KUALA BERANG: Not many aspire to be a corpse handler, which would require bathing the body.

       In fact, the mere mention of it creates fear in a person, especially the young generation.

       But for Nur Akmaliah Alias, 26, who is an assistant corpse handler, her desire to know about the task and also fulfilling her “fardu kifayah” (communal obligation) as a Muslim prompted her to assume the role.

       She has bathed more than 50 corpses since she was 18 years old.

       A Malay Literature student at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Nur Akmaliah had chosen to follow the footsteps of her mother Rosmawati Abdullah, 53, who is certified to bathe corpses.

       “I became interested after accompanying my mother who was giving a corpse handling course to village folk. When it was time for the practical session to shroud the corpse, no one was around to act as the corpse, so my mother asked me to volunteer.

       “After being washed, when I was shrouded in white cloth, a sense of awareness crept up in me and I felt I needed to learn how to bathe and handle a corpse because we all die, eventually,” she said when met by Bernama at her home here yesterday.

       She said it was an unforgettable experience managing the remains of a HIV patient three years ago because she was required to put on two layers of personal protective equipment (PPE).

       She felt sadness after looking at the corpse’s condition.

       Still, Nur Akmaliah urged the young generation to educate themselves in handling corpses because not many of them are interested in the field.

       “Who will take over after us? This is a communal obligation, we need to know (how to bathe a corpse) so that when a family member passes away, we know what to do. I would like to urge parents to take the corpse management course and bring the children along,” she said.

       Nur Akmaliah’s elder brothers Mohd Sallehuddin, 36, and Mohd Imran, 34, are also certified as assistant corpse bathers.