Fadzil and the pacemaker

One's friends are the part of the human race with which one can be human.
George Santayana, Spain, 1863 - 1952

My bosom pal Fadzil turned 56 a few days ago. There was no celebration; he was in hospital and he had a pacemaker installed that very day to help with his chronic irregular heartbeat. A month earlier he had an open-heart surgery to replace a damaged valve in his heart.

His recuperation had not been easy, compounded by his diabetes and his body not positively reacting to the post-operation medications. He was in constant pain and could not talk for a long time (we regularly communicated by sms). Things did not get better when he was recuperating at home and he was readmitted, and finally the decision to install the pacemaker. I pray things will work out better for him from now on.

I have known Fadz close to 35 years now. I used to think he was a bit giddy, but we got on better over the years and today he's one of my best pals. He's somewhat an anglophile, and an obsessive reader and would always pick up and hoard any free printed matters! Always cheerful and positive, he has many friends and is easy to befriend, most of my friends have become his too. He and my brother Ngah are such pals too lately. A good listener, I could always count on him to listen to my sometimes frivolous complaints.

But, my dear Fadz is also rather disorganized and, sorry dear, quite sloppy too. And he's a compulsive smoker! I don't think many people have yelled and nagged him about the above as I did but he always took it well and was never offended. He regards me as a brother and gives me liberty to tell him off! Not that my telling him off made any difference! Haha!

So my prayers are with you brother, for a speedy recovery. And if you do make it here again, I will do my best for us to make a trip to Yemen (though I am more inclined to visit Iran!).

Fadz is rather obsessed with visiting Yemen. During Easter 2006, he and I visited my colleague in Zagreb, Croatia. Fadz got on like a house on fire with Amr, a beautiful and precocious little boy who was an abandoned Yemeni child adopted by my colleague (Fadz was then struggling to build a meaningful rapport with his 12-year old son). His fascination for Yemen grew since then.

We travelled a lot together, he complaining that the expenses were eating into his saving (he took optional retirement in 2005) but he came along all the same. We went to Morocco for Christmas in 2007, to Andalusia, Spain for Chinese New Year and to Jordan and Syria for Easter both in 2008. He was always a good travelling companion.

I will never forget our trip to Andalusia. Fadz was nursing a fractured right arm after his very first attempt at skiing a month before and he had difficulty handling his luggage. He was also by then suffering from breathlessness, for boding worse things to come!

An unforgettable incident was after a conducted walking tour of Cordoba which was quite extensive. By the time we reached our final destination, the Great Mosque of Cordoba, we were both tired. A while later I told Faz I was going back to the hotel but he insisted on completing the tour of the mosque.

I asked the guard at the mosque the direction to my hotel and was surprised that it was on the same street as the mosque and was just a few metres from the opposite entrance of the mosque through which we came in. I was in my hotel room in less than 5 minutes.

A couple of hours later Fadz returned, panting and looking pale and tired. I asked him what happened and he said that it was such a long walk back from the mosque!! He had actually walked back the whole walking tour route to get back to the hotel when it was just a stone's throw from the mosque!

He could not even leave his bed that evening for dinner and I had to bring back food for him. Next morning he could not go down for breakfast and afterwards I had to drag his luggage as we continued our journey by train to Seville. All told we had a good tour of Andalusia.

Back here a week later, we were taking a walk in the neighbourhood one bright early evening and there was a lovely waft of perfume coming from the lily of the valleys sprouting generously in the gardens we passed, an indication that Spring had arrived. I commented,' Look, the lily of the valleys are all out...'. Dear Fadz instantly looked up at the barren trees! So much for his botanical knowledge!

My dear friend and brother, get well soon.

For whoever knows how to return a kindness he has received must be a friend above price.

Sophocles, Greece, 496 - 406 BC