I was driving when I received a message from PP Sangar Nallapan that PP Yusof had passed away. It struck a deep and solemn note in me. It stilled the clatter and traffic in my life and made me pause and look around. As I questioned my own mortality amid the serenity and in the sorrow that overcame me. Life is so fallible.
I realised that these are sombre times for Rotary D3300. The passing of PP Yuosf has caused a veil of gloom to descend over all of us. There has been such an outpouring of sadness and condolences unprecedented in D3300. This is the true measure of a man’s contribution to his fellowmen.
There is an anonymous saying that if you make everyone cry when you are alive, then they will be laughing when your gone. Conversely, if you make everyone laugh when you are alive, then they will be crying when you are gone. The latter exemplifies Yusof’s journey in life. He was a man who loved all things Rotary and such was his love and passion for Rotary that he spent his final hours in its service. Yusof was loved by one and all and he was a man who had time for everyone. The simple dignity of his life, his manly virtues, his sense of duty to his family and his community. His charming and happy nature, his example as a husband and a father, his courage to speak up for what is right - all these were aspects of his character which won the glint of admiration and respect from all of us.
My recollections of all the happy moments with my friend Yusof are to many to enumerate upon. His standard intro whenever we met was -” So brother when are you going for Governor!” Coming from Yusof it was both sincere and complimentary. He didn’t have a hypocritical bone in his body and was one of the most non-judgmental individuals I had the pleasure of knowing and calling my friend.
There is an Eskimo legend that says that the stars in the heavens are not stars but rather openings in Heaven, where the love of our lost ones shines down to let us know they are happy. All I know is that from now on, Yusof will be one of the brighest shining stars in the night sky. His inspiration must galvanise all of us into being better Rotarians and performing greater humanitarian service.
I would like to dedicate this poem by Kahlil Gibran to PP Yusof:
Then Almitra spoke, saying, “We would ask now of Death.”
And he said: You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.
In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour.
Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
GOD BLESS YUSOF AND MAY HE REST IN ETERNAL PEACE.
BROTHER YUSOF IF YOU ARE READING THIS I WISH TO SAY THAT TO ALL OF US YOUR END, WHICH IS ENDLESS, IS AS A SNOWFLAKE DISSOLVING IN THE PURE AIR. YOUR SPIRIT AND LOVE WILL ALWAYS BE WITH ME IN MY HEART.
“As a well spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death.” – Leonardo DaVinci
