Monday, 19th July 2010, 08:40 hrs...
I was holding on to my mobile, sitting in the guestroom at Trinity while waiting for Freddie...
In fact he had arrived far earlier and tried contacting me by both calling and through short messages, but to no avail. Somehow the M1 prepaid card I was using must have known I was departing and so didn't seem keen to provide me more service...
It's been so long since we had the opportunity to sit and have breakfast this morning, before my departure. Freddie, a good friend for more than 30 years since our secondary school days. He first became displeased with me because of my way of walking and other factors, I suppose. However, he became a Christian and soon was known for his evangelistic fervour. I was soon invited to attend Changi Bethany Church. We later responded, in our own different ways, to the calling of God to full-time Christian ministry.
From an entirely English speaking stream, he ended up in Taiwan for some good ten years, if I'm not wrong, while I, having been educated in an entirely Chinese speaking stream, went to an English speaking church and served for the next four years. Today, we both serve in our different capacities, he as a pastor while I a lecturer in a seminary in Hong Kong.
This morning, we bade farewell... I'm reminded of what Freddie said to me soon after Natalie, my late wife, passed away, that death at times is analogous to a farewell at the airport, in which we say goodbye to our loved ones, while one party is waiting...
Who precisely is waiting, I'm not quite sure...
This trip saw several deaths of those I know... farewell indeed... but not an end but a new beginning...
Hopefully, every departure will mean a new beginning, or at least fresh beginning for both the one who departs and the one who remains...
Reunion...hopefully will become the hope and goal of farewell...
