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Links in this page : | 1. Thank you all for coming today. Some of you have been with us over the past few days and others have come from overseas to be here. Your presence has been a source of comfort in our time of sadness. As we say goodbye to a wonderful husband, son, father and friend, I would like to share some thoughts with you on how we will always remember him. 2. Jesus once said that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man sows in his garden, and it grows into a big tree where the birds can come to find shelter. I like to think of my father as a tree. And as trees go, they are pretty ordinary things. They provide a home for the birds that nest in them, and protection from the storms and wild animals. Very ordinary things for a tree to do. But for those that seek shelter among its leaves and branches, it is something more. There we find comfort and security – a refuge. Throughout his life, many of us have come to my father and found that refuge. He was ordinary, but he gave what he could to each of us that came to him, and that was something very special. 3. My father also had a great sense of humour. Many of you know this. I’ll always remember this joke that he once told me. A village idiot was showing his friend a spider that he had painstakingly trained to obey his commands … move forward … move backward … plucked off its legs … move forward … move backward … see, when you pluck off the spider’s legs, the spider cannot hear. He loved that joke. Some time ago, my mom and I were recounting this joke to him and just laughed and laughed. To me, his sense of humour showed his love for life. And he shared this with all of us. 4. He passed away suddenly on Saturday, 26th of October. He died peacefully in his sleep. No warning, no indication. And its difficult for some of us to understand and accept. Maybe there’s something we wished we could have said or done, but he was taken away before we had the chance to say or do it. But he knows that you loved him in your own way. And that you gave what you could, and you loved him from where you were. 5. I know that it was difficult for all of us to accept why so fine a man was chosen to be so stricken, and for so long. But there is a lot that we can learn about him from his illness. He put all he had into all that he could do. And as the years passed and he could do less, it never stopped him from putting his all into what remained. He still loved life and the people in his life with a passion. 6. In the course of his illness, we saw the real Edwin Khoo. His strength, his tenacity and his courage never faded. They only grew stronger. The sickness did not diminish the man that he really was – only what you saw on the outside. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own life? Nothing could take this life away from him, and now he has found new life – everlasting life. His body will soon return to the ashes, but his spirit has already returned to God. 7. My mom calls my dad “Mr Ever Ready”. Not because he had a strange liking for batteries, but because he was ever ready for anything … everything. Earlier this year, my mom took him on an Alaskan cruise even though he was pretty much confined to his wheelchair. He loved it. In fact, they were planning to go to Turkey next year. But I’m sure he’s seen it by now. Nothing could dampen his zest for life. 8. He has put this love into each of us who has had the wonderful chance of knowing him. All of us will remember something that he did or said that is special to us. And a part of him remain with us until we meet him again. He lived a full life and he loved with every moment of it. 9. God’s love was reflected in his life. And God is love. And love never ends. |
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