Last Steps

And even though we had only interacted in the course of work, and the hierarchy between us at work was like Heaven and Earth, I shall remember the man who :-

Remembered and included us when he ordered char kway teow to be "tar pau-ed" in for his lunch

Frequently eyed the papers in disarray on my desk, demanding to know whether the meeting papers were ready and to let him have them in advance for reading as soon as they were ready

Somehow, decided I was the resident "IT expert" and kept posing me perplexing questions on the mystic workings of his ever-changing mobile phone models

Brought back little souvenirs for us from his trips abroad

Used his influence to help us out of a fix at work, and graciously accepted a cup of Wang Jiao coffee as thanks

Despite his reputation as a foodie, was never the chief complainant about any of the lunches I had catered for the meetings

Caused us small fries at the meetings much mirth, because we were convinced his "pensive pose" at the meetings were sometimes a disguise for his sneaking in a nap

For some strange reason, kept referring to me by my colleague's name


I feel privileged to join the crowd who walked these last steps of his journey with him.