From M Veera Pandiyan
I’m devastated. It took me 10 hours to compose myself to write this.
I woke up yesterday morning to the tragic news of a good friend’s shocking death.
Frank Robinson, 80, was on his way to KLIA after a five-week holiday in Melaka.
He told a friend who was driving him to the airport to stop at the Seremban R&R to use the toilet just before 7am.
Along the way, Robinson slipped and fell, hitting the back of his head.
He was bleeding from a wound in his head and was unconscious.
Passers-by propped him up until the ambulance arrived. He was brought to the Seremban hospital where he was pronounced dead.
He was a good friend, although I only knew him for about four months.
Robinson and his best friend and fellow British army veteran David Priestley, 73, made the headlines on Sept 15 last year when they returned to the Terendak Camp in Melaka after an absence of 50 years.
They visited familiar places in and around the military base, built by the British in 1958 and handed over to Malaysia in 1970.
It is now the headquarters of the Malaysian army’s 3rd Infantry Division.
Robinson and Priestley were on duty at the camp and at the original Jungle Warfare School in Kota Tinggi, Johor, as part of the Commonwealth troops between 1961 and 1969.
They were treated to brunch by Third Division commander Major-General Rashidin Hashimi Ab Rashid.
It was a far cry from what happened two days earlier, when they tried to go into the camp.
Their request was turned down by the sentry at the gate who told them to apply formally through the British High Commission.
When I heard about their disappointment at the Discovery Cafe in Bunga Raya, I posted their plight on my Facebook page.
Touched by the story, which was picked up by FMT and other news portals, then defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein instructed his office to help them fulfil their wish to visit the camp by fast-tracking the approval with the assistance of the British High Commission’s defence attache.
Their nostalgic tour began at the Terendak memorial stone at the entrance of the camp, followed by a visit to the quarters and barracks where the Commonwealth forces were housed and the cemetery where fallen soldiers and members of their families were buried.
They also visited the Terendak Camp Catholic church and also the old Anglican church building where Robinson got married.
Robinson and Priestley returned to their homes in Yorkshire, England, soon after but kept in constant touch with me and a few friends via WhatsApp video.
Robinson missed Melaka so much that he decided to return just before Christmas last year.
While he was on his second holiday, we met up almost every day. He also made new friends who took him to places where he loved to dance and even sing.
When we last met on Monday, Robinson said the five weeks had flown by too quickly for him.
“But I’ll be back in April, buddy,” he said over a beer at the same cafe.
I am still numbed that he is gone forever. Goodbye, my friend. May your soul rest in peace. - FMT
M Veera Pandiyan is a senior journalist and an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
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