BAYAN LEPAS: "I want to follow atok (grandma)," said four-year-old Ahmad Hamzah Ahmad Khairul Nizam a few days before he drowned in a swimming pool at a homestay in Kuala Kangsar, Perak on Sunday.
His father, Ahmad Khairul Nizam Ahamad Fami, 32, said he had asked where his grandmother was.
Ahmad Hamzah's grandmother had passed away in March from stroke.
When told that his grandmother was at the graveyard, the boy said he wanted to be with her.
"Maybe that was a sign that he would leave us for good and Ahmad Hamzah died on the same day as his late grandmother's birthday. Losing both my mother and son this year is the biggest loss I have ever experienced in my life," he said when met.
It was also a heart-wrenching moment when Ahmad Hamzah's younger brother Ahmad Aliff, 2, was heard saying "Bye, abang (big brother)" after his body had been wrapped in white shroud prior to the burial.
The four-year-old was found at the bottom of the pool by his mother Siti Fatimah Abd Rahim, 29 and was declared dead early Monday morning.
Before the tragedy struck, Ahmad Khairul Nizam said they had arrived from Penang at the homestay at about 6pm for a family gathering and he was busy preparing meals with the other adults while the children were playing outside when he heard his wife scream.
"I performed CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) on my son, but he was unresponsive. We rushed him to the hospital before the doctor told us that my son could not be saved at 1.10am.
"Everything happened so fast. My son just celebrated his birthday on July 23," he said.
Ahmad Khairul Nizam also said his son was not into water activities, but when he learned that the homestay had a pool, he was excited and brought along a float.
His son, however, was not his usual bubbly self and mostly slept throughout the trip to the homestay.
Ahmad Hamzah was buried at the Masjid Al-Huda Sungai Ara muslim cemetery at noon on Monday.