Michael Jackson - August 29 1958-June 25 2009

Hard not to feel anything about his death when you are one of those people who has grown up listening and humming to his songs, and admiring/hating his antics. Bad, Beat It, Thriller, Billie Jean, those energetic 'moonwalk' dances, one-glove-white-socks-glittered-jacket style, afro hair (when he was much younger), light-up shoes, the uniform ... bla bla bla, though I admitted these days, I have forgotten most of his songs' lyrics just like I have forgotten most of the lyrics of other singers' songs. But the melody of MJ songs remain intact in my mind. I could tell in seconds if a song is his or others'.

So, I would be lying if said I had not felt at least a tinge (really??) of sadness when I heard the news of his death this morning. MJ died supposedly of a cardiac arrest on Thursday at UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, at 2:26pm Los Angeles time (2126 GMT) (Friday morning in Malaysia), just weeks before his planned series of comeback concerts. He was 51. The news stunned his fans around the world and perhap almost anyone who 'knows' him. Why, MJ was the world's King of Pop, one of the most successful singers of all time with more than 700 million records sold and 13 Grammy Awards. MJ leaves behind three children and ironically, despite his once-big success, a mountain of debts.

Can't find a proper word to say about MJ and his life. But what British Foreign Secretary David Miliband posted on Twitter perhaps sums it all. "Never has one soared so high and yet dived so low." But I must add, despite all the bizzareness and eccentricities, he remains the most loved and intriguing icon in the music world, like it or not.

Browsing news and pictures about him in the wires with his Thriller song being played times and again on the office TV, my mind went back to my school days when MJ had been 'part' of our (my friends Ha, Ita and I ) 'hanging out' times, be it on trees, near the river, near the school's field, under the rambutan trees or on the small performance stage in the canteen. We would sing his songs and dance his moonwalk, trying our best to sound and look like him. Of course, no one got it right. But it didn't matter to us, we were just having fun and MJ was so 'in' at that time that we thought we looked 'cool' when we sang his songs.

And the most important thing about MJ in my life is, that I started liking English as a 'language' through his lyrics. His songs made me search for English words in Dictionary and thus started my interest.

Don't know if it's truth or simply rumours, but reports said he had converted to Islam. If he was, May Allah bless his soul. And if he's not, I still hope he will rest in peace.

Death is True. Famous or not, death comes to everyone...when it's time, it's the time!.