Remembering Hidayah

Last Christmas, I met an amazing 17-year-old. Nur Hidayah Aziz was suffering from cancer, and had one wish -- to visit Sabah. So she came with help from the Children's Wish Society of Malaysia. It hit me so hard, when she passed away a month later. I wrote this story as a tribute to her. It was published in the New Sunday Times on 7th Feb 2010:

WE wish all the time.

We wish we will win the best lucky draw prize at a party, drive a car we cannot afford, that the weather will stay pleasant when we go out, and that the noisy neighbour will disappear.

Often, it doesn't really matter if our long list of daily wishes come true, because we will just make a new one the next day.

But for children who are terminally ill, and unsure if they will live to see their next birthday, a simple wish can mean the world.

This is why the Children's Wish Society of Malaysia (CWS) is working tirelessly with doctors to find out who needs a birthday cake, a game console, or even a bicycle.

Last month, CWS managed to rope in AirAsia, Promenade Hotel and the Sabah Tourism Board to fly a 17-year-old from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu over the Christmas weekend.

Nur Hidayah Aziz's dream was to visit Sabah, the state she was born in but didn't get to experience because her father was transferred back to the peninsula when she was still a baby.

She got up close with a baby orang utan, snorkelled at the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, joined a traditional dance at a seafood restaurant and went home happy.

She wrote about her trip on mynameisdayah.blogspot.com, and accepted some requests on Facebook from new friends in Sabah a few days after reaching home.

Those who were touched by Nur Hidayah's wide smile and bright eyes never thought she would go so quickly. Exactly a month after her Sabah trip, Nur Hidayah succumbed to bone cancer on the night of Jan 26.

Text messages were sent to almost everyone who had met her in the Land Below the Wind.

Tears flowed when CWS vice-president Teoh Teik Hoong posted on Facebook a close-up shot of a smiling Nur Hidayah with an orang utan mug pressed to her cheek.

All I could think of was the hug I gave Nur Hidayah as we said our goodbyes at the Promenade Hotel in Kota Kinabalu.

I told the already frail teenager I would see her again on her next trip, and to take care of herself.

And I remember how determined she was about a trek through a jungle path to see orang utan at Shangri-La's Rasa Ria Resort.

A walk that usually takes 10 minutes, stretched to almost 30 minutes, but Nur Hidayah never gave up.

Nur Hidayah Aziz getting up close with a baby orang utan at Shangri-La`s Rasa Ria Resort in Tuaran.

After a few steps, she stopped to catch her breath, but encouraged by her mother Misriyah Sulaiman, Teoh and CWS board members Lim Ai Mee and Alan Yip, she pushed on.

When she reached the viewing platform, she sat for about 10 minutes and once she had regained her strength, Nur Hidayah took photos with her pink camera.

"I really enjoyed seeing orang utan in the forest as I've only seen them in books and television," she told me, a few minutes after we returned to the reception area on that steaming hot Sunday afternoon.

Nur Hidayah, who had to drop out in Form Four when she became too weak, was happy that her wish of visiting Sabah had been fulfilled, and it showed through her smile.

Those who helped make Nur Hidayah's dream come true have wiped away their tears.

Inspired by her and others who have passed on, they are now striving even harder so that more children will have a reason to smile despite their pain.

As we keep our fingers crossed today for something that we think will make us happy, let's spare a thought for children who don't have much time left to see their wishes come true.