I wouldn’t want to get into a theological discussion with anyone but I would say that death is just nature’s way of telling us that our time on this earth is up. Death can strike at the most unexpected moment. Last Sunday, death struck at a chess tournament.
It was a chess tournament just like any normal, amateur chess tournament: a multi-round event that was to be completed in a single day. Only this time, it was cut short by an untimely death of one of the participants.
At the start of the second round, Wan Mohd Zaki Idris suddenly felt unwell and slid beneath the table. At first, his opponent and the other players around him were wondering what he was up to. But when he collapsed and did not move, everyone became alarmed.
One of the participants, Dr Dhiauddin Hai Ismail, immediately recognised this as a cardiac arrest. Together with medical student Ronnie Lim, they set out to apply cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the heart attack victim until the ambulance could arrive.
Unfortunately, he could not be saved. He did not regain his heart beat and was declared dead after about 20 minutes of CPR was applied on him. Needless to say, everyone in the playing hall at the Wilayah Complex were shell-shocked and the tournament was called off.
So my question today is, can you be prepared for your own sudden demise? Obviously, the answer is a “no” unless it is premeditated, in which case it will probably be called a suicide. Nobody can say when he will be taken from the face of this earth.
But even though death cannot be predicted, what you can do is to anticipate it. It can come at any time. Today. Tomorrow. Next week. Next year.
And what better way to anticipate death is to plan for the eventuality. I know of people who have already planned for their funeral and final resting place but you need not go so far. It can be morbid to do that.
The next best planning is to ensure that your earthly affairs are put into order as much as possible. Of course, Muslims will rely on the Syari’ah for distribution of their assets but for most non-Muslims, it will be enough if write a Will. For some people, they may need to create a Trust for their loved ones.
Whatever you choose, the objective is to ensure that your affairs are placed in good order so that your loved ones can continue to adapt and live a life that’s as close to normalcy as possible in your absence. Leave behind fond memories of your presence among them. That’s the way to be remembered: for your foresight in taking care of them.