On Wednesday, hockey icon William Fidelis, a former St Paul’s Institution hero, received a ‘quiet’ farewell.
Those who know the school, know how much the Old Boys cherish their heroes and the affectionate farewells they give them.
However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and tight restrictions, only immediate family members were able to attend the service in the church and at the crematorium.
Fidelis, who coached countless national hockey players in his close to 40-year career, died on Monday. He was 87. Many of his players went on to play in the World Cup, Asian Games and Olympics.
Fidelis’ youngest son, Jeremy, placed a face mask with the school’s emblem in his casket, close to his heart … where St Paul’s has always resided.
Covid-19 has certainly disrupted normal life, and events such as weddings, funerals and religious festivals, have been subdued.
It was no different on Wednesday.
Several of Fidelis’ relatives tried to get a police permit to cross state lines but were rejected. Some even tried showing the police that even the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had sent his condolences to the former national women’s hockey coach – but to no avail.
As such, his family arranged for a ‘live stream’ of the funeral, which meant that many of those who could not make it, could pay their last respects.
While it was sad that many of his friends and relatives could not be present, it was good to see the police enforcing the total lockdown.
Here’s hoping they would continue to do so.
MORE RECOVERIES THAN NEW CASES, BUT DEATHS STILL HIGH
For the first time since March 20-26, recoveries outnumbered new Covid-19 cases in Malaysia. Back then, there were 9,401 new cases as opposed to 9,468 patients who got the all-clear.
In the past week, 48,208 patients were cured of the coronavirus, taking the total to 563,779, or 87.2 per cent.
At the same time, there were ‘only’ 43,289 new infections, which brought the number of cases to 646,411.
The fight is not over yet as the number of those who tested positive corresponded with a dip in testing.
The bad news is that the number of fatalities remained extremely high, with 586 in the last seven days. That brought the total to 3,768.
More worryingly, there are 912 patients in the ICUs, while 458 are on ventilators.
Worldwide, we have exceeded 175.6 million cases, with nearly 3.8 million deaths.
IT HAS BEEN A YEAR!
Tomorrow marks the first anniversary since ‘The MCO Diaries’ became a weekly affair. It started as daily updates for 84 consecutive days at the start of the Movement Control Order (MCO) on March 18, 2020. We had an additional diary on March 18 this year to track how we have fared since then.
Including this week, we have done 138 editions of the diaries and it looks like there will be plenty more to come!
Thank you for reading.
MAKANKONGSI 2.0 TO RAISE RM500,000 SO NO ONE GOES HUNGRY
The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0), The Good Kitchen and Engage, aim to raise RM500,000 from now till the end of July to provide essentials to at least 30,000 of the most vulnerable people, including the urban poor, fishermen, Orang Asli, migrant workers and refugees nationwide.
To donate to MakanKongsi 2.0, please deposit to:
Name: Engage Network
Bank: Public Bank Bhd
Account No: 3816630332
Reference: MakanKongsi 2.0
Or you can donate with your credit/debit cards, or e-wallet:
A MUST-WATCH
Eight-time world squash champion, Datuk Nicol David has announced a biopic – I am Nicol David – is in the works.
The movie will be in English and a nationwide casting will be hosted by ACE Pictures in East and West Malaysia for the role of the squash queen.
IS THIS WHAT HAPPENED?
Came across this on Twitter and laughed so hard.
Malaysia Covid-19 summary in 2020: pic.twitter.com/yOL3z12HUx
— Gory | #FinancialGory (@azraeimuhamad) June 6, 2021
KNIFE SKILLS OVERRATED?
No recipe this week, but a great article by Mark Bittmann for all the home cooks out there.
I agree wholeheartedly (well, perhaps because I cannot cut/chop/slice like a pro!).
MEN OVER FORTIES NOT OVER THE ‘HILL’
Last Sunday, in Young Voices, a column opened to those aged 12-17, we had 14-year-old Nina Ahmad share how she fell in love with Notting Hill, a movie that came out in 1999.
Notting Hill, You Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally, are among my favourite movies and they kept me coming during the initial MCO.
It may come as a surprise, but several other 40-something guys in my Liverpool chat group also enjoy romantic-comedy flicks, with the Hugh Grant-Julia Roberts hit very much at the top of the list.
I remember last year when Notting Hill was being shown for the umpteenth time, several of the guys shared pictures and videos of themselves watching it.
They even “dissected” the movie’s plot, storytelling, and how it has stood the test of time. Some even typed out their favourite lines before the actors said them!
Filmmaker-journalist M. Zulkifli A. Jalil described the clip at the end of this article as: “This is great filmmaking. Telling us time has passed by visuals only, through the change of seasons.”
Maybe not all men are indifferent to such a movie genre!
Anyway, here is Bill Withers’ Ain’t No Sunshine, from the movie. Until next week, stay safe everyone.