Be at peace, my friend
June 4, 2008
Today, civil society lost a good friend.
Toni succumbed to cancer this morning.
The call I received early this morning of her death left me numbed.
I had wanted to go see her so many times since her illness turned for the worse, but there always seemed to be something more pressing.
I realise now that there is nothing more pressing than to hold a dying friend and to love her back in the way she had loved so many people.
I left this to too late.
In life she was an inspiration to so many. Let not her passing today diminish our memories of all the good that Toni stood for.
Toni has left us to push on in the many challenges she has been a part of in striving for a just society.
In remembrance of Toni, my candle in Kamunting this Saturday shall be lit both to honour the passing of a friend and to show solidarity with my fellow anak Bangsa Malaysia in calling for an end to the injustices of the ISA.
There will be no further posts on this blog until Sunday.
I leave you with this beautiful obituary written by Kathy Rowland.
June 4, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Is this Toni Kassim? My condolences to her and her family. If she is a muslim, then al fatiha.
June 4, 2008 at 10:22 pm
I once heard a saying: “The Righteous die young while the wicked, eternal”
It’s a crying shame that it’s only the people who matter that suffer while the crooks get away scot-free.
My deepest condolences to the family of Toni Kassim.
June 5, 2008 at 12:12 am
Sad to hear the demise of a great sister,Toni.We’ve lost
a truly ANAK BANGSA MALAYSIA but her spirit, contribution never die. Salam
June 5, 2008 at 1:44 am
Life is tough for those wish to fight hard with their heart!
To see things with heart!
To work the best they can rest with the heart!
To go over and over again even with broken heart!
IF CONSTITUTION HAS THE RIGHT PLACE FOR SOCIAL WORKER IN THE CIVIL SOCIETY WITH A HEART, THEY CAN WORK HARD WITHOUT A BROKEN HEART!
In memory of Toni, those in the ability to improve Constitution, please see Civil Society has the Right place in the Constitution with fair resources from the the Municipal, irrespective of Parties, Race or Religion!
My deepest condolences to family of Toni!
June 5, 2008 at 2:13 am
Haris my appologies. I accidently wrote ‘to her and her family’.I just meant her family…but this kind of typing errors sometimes happen when my blood presure becomes too low.
Anyway, again i appologize to any who may have been offended.
June 5, 2008 at 5:52 am
Al Fatiha to her & my deepest condolences to her family.
May Allah bless her soul for the unselfish goodness & greatness that she has left for all of us in legacy.
June 5, 2008 at 9:16 am
Deepest condolences to the family of Toni
May her soul rest in peace !
June 5, 2008 at 10:49 am
Despite her ailment she was brave to voice for the meek and the oppressed.Good bye, a great Daughter of this soil.
Let us remember her in our prayers and pray for the repose of her soul.
June 5, 2008 at 11:00 am
She was a good woman and a good human being. RIP Toni. My deepest condolence to all family members and friends.
June 5, 2008 at 12:54 pm
I didn’t know Toni. But I knew what she stood for and
what she worked for and her idealistic and relentless spirit.
I can only say, through reading others’ comments on her and yes, Haris, that heart-wrenching obituary by Kathy Rowland, that Toni was a woman who knew how to live life to the fullest and knew how to give joy and encouragement to its fullest to others.
I did not know her, yet I sorrow at her passing, as one always does, when someone good and fine and true and rare leaves, never to return.
May her soul rest in peace.
June 5, 2008 at 2:02 pm
saya berjumpa toni masa 24 hours writting marathon organized by amnesty international di cm annexe tahun lepas. kami berbual ramah, panjang membicarakan keadaan di malaysia, tentang politiknya,tentang ketidakadilannya, tentang penyalahgunaan kuasanya dan bermacam macam perkara lain lagi. walaupun,kami PERTAMA KALI berjumpa, tetapi keramahannya tetap saya ingati.. saya begitu kagum sekali dgn toni, bila setiap kali usaha usaha beliau untuk melakukan berbagai bagai perkara yg baik untuk semua.. toni, u will be miss..
June 5, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Toni… the great toni…
You are a legend, and your legacy will live on. You will be missed.
Rest in peace.
June 5, 2008 at 11:53 pm
From the comments from both yours and Susan Loone’s blog, does it matter whether one is or was a Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu, or Malay, Chinese, Indian or whatever? Toni appear to me as a great person, though I only learn about her not long ago.
June 6, 2008 at 12:40 am
Dear Haris,
I came to know about Ms Toni just before our recent elections.
Peoples Parliament proposed her as a candidate for the opposition.
Your write up about her further exposed her stance.
No,I don’t know her personally (I am doled up in JB).
But….her passing is truly shocking….
I have just said a prayer for her and tomorrow I will be at the temple to ask God to take care of Ms Toni in HIS heavenly abode.
RIP Ms Toni.
BR
RastamanJB.
June 6, 2008 at 11:19 pm
My condolence to her family and friend
SF
http://stylomum.blogspot.com/
June 7, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Dedicated to Toni and all the other brave patriots fighting for a OneMalaysia.
===
THEY
They scream, “Shortage of crude oil!” when there isn’t one,
to boost the fake value of their crooked hedge fund.
They raise prices by hoarding cooking oil, rice and wheat
while millions are starving with no food to eat.
They howl, “We found atomic bombs so we must bomb them!”
Do war profits make up for the ghosts condemned to haunt them?
They play the race card to corrupt communities, divide the rakyat –
to hide the Truth they aborted and buried deep in their backyard.
They fan the flames of hate with their venom-tongued voodoo,
spewing flamethrower rhetoric that’s melting their own igloo.
They hide like hermit crabs in shells of borrowed time;
like failed snails nailed in salt, dissolving into slime.
Enough is enough and finally when
the donkey’s back snaps, maximum shit hits the fan –
we’ll stick their lies in their eyes with wasabi superglue;
then damn them and send them straight to you-know-who…
“Hell-o,” says Mr D, “I’ve been waiting for you –
you’re just in time for barbecue.”
Bashaarat
June 9, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Sad to hear a falling heroin.
Be in peace.
A concerned voter