Celebrating departed old friends

In my opinion, the turnout could have been much better for this intimate gathering yesterday at the High Spirits Lounge in the Penang Sports Club to celebrate the life of Oon Hup, who passed away earlier this month. Clearly, Oon Hup should have had more friends than this on Penang island! Surely, more than 50 years of friendship that began from schooldays should count for something, right? And yet....

Anyhow, among the few of us there, we spent well over three hours sharing memories of our departed comrade. Some of us also reminisced about Seng Oo, another old schoolmate we recently lost, and reflected on life and health. The sudden loss of two friends in such quick succession was deeply unsettling for everyone.

Throughout the conversation, we shared stories about Oon Hup and Seng Oo—their quirks, their lives and the times we spent together. Some had known them since Westlands Primary School, others only from Penang Free School, while a few knew them more recently. 

I took the opportunity to recount my recent encounter with Ajahn Siripanyo, who advised me to live the remainder of our lives as fully and meaningfully as possible. If anything, learn from both Oon Hup and Seng Oo who remind us how fragile life is, how little we know of the time we have left, and how important it is to cherish every moment.

Guided by this thought and led by Leslie, we came together in prayer for Oon Hup before moving to a simple lunch within the club premises. The event was organised at the request of his sister, Emily, to honour his lifelong friendships, and it was generously hosted by Leslie.

In the picture below, we have (from left to right): Yoong Koi, Hock Thiam, Sukumaran, Kay Liang, myself, Swee Poh and Letchmi, Emily, Sanan and Leslie. I had also earlier informed Emily of the apologies from Michael, Teik Wah, Guan Khim and Chien Ch'eng, who were unable to attend as they were either out of town or living overseas. But Guan Khim went a step further to connect through social media and spoke to everyone present.