Friends Of STAR

"...sometimes in December this year, our batch will be holding a re-union. Just make yourself available since this might be our final re-union - Hj Malek"

I received the above text message tonight. The sender, Malekz, one of the most active members keeping the social network of STAR batch '75 alive and informed!

I studied the message, reading it a few times. There was one word which caught me, trapping my imagination on the axis called death. My mind went spinning into orbit, recalling all the faces of batch '75, and recalling the few who have become the dearly departed, Ahmad Roslan, Omar Ridhuan, and Rosli Ismail. The gravity of the word FINAL sapped my energy, and shortened my breath. I had to inhale and exhale, inhale and exhale, slowly, to calm my nerve.

For the three dear friends mentioned, they had their final re-union before the rest of us were called by Malekz to this final re-union.

Whose final will it be this time?

I wasn't comfortable with the word 'Final'. Was the word included by Malek inadvertently, and a sign of bad omen? Quietly, I was hoping it was a prank, perhaps his way of getting attention from his batch friends to make an effort to attend.

I decided to shake off the cloud of 'fear of death' from my mind and invited my sons to join me to the club house for a game of table tennis. They obliged. It was one of the odd occassion where they easily beaten me, which prompted a question from my youngest, "What were you thinking about?"

"Death!" I replied. He laughed. Yes, in his ten year old mind, I must have been joking, and could not possibly be serious with that answer. People could not be thinking about death while playing table tennis, or could they?

I let my sons continued with their game, and I moved into the snooker room - a more quiet and thinking game. Perhaps that was what I needed to calm my self, and re-focused my mind from death to colourful snooker balls instead. The club house administrator kindly offered a game!

An aching back later, the word 'final' was still haunting me, more so than the missed straight pot of the final black ball! I must clarify! It was 8.30pm in Jeddah, meaning 1.30am in Setiawangsa, Malekz's domain.

I took the risk of disturbing Malekz's beauty sleep and text him a question, "Why FINAL? Why no more after this? This is a serious question"

I sat on the steps of the club house, watching the moon being half-hidden behind a cluster of cloud. I noted to myself, that I saw the moon first before noticing the cloud! Ermm, was I being overly philosophical? I shrugged that thought off, immediately.

I reflected....

In July, one of my dear blogger friends passed on to her final resting place a few days after her final visit to Mekah for Umrah, and after fighting cancer for a couple of years. On my birthday in August, Ahmad Roslan, our dear batch mate, passed on after also been attacked by cancer. Then the sudden dissappearance of Dato Susilawati and her business associates, after their final business meeting. I have become very wary of the word final, perhaps to the tune of paranoia!

A few seconds lapsed, and a reply from Malekz came in. God bless his cotton socks, that man never sleep, at least at night when he is supposed to be sleeping!

"................................................................................." I shall not reveal his reply. You can have a go at guessing, and if you know Malekz, you would be close!

I will be marking my diary as soon as I get the 'final' date from Malekz. Someone told me once, "When you are old, grab every opportunity to meet up with old friends, one of you maybe gone before you can meet again!"

Malekz's text message, made me took time out tonight to appreciate the moon, even when thick clouds were guarding its beauty so possessively!

I showered and looked at my sleeping wife admiringly. "When you are old, take every opportunity to sleep together - dreams are much happier when you wake up to find your dream is next to you!" - My own quote, inspired by the moonlight tonight.