Moments in Life

He loved books. In fact, I was truly glad to have found a bookworm in him.
Oddly, the way we met were not so strange, given the nature of the ‘Net. After all, people meet people all the time online. Friendships start in forums.
Social relationships don”t work sometimes. Well, it’s easy to forget to reply an email. It’s easier to forget because you haven’t met your online friend. And there’s less guilt when that happens. Unless you sent each other photos.
Our friendship took off from a business standpoint. He was a client. Back in 2003.
But we often spoke about our love for books. We seemed to share the same taste in books. Eclectic, often reading unknown names. Like me, he didn’t really dig bestsellers. Bestsellers just meant that they were in vogue for the moment.
Like me, he enjoyed Stephen Hawking. A Brief History of Time. Yet, unlike I who struggled to get past the first 30 pages (the terms boggled!), he had read it 7 times. I was in complete awe. And like me, he would be dipping into a number of books at any one time. We were both incorrigible.
He loved food too, being the Penangite at heart that he was. Despite having lived in KL for the past 20-30 years, he could sometimes revel me with stories of his fave food hawkers in Penang. Some I heard of, others I didn’t. He told me once of this ‘wan tan mee’ seller somewhere in inner Georgetown. Told me to find out if the man is still there, hawking his noodles. And I, I tempted him with reviews of Penang food places he’d still remembered. Taunting his memories.
He also adored his wife, a sweet woman who’d meant the world to him. Rare have I met a man who was so in love with his wife, and who had the courage to tell an online friend about it. He respected and loved her, and this love of theirs were evident in the photos he’d later emailed to me.
He was also a spiritual man. This I knew through the books he would tell me about.
And humour. How he enjoyed the ribbing I gave him whenever he’d emailed over a sentimental note or two. He’d always said he hoped to get a digital camera and take some recent photos to send over. I always said he looked like Tze Yin, with his 70s glasses and that coiffed hair.
He was also a big fan of Muhammad Ali.
I’d like to remember the happy emails, the funny emails, the occasional photo which he shared. He had a big heart, sharing whatever he had. Humble, kind and devoted. And he often read my blog, brightening my day with his acute observations about my entries.
I always thought we’d meet up one day. I was sure he’ll come to Penang for a holiday with his lovely wife.
But on 30 November 2005, he breathed his last. He was just 51.
I’ll miss our emails. Our book talk. Our odd joke or two.
This entry is in memory of LCS who taught me that living a rich life meant enjoying the little moments in life with people you cared about. Thank you, my friend. We’ll miss you dearly.
Bless you, LCS, wherever you may be.

4 thoughts on “Moments in Life”

  1. Thanks Keat. Yes, it was so sudden. And he was an amazing friend. I was so devastated that he was gone… I just replied his email not too long ago. Well, that’s why I said, moments in life. Treasure them.

    Reply
  2. hi marsha
    yeah, I broke down when I saw his Obit in the papers. It was such a shock! Couldn’t believe I lost a friend, just like that.

    Reply

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