him once or twice when he was working in Penang. Have met his brother Mahathir and the other one. He has a step brother.
Small world.
OP Azudin,
I would have informed you if I knew your relationship to Arwah Dato' Mohsin. I seemed to meet people from Yan, Kedah having a fair skin, such as Encik Zulkiflee Hashim also from Yan who served together with me in Ministry of Education and if not mistaken he was the first person to hold the position of Secretary in Dewan Bahasa. Dato' Mohsin was in the Malay Administrative Service and served in Perak before being appointed in the MCS. Probably he did serve in Penang in his early years as a MCS officer.
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