KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 28 — A father did not expect that his only child’s advice for him to look after himself before leaving for a camping trip at the Father’s Organic Farm in Batang Kali near here, on December 13, would be the boy’s last words.

For medicine trader Tong Chee Kong, 44, the last words of his late son, Tong Kai En, nine, who went for a camping trip with a group from the school before he died in a tragedy on December 16, are still ringing in his ears.

"Before he left, we hugged and he told me to look after myself as I would be left alone as he and my wife were leaving for the camping trip.

"We shook hands and hugged again and he told me several times to look after myself. That was the last time we spoke,” he said when met at his residence in Taman Dato’ Senu here today.

Earlier, he received a visit from the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs and Special Functions) Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali, accompanied by Batu Member of Parliament, P. Prabakaran, who presented Bantuan Wang Ihsan (BWI) or compassionate aid of RM20,000.

Tong added he only found out about the incident after he was contacted by his mother-in-law at about 10am who asked if his son and wife had returned from the camping site after watching the news of the landslide incident on the television.

Tong, who was at work then, immediately contacted the police station to find out if his son and wife, Lai Lee Koon, 44, were involved, but failed to obtain any news as the police had not yet received the full report.

After a day of waiting, he then decided to go to Sungai Buloh Hospital in the hope of finding them safe, but his world was shattered when he was told that his son and wife had died in the tragedy.

Meanwhile, Siti Esah Hassan, 53, described her daughter, Nurul Azwani Kamaruzaman, 31, who was also killed in the tragedy, as a cheerful and affable person among her friends.

"Until now, I still remember the time spent with her. She was a good daughter and cared about her family a lot,” said Siti Esah who also received RM10,000 compassionate aid from Armizan at her residence in Kampung Batu.

Meanwhile, Armizan, in a statement, said that the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) will channel an immediate allocation of RM480,000 to the Selangor state secretary.

It is to enable the Public Works Department to carry out investigation work on the collapsed slope of B66 section 14.0 of Jalan Batang Kali-Genting Highlands, Hulu Selangor.

The landslide tragedy that occurred at 2.42 am on Dec 16 at the Father’s Organic Farm campsite, Gohtong Jaya, Batang Kali, claimed 31 lives with 61 people rescued out of a total of 92 victims involved. — Bernama