Beloved daughter still awaits father's return<\/p>\n
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
\"Come on, Ibu, let's both knock harder so Ayah will hear us and
\nwake up from his sleep...\"<\/p>\n
Nur Qomariyah could not find the words and nor did she have
\nthe heart to tell her five-year-old daughter Isma Rizki Amalia,
\nwho was knocking on Asep Saefudin's coffin, that her father was
\nnot just sleeping.<\/p>\n
Asep was killed after a bomb exploded outside the Australian
\nEmbassy on Jl. Rasuna Said, Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Thursday.
\nHe had been passing the embassy on his motorcycle to meet a
\nclient at Great River Plaza on the same street as the embassy.<\/p>\n
The 32-year-old surveyor with Bank International Indonesia
\n(BII) Financial Center was one of nine fatalities in the bomb
\nblast that also injured 182 others.<\/p>\n
\"We tried to explain it to her, but Isma couldn't understand,\"
\nNur said. \"She kept knocking on her father's coffin, expecting
\nhim to come out at any moment.\"<\/p>\n
Nur finally had to ask one of her relatives to take Isma away
\nfor a nap, as they would soon prepare Asep's body for the last
\nrites.<\/p>\n
Asep had been the family's bread winner. With his death, Nur
\nis worried about how she, Isma and their eight-month-old son,
\nRifki Haikal Kamil will be able to survive.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, BII president Henry Ho, who also attended the
\nfuneral, promised to help pay for the children's schooling by
\nproviding full scholarships for them until high school and on to
\nfurther education.<\/p>\n
Nur recalled that Asep had left for work as usual at around
\n8:30 a.m. on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\"But yesterday morning, Isma hugged Asep for such a long time
\nas if she didn't want to let him go,\" she said. \"Isma was very
\nclose to her father. He loved her very much, so much so that he
\nalways found the time to sing her a lullaby before she went to
\nsleep at night.\"<\/p>\n
She also said that several days before the tragedy Asep had
\nbecome more silent than usual. \"He specifically told me to take
\ncare of Isma and Rifki.\"<\/p>\n
On Friday, the small alley in front of Asep's modest house in
\nCilincing, North Jakarta, was packed with relatives, friends and
\nneighbors, who wanted to pay their last respects to the warm and
\nfriendly person they all knew.<\/p>\n
At midday, during Friday prayers, Asep's body was taken by the
\ncrowd to the nearby Jami'al Mutasysyirin mosque for the last
\nrites. The harmonious strains of Islamic prayers for the deceased
\nwere heard chanted along the way.<\/p>\n
Isma was not the only one who had a difficult time accepting
\nAsep's death.<\/p>\n
Asep's younger sister Duriah was still weeping, as she
\nrecollected memories of her brother.<\/p>\n
\"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. Please don't go,
\nkakak (big brother),\" she cried out.<\/p>\n
Relatives, themselves red-eyed, tried to comfort Duriah,
\ntelling her to be strong and to let Asep go, so that he could be
\npeaceful in his afterlife.<\/p>\n
Asep's father, Masduri, explained that it was understandable
\nthat Duriah felt the most anguished by Asep's death, as she was
\nvery close to Asep.<\/p>\n
\"Although Asep was her elder brother, they had always been in
\nthe same grade and always went to prayer school together,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
After Friday prayers, the chanting resumed as Asep's coffin
\nwas placed in the hearse, and then taken to his final resting
\nplace at the nearby Budi Dharma cemetery.<\/p>\n
The family learned of Asep's death when his friends informed
\nthem that there had been an explosion in Kuningan.<\/p>\n
At around 2 p.m., the family tried to contact him through his
\ncell phone. \"It wasn't his voice and it was immediately hung up.\"<\/p>\n
The family finally found Asep's body when they were contacted
\nby friends to help identify a body at the Cipto Mangunkusumo
\nGeneral Hospital (RSCM) morgue.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/beloved-daughter-still-awaits-fathers-return-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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