Late Saturday morning, 12 September, a message was posted in the MU Fifians chat group. It was originally sent by the daughter of Low Wai Yee, Ester Tan and conveyed to us through a fellow ex-Fifian. She informed us that her mother’s condition had deteriorated and that her carbon dioxide levels were rising.
The message further informed that Wai Yee was still alert and relatively free of symptoms, and she was able to talk with her family. She then made a courageous and deeply personal decision. She told her family that she did not want to be intubated. Her family understood and respected her wishes. They said their goodbyes and kept her comfortable with BiPAP support.
Just before 10pm on Monday, 14 September, another brief message came from her daughter: “My mom passed away at 1.15pm in the afternoon.” It was a message that brought home the finality of what we had anticipated.
Wai Yee had first personally shared the news with the Fifians group on 7 December 2024: “Sad to inform that I have early stage of pancreatic cancer. Going for treatment soon. Thanks for prayers. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in advance!”
Those words, written with such courage and hope, were still fresh in our memories.
Receiving the news of the passing of an old university friend is especially difficult when it comes immediately after celebrating the wedding of a young couple - a joyful occasion marking the beginning of a new chapter in life.
Yet, perhaps this is precisely the rhythm and mystery of life. Within a short span, we witnessed both a beginning and an ending: a young couple embarking on their journey together, and a friend completing hers.
As Ecclesiastes reminds us: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die.”
Life moves between these seasons - birth and death, beginnings and endings, joy and sorrow. And in between lies the gift of the journey: the people we meet, the friendships we make, the memories we leave behind, and the lives we touch.
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| Original 1973 old b/w photo. |
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| AI-colourized 1973 old photo of some of the members of the 5th Residential College Christian Group. |
A Christian Resident Fellow at the Residential College, David Tow who was a lecturer at the Faculty of Education opened his home on weekend evenings, providing a place where believers and pre-believers could come together for fellowship, conversation and friendship. It was in this setting that many of us came to know one another more closely.
After graduation, we went our separate ways to pursue our careers, build our families and establish our lives. As the years passed, however, some of those friends who had shared our formative university years gradually left us and went ahead of us into eternity.
Yageswaran was the first, passing away in December 2005 (Read here), followed by Quah Mooi Eng in August 2014 (Read here). David Tow, the former College Resident Fellow who returned to Australia after his retirement, passed away in October 2017. More recently, we lost KC Ho in February 2024 (Read here) and Wong Kim Kong in September 2024 (Read here).
With the passing of Wai Yee, six among our group have now gone ahead of us.
It is sobering to realise how quickly the years have passed. The young university students we once were are now in the later seasons of our lives. The friendships formed more than five decades ago remain precious, even as the circle of those who shared those early years becomes smaller.
Perhaps this is another reminder that life is indeed a journey - and that, one day, each of us will come to the end of our earthly journey. For those of us who believe in Christ, however, death is not the end, but a passage into eternal life with our Lord.
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| original 1973 old b/w photo. |
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| AI-colourized old 1973 group photo of 5th Residential College Christian Group. |
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