PETALING JAYA, April 5 — “When I asked him for permission to share his story, he replied, ‘Mama, you’re not ashamed that people know your son is a former convict?’”
So revealed producer, director and actress Fatimah Rahmad, better known as Erma Fatima, to Berita Harian after posting on Instagram yesterday that her son had just been released from prison after three years.
She said, sharing one of the most painful episodes in her life on Instagram yesterday was not to elicit sympathy, rather to serve as a cautionary tale.
For Erma, the dark period without her Ahmad Aifin, then 21, after he was sentenced to serve time in May 2016, was aimed at warning youngsters on the harsh realities of life and consequences.
She and director and scriptwriter Badaruddin bin Haji Azmi married in 1991, and have five foster children from their marriage before the couple divorced in 2017.
“I also want families who are going through the same thing to find strength from my story.”
Her answer to her son if he was a source of embarrassment, was without hesitation.
“I replied that I have never been ashamed of God’s blessing for me in my children, no matter what.”
In the entry, Erma revealed she had been through much in raising her son, and how heartbroken she was when she found out he had been arrested.
She also said she never visited her son in prison because she was to sad to see him, though she always accepted him.
“Family members thought I had disowned him. Today, he left prison. My other children went to pick him up and bring him home.
“All of them were afraid I could not accept him returning. I am still his mother, even if I did not give birth to him. Even though he left and broke my heart, I am still his mother. Yes, my son is a former convict.”