Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Unexpected Demise



This morning, it was announced that one of my colleagues had passed away this morning.

It is indeed shocking.

When the receptionist told me, I had to ask her repeatedly (about 5 to 6 times) before the news sunk in.

It is shocking becuz this guy hardly went on MC. He hardly even took time-off to go see doctor. He exercised regularly. He was not skinny nor fat. He was, in fact, fit and lean and slightly muscular. He had this minor heart problem, but he wasn't on any medication at all. And when the results showed that he had high cholesterol, he didn't need to take any meds and he still managed to bring his own cholesterol level down to normal.

He was playing badminton with some friends last evening when he suddenly collapsed. His friends sent him to the hospital and then he passed away.

Playing badminton to keep fit, but he died doing it.


Life is strange.


His mother, wife & son were in Australia for a holiday. So until this morning, nobody was around to claim the body.

Luckily, somebody managed to contact his brother. I guess he'll be arranging the funeral. And his family in Australia will be taking the 1st plane back to Singapore.



When I heard this news about the deceased, I instinctively tried to recollect how was our working relationship. Were we friendly to each other? Were we polite? Have I ever been rude to him? Was there any unpleasantness between us?

This is becuz I wouldn't want to feel bad about him & me having a bad working relationship just before he passed away.

Sure, we have had our differences.

But recently, it was friendly & polite between us.

So, I felt relieved.


It's like having a huge argument with your partner and then he /she stomps out of the house and gets knocked down by a car.

It's like fighting with your mother and she dies from a heart attack.

It's like screaming at your best friend that he is a big bloody jerk, and then he goes out and gets hit on the head and becomes a retard, so even if you say sorry to him, you know he doesn't understand a single word you say.

You know what I mean?

It's like... this will cause a person to feel guilty & remorseful for the rest of their lives. No amount of sorry's nor i love you's will ever make a difference anymore. There is absolutely NOTHING you can ever do nor say to make things right again. NOTHING. FOREVER AND EVER. NOTHING can make things right. EVER AGAIN. NOTHING.


Conclusion:

Always make a conscious effort to do the RIGHT things.

Always appreciate the small little things that others do for you.

Never take things / people for granted.

Never do things that you might regret for the rest of your life.