Al-Fatihah: Sdr Ikhwanul Ashraf Manja @ Chamakh, Class of 2009

Al-Fatihah for Allahyarham Sdr Ikhwanul Ashraf, Class of 2009 who met with an accident this morning.

I am in the middle of serious backlog of work, but my mind cannot turn away the numbness. Not that I know him that well. We come across once or twice - he was once a 2nd goalie for the hockey team and we were grooming him to become the main goalie for his batch.

He came down once in a while - he was quite good, so I guess he didn't feel the need to religiously come down for training. Not his fault really, such was the culture in MCKK nowadays that boys do not put that much faith in efforts anymore.

One thing about Chamakh was he was always smiling, he gets along with people so comfortably. I hardly know him but he could approach me and chatted as if I knew him all along. He had an air of confidence; he was always jovial.

Our last encounter was last year's Scholarship & Career Workshop. He chose a spot at the wing in Hargreaves Hall, reserved for would-be pilot. He wanted to be a pilot he said, though I heard he changed his mind to become a journalist like his father later on.

When I heard about this accident from Arip (hockey player, Class of 2009) early this morning, I was numb. He was driving after a football match, somehow loss control of the car and was thrown out of the window. It was somewhere near Persiaran Kewajipan where I don't think you could speed that much.

I had 2 successive accidents last year, one at a high speed that should not be mentioned here. I did not bersyukur enough that I am still here writing, without a scratch (thanks to the air bag).

Such is life, it is so fragile.

I cannot imagine what the parents would be feeling to lose him so suddenly like this. Allah has better plan for Chamakh.

Though he did not stay that long in the team, Chamakh would have been the first boy whom we look after who met untimely death like this. My prayers are with him - he was so full of life and laughter.

Al-Fatihah.

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