A Sort of Year Ender

Today is the last day of the Year of the Snake and we are all anticipating the arrival of the fiery horse, which makes it the Lunar New Year Eve.

We had returned from Whistler a week early for the funeral of a very good friend who had somehow regarded Su as his Goddaughter, possibly because she was born in the same year as his daughter. On our way back, I was counting the number of friends who had departed since last December, but whom I had not mentioned in the Year Ender I posted on 21 December for one reason or another. Let me recall them as far as I can, while memories still last.

There was first Peter Choy who was a long time Rotarian and the President-Elect of RC of Kowloon Northwest when I was DG in 2000. We had not seen much of each other until recently when we had chance meetings at one of our favorite eateries. Somehow, he collapsed on the street in December while on his way to some Rotary-related activities, was picked up by the Police and sent to the hospital where he was certified dead on arrival. His family had kept the funeral private so that I didn’t get to attend, but it was certainly a reminder of the impermanence of life.

The next one was Venerable Jingyin whom I had the privilege to get to know when I was reading my Masters of Buddhist Studies at HKU. He was then the Director and I was his student. He passed away suddenly at 62 on 22 December. A lot had since been written on this great man, and I would say no more. Suffice it to say that I could not attend any of the memorial activities organized for him because I was away. He was indeed a legend by any account, and he was always kind to Su and me. Among other things, he had encouraged me to take up the chairmanship of the past student’s association of the Centre, notwithstanding that I am a Catholic. Possibly, no one had expected he would pass away so soon, not even himself.

Then there was Raymond Teng Jr. whom I must have known for 30 years or more through the Freemasonry connections. Later, Su found out that they had some common friends too. Raymond’s love for life was phenomenal and was everywhere until his health began to deteriorate. He passed away in his sleep on 19 December; and sadly, we couldn’t attend his funeral because we were away.

I would next mention Jones Wong who was a Past District Governor in the Rotary International District 3450 like me and who had worked with me on more than a few projects. He had not been well, but he had kept himself busy and active up to the very end and was well remembered by the Rotary community. I think he passed away before Christmas; and his family had wanted to keep the funeral private. Once again, I couldn’t attend the events organized in his memory because we were away.

While we were in Whistler, Su learned from Shirley, who is a cousin or something of Su’s mother, that her husband Paul passed away. Again, Sherry had kept the matter private. Paul was something of a legend in the local insurance industry in general and in Manulife in particular.

Then, we learned of the passage of two brethren in my Lodge. First, Terence Cheung texted me that Ernest Wong passed away on 24 January. It was certainly a most unexpected piece of sad news, and his wife was not ready to discuss details even at his funeral, which I was unable to attend. There were some indications that he had not been well for he was losing weight, but we had seen him active in HKU activities as recently as late November. Ernest was first introduced to me by the late Peter Kwan; and he and I together with some others were on the joint ticket for seats on the Standing Committee of HKU Convocation, possibly around 2013 or 2014. He had since been active on the Convocation and the Court and was still a Court Member when he left us. He joined the Lodge in 2014 and became Treasurer on my persuasion. I was totally unprepared for his passage.

Then came the news of the passage of Ko Ying on 26 January, and for which we had amended our flights to return for his funeral and the subsequent church service during which I had the honour and privilege to speak, and on which I had posted a blog shortly afterwards.

Such are the vagaries of life; and to draw a line between what I missed so much and what I hope for in the year to come, I have thus recorded my thoughts briefly, but with respect and due mindfulness. I wished I did not need to record such past.

Before I close, let me share with you the images of the galloping horses which I took as I walked past Central; and let us look to the future, whatever it brings. May God be with you.