As Time Passes By

Those close to him calls him Bapak, even his grandchildren, or friends of family members, or neighbours, old and at present. Some others especially those who knew him when he was working, calls him Wak Dol. Some calls him Pak Dollah. I call him Bapak.

I know him since 1991 but was closer to him starting November 28th 1993 when I moved in to his house in Kampung Pandan.

Since I knew him from start, he has been a person who is punctual for prayers to the surau or masjid, without fail, except when he was bed-ridden due to some health problem few years back, and the last 2 days before he left us (he ‘was forced’ not to, since we saw that he was quite weak).

To me he was a very understanding, caring, generous, kind person, and a sporting father-in-law.

During the early days of our marriage, he was always there to give advise and support, and of course his straight-forward short ‘lecturers’ and jokes.

He liked to share his childhood stories, his Yaman born father, how his father came to Singapore, his mother from Muar, two other step-mothers and his younger life staying in a big family in Singapore.  I still at times get confused how someone get related to the family.

He was a very simple man, always in his white shirt, simple trousers, a songkok or white ketayap, and his tongkat. No worries for baju batik or baju Melayu, samping and other accessories. Even the kids around the corner recognize and acknowledge his presence, going to and fro the surau and the house.

He left us suddenly. After maghrib, Sunday 24th July 2010, he was eating with some of us, talking about the umrah plan and strategies in September. When the isyak prayer was called, he left us peacefully.

Bapak, semoga roh mu sentiasa tergolong bersama mereka yang beriman dan bertakwa. You will be missed by all of us.

Al-Fatihah.

Wak Dol meninggal sakit tua

Berita Harian : 2010/07/28

KUALA LUMPUR: Bekas fomen pre-press Jabatan Pengeluaran The New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd (NSTP), Abdullah Mubarak, 78 (atas), meninggal dunia, di rumahnya di Kampung Pandan, di sini, jam 8.45 malam, Ahad lalu kerana sakit tua.

Allahyarham yang lebih dikenali Wak Dol meninggalkan seorang isteri, Maryam Ariff, 67, dan enam anak, termasuk bekas wartawan Berita Minggu, Raihanah Abdullah di samping 21 cucu.

Raihanah, anak sulungnya berkata, jenazah Allahyarham selamat dikebumikan di Tanah Perkuburan Islam Jalan Kuari, Cheras jam 11 pagi, kelmarin.

Allahyarham berkhidmat selama 28 tahun dengan NSTP, bermula di Singapura sebelum bersara pada 1987.

Katanya, Allahyarham sudahpun mendaftar untuk umrah dari 7 hingga 20 September depan sempena Ramadan dan Syawal tetapi hasratnya tidak tercapai.