KUCHING, June 2 — Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk James Masing today bid his final farewell to his brother, Jantai, 63, who succumbed to Covid-19.

Sharing his grief on Facebook, Masing said the pain of losing his brother to Covid-19 was unbearable, more so when the family could only watch the burial from a distance.

"Today, I had to bury my younger brother. It was so hard to only be able to see from a distance as they lowered the wrapped coffin into the ground as we are not allowed to go near the gravesite,” he said.

Jantai, who was Masing’s second brother, passed away on Monday, a few days after his wife also succumbed to the virus last Friday (May 28).

Masing also appealed to the public to take the pandemic seriously and he stressed the only way to overcome the pandemic was through vaccination.

"Covid-19 should be taken seriously. The pain of losing someone that you could not hold or see for the last time is unbearable. Everyone must be aware of how dangerous this pandemic is. The sooner we get vaccinated, the better it is.

"Rest in peace, dear brother,” he wrote, sharing the last photograph he had taken with Jantai.

Jantai was a liaison officer with Sarawak Energy Berhad. He had studied microbiology at Universiti Teknologi Mara in the 1970s and he was the general manager of a Federal Land Custody and Rehabilitation Authority plantation in the 1980s.

He leaves behind four children, three girls and a son, Nicholas Kudi, who is a political secretary to the chief minister. — Borneo Post Online