The Last Rawa Queen

...is now gone.

My mother died around Zohor time at HUKM on Tuesday, 27/5/14. Coma was induced so that there would not be too much pressure on her heart.She was on morphine as well.On the second day of her being unconcious, we were allowed to be with her in the ICU ward.As her blood pressure dropped by the minute, we stood close by but there were me, Sal, Eishah, Pak Din and Nasir by her death bed (I sat on a chair not really mengadap her, reading yassin).Then Sal rushed to say lifeline dah lurus.Pak Din who was reciting doas and yassin for almost half an hour pun confirmed mak I dah takda.Then the doctor came...checked semua and further confirmed that the last Rawa Queen was gone.

Eishah teriak.I scolded her and told her to quieten down.Then I pun teriak (quietly). Pak Din said to redho but my mom sempat mengucap.I asked him how he knew cos' mak I was unconcious.He had his way of knowing.Syukurlah alhamdulillah he came to visit and he was there.My mom loved him much.My mom would have preferred the other side of life cos' her husband, mother, siblings and my sister who she kept saying was the kindest of us all..they are all on the other side.My mom pergi dgn senyum di bibir.We had feared for her but I think bkn doa anak2 dia yg akan menyelamatkan dia tetapi dia yg akan save us in akhirat.She could have meninggal syahid kecil for going through (and sabar) 4 years of physical pain..her last few weeks were even more mencabar but tidak sedikit dia menyesali dugaannya.

We decided to mandi the jenazah at the hospital je.So all my siblings,me and two nieces helped with the mandi.Orang yang tolong tu said my mom was so lucky cos' kain and kapas bungkus jenazah tu berlebih2. Mek said becos' she's small size.The lady said tidak juga..ini rezeki dia.Another good sign.We were happy.We wanted her to have a good end...diredhoi Allah.

Around 6 pm, jenazah dibawa balik to my mom's place in Raub.This was her wish.Mula2 I bergaduh juga with my no. 1 and no. 3 who live in Raub.They wanted jenazah to turun from their home.Alasannya rumah mak dah lama tinggal..semak samun etc.Why didn't they take care of it, I asked.Dah..bergaduh pulak kejap.Anyway, I sent back my bibik a day earlier and got one of my nephews to clear up junk things yang dia simpan dekat depan rumah my mom saying the least we could do was to give her our last respect.Sebelum ni dah berbuih mulut ckp suruh clear up, clear up.Alhamdulillah he said yes (this is the closest grandson who had been living in the house on and off whn my mom moved to live with us in KL).Long got another maid to help my maid clean the house.Alhamdulillah...in the end kami berjaya bersepakat on this last respect.

Nik and I arrived the latest..missed the solat jenazah secara jemaah but the three of us..me, him and Sham my nephew did another before jenazah dibawa ke tanah perkuburan di Kg Semantan where everyone in the family was buried.Dah jadi mcm private graveyard pulak.

Pak Din and Zalila arrived dulu dari kita dan sempat solat jenazah.Zalila said mak I pernah pesan kat Pak Din dulu if she died, pls solat jenazah kat dia.That was why he came.They are like family already to us.We went in one car.Pak Din called Zalila to tunjuk betapa cantiknya liang lahad my mom..mcm disimen-simen..mmg betul...mcm ada ukiran masjid on the dinding kubur.Everything went fast and quick.Semua cucu-cucu lelaki yg mak I jaga masa kecik yg carried the keranda and buried her.Just as she had so often wished.

We went back to have dinner at my mom's plc...everyone was talking about this tough Rawa queen...I will be writing more about her in a novel...insyaAllah.I told Sean cos' he wanted to know how old my mom was..Sean said wht a remarkable woman she was and said he'd talk about her in his class on impact of World War 2 and the development of modern Malaysia.Ha engkau!

Bibik told me more of my mom cos' they were best friends when my mom was living with me.There were so many things she told bibik which she never told us.Baru I tau why my mom was so determined to give us the best of education, why she would not let us cook and how she met my dad.Betullah Sean kata my mom was an excellent enterpreneur ( I told him how even without education..she missed out cos' of WW2 zaman Jepun..umur 15 pun dah kena kawin, my mom punya properties more than wht we have now).Bibik later told me how my mom jual manggis murah RM2 dari her cousin so everyone bought from her.Duit tu she beli make-up and bedak sebab dia ikut one of my uncles (a violinist) nyanyi kat kenduri kawin.Wow! So she was also a singer.Bab ni she never told us.She also berlakon in school concerts but since girls were not allowed to be onstage, she had to drag her two brothers on stage to act with her.That's how my dad saw her and fell in love.He would always wait for her after school (my dad stalking my mom!).She hated him at first..would throw his songkok at him.But my dad told her he wanted to marry her.He was in his mid 20s and working with the government.My aruah wan said choose Manaf and not the other guys.Haha..far-sighted betul my aruah wan.Her other girls had married rubber tappers so I guess she wanted the best for the youngest daughter.

(Tunggu novel untuk cerita selanjutnya)


I have only this to say: I love you mak and wish I had treated you better the last four years you suffered.Semoga Allah ampuni our dosa and that your roh dilimpahi rahmah with your other family tercinta on the other side.Al fatihah.