A good friend, an inspiring writer, and a source of knowledge and wisdom particularly in the area of learning technologies to me; and a respected figure among us bloggers in the Malaysian community had passed away early this morning.
After receiving a phone call from a friend whom we just met yesterday informing about the demise of Johan; this morning we observed a moment of silence at an event of which Johan was supposedly to speak after I personally invited him to deliver a speech; as a respect to Johan.
After decided that we would be attending the funeral, a couple of friends and I changed plan. Instead of staying for the rest of the event, we rushed to Johan's family residence. After paid our last tribute reading the Yassin verse and multiple recitations of Al-Fatihah; we extended our condolonces to his father.
It is indeed a sad day for this community of ours.
Semoga Allah mencucuri rohnya di kalangan orang-orang beriman. Al-Fatihah.
Dear Joe, I just arrived from Perth 2 days before Raya and call you to wish Salam Aidilfitri...but your phone was off and I thought you're using that phone or maybe you're 'balik kampung' and it was out of coverage area...
But..after the 2nd raya I rang again your phone and your wife took the call...I was so shocked..stunned and blank when she told me you've passed away..
I still remember 2 days before I'm leaving KL to Perth at the end of November, we were having the tarik, discussed about Koleq's life, the Malay College OLdboys hot stories... Joe Rockococo and some rugby strategies as well as your life a temporary Kiwi resident.......
I promised to meet you on Raya....but.... God love you more than we love you..
May Allah bless you...
Your Junior
Posted by: Haniff | Thursday, December 11, 2003 at 10:45 PM
Dear Haza
Thank you very much for the kind tribute to Joe -- he would have appreciated this. He still lives with us, in spirit. He's just moved on into another world, which we will all soon travel to in our own course of life. Joe is a truly remarkable man, and he has a unique gift in making things complicated look simple. I will miss his companionship, his jokes, his laughter, his wit.. and so much more. I hope you took notes on the things he mentioned to you about your MyGfL project -- he saw the idea at its conception, and now, the best thing we could ever do is to make sure the project actually works..
Semoga roh Allahyarham Johan senantiasa dicucuri rahmatNya, dan diletakkan bersama2 orang-orang yang beriman..Amin. Al-Fatihah.
God bless, Haza..and take care!
Posted by: fsm | Tuesday, October 21, 2003 at 06:18 PM
The first time I met Johan was when he came on board in Patimas Computers in 1996. He was a nice, brilliant and friendly.
The quote he made that always in my mind
"People always pressure the ROI for e-business start-ups but how long Christopher Columbus took to get his ROI from discovering The New World"
Al-Fatihah
Shahidan Abdullah
Posted by: Shahidan Abdullah | Monday, October 20, 2003 at 02:43 PM
Mr Haxa,
Thanks for you eMail re Allah Yarham Johan. May Allah reward his deeds. May he be among the righteous. al-Fatihah.
Posted by: penawan | Monday, October 20, 2003 at 05:00 AM
Assalamualaikum...
Salam Perkenalan. U are lucky to get to now Joe.
I only read his mind via his writing.
Semoga beliau ditempatkan dlm golongan yg beriman
& beramal soleh di alam baru.
SangKelate
Posted by: Sangkelate | Monday, October 20, 2003 at 12:07 AM