August 7, 2020

of the many images of this week these are some i will remember best:

the ceremonial guard at the lying-in-state, unable hold back his tears, but, being on vigil duty, unable to move. and the girl orderly who notices and goes up to him, wipes away his tears for him with a small napkin.

chiam see tong, that most gentlemanly of opposition politicians (not, perhaps, in the english sense, but in chinese, a man with 君子风度), in far worse health than many of us would have recalled seeing, faltering and helped by his wife and by vivian balakrishnan, to the coffin.

the six-year-old little girl, in her black and white striped dress, queuing with her family to enter parliament house, leaning over chest high barricades with two roses in a plastic water bottle for the prime minister, who accepts the make-shift vase with both hands.

the reaction around the world continues to surprise me. both new zealand’s and australia’s parliament moved condolence motions; new zealand’s public buildings are flying their flags at half-mast. india declared a day of mourning. there are tributes of flowers and wreaths at public crossroads in seoul. in guangzhou, his ancenstral house

also, glancing in at the uva singapore students’ association group page and discovering that the students are geting together at 1am to watch the webcast of the funeral with a borrowed projector from clemons.

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passinglky2 two unlooked-for, and unexpectedly touching, non-singaporean gestures: the choir of st john’s college happened to be in singapore to give a concert,

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passinglky5 state funerals are about the only times i wish i knew how to turn on the television in our living room. but for webcasts, she says thankfully.