|
The Passing of a
companero hasta la siempre
We were
companero hasta de la siempre (companion
to the ever)
products of The Malay College. His place of origin was Mentakab/Temerloh.
With the title Wan before his name and Pahang as his home state he
exuded that free wheeling attitude to life. His facial feature was very
Malay, more like a cross breed between the Pahang Malay and the tribe
of Batik up the Pahang tributaries.
There were
amongst our juniors who have been indoctrinated to believe that he looked
like Samy Davis Junior. Looking back, yes I agree. As a matter of fact I
think he is more good looking.
We were in the
same class. It was a class of weirdos. We were not inhibited. The
freewheelers. The Best Class was full of nerds, bookaholics, and teachers
favs. The Second best Class consist of the rejects of the top class. We were
the last Class, who could not care about our position in the form. That
world Famous Azhari was seated at the last row on the right side.
He changed his
name to WALSH and that was the name he was famous for till we forgot his
real name. When he was in Government service his name tag was WALSH raising
eyebrows. When I first introduced him to my wife as WALSH, the son of a Tok
Batin from Temerloh he played it like real. Why not? The Green Blazer with
un-matching jeans and the unconventional sneakers, unmatching socks, two
watches and unkempt hairs he fitted into that Batik Royal.
A riotous of
colors, was an apt description of his dress sense, his characters and his
life.
England
allowed him to be set loose. Whilst in England there were two things he did
not waiver, his pursuit for his engineering degree and the pursuit for his
love. They were married in England and remained married.
He tried to
settle into the conventional Malay life in Kuala Lumpur and Subang Jaya. I
remembered him driving a red five series, the first amongst us to drive a
fancy car. But that was not his kind of car. It was the Range that I saw him
with most of the time. The Range matched his character. Soon it became his
second home and then Home. The free wheeling wanderer and nomad.
Walsh with his second family.
Foto courtesy Maslan Othman 25/01/2008
I did not know
much about his wild adventures as an off-road enthusiast. The group’s name
Enam Jahanam could exude the kind of devilish and wild adventures
they have been indulged in.
Today as I
visited him for the last time in his natural domain I could understand the
wilderness, and free wheeling life that he was so natural in. The family
home which I assumed he built because of the choice of colour was nestled up
the hill overlooking a sizable lake. As I accompanied him in his last
journey on this kampung track hugging the meandering Semantan you could
understand why this son of Semantan refused to let it go. A blissful
setting.
The Semantan
and the wilderness was his soul.
Rest in Peace,
companero. It was the life you chose.
|
