Adenan’s daughter pens emotional tribute in Facebook post

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KUCHING: Rafidah Adenan, the late Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem’s daughter, has penned a heartfelt tribute in memory of her father who died last Wednesday.

The 1,700 word eulogy, which was posted on Facebook earlier today, conveys Rafidah’s feelings on her father’s passing, the immediate events that took place after his death, his childhood, his career and the final night father and daughter spent together in the hospital.

“Since his passing, I have not had the strength to venture into his bedroom. As redha (resigned) as I am for his departure, I am not quite ready to face the reality of not having him stuck at his computer reading and analysing the news or taking a break and watching the National Geographic or History channels,” Rafidah wrote in the post.

She went on to detail Adenan’s childhood as a baby born to a Malay father and a Chindian mother in what was then Japanese-occupied Sarawak, as well as the events that shaped the man that would one day become the state’s fifth chief minister.

“Growing up in Sarawak in those days, kids would walk or cycle everywhere. He would cycle from our family home in Jalah Datu as it was called then (now known as Jalan Datuk Ajibah Abol) to Reservoir Park in Kuching centre.

“As Reservoir Park borders the British High Commissioner’s residence, he would stand against the fence, looking up to the great big house and watch the shenanigans going round the house compound,” Rafidah described.

It was this stark contrast between the residence and the houses in his own village that led Adenan to start on his own path to become a leader – to help his people prosper.

Returning back to his home from Adelaide, Australia, where he received his education as a lawyer, Adenan went on to become an Assistant Minister at the relatively young age of 36, Rafidah wrote.

“Even in his early days as a politician he was very vocal and sharp. His law background helped a great deal when he was later made the Minister of Land Development.”

The night before his death – which nobody had anticipated – was peaceful, as Rafidah kept her father company by his bedside.

According to her, the family was confident that Adenan was on the road to recovery as he was looking much better than before.

“On his final night in this world, I was alone with my daddy, sitting next to his bed with two nurses seated on their desk a few feet behind me. Of course we had no idea it was his last night. If we had, the whole family would have been there. I’ll never forget this night. It was a still and very quiet night,” she wrote.

“Many times he kept on waking up and shifting his position in the bed.

“Occasionally he asked for water to quench his thirst. A few times he would mutter in his sleep. Every time it was related to work, like ‘…this is unconstitutional’ and another time he muttered, ‘I have commitments tomorrow…’.”

“Even in his last few hours he was constantly thinking of his beloved Sarawak,” she recalled.

Adenan would have wanted a united Sarawak – a Sarawak that used its multicultural background to propel it forward – as “a strength, an opportunity, and not a hindrance.”

She then thanked everyone involved in Adenan’s treatment and who attended to him over the course of his illness, and also to everyone who mourned his passing, rounding it off with a promise:

“Thank you to all Sarawakians for your expressions of love and respect to my Daddy.

“I promise he loved you all very much.”