Man always fears death, but the sage welcomes it as a teacher.
On Monday, Dr Hasmah Ali passed away. I will not write about her life, for I hardly knew her beyond the fact that she was the wife of one of my two favourite sons of Malaysia, Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
The other is Anwar Ibrahim, our current prime minister.
On that solemn day, a photograph circulated of Anwar briefly speaking to Mahathir at the mosque before the funeral prayers for Hasmah. That single image brought back three decades of memories, both painful and miraculous.
Mahathir and Anwar are without doubt two men who have shaped a big part of my adult life. They have been the front-page narrators of our nation for more than 40 years, perhaps even 50. No one else comes close.
