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Most of our generation has a very unhealthy obsession with their phones. It has developed into a sort of addiction even. I myself, am guilty of being way too attached to the device. Even though I know it isn’t good, the justification I give myself is that my phone keeps me connected to the rest of the world and I am updated on everything that’s going on. Information is power, I tell myself, while the voice at the back of my head says: “Who are you kidding?”
However, some incidents act as wakeup calls. And the reality is that, with data privacy concerns and such, it is beyond time, we all took a step back. Especially, when our dearest possessions can be the cause of our demise.
In a tragic incident, CEO of Cradle Fund, Nazrin Hassan passed away last week after his mobile phone exploded near him while he was asleep.
According to reports, he had kept his two mobile devices, a blackberry and a Huawei, for charging near his bedside.
One of these exploded, and the fire from the explosion caught the mattress and spread to the room.
NDTV claims that some reports attribute the fire as the cause of death, while others speculate that Hassan may have been hit by broken parts of the phone at the back of his head, resulting in trauma.
The official police report concludes the cause of death as smoke inhalation. Mr Hassan’s brother-in-law says:
“He had two phones, one Blackberry and a Huawei. We don’t know which one exploded. Who would have thought such an innocuous routine procedure is the reason three young kids will grow up without their father by their side.”
Cradle fund is a venture of the Malaysian Ministry of Finance that helps fund tech entrepreneurs and startups. The official statement by the company is:
“The post-mortem report concluded the cause of death as being a complication of blast injuries attributable to an exploding handphone that was being charged next to him.
Cradle has lost a passionate, innovative and humble leader and the startup community has lost an inspiring leader. His vision and love for innovation will always be at the core of what we do. Nazrin loved his work, but his greatest love was for his wife and children.”
Hassan is survived by his wife and three children.
This is indeed a tragedy that should prompt us to be a lot more careful with our electronic devices. Make it a practice to leave your phone in the other room when you go to sleep. This has the added benefit of giving you a few moments alone with your thoughts when you wake up, as opposed to the sudden barrage of data that you receive with one touch. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
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