A dear colleague Zulhilmi Supaat, the Sports Editor of Bernama passed away suddenly this morning at the Selayang Hospital.
I last met Zul at the London Olympics and he was rushing from venue to venue, trying his level best to provide coverage for the Malaysian public.
Normally a jovial person, Zul was somewhat reserved on this trip and we only met at the Wembley Arena, the venue for badminton.
It is still fresh in my mind when I covered the All England in 2004 in Birmingham with him. After the All England, Zul as well as Lukman Salleh (now Arena) and S. Selvam (now BWF) were planning to stay a night in London before catching their flight back to Kuala Lumpur.
I offered them a place to stay at my sister's and they accepted. The next day all of us went to downtown London and Zul was in his jovial self, as he cracked jokes, and even my family was happy with his mannerism.
From then on whenever our paths crossed, Zul started calling me the Mayor of London, for he was happy to have been able to see London in a day.
My friend, you are no more with us today, as your maker loves you more. You will be missed and my heartfelt condolences to your family.
May you rest in peace dear friend. God bless your soul.
Note: His remains are at lot 8705, Jalan Nakhoda Kanan 2, Kampung Nakhoda, Batu Caves
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 (Bernama) -- Zulhilmi Supaat, head of the Sports
Desk at the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama), died on Monday at
Selayang Hospital. He was 44.
His widow, Noor Aidah Idris, 37, said Zulhilmi was admitted to the hospital last night after he complained of difficulty breathing. He died at 7.45 am.
Zulhimi leaves behind four children, Amir Fitri, nine, Alya Farisah, seven, Aina Farizah, six, and Akmal Fahmi, five.
He joined Bernama in 1992 and had covered various sports events in the country and abroad, including the recent Olympic Games in London, the Asian Games in Guangzhou in 2010, the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in 2010 and the Thomas Cup badminton tournaments.
Zulhimi was also a committee member of the Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM).
Bernama Sports Desk Chief Zulhimi Dies
His widow, Noor Aidah Idris, 37, said Zulhilmi was admitted to the hospital last night after he complained of difficulty breathing. He died at 7.45 am.
Zulhimi leaves behind four children, Amir Fitri, nine, Alya Farisah, seven, Aina Farizah, six, and Akmal Fahmi, five.
He joined Bernama in 1992 and had covered various sports events in the country and abroad, including the recent Olympic Games in London, the Asian Games in Guangzhou in 2010, the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in 2010 and the Thomas Cup badminton tournaments.
Zulhimi was also a committee member of the Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM).
