26 December 26 2004. It was a Sunday. And it was my daughter Nabila’s 7th birthday. My family wanted to celebrate in a special way. So we went to Penang a few days earlier. My wife’s sisters and their families came along. So did my neighbour Sham, his wife Tini and their four children.
Together we formed one big noisy group. Just right for a happy occasion. We had Nabila’s party two days before her actual birthday.Simply because my eldest daughter and I had to return to KL on Christmas Day, (24 hours before her birthday) to work. Although the birthday party was just a simple affair in the hotel room we were staying and held not on her actual birthday, it’s was still nice . More importantly Nabila was happy.
So I was in KL when it all happened. 26 December 26 2004 .My wife and one of her sisters wanted to make a quick trip to Langkawi from Penang. The plan was dash to Langkawi, a round of shopping and come back to Penang before evening. She took the morning ferry. My wife would later tell me how the ferry had to battle in choppy waters. She was frightened and didn’t know why the sea was rough that day. At times she thought the ferry would overturn. Nonetheless she arrived in Langkawi only to see the island already turned topsy-turvy. We all know why now. My wife and her sister would 24 hours later take a flight back to KL and drove to Penang with me the next day to fetch our children.
Back in Penang. 26 December 2004. My children were with their aunts and cousins and friends at the hotel fronting the beach in Tanjung Bungah. We couldn’t get rooms at Feringghi beach. All were snapped up months earlier. Besides the hotels there were charging rates we can’t afford for their rooms as it was the holiday season. Anyway my children were in good hands although my wife and I were not there with them in Tanung Bungah. That morning they were all at the beach playing.
One of their cousins suggested they have another birthday party for Nabila. On the beach. After all she said it was Nabila’s actual birth date .They were all excited. But one of their aunts, my wife’s elder sister, suddenly said no. Somehow she was not feeling good. She would later tell me that she didn’t know what it was but she just didn’t not feel good at all. Not only she said no to the birthday party on the beach idea, she also ordered all the kids, small and not so small, upstairs. Back to their rooms.
The kids were baffled. No beach party OK but why can’t they continue to play in the water or on the beach ? But they followed her instruction. Upstairs the kids continued to play in the hotel room. The aunts were preparing snacks. My son, Akif, who was looking out at sea from the balcony suddenly called out. He asked everybody to look at the beautiful white line coming from the sea. They all went to the balcony and saw the white line. It was the waves rolling in. And it got bigger and bigger as it came closer. Then it hit the beach but did not stopped there. It came crashing in onto the pool side and restaurants on the ground floor of the hotel. We all know the story.
It’s been five years to the day. Until now I just can’t find the words to describe how I feel whenever I think of what happened. I dread to even imagine what would happened had my daughter’s birthday party was held on the beach that day. And what would have happened had they continue to play on the beach. And what would happen had my sister-in-law did not feel “uneasy” moments earlier. That “uneasy” feeling made her asked the kids to leave the beach. Incidentally there were nobody else on the beach after my kids, their cousins and friends went back to their rooms. To say I felt relief is an under statement. All I can say and do is to thank God. It was a miracle by the will of God. My children, their cousins and friends were saved.
Thousands from Indonesia right up to Sri Lanka lost their lives that day. Let’s pray for them, the victims of the 26 December 2004 tsunami. Let’s pray also to their families who until today are, to say the least, still grief-stricken. God bless you all.
2012 Hotel Corporate Rates Attending seminars? Going for a holiday? Click on the link above to check out the list of hotel corporate rates for Members of the Bar, which is updated regularly.
Talk on Intellectual Property Law (10 Feb 2012) Organised by the Selangor Bar Committee, the talk on “Intellectual Property Law” will take place at 5:00 pm, at the Selangor Bar Committee Auditorium, on 10 Feb 2012 (Friday). The talk will feature Bahari Yeow Tien Hong. Click on the link above for more details.
Seminar on the Fundamentals of Bankruptcy Proceedings (21 Feb 2012) Organised by the Kuala Lumpur Bar Professional Development Committee, the seminar on “The Fundamentals of Bankruptcy Proceedings”, featuring Sanjeev Kumar Rasiah, will take place at 3:00 pm, at the Kuala Lumpur Bar Auditorium, on 21 Feb 2012 (Tuesday). Click on the link above for more details.
Seminar on the Fundamentals of Conveyancing (24 Feb 2012) Organised by the Kuala Lumpur Bar Professional Development Committee, this seminar featuring Jeremiah R Gurusamy will take place at 3:00 pm, at the Kuala Lumpur Bar Auditorium, on 24 Feb 2012 (Friday). Click on the link above for more details.
Mediation Skills Training Course (29 Feb to 4 Mar 2012) Organised by Bar Council, the Mediation Skills Training Course will take place at 8:30 am to 5:30 pm, at Raja Aziz Addruse Auditorium, Bar Council, on 29 Feb to 4 Mar 2012 (Wednesday to Sunday). Deadline for registration and payment is 17 Feb 2012 (Friday). Click on the link above for more details.
Talk on “Land Fraud: An Australian Perspective” (13 Mar 2012) Organised by IGIL, GSGSG and UUM COLGIS, this free talk featuring Quintin George Rozario of Delta Law, Brisbane, Australia, will take place at 9:00 am, at Dewan Seminar A, Pusat Konvensyen, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kedah, on 13 Mar 2012 (Tuesday). To RSVP, contact Mr Abutt (04-928 4397; abutt@uum.edu.my).
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Circular No 023/2012: Talk on ISO 9001 | 2008 Quality Management System Certification
