My grandfather passed away last Sunday, Dec 27th morning.
He suffered a heart attack on Christmas eve and again later in the afternoon. He was admitted to Selayang Hospital and that evening he was transferred from A&E section to CCU.
I was on my way to my parents' house for Christmas dinner when I came to know that he was admitted to the hospital, as apparently I was not informed earlier about him. I decided to make a U-turn at Sungai Buloh interchange and headed straight to Selayang Hospital with my son, and my wife was waiting for me near my parent's place.
Besides having histories of heart attack, his kidneys were not functioning that well and he was supposed to go for dialysis, to which he told me the week before that he doesn't plan to undergo since the whole treatment may be too taxing for him, i.e. thrice a week and 4 hours for each session of hemodialysis.
He was like a fatherly figure to me since my sister & I were under our grandparent's care since both our parents couldn't afford to hire a maid to take care of both of us, and both of them are working full-time. I've heard testimonies from a dear friend of my uncle, to whom he said my grandfather loved me the most and he sacrificed a lot to see me healthy (I was diagnosed with bronchitis). My sister & I stayed with our grandparents till we were 8 years old, since we were just few months old.
Tears just ran down freely when I remembered many, many things that he had done for me and how his lifestyle had influenced mine, be it getting my identification card when I was 12, getting an ATM card for me also at 12, taking me to the best barber to get my haircut, getting up early to send my sister & I to school when we were 7, using chopsticks when I was 6 or 7, paid and encouraged me to obtain my driving & motorcycle license, tendered to me when I was sick (he came back in the afternoon to bring me food and cared for my medical needs), gave me pocket money when I started going to school, always buy the things that I longed for (toys basically, when I was still a kid), giving me 1 to 1 driving lessons and letting me drive his only car when I was still pursuing the driving license, cook for my sister & I when my grandma was away at work, encouraged me to drive his working van (during his retirement he helped my uncle to sell clothes at pasar malam & pasar pagi), etc.
Although he is quick & hot tempered, he had never scolded us (my sister & I) just as he did so to his own children when they did something wrong. He was a great man, a former police who had sacrificed a lot for his country (notably busting communist cell groups and going after drug dealers) and his eight children, to which he had never complained about having my sister & I as an addition to his immediate family (i.e. children).
Being a cop in this country isn't easy. From Tanjung Malim in the early eighties, he was transferred to Slim River, after which he was transferred to Kuantan. Kuantan was his last posting before retiring in the mid eighties, when I was still 5 or 6 years old. And throughout these relocations, we (grandma, my sister & I) were with him. We can see how he has suffered a lot being a CID in the police force, and due to the stress at work he drinks & smokes heavily. But he never forsake his family and the two of us (my sister & I), as he was the main breadwinner of the family.
Kung-kung, I feel honoured to be your grandson and I hope your soul will find peace and mercy in the eyes of our Creator. I promised that I will take good care of po-po in your absence. Love you, Kung-kung.