Rest in Peace, Semek

Mohd Nazri Sulaiman, Malaysia

This boy named Syukor was taking care of hundreds of buffaloes belonging to his father. Of all the buffaloes, Semek was the one closest to Syukor. The relationship between them seems like that of best friend and they played and talked together like classmates. This relationship started when Semek was one year old. Sometime if Syukor played with other buffaloes, Semek felt jealous and came closer to Syukor to grab his attention. The relationship continued until Semek got pregnant and gave birth to the calf Along. Same as Semek, Along also was really close to Syukor and now they were more like family members. Their relationship was really amazing and full of peacefulness and sincerity. Until the day when a disaster happened to Syukor’s family: All their buffaloes fell ill to an animal disease called ‘Haemorrhagic Septicaemia’. Around 50 buffaloes were found dead within a week. On 16 September 2020, I received a WhatsApp message from Syukor’s brother to tell me that Semek had also died. It was really sad to hear that and unfortunately I could not be with them at that time. It was so personal for me just because I am a photographer who captured the photo of Syukor and Semek and won two international photography awards and one of the photos had been included in the world top 20 photos in 2019. Because of it, Syukor and Semek had been viral in Malaysia as ‘Malaysian Mowgli’. When Semek died, Syukor was really sad because of the hundred other buffaloes, Semek was the closest to him and they really understood each other. After Semek died, Along (Semek’s calf) continued the peaceful relationship with Syukor. Rest in PEACE, Semek.

Discover more: Shortlist 2021