PETRONAS, THE MAGNANIMOUS CARING COMPANY OF MALAYSIA

 

Shamil Afiq: Ketika berusia setahun lebih, ada  tiub dalam hidungnya untuk salurkan susu.

It was way back years ago. My daughter Affizah gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, my third grandchild. He was born very normal outwardly.  His normality was short lived. On the 44th day of his life he was diagnosed by his paediatrician to be having kidney problems. He's born with a total kidney failure. His kidney was not functioning as it should. His kidney was full of cysts, not the tissues it should have. Such was the baby that was bestowed by Allah to Affizah and  husband, Shahril Agus.

Upon registration, the baby was named Syamil Afiq. The kidney failure ailment,entailed with it the loss of appetite. Syamil Afiq refused bottle feeding. Thanks to modern science which enabled Afiq to be fed through the nose. To achieve this a soft tube was administered to Afiq's stomach through his nostril.  At the other end of the tube  was attached a small funnel into which was poured Afiq's meals of milk. He survived this ordeal for about two years. At the same time he had to undergo a dialysis, which was managed by the mother. This dialysis was only given at night. 

Such was the strong character of Affizah.  Her determination and perseverance is fantastic. Although she was facing such harassing problems, she held her career upper most. Never had she failed to be in her office to perform the duties that she was entrusted with to complete. I wonder, I really wonder how she could put aside her immediate problems, and likewise attend to her office chores. To top up with this unrelenting qualities in Affizah, she scaled up the ladder of success. She is currently one of Petronas's Managers. Although in UNSW, she did Chemical Engineering course she did not practise her expertise in that discipline. Instead, Petronas groomed her to be a businesswoman. Thank Allah, in business too she excels.

That she has the support of my wife and me is understanable. While at work Afiq is tended by her grandmother, as far as feedings as well as his medication routine go,  they are being taken care of by the grandmother. To fulfil this new task and responsibility, we sold our house in Tampin and bought a house adjacent to Affizah's house, just to be near to our darling Afiq and to care for his needs.

Affizah, upon knowing Thar her baby was blessed with such a misfortune, did not leave  it to Takdir to take its next course. She consulted the  paediatrician in Hospital Kuala Lumpur with regard to the kidney transplant  of her baby. Not satisfied with the findings at the HKL, she browsed through the Internet and came up with a decision to do the transplant at The Royal Paediatric Hospital in Melbourne.

The decision had been finalised. Now came the means. Who would see to the budget of the transplant itself, and the cost of transport to and fro and so forth? She appealed to Petronas, stating her rationale of doing the transplant in Melbourne, Australia. I think what softened Petronas to accord  Affizah's  reasoning was: she was their scholar and a good one too, the other is  she is so determined to give one of her kidneys to Afiq. So in 2003, June, to Melbourne they went, Afiq and his parents. My wife and eldest son and wife joined them later.  Petronas pocketed the whole expenses of the operation, plus the father's return trip as well as his daily expenses in Melbourne. It amounted to a handsome three hundred k. Such was the caring nature of Petronas, which we,the whole family, is forever thankful, especially to Allah.

 

Shamil Afiq (depan kiri) with older brother, Syahir Aiman with his Family

On the day of departure to Melbourne, at the KLIA, Afiq showed his antics of a lifetime. He was so happy and cheerful. He was dancing and running all over the place with his childhood laughter until the time of boarding. Such was Afiq at the airport. His behaviour was as if to tell us that he was all for the better. He would be relieved of the burden  of nose feeding and he would be back to normal feeding habits. However it was only in 2004 that he was completely free of tube feeding.  Afiq is back to normal again.

According to my wife who was by the bedside of her cucu and loving daughter, the operation however had a slight setback. Upon completion of the operation something went wrong. The system did not function as it should.  Afiq had to be operated for a second time. Thank Allah, the second one was successful until today.  Afiq now is in Primary Four at Sapura Private School. The parents decided to send him there because of his health, that it might not be conducive for him to be in a normal school, saturated with over population of students in a class.

So lapsed the operation and ordeal that we had to go through. I for one thought that once the operation was done it ended there. I thought now we need to upkeep his health only. I am completely mistaken.  Afiq has to be brought for routine check-up every month at HKL. His medication is provided by HKL, for free. Every day he has to be given an anti rejection medication. All this medication of his is managed by grandma. Such is the love of a grandmother to Afiq.

As  mentioned earlier, Affizah is really a woman of steel. Although the hardships and the trials that she has to go through, career wise  she is very successful. These hardships and ordeal do not for a moment dampen her spirit to succeed. Affizah since small and since in the primary school has never missed her solat five times a day. Such is the greatness of maintaining to perform the solat lima waktu. That is her source of strength indeed. It's a pity though, she is lacking in her aurah coverage. 

Syukur Alhamduliilah, Allahu Akbar. AAB 1100 221012 .