A death thousands of kilometres away and its implications for Malaysians

I have a sad story to tell Malaysians today of how a family is going through untold misery after the head of the house died abroad on Sunday in a drowning tragedy. The predicament before the family of Bishop Julius Danaraj Paul of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia may have been faced before by other Malaysians.

My heart goes out to all of them and in this instance, to the family of Bishop Paul. The head of the church died six days ago and his family has yet to see his face. The problem, as it were, is the tedious process that families like his have to go through to get the remains back.

While it is no one's fault really as there are mandatory procedures to be followed in the country where the person died and in the home country of the deceased, the effect on the immediate family, and in this case the entire church too, is immense.

It has been terribly difficult for Alice Santha Paul, the wife of Bishop Julius, and their children Surenthran, Naventhran, who live here, and Lalitha who works in Australia. After nearly a week of waiting for the body of her husband, she left on a flight to Guatemala City on Friday night with Naventhran to be with her beloved and accompany his remains back here.

We are told that it may take up to 10 days for Bishop Julius' body to be repatriated from the Latin-American nation, certainly a period of pain for the immediate family, relatives, friends and in this case members of the Malaysian Christian community where Bishop Julius was a well-known figure.

Alice will come back with her husband's remains after a very long flight there and back. I shudder to think of the ordeal that awaits the families of others who may have the misfortune of dying abroad.In this case, the delay in terms of local documentation in a Third World country was compounded by the fact that we do not have a mission in Guatemala.

All arrangements to repatriate the body had to be channelled through the Malaysian embassy in Mexico City which is doing its best to expedite the process. But still, there is only so much they can do from a distance. And so, Alice - with a heart already broken by the sad demise of her husband - had to take a 36-hour flight to see his face.

Ah, the unbelievable love of a wife.

I wonder if there is a standard operating procedure at Wisma Putra that can be made available to Malaysians whose relatives or friends die abroad so that the entire process of repatriation can be expedited?

I have heard horror stories being told of how it took 12 days to repatriate a body from China and almost the same number of days to do so in the case of Australia. Surely, something can be done to hasten the process, and in so doing, ease the pain of the bereaved family.

I have to qualify this statement as I certainly understand the complexities of cases involving a criminal element or any other factor outside the pale of a "normal' (for want of a better word) death abroad. Yet, we live in the 21st century and have the benefit of excellent diplomatic ties with most nations.

This should logically translate into a well-oiled process of repatriating bodies.Granted that Guatemala is half a world away with the attendant problem of an inordinate period of time to fly back, the internal process of documentation and approvals can surely be hastened.

And so the sad story continues to unfold. We dont know for sure as to when the body of Bishop Paul will arrive in Kuala Lumpur and when the funeral will be held.

The church remains in a state of uncertainty although Bishop Paul, for reasons best known to him, called for the election of his successor on Nov 1 this year despite having a good two years to complete his term.

I will keep Malaysians posted of developments in this case.Meanwhile, do give me your views on how best families of people who die abroad can be spared the torture of days of uncertainity until their remains are received here.





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