TANJUNG MALIM: "Wait for Attar in heaven, ok? After this, we can't hug each other anymore because my family has moved on to a different realm."
Those were the sorrowful words of 9-year-old Attar Azim Syukran Jamil, as he poured water on the grave of his parents Syukran Jamil Ab Hamid and Noor Aishah Razali, both 35, and his younger siblings, Ahya Rafiqi, 6, and Lufya Adeena, 1, last night.
The little boy was the only one in his family who survived a two-vehicle crash at Km76.5 Jalan Kota Baru-Gua Musang, near Kampung Pahi, in Kelantan, on Saturday.
Attar said his parents had frequently impressed upon him the need to prepare for the coming Ramadan and to respect his elders.
"Abah said I need to pray a lot so I am able to fast. Abah said to fast is 'best' and we get many graces, but he said we need to pray a lot.... he said there are many who cannot fast, so they don't get a lot of graces.
"Mak said there's no use if I am smart and good at my studies, but I don't respect my parents," he said tearfully after his family's burial at the Felda Trolak Utara Muslim cemetery.
The bodies of the family of four were taken in three hearses from the Sultan Ismail Petra Hospital yesterday, arriving in Felda Trolak Utara, here, at 9.30pm.
Their remains were then taken to Masjid Jamek Al-Ridhuaniah where prayers were said for them, joined by 200 people.
All four were buried in a single grave about 11pm.
Attar's 61-year-old grandfather, Razali Abdullah Hamid, said the families on both the boys' parents' sides were still discussing about who should look after him.
Many relatives, he said, had volunteered to do so.
Razali said Attar would need to have a follow-up check-up next week at the Slim River Hospital to confirm that he did not sustain any injuries in the crash that took his family's lives.
The 1.40pm crash on Saturday involved the Perodua Myvi in which the family were travelling and a Nissan March.,
Attar's parents and youngest sibling died at the scene, while Ahya Rafiqi was pronounced dead 3.15pm while receiving treatement at Sultan Ismail Petra Hospital in Kuala Krai.