A Walking History Ensyclopedia

Much has been said about Adl@n Benan Omar in the blogs, instead of the mainstream media. I guess that's the price one pays for being in the opposition. No, I don't talk politics, just a mere and keen observer.

I never met the larger-than-life person personally before. This was the time when I was speaking with "loike" and "awroite". But he was pointed out to me by a friend while I was shovelling nasi lemak at the MSD's canteen one blustery and wintry afternoon. I didn't think a lot about him. I saw a bloke who's rather fat but very down-to-earth like. He looked bery humble and likeable too. But I guess until you speak to him, you're yet to be blown away. Never had that chance,

That friend went on about him and UKEC (which I was a member of) and how he founded the movement and yada yada yada. I was a first-year in UMIST then, up north in Manchester and Londoners were not particularly my best buddies, except a few. 2 years earlier, when I was a wide-eyed teenager at Peterborough, I think someone mentioned his name about him becoming the first foreigner HeadBoy in a British public school, but never took notice.

I don't travel down to London unneccesarily unless I was summoned by the Powers-That-Be or feel the need for some serious shopping therapy at Oxford Road. It didn't help that my batch of scholars didn't get to mingle with the JPA scholars, otherwise we'd be buddies. Prolly not considering we'd have so little in common. And of course, I didn't go to boarding schools, so I didn't recognise him and all.

Anyway. The name stuck with me. One because of the reputation. Two, it's not your everyday name.

Last week, I chanced upon a site mentioning that he's severely ill and that people should visit him fast. I was shocked. I dug the Net for news and plenty came up. Most of them sang praises for him. For his articulateness, for his sharpness. Some lambasted him for his work in some chronicles with a K. He's been touted as the largest intellectual asset for the nation and I fully believe that, even when he's on the OTHER side.

But now he's now fighting for his life. Diabetes, I read and the complications from his 2nd bypass. This is life, I guess. For such a bright young man, a mind so sharp he would've shaped the future nation we all love, he may leave us at such prime age.

I pray for Allah to ease his suffering, for now and the Thereafter. I pray for his family and relatives to be strong for him. Insyallah.

p/s RotiKacangMerah runs his status updates whenever she can. And Aris Riz@l Christopher Fernando passed away yesterday. Al-Fatihah.