Accident happened when he skidded
S'porean biker dies in accident in M'sia, wife in critical condition. M'sian police say:
He loved his Yamaha FJR1300 motorcycle which boasts a 1.3 litre engine, the same capacity as some small cars.
And Mr Esa Badri, 53, loved his wife, taking her on long rides on his sports tourer.
On Tuesday, he took his last ride.
While riding in a convoy of five motorbikes heading home from Krabi, Thailand, the private firefighter lost control and crashed along the North-South Expressway Central Link (also known as Elite Expressway) near the western state of Negeri Sembilan in Malaysia.
He is believed to have died at the scene and his wife, Mrs Nurhayati Ashar, was seriously injured.
The convoy, who call themselves Freedom Bikers, had left for Krabi early on April 18 on a four-day trip.
Mr Ali Haleemy, 44, was at the head of the convoy at the time of the pre-dawn accident.
He told The New Paper: "At that point of time, he was riding at the back of the convoy and we only noticed that he was not around when we stopped at the toll towards Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
"I immediately tried calling him and I got a shock when I heard someone else's voice on the phone."
Said the despatch rider: "He told me that my friend was lying on the road. That's when I immediately turned the convoy around to get to the scene of the accident."
Mr Ali said the man who picked up the phone turned out to be a Malaysian rider whom he knew only as Mohammad Zin. He identified himself as the president of the Malaysian motorcycle club called V-Rider MC.
Mr Ali said the man was at the scene providing help and calling the Malaysian emergency services.
Mrs Nurhayati was rushed to Putrajaya Hospital for treatment.
Other riders, concerned that Mr Esa had been riding alone with his pillion, took to sending out alerts so family members could be informed of the tragedy.
Riders from a Malaysian motorcycle group who called themselves the Harimaumalaya Bikersclub put up a post on their Facebook page to spread the word, too.
Somebody later posted that the alerts helped them get in touch with Mr Esa's family members.
Mr Esa's eldest son, Mr Noriskandar Esa, was at work when he received the call informing him of his father's death at 3.30am on Tuesday.
RUSHED HOME
Said the civil servant: "It was my sister who called me and after that I immediately rushed back home to make my way up to Putrajaya Hospital to meet my mum.
"The moment I reached Putrajaya, I made arrangements to send my mother back to Singapore via a private ambulance and for my father's body to be transported back to Singapore to be buried."
Speaking from his Woodlands flat, Mr Noriskandar said his mother is in critical but stable condition in Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
A New Straits Times report quoted Nilai district police chief Abdullah Roning in Negeri Sembilan as saying their initial investigation showed that the accident happened when Mr Esa "skidded to the left side of the road" while negotiating a bend.
Mr Ali said that he could not say for certain how the accident happened as Mr Esa was at the rear of the convoy.
"We could not have been travelling more than 80kmh at the time.
"So I really don't know how the accident happened.
"He loved riding so much and we're all sad that this had to happen," he added.
Mr Noriskandar said his father bought the bike about two years ago and had gone on long trips previously.
According to Mr Ali, Mr Esa's last trip was a 14-day ride to Thailand and on such long trips, his wife would always ride pillion.
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