New Straits Times Online
2007/05/02

Ultimate sacrifice for their granny
By : Sharifah Mahsinah Abdullah

PASIR MAS: They loved their paralysed grandmother to bits and were determined to do everything in their power to ensure she was never harmed.

And on Monday night, the two terrified children made the ultimate sacrifice for the woman they loved more than life itself.

Despite searing heat and choking smoke as flames engulfed their wooden kampung house on Monday night, 6-year-old Mohd Zaidi Ramli and his 4-year-old brother Mohd Zulhisham Ramli refused to leave their grandmother’s side and save themselves.

Instead, they hung on to 70-year-old Fatimah Abdullah with all their might and resisted attempts by their 10-year-old sister, Nurul Akma Ramli, to pull them to safety.

As the heat became unbearable, Nurul Akma was forced to make a decision which would haunt her for the rest of her life — she was forced to leave them and flee the burning house in tears, knowing that she would never hear their laughter again.

The charred bodies of Fatimah, Zaidi and Zulhisham were later found in a tight embrace amid the debris of the house in Kampung Kasar.

"I tried to pull Zaidi and Zulhisham out before turning to my grandmother.

"But my brothers would not leave her.

"I held their hands but they let go of my hands and held on to my grandmother.

"I had to leave them as the fire spread," said Nurul Akma.

Although she had saved the life of another brother, Mohd Fikri, 8, it was small consolation for Nurul Akma.

"I grabbed Fikri and pushed him outside the house. Then I went back for Zaidi and Zulhisham but they wouldn’t leave."

Nurul Akma said the fire started from a bedroom before spreading to the living room. The fire also destroyed a neighbour’s house, but the six occupants managed to escape.

The children’s mother, Hasmah Mamat, 26, was at another neighbour’s house when the fire broke out at 9.40pm. By the time she rushed home, the fire had already engulfed the house.

The children’s father, Ramli Ismail, 39, was at the Lubok Tapah mosque at the time. "I was on my way home after performing prayers for one of my relatives, who is leaving for Mecca, when I received a telephone call," said a grieving Ramli at the scene yesterday. The carpenter said he had rushed home and was shocked when told that two of his sons and his mother were killed in a fire.

"We were going back to our kampung today (yesterday). The children were so happy about it," he said.

Pasir Mas Fire and Rescue Department officer-in-charge Nordin Yahya said nine firemen took almost an hour to put out the fire, after arriving at the scene at 10pm.

The fire caused losses estimated at RM150,000. It is believed that the fire may have been caused by a candle in one of the rooms.