zmi was born in Sungai Petani, Kedah on 29 October
1949, the fourth of eight siblings (four sisters and three brothers).
Though born in Kedah, Azmi spent his early primary school life in
various other parts of the country, following his father’s frequent job
transfers. His father, Encik Khalid Ariffin, was then a cooperative
officer and his mother, Puan Asma Haji Che Man, a homemaker. Both parents
were from Kedah and have now settled in Ampang Jaya, Kuala Lumpur. Of the
eight siblings only the first four were born in Kedah: Fatimah, Ariffin,
Khatijah and Azmi. Fatimah, the eldest sister, who has since passed away,
lived in Kedah, Ariffin, the eldest brother, worked for Shell Malaysia but
is now retired and lives in Petaling Jaya. Khatijah is with Sunway College.
The four younger siblings (Fadzillah, Fauziah, Azahari and Azman) were not
born in Kedah. Fadzillah, who was a systems analyst with Intan, has also
passed away. The remaining younger sister, Fauziah, works at HSBC Bank
Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, while Azahari is now attached to Maybank (New York).
The youngest brother, Azman, is with Nestlés Malaysia.
Azmi spent a good number of years of his primary school
life in Malacca. He often regaled the family with stories of his early
school life at the Tranquerah English School and never failed to
show us the various memorable places in Malacca, which he was particularly
fond of, on our trips there.
During his younger days, he contributed articles to
a children’s magazine called The Young Malayan. He had the ambition
then to be a journalist but, caught up later with the cause of human
rights, he changed his mind. He often sat on the editorial boards of
some school magazines. He was an industrious student and participated
in many school activities.
Azmi attended two different secondary schools; the
Sultan Abdul Hamid College in Alor Star and later the Victoria
Institution (V.I.) in Kuala Lumpur. He had fond memories of the V.I.
where he made many good friends who remained until the end. In the V.I.
he was on the editorial board of the school magazine, a committee
member of the National Language Society, a school librarian and a member
of the school Cadet Corps. He was also a member of the Bahasa Malaysia
school debating team, joining seniors such as Rafiah Salim and Wan
Ahmad Hulaimi in 1966.
Azmi pursued his legal studies at the London School
of Economics (LSE) and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).
While there he joined the Malaysian Students Law Society and served on
its committee. He was also on the editorial board of the Society’s annual
journal Kanun. During his LSE days he was exposed to a myriad of
student activities that included demonstrations as well as various social
interests that LSE students were so involved in.
Upon his return home to Malaysia, Azmi joined the
newly established Law Faculty at the University of Malaya in 1974.
During that period the university campus was rocked by student
demonstrations and Azmi had to help secure bail for the release of
some law students who were caught in demonstrations on and off the campus.
Azmi began his teaching career in the area of Public
International Law and Constitutional Law. He zealously guarded the teaching
of Constitutional Law and was particularly selective in the choice of
co-teachers and tutors for that subject. He insisted that anyone who
taught that subject must appreciate the underlying principles of the
Constitution and Constitutional Law. In fact, when he was on his first
sabbatical leave in 1978, he was glad that it was Ariff Yusof, someone who
shared his views on the subject, who took over in his absence.
At the Law Faculty, the trio of the VI debating team
met up again when both Hulaimi and Rafiah joined Azmi. However, the
reunion did not last very long; Hulaimi left first and Rafiah followed
suit but Azmi remained. It was on the occasion of Rafiah’s departure
from the Faculty to join Maybank, in 1988, that Azmi had the occasion
of reminding her that she was to be literally sitting on the remnant
of what was left of Bukit Mahkamah, which Hulaimi had launched a
campaign to save. With the departure of Rafiah they split ways but
remained good friends.
After failing to register a human rights society,
Azmi decided to pursue another route. He developed a new law course
on his favourite subject, International Human Rights and Humanitarian
Law, in 1979. He was extremely happy that the course was approved
for teaching by the University and was excited at the prospect of being
able to impart his knowledge and share his views on the subject so
close to his heart. Azmi firmly believed that upholding and spreading
human rights awareness through education would be a sure and effective way,
though it may be a slow process. Although he realised that such a subject
would not attract many students, he believed it was not the quantity that
mattered; rather it was their commitment to the cause that was of
paramount importance.
In late 1978 Azmi joined ALIRAN, which was formed
in Penang. He was so happy to be part of ALIRAN that he served on its
committee for many years. It was what ALIRAN believes in as much as the
approach that it adopts that impressed him most. Azmi was by nature
committed to everything that he believed in. He felt very strongly
for the cause of ALIRAN and would spend time and energy for what he
knew to be a cause for humanity as well as a fulfilling pastime. Even
when asked by the then Dean of the Faculty as well as some other
colleagues to consider pursuing his Doctorate in Law, Azmi always
maintained his view that writing in the Aliran Monthly or the likes,
on issues that matter most, was indeed a more meaningful contribution
to humanity. Even then Azmi often complained of the inability to do
as much as he would like to. Being almost of the same age as Dr Chandra
Muzaffar, he often envied and marvelled at how much more service Dr
Chandra had contributed to ALIRAN (as President) and to other causes.
However, the achievements of some other friends gained in pursuit of
wealth and fame did not seem to interest Azmi much.
Azmi was often asked by students and ex-students
to write references for them either in relation to their job applications
or in furtherance of their studies. He kept copies of some of the letters
that he had written for them over the years. But the reference that
gave him satisfaction was the one he wrote for a temporary canteen
operator of the Law Faculty, Pak Cik Mahat, who was keen to be considered
as a canteen operator at the MPPJ building in Petaling Jaya and succeeded
in his application. Pak Cik Mahat was forever so grateful. Azmi found
that the joy which Pak Cik Mahat had was much more rewarding than perhaps
getting some of his students into postgraduate courses.
Besides being a reference writer Azmi had also stood
as guarantor for several of his students and was even landed with a
court judgment.
When Azmi assumed the position of Deputy Dean in
1980, the late Professor Ahmad Ibrahim was then its Dean. During his
tenure he had one overriding concern: that the subjects he taught might
suffer setbacks due to his heavy administrative duties.
Azmi and I were married in April 1980. The arrival
of our daughter Alina in 1981 and our son Rizal in 1982 caused more
constraints on Azmi’s time. But spending time with his young children
brought him much joy. Azmi always insisted that one of us be around
when the children woke up in the morning. Since my work at the
Attorney-General’s Chambers required clocking in at eight in the
morning, Azmi was happy to stay back. In fact, Azmi started doing this
after the birth of Alina. He used to bathe the baby before going to
work rather than trust the maid to do it. He later spent most morning
breakfasts with the children. The breakfast times they shared became
one of the children’s most memorable moments with him.
After three years of administrative work, Azmi
decided that juggling domestic, academic and administrative
responsibilities was too much of a strain on his time. In his letter
of resignation to the late Prof. Ahmad, he wrote to say that during
his three years as Deputy Dean he was coping with both administrative
and academic duties in a manner that he could no longer say in all
honesty that his academic work did not suffer too much. He felt that
his academic work had been steadily declining and for his own as well
as his students’ interests he needed to take immediate steps to arrest
that trend. Besides, such constraints on his time could not be the
way for him to bring up the family because as he stated “my loved ones
deserve better from me and I really aim to see to that”. He resigned from
the Deputy Dean’s position in 1983; he later reassumed the position in
1986 for another period of two years.
For a hobby Azmi enjoyed listening to music. Very
much a homebody, he liked just relaxing at home whenever he could. It
was no surprise that his favourite holiday spot was Fraser’s Hill. He
enjoyed the serenity and quietness of the place where he could leisurely
spend time marking the endless examination and assignment scripts of
his students while the children would run around playing in the cool
weather. Interior decoration was another of Azmi’s interests. He was
quite meticulous about choosing the right colour of his home which,
more often than not, ended with brown.
Azmi was described by many as quiet, a man of very
few words. As he himself often remarked in response to such comments,
he preferred to think rather than to talk. His quiet strength was
accompanied by gentleness, patience and commitment that showed him as
a serious person in every way, though he possessed a good sense of humour.
It was in October 1985 that Azmi first discovered his
illness while on sabbatical attachment with the Human Rights Internet at
Harvard University, Massachusetts. It was a shocking discovery for all
of us, what with being so far away from home. However, even before there
was much time to absorb or ponder over it Azmi was already scheduled
for surgery. On the first day of his admission into Mount Auburn Hospital
at Harvard, Jack Tobin from the Human Rights Internet visited him and
they both had what he said was to be the last “puff”. At that time
the doctor who diagnosed him did not fully disclose the medical problem
as yet. After becoming aware of his illness, Azmi never thought of smoking
again. In fact Azmi had made a few failed attempts to give up smoking.
Each time he failed he joked that smoking and passion for human rights
were his only two “vices”; alas, everyone had vices he declared. Having
given up one “vice”, he said that he was then quite happy to continue
with the other.
Recalling some of the possible symptoms of his
illness, Azmi was grateful that he was being given medical attention
in Boston. He reassured us by saying there could not be a better place
to get such treatment than in Boston. He was in one way happy and at
the same time very hopeful that his prayer to discern what was ailing
him was going to be answered. Azmi always reminded all of us to count
our blessings especially in the face of any adversity — something that
helped him persevere through his own difficult times.
There were many concerned friends and family members
who offered good advice on diet observation, food supplements, exercises
etc. Azmi diligently observed some of them so much so he even kept a
daily record of his consumption of some food supplements for years.
That was also a reflection of his trait of being so organised. He
liked keeping a record of things, even copies of personal letters,
including notes or instructions to his office secretaries.
Much as he tried to forget his illness there were
times when it was just impossible to ignore it. But in 1987 and 1988
two dark political events brought Azmi back on his feet. In the wake of
Operation Lalang in 1987, he actively worked to secure the release of
some detainees through applications of the writ of habeas corpus.
Azmi was visibly upset when he attended a habeas corpus application
in the High Court for Dr Chandra and seven others. In the Attorney-General’s
submission to the court, he defined solitary confinement to mean
being confined to a single room which he admitted was not up to a
five-star hotel standard! Azmi was even more upset that the trial
judge had brushed off arguments that the ISA should never apply and
was not intended to be used against government critics or to stifle
legitimate opposition or to silence lawful dissent.
The next event that occurred soon after this was
the convening of a tribunal that led to the removal of Tun Salleh Abbas
as Lord President in 1988 together with two other Supreme Court judges,
Tan Sri Wan Suleiman Pawanteh and Datuk George Seah. Like many Malaysians,
Azmi was very much affected by these depressing events.
Around the middle of 1990 Azmi’s illness took a
turn for the worse. The political situation of the country had also
not recovered from the constitutional shock of these two events. To
many social activists the country was in a depressing state. This
did not help Azmi spiritually either.
In the same year Azmi and I went on our haj.
Despite his medical condition, the tranquility of Masjid-il-haram gave
him a sense of peace and calm. The rituals of the haj included many
prayers at Masjid-il-haram. All of us there, including my mother and
father, naturally prayed hard for Azmi’s recovery. When he found out
about this, he jokingly remarked that his recovery may help improve
Malaysia in a very small way as a better country will serve a bigger
purpose. He said his health was important but so was the country’s
condition. He was praying for the betterment of the country he said
because then it would provide for a better place for the children and
future generations to live in. The haj was such an achievement for
Azmi. It gave him so much fortitude. He often missed our two children
when we were there because he had never been away so long from them.
He kept thinking about bringing them there later but sadly his wish
was not to be fulfilled.
The next two years were quite agonising for the
family though Azmi hardly complained or grumbled. After much
persuasion by doctors, family members and friends he agreed to go
for another medical treatment, this time at the Royal Melbourne Hospital,
Australia. During the two years Azmi had to make two trips for medical
treatment there. But he passed away on 24 May 1992 at the same hospital.
Though one ought to have expected the worst in the
light of his medical history, it is but only human to think in optimistic
terms. Death is always a shock but it is a necessary reminder of the
omnipotence of God. Even though an important part of my life is over,
there is so much that is good to remember. These memories will carry
us through in our lives. We actually never lose the one we love, for
even though he is gone, within the hearts of those who care his memory
lingers on ....
Rohana Yusuf
Reproduced from Azmi Khalid, Human Rights Advocate -
A Tribute (2002)
with the kind permission of Dr Chandra Muzaffar and Puan Rohana Yusuf
The V.I. Web Page