When Mohamed Sharin bin Salleh went to the Polytechnic, he wanted a motorbike to make it easier for him to travel to and from campus. His parents got him a small one, a 125cc bike.
There was no stopping him from that point. His love for his bike consumed him. A few years later when he started working, he moved on to a bigger bike, first a 400cc one and then to a 1,000cc scrambler. When he died in May this year, Sharin, 25, was riding his scrambler.
“We were always worried for him and told him to stop many times. But Sharin loved riding his bike too much. Even when he was at home, he would spend time cleaning and polishing his bike or changing some spare parts to make his bike perform better,” said Mr Salleh bin Ali, Sharin’s father.
Sharin’s greatest love was to take his bike for long rides up north. He had travelled many times on his bike all the way to Kuala Lumpur and even up to Hatyai in southern Thailand. Crossing the Causeway on his bike to have a meal with friends was a common pastime for him.
It was during one such outing that Sharin lost control of his bike along the Expressway. He was thrown off his bike and died instantly.
Four months after, his parents, brother and sister, are still trying to come to terms with his loss. They console each other by remembering that he died doing what he loved best.
Following Sharin’s death, worldly concerns caught up with them. Sharin had bought the bike on a loan and the family had to settle that. And, there were repairs that had to be attended to as well.
Sharin was a union member with the Chemical Industries Employees Union (CIEU). An insurance scheme taken out for all union members, the SLF GiftPlus, entitled his family to $20,000.
“As much as the loss is great for me and especially for my wife, the money helped us settle the bike loan and repair the bike. In Sharin’s name we have also donated money to an orphanage and that give us some peace.”
Mr Salleh is also grateful to Sharin’s employer, Dupont who showed care and concern for the family.
The father added: “I wish young people could be banned from riding huge capacity motorbikes. They can become addicted to the speed of these machines.”
