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By Mihar Dias March 2026
There are some voices you never expect to hear lying flat on a hospital bed.
Pak Ya’s was one of them.
When I last visited him, he was stretched out, neck braced, body almost completely still — but his voice, that stubborn old instrument of joy, was still alive. He tried to smile when he saw me, the way men of his generation do when they don’t want you to see the pain. Then, in a soft, slightly trembling tone, he hummed a few lines of an old song we used to sing in our younger days.
It was his way of saying: I am still here.
Pak Ya — known formally as former ACP Zakaria Kader — turns 80 this year. Eighty should be a time for old policemen to sit on a verandah, sip tea, and retell exaggerated stories of bravery that grow taller with each retelling. Instead, life dealt him a cruel ambush from behind.
A recent fall fractured the most delicate part of his neck — the C1 and C2 vertebrae — adding to a long-standing spinal problem from L1 to L5. He spent weeks in Putrajaya Hospital. Surgeons managed to repair his neck, and by medical standards the operation was a success.
But illness, like a persistent creditor, rarely stops at one demand.
The fall also caused blood clots in his brain, requiring yet another procedure. At the same time, he continues treatment for prostate cancer — a battle he has been quietly fighting without complaint.
Today, Pak Ya lies mostly immobile in his home in Taman Maluri, a once-active policeman now confined to a bed that has become both his refuge and his prison.
What hurts him most is not the physical pain — though that is considerable — but the quiet arithmetic of survival.
He needs professional nursing care costing RM250 a day.
His police pension is about RM5,000 a month.
Do the math, and you will see why he worries.
Pak Ya has always lived modestly. Policemen of his era did not retire with luxury savings. They retired with stories, friendships, and the pride of service. His two daughters love him deeply, but like many families today, they are struggling with their own financial commitments and cannot provide round-the-clock care.
He is registered as an OKU and receives some assistance from the Social Welfare Department. But anyone who has navigated long-term illness knows such aid barely dents the mountain of expenses: nursing fees, medical supplies, transport to hospital, specialist treatments.
And so, reluctantly, the man who once commanded officers and walked confidently into dangerous situations now faces his hardest assignment — asking for help.
When he spoke to me, he did not complain. He did not speak about pain. He did not speak about fear.
He spoke about dignity.
“I just don’t want to be a burden,” he said quietly.
It is a heartbreaking sentence — because it is the sentence many elderly Malaysians whisper when illness strips away independence.
Pak Ya is not just another patient.
He is a reminder of a generation that spent their strongest years protecting society, often with little recognition and even less financial reward. They believed that service itself was honour enough. They did not imagine that in their final chapter, survival would depend on the kindness of friends and strangers.
Yet here we are.
When I left his home that day, he sang again — a faint, wavering line of an old melody about resilience and hope. His voice cracked midway, not from emotion, but from exhaustion.
Still, he smiled.
That smile is why I am writing this.
If you believe that a man who spent his life serving the public deserves comfort and dignity in his final years, perhaps you can help lighten his burden — whether through financial support, assistance with transport, or simply sharing his story so others may step forward.
Pak Ya can be contacted via WhatsApp at +6019-2621000.
Sometimes, all it takes to keep a voice alive is knowing that someone is listening.
And right now, Pak Ya’s voice — once strong, now fragile — is quietly calling for help.
(His bank details: RHB Islamic 16418800061467 ZAKARIA BIN ABD. KADER)
Mihar Dias (mihardias@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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