Farewell to my teacher

Earlier this year, i received news that Prof Vin D'Cruz was terminally ill.  Shortly after, I spoke to him on the phone.  His voice sounded tired but we still spoke with an infectious optimism.  We spoke about his plans for this year. He was going to travel to China on invitation from a university there.  They want him to teach there for a while: to teach whatever he wanted.  I thought it was a wonderful idea and an incredible honour.  That was the last time we spoke.  I prayed that it would not be the last but my prayers was not answered.

I first met Vin more than a decade ago when I was doing my masters in UKM.  There were only three students in his class that first semester when he was a visiting professor at UKM: Faezah, Marlini and me.  That semester he introduced us to the Concrete / Abstract Continuum, an extension of the Dialogic Principle that formed the framework of his researches and writings.   I worked most of the way through my masters. 

Over the years that he was there, several of my friends and colleagues learnt from him. I think the most important thing that we learnt from him was the art of writing.  He called the framework that guided his work "the continuum": it is a useful tool that guides analyses and gives meaning to insight.  More importantly, to me, it is a tool to help us understand ourselves: as people, as individuals. 

Yesterday, I spoke to Raihanah, (Dr Raihanah M. Mydin - Department of English Literature, PPBL UKM) about Vin's passing.  I think we will do something in his honour but that will take time.

Honestly, I am still trying to figure out how I should feel about Vin's passing.  There is a void in our lives. 

Good night, Vin.