Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Remembering today 5 years ago
It was Friday, just a week before Chinese New Year. Vincent asked to postpone our 4pm meeting by 2 hours. He had to pick up his car before the workshop closed. I agreed.
He never came back that evening. He didn't go home either. He picked up his car and went for a jog at NUS. Collapsed at the track and went on to paradise.
For the whole of Saturday we searched. Finally found him at SGH mortuary on Sunday morning.
Vincent was a pioneering member of my department in 1998. He was young, energetic, intelligent and wrote exceptionally well. Although I was his "boss", in many ways he was my mentor. He showed me "the ropes" in MAS. The picture on the right was taken in Tokyo in 1998. He had followed me there for a meeting organized by Bank of Japan. Still remember all the advice he gave me during the trip. "Regulators don't use words like ...", "if they worry about moral hazard, you can explain it this way .."
Everything came to an abrupt end that very afternoon. I cried... I felt so sorry and so sad. His wife was expecting a son around that time. I promised to keep in touch but I didn't. She sent me a picture of their new born - Daniel. I still keep it in my office as my way of saying that I am rgateful for all the things his father had done for me.
