tribute and in memoriam...

Yesterday I visited a dear friend and professional industry colleague Khoo Khai Jin whose wife passed away. He stays at USJ9 somewhere near Taipan. The cremation was to take place at 2 pm. I didn't stay long. Left slightly later then our two other common friends Donzubir and Ismail (who is now political secretary to YM Tengku Razaleigh).

Yesterday too, the VC of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) wrote a special article (see article) paying tribute to the late Datuk Professor Dr Nik Abdul Rashid Ismail former Deputy Vice Chancellor. He was fondly known as Pak Nik too and was almost always confused with another Pak Nik Rashid who passed away much earlier. That Pak Nik was from the Law Faculty of Universiti Malaya and on the Coop Board when I was GM in the late 80s and he subsequently became ITM (UiTM now) Director.

Datuk Prof Nik Rashid Ismail was a dear friend and we were on the committee of the Malaysian Association of Productivity for quite sometime since the late 70s where Tan Sri Arshad was national president, he was Deputy President and I was Secretary-General. I was last with him and tan sri, a few months ago at the court of appeal, putrajaya for a long overdue case hearing where we had to testify. I have been told that the presiding appeal court judge would be passing the judgement over the long overdue case, this coming january 5, 2009. His daughter Farah visited us one weekend at our home at Loughborough, UK when my wife was doing her MA in 1990. She was doing her medical degree then at Nottingham University. The late poknik did tell me that her daughter, now married, is in the US. Datuk Hapsah VC of UKM in her article, could not have worded a greater tribute to the work of this man. I was shocked and saddened by the news which was relayed to me only a week later by Nik Hussein, former UM Bursar...when I met him at breakfast at Nathijah Maju mamakshop behind my house. Semoga Allah mencucuri rahmat keatas roh YBhg Datuk Prof Nik A Rashid Ismail dan semoga beliau ditempatkan bersama-sama orang2 yang soleh...amin.....