Work Can Kill

It's just so sad to read of this piece of news at LKS's blog:

It is most heart-rending to read of the account of Hashidee Murshin Hassim, 29, a childhood friend of Captain Nor Azlan Termuzi, of how the pilot in the fatal crash had a "fear of flying Nuri".

Azlan, who had been a pilot for 11 years, had been flying the Nuri on the Sungai Besi-Kuantan route for the past two years.

The New Straits Times in its report "Captain feared flying Nuri" quoted Hashidee as saying that Azlan had told him that "he would rather drive a truck to Kuantan, because he felt safer".

According to the NST report:

For each flight, Hashidee said, Azlan would always rely on the assurances given to him by the helicopter technician.

"He was even thinking of quitting the force, but his contract with them was the only thing that stopped him as he would have to fork out RM49,000 for breaching it," he said.

"Everytime he flew the Nuri he would call to tell me that he was taking off and upon reaching Kuantan, he would call me again."

"This time, he never called me back."

It reminded me of that girl who died because of severe work-related stress. She felt chained to the job because if she had forfeited her work-contract, she would have to pay a hefty penalty. She died a few days after blogging about this:

I just feel like I'm carrying a heavy baggage of few hundred kilos & I'll start to feel really weak & dizzy. Doc just said I'm really stressed out. sigh..... what should I do? Quit? or continue this ultra-super stressful job? I've got a contract of 6 mths to fulfill... 3 months to commit. If I quit now, I've got to pay back 1 mth's salary. Not worth it. If i quit after May, it won't be so bad. But I don't know if my health can tolerate til then. My mom's really worried & I can't do much to get less worried. Cos my focus was to earn lots of $. I really thought I was able to do everything, that I can be supergirl as well, but my health is worsening at a fast rate. Vitamin M(oney) isn't gonna cure my health. Just yesterday, I received an email from my job agency saying that a contract staff who's working in HP as well, passed away from heart attack, leaving his wife & kids... deja vu? coincidental? a warning sign? I dunno. I don't wanna end up dead for the sake of dough. The moral of the story is don't ever fall in love with your company or your job.

Two people who died in the cause of work. Two people who felt bound to their contracts despite the knowledge that their jobs may be bad for their health and well-being.

If they could do it all over again, would they willingly part with RM49k and a one-month's salary penalty? To their loved ones I'm sure, that's just a small price to pay - if only they can remain a little longer on this earth. For we can always find a way to get money but we have only just this one life to live. My heart and prayers goes out to their loved ones.

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