BUBU MY FRIEND

BUBU MY FRIEND

It was in 2006, when I was doing my internship in Penang GH, I received msg from an unknown number which read “Bubu sakit macam nak mati. Tapi mak jangan risau, Bubu strong” and I immediately replied “Sape ni?” There was no reply for a week. The message disturbed me. I sent a few “Sape ni?” messages but I did not call back. After a week there was a reply “Sorry, wrong number”.  Out of curiosity I immediately messaged “ Macam mana awak dapat number saya?” and without waiting for reply I asked “Awak sakit apa?”

Bubu explained that she was librarian in my university; she saved my number to ask about a book I borrowed. She was supposed to send the message to her mum but wrongly sent it to me. And that’s how our friendship started. Bubu was a 32 year old cancer patient, single mother of a 3 year old toddler. Her husband left the day he got to know that she’s suffering from cancer. She told me each and everything she was going through, about the disease, how excruciating her chemo sessions were, the agony she was going through to fight the battle. What amazed me about Bubu was, although she was hospitalized she was strong and was doing her Masters thesis paper. She told me she wants to finish off her masters and graduate before she leaves. Her will power amazed me totally.

The first thing I did after returning to KL after my internship was to visit Bubu in the hospital she was admitted. A wide smiled pretty woman. I didn’t have much money; I bought a rose and a chocolate bar. She gave me a motivational book in return. Her voice was soft but her stands were firm.  She had strong and creative ideas on a lot of things. She could talk all day on politics and her general knowledge was just mind blowing. She will read up the thesis paper she had done and happily tell how beautiful it was turning out. Masters kept her going. She will be telling me her dream to start up an NGO to help unfortunate kids and make them all read. I spent most of my evenings after class the next 5 months with her. Sometimes in hospital and sometimes at her home. But all that I know is that her health was deteriorating…she was slowly leaving.

One morning she messaged “Anu petang ni di hospital ok. Bubu sesak nafas.  Nak rest di hospital”. I knew that it will be her last message…and yes it was. After a week a received call from her number. I did not pick up. I knew that it was her family and not her. I stopped everything there. For me, strong Bubu is still around writing her thesis. Her disease wasn’t her choice but being brave and strong was. She did not lose her brave fight. I will see you one day Bubu.

There are so many warriors out there fighting their battle like a boss. Lets be thankful and grateful for all that we have got. Lets be more kind.  Lets pray for all these warriors.

Om

15082018  1300