#17 You will be missed; RIP Abang Faizul
There was never a dull moment whenever I worked with Noramfaizul Mohd Nor whom I referred to as Abang Faizul. A fellow colleague at Bernama TV, Abang Faizul is no regular cameraman. He’s a media person and a motivator at heart. This man was a real mentor.
Though I’ve only been to a number of assignments with him, I never failed to have that bonding moment with him. He’s like a mentor who never underestimated a young journalist like myself. Working with him was about more than just finishing up our daily assignment… it was a learning experience, taught by someone so season and experienced that by no doubt your end result would be a good one.
I still remember, whenever we’re on the car heading to our location, Abang Faizul will begin our conversation with words of inspirations. He will start by sharing words of motivations before getting into discussion about what we’re about to encounter (for any assignment) and he will always reminds me to smile.
This man… ah, he never failed to smile. Never. When everyone was sort of doomed with all the misfortune and inconvenience that we had at work (read: BernamaTV is a fucked up media entity), he will always be the one with a smile on his face. Like at all time. And with his presence, you know you’re about to have a great time and somehow your spirit will be boosted. And did I mentioned that he is also a funny man?
So last night when I found out about his death… I was in a complete shock. What happened exactly?
Abang Faizul and a fellow journalist from BernamaTV together with a number of other media crews from Malaysia went to Somalia to cover the humanitarian aid mission by the Putra 1Malaysia Club. It was his second humanitarian assignment of such. The first one being the humanitarian mission to Gaza sometime last year (or was it two years ago).
He was traveling on a truck heading to the city of Mogadishu to send visuals that were earlier recorded until shots were fired at a government army truck that was accompanying the media vehicle and a stray bullet hit him, who was seated by the door. The bullet pierced his lungs.
He died at 11:07 pm last night.
This news shocked me, the entire BernamaTV team and the rest of the Malaysian media fraternity. Adding to the sorrow, a cameraman from Malaysia’s TV3 who was also on the same truck was badly injured. I wish him well and speed recovery.
I have no words to describe how sad I am to hear this news. Though my relationship with him was merely colleague, it’s just sad to know that someone you knew died in such a way. Furthermore, this man was no regular man… he’s one hell of an amazing figure that I look up to.
You will be missed Abang Faizul. May Allah bless your soul.
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For news of this tragedy, read here, here and here.
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