“Speak well of the dead or not at all.”

So let me speak well of the late Tun Taib Mahmud whom I met only once 25 years ago. Taib (Datuk Patinggi then) together with his late wife Datuk Patinggi Laila were Guests of Honour at my wedding and he was that day – as is customary – seated next to the groom inside the PJ Hilton Ballroom.

Over the course of the dinner, we engaged in polite conversation about nothing of any great importance. Towards the end of the evening however, he leaned over and spoke softly, “Your father once saved my life, and by Allah’s will, I will never forget”. I did not have the chance to ask more. He flew in from and back to Kuching the same night.

A few days later, I asked my father what Taib meant. He explained:

It was 1972/73 in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), where two years back my father was sent on his first overseas posting as a foreign service officer. Taib had just been appointed by Tun Razak as the first (federal) Minister of Primary Industries and was on an official visit to South Vietnam. The Paris Peace Accords was just signed between North Vietnam, South Vietnam and the US to formally end the Vietnam War, and Malaysia wanted to quickly re-establish trade with South Vietnam. But while American forces withdrew, heavy fighting continued in the South. Upscale hotels, clubs and US presence in Saigon were frequent targets of VC/VM pro North Vietnamese insurgents.

During that visit, my father arranged for Taib to visit a local bank to view some rare coins; Taib was an avid collector. They were sitting on a sofa inside the bank lobby when a bomb exploded just outside; the whole building shook violently and a massive crystal chandelier came crashing down just above them. My father pushed Taib off the sofa just in time as it was ripped apart by the mangled glass and metal. They cheated death that day. A bank staff – a young teller – died succumbing to his injuries.

Over the years, Taib would reconnect during his official and private travels to countries where my father was posted. Italy 1976, Poland 1982, Indonesia 1987, Brazil 1992. Each time he would ask my father to come work for him in Kuching but not being Sarawakian, my father always felt he would be a fish out of water and so would politely decline. And so it went each time even until my father finally retired in 1998 when Taib asked again. My father said he had already accepted a role in Cyberjaya post retirement. And yet when invited for my wedding in 2000, Taib graciously accepted.

That night, as Taib was ushered to his motorcade, he said to my father: “Mustapha, I know you are not business minded, and you are too used to living in a big city like KL. But at least let me say thank you for that day in Saigon.”

And with those words they quietly hugged and smiled at each other. The last time they met was at Datuk Patinggi Laila’s funeral in 2009.

My father never told me what was the thank you from Taib. He is 80 now, lives a quiet life alone in a one bedroom apartment nearby. He cooks his own meals, takes walks twice a day and is in bed by nine. And with his modest monthly pension as a government servant, he is always cheerful knowing that in his long and eventful life, he encountered and served more than a few good men along the way. Taib Mahmud was one of those few good men.

Narrated by`Aisha:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Do not abuse the dead, for they have reached the result of what they have done.”

May Allah forgive Allahyarham Tun Taib Mahmud for his sins and trespasses and grant him a place among the righteous.