PETALING JAYA: “I have to be strong for my mother.”
Those are the words Siti Shakira is holding on to after losing her father and two younger sisters in a fatal collision involving an Immigration Department truck along Jalan Sultan Ismail in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday (Aug 19), just a day before her birthday.
In a Facebook post on Saturday (Aug 22), the eldest daughter of Shaik Mohd Firdaus Shaikh Yahya, 53, and sister to Siti Nor Sazlin, 25, and Siti Darwisyah Auni, 12, said she was still struggling to come to terms with their deaths.
“This is such a huge test for me. Just one day before my birthday, I was suddenly tested with the loss of my father and both my younger sisters.
“Until today, I still cannot believe that it was really them. I do not know how I can face all of this, but I have to be strong for my mother,” she said in the post.
Shakira said she had spent much of her life with her father and sisters, accompanying them wherever they went.
She also recalled the simple things her father and sisters used to say, which were still ringing in her head, such as her father asking her to go for a meal, her sister asking her to go to the night market, and her youngest sister asking her to buy her something.
“My father never left me, even though he knew I was already married. This is such a heavy test for me,” she said.
She also expressed concern for her mother, Nor Hayati Rozali, 55, who survived the crash but was injured.
“I do not want her to lose hope. I want her to recover,” she said.
Despite her grief, she said she was grateful for the many messages of love and prayers shared about her family.
“I am grateful that everything I have read about them has been good. I never realised they were such good people and that they were loved by so many,” she said.
On Thursday (Aug 20), the Immigration Department lorry driver, Mohd Akbar Zainol, 43, was charged with five traffic offences, including dangerous driving, following the crash that killed the three family members. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
These include charges under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987, which carries a jail term of between five and 10 years and a fine of between RM20,000 and RM50,000, as well as disqualification from holding or obtaining a driving licence for at least five years, upon conviction.
The case is fixed for mention on Oct 27.
