Gone Too Soon

My father had only one elder brother. Perhaps if my grandfather didn't 'vanish' during the Japanese occupation, they would have had more siblings. While growing up, spending Chinese New Year with my cousins in Teluk Intan was a highlight of the year. Once a year, we would make the 8-hour journey from Kuantan (no highway back then). In the family, I was the youngest, so I would tag along my elder cousins for fun and games. Back then, it was a whole lot of fun with Moon Travelers, Thunder King, King Cat, and other fireworks. When indoors, it would be hide and seek, and perhaps a game of carom. Sometimes they would bring me a long for a bowl of lai fun or the famous chu cheong fun. Among my cousin brothers, the second eldest was called Starry. He was the most artistic of the lot, and eventually started his own business dealing with events and advertising with his wife. They had two beautiful daughters, but somewhere down the road, their marriage failed, and his business suffered a downturn too. Although he worked in KL, we never did meet. Our gatherings would always be in Teluk Intan when we visited his mother at the old house. One morning, I received a missed call from my cousin sister. Called her back, and she broke the news to me that Starry had suddenly passed away at his workplace in Bukit Jalil. He had just turned 50 in April. Shocking news. With the MCO in effect, funeral arrangements were more difficult. My cousin sister accompanied his daughters to settle funeral arrangements. Thankfully, my late cousin's ex-wife also lent a hand. The post-mortem declared the cause of death as heart attack due to a blocked artery. Both my dad and uncle also passed away due to cardiovascular disease. The wake was at the Kwong Tung Cemetery funeral parlour, and luckily there were no roadblocks. The whole place was quite deserted with only one other wake. Been more than a decade since I met my nieces and my ex-SIL. In my memory, they were just scrawny kids. Today, they've all grown up and are working. Perhaps I had met them before in Sri Petaling and not known who they were. The rites were simple with one Buddhist nun doing all the chanting. Ambidextrous too as she hit a wooden fish with her right hand, and had a suspended cymbal in her left hand. After paying our respects, and a long chat with my cousins, we left. My cousin brother was cremated the next day. Goodbye second cousin bro! Requiescat In Pace.