POKOK SENA: The seven-year-old daughter of the late Sergeant Faridah Abd Rahman has been calling for her mother since yesterday, unaware of her passing.
According to Faridah's sister, Hafyzoh, 21, her niece, Nurul Jannah Noor Azmi, 7, who has Down syndrome, does not understand the situation and keeps asking about her mother's condition.
However, Hafyzoh said that her youngest niece, Ainul Mardiah, 4, has accepted that their mother has passed away.
"Ever since yesterday, Jannah, who is Faridah's third child, has been looking for her mother and all we could do is console her despite the fact that her mother is no longer with us.
"Jannah, who has special needs, was very close to her late mother but when Faridah was stationed in Lebanon, Jannah stayed with her father, Noor Azmi Ariffin, 39," she said when met after her sister's funeral at Masjid Al-Anwar Muslim cemetery in Kampung Tengah, Pokok Sena.
Faridah, a non-commissioned officer with the Malaysian Battalion (Malbatt), died after collapsing at the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) base in Marakah on May 18.
Earlier today, Faridah was laid to rest with full military honours next to the grave of her younger brother, Muhammad Farihan, who died in 2013, from complications from asthma.
More than 500 people, including personnel from the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN), Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), and Malaysian Army, attended the mosque to perform funeral prayers before Faridah was buried.
The funeral proceedings concluded at 10.20am, followed by Commander of the Royal Malaysian Air Force Joint Force Lieutenant General Datuk Noor Mohamad Akmar Mohd Dom handing over the Jalur Gemilang and United Nations flags to Azmi.
Faridah had just returned from leave in Malaysia and had alighted from the bus that brought her back to the Marakah Camp when she collapsed at about 2.25am (7.25am Malaysia time).
A post-mortem examination completed at the Hammoud Hospital, Saida, Lebanon, on May 19, at about 2.54pm local time, confirmed Faridah died of a heart attack.
She began her service with the armed forces by joining the army in 2007 and was assigned to Kagat.
Before being selected for Malbatt 850-11, Faridah was the senior supervisor for Islamic affairs for the Royal Malay Regiment's 19th Battalion (Mechanised) in Sungai Petani.
Faridah is survived by her husband and four children, namely Nurul Syifa, 13, Muhammad Afnan, 10, Nurul Jannah, 7, and Ainul Mardiah, 4.