Wilfred Gomez Malong, passed away around 7am yesterday. He was 63.

Wilfred Gomez Malong, passed away around 7am yesterday. He was 63.Wilfred Gomez Malong, wafat  sekitar 7:00 am kemarin.  
Dia berumur  63.


Gomez during a Police Day celebration
in Kuala Lumpur a few years ago.
Penerima penghargaan termuda dari kegagahan negara, lulus "Pang-lima Gagah Berani" (PGB), ASP (RTD)

Istrinya, Angela Austin, yang di sisinya sepanjang jalan, kata dia meninggal seperti pahlawan sejati bahwa ia, memegang sampai napas terakhirnya ke Iban terkenal moto / mantra, "Agi idup, agi ngelaban" (Fight sebagai Selama ada kehidupan) dibuat terkenal oleh Rangers Sarawak dan kemudian Royal Ranger Resimen.

Angela mengatakan ia kagum dengan kekuatan suaminya menunjukkan meskipun rasa sakit yang dialaminya.

"Saya melihat semangat kelangsungan hidupnya bahkan pada jam terakhir. Itu sangat kuat. Saya kira itu adalah sama untuk orang lain (veteran perang), "katanya kepada wartawan di rumah mereka di Kampung Entingan sini kemarin.

Dengan kesedihan yang terlihat di wajahnya, Angela berbicara tentang almarhum suaminya dengan bangga dan dengan cara yang tenang.

Melirik sekali-sekali di tubuh tak bernyawa suaminya hanya beberapa meter jauhnya, ia teringat jam tersisa dia dengan dia.

Dia mengatakan suaminya baru saja menjalani operasi kedua untuk menghapus bagian dari usus dan memulihkan diri dengan baik. Gomez telah berjuang melawan kanker usus besar sejak awal tahun lalu.

Ia menghabiskan 13 hari di Kuching Rumah Sakit Spesialis di mana ia dioperasi, dan telah habis Rabu lalu.

Dia ingat bahwa dia pulih dan aktif. Dia energik dan suaranya jelas pada Jumat pagi.

"Itu hanya sekitar 10 bahwa ia merasa sakit di perutnya dan kami bergegas membawanya ke unit gawat darurat Rumah Sakit Umum Sarawak," katanya, menambahkan bahwa meskipun ia masih waspada, kondisinya segera memburuk.

"Dokter mengatakan kepada saya bahwa (tubuh) sistem nya mematikan dan ginjal nya gagal," katanya.

Sebelum itu, Angela mengatakan ia berhasil berdoa di mana ia menyebutkan cintanya untuk ibunya, Betty Kiai, saudara-saudaranya, istri dan anak-anak. Itu padanya adalah momen mengharukan karena ia menyebutkan nama-nama orang yang dicintainya dalam percakapan dengan Allah kepada siapa dia meminta kesejahteraan mereka.

Gomez adalah sulung dari tujuh bersaudara dan ia memiliki tiga anak sendiri.

Angela, 41, mengatakan bangsa mungkin ingat suaminya sebagai pahlawan, tetapi baginya dia adalah mitra, kehidupan yang sangat peduli lembut dan pengertian.

Dia mengatakan bahkan ketika ia sakit, ia akan menginginkan foranice-krim - es jeruk nipis dengan pusat vanili menjadi favorit nya - dan somboi (prune kering).

"Sebelum operasi terakhir, ia ingin makan Ambal (siput bambu) dan Syukurlah saya berhasil membeli beberapa dan dimasak untuknya. Itu makan malam terakhir lengkap nya. Setelah itu, dia baru saja kehilangan nafsu makannya. Ini adalah semua hal-hal kecil seperti pergi berbelanja bersama-sama yang saya akan kehilangan tentang dia, "katanya.

Pemakaman Gomez diharapkan pada hari Selasa. Dia mungkin dikuburkan di pemakaman Kampung Entingan Christian dekat Kota Samarahan.

Gomez yang berasal dari Rumah Mandau di Lempaong, Betung menerima Panglima Gagah Berani karena keberaniannya dalam serangan di sebuah kamp komunis jauh di pedalaman Kanowit.

Ia menjabat di Pramuka Perbatasan sebagai inspektur polisi.

Dia meninggalkan pasukan pada tahun 1980 untuk belajar hukum di London dan kembali ke Malaysia untuk praktek hukum. Dia adalah presiden dari Asosiasi Veteran Malaysia selama lima tahun.

Pada tahun 1989, ia terlibat dalam film Perpisahan kepada Raja dibintangi Nick Nolte dan disutradarai oleh John Milius. Film ini ditembak di Kalimantan.

Karangan bunga bertuliskan belasungkawa yang ditulis tiba di rumah Gomez kemarin dari Menteri Dalam Negeri Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein serta Sarawak komisaris polisi DCP Datuk Abdullah Sani Sani Acryl.



The youngest recipient of the country’s gallantry award, “Pang- lima Gagah Berani” (PGB), ASP (Rtd) Wilfred Gomez Malong, passed away around 7am yesterday. He was 63.
His wife, Angela Austin, who was by his side all the way, said he died like the true hero that he was, holding on till his last breath to the famous Iban motto/mantra, “Agi idup, agi ngelaban” (Fight as long as there is life) made famous by the Sarawak Rangers and then the Royal Ranger Regiment.
Angela said she was amazed by the strength her husband showed despite the pain he endured.
“I saw his survival spirit even at the last hour. It was extremely strong. I guess it was the same for the others (war veterans),” she told reporters at their home in Kampung Entingan here yesterday.
With grief visible on her face, Angela spoke of her late husband with pride and in a composed manner.
Glancing once in a while at her husband’s lifeless body just a few feet away, she recalled the remaining hours she had with him.
She said her husband had just undergone his second operation to remove part of his colon and was recuperating well. Gomez has been battling colon cancer since early last year.
He spent 13 days in Kuching Specialist Hospital where he was operated on, and was discharged last Wednesday.
She recalled that he was recovering well and was active. He was energetic and his voice was clear on Friday morning.
“It was only around 10pm that he felt pain in his stomach and we rushed him to the emergency unit of the Sarawak General Hospital,” she said, adding that though he was still alert, his condition soon deteriorated.
“Doctors told me that his (body) system was shutting down and his kidney was failing,” she said.
Prior to that, Angela said he managed to say his prayers in which he mentioned his love for his mother, Betty Kiai, his siblings, wife and children. That to her was a touching moment for he mentioned the names of his loved ones in his conversation with God to whom he asked for their well-being.
Gomez was the eldest of seven siblings and he had three children of his own.
Angela, 41, said the nation might remember her husband as a hero, but to her he was a very caring, soft-spoken and understanding life partner.
She said even when he was sick, he would crave foranice-cream — icy lime with a vanilla centre being his favourite — and somboi (dried prune).
“Before the last surgery, he wanted to eat ambal (bamboo snail) and thank goodness I managed to buy some and cooked it for him. That was his last complete dinner. After that, he just lost his appetite. It is all these little things like going grocery shopping together which I shall miss about him,” she said.
Gomez’s funeral is expected to be on Tuesday. He might be laid to rest at Kampung Entingan Christian cemetery near Kota Samarahan.
Gomez who hailed from Rumah Mandau in Lempaong, Betong received the Panglima Gagah Berani for his valour during an attack on a communist camp deep in the interior of Kanowit.
He served in the Border Scout as a police inspector.
He left the force in 1980 to read law in London and returned to Malaysia to practise law. He was a president of the Veterans Association of Malaysia for five years.
In 1989, he involved in the movie Farewell to the King starring Nick Nolte and directed by John Milius. The movie was shot in Borneo.
Wreaths bearing written condolences arrived at Gomez’s home yesterday from Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein as well as Sarawak police commissioner DCP Datuk Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani.