Al-Fatihah Tun Ghafar ....

Former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghafar Baba, died at the Gleneagles Intan Medical Centre in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur this morning due to heart, lung and kidney complications. He was 81. His family members were at his bedside when he breathed last at 7.34am. His simple and sincere ways would always be fondly remembered. Although being in the corridor of power, Ghafar had always remained true to his roots. He refused any sort of honorific, prefering to remain plain Encik Ghafar for most part of his life. It was only after he retired from office that he was persuaded to accept the Tunship. From being the Chief Minister of Melaka from June 1959 to August 1967, he became a Cabinet minister from 1969 to 1976. He was the Deputy Prime Minister from May 7, 1986 to Oct.15, 1993, the year he resigned as Umno deputy president. I was fortunate to be assigned to cover Ghafar in his various capacity either in the government or the party. But one moment which remains vivid in my mind was the time when he faced the challenge for the post of Umno deputy president. Disappointed with the turn of events, Ghafar decided to seek solace abroad. When he came back a few days later, we tried to corner him at the old international airport in Subang but he refused to meet the press. We trailed him to his house in Bukit Pantai but still could not get to see him. We patiently waited outside his gate. An hour passed and then two yet there was no sign of him wanting to talk to us. In our long wait, I remember someone brought out cold drink for us weary reporters to quench our thirst. As it was getting dark, we finally decided to call it a day. But before we left, I had to give another try. I flipped open an empty page of my Bernama notebook and wrote: "Kepada Y.A.B. Encik Ghafar, Selamat kembali ke tanahair. Kami berdoa Y.A.B. berada dalam keadaan sihat walafiat. Terima kasih kerana sudi memberikan kami minuman. Semoga kita dapat bertemu di lain ketika yang lebih sesuai. Terima kasih daripada para wartawan". After writing the note, I tore the page and gave it to the police guard. We requested him to take it to Ghafar. He obliged and we waited with whatever hope we had. After 10 minutes or so, it was still in vain and we knew we had to go. But just as we were walking to our car, the policeman came running out of the house and told us that Ghafar wanted to see us. Of course, we got our story which was well worth waiting for.