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Jul 2, 2010
Dad's death: Comfort from an unexpected source
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TWO days after my father passed on, I decided to write an e-mail to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. I remember my mother telling me that my father had served with the Prime Minister in the army.
Even as I composed the e-mail, I felt sillier by the minute.
'Message for Prime Minister Lee', the header read. 'Dear Prime Minister Lee, I don't know if you remember a ...'
What in the world was I thinking? Nonetheless, I completed the note and e-mailed it, not expecting a response. Two days later, I received a call from the Prime Minister's secretary informing me that Mr Lee had read my e-mail and would like to send a letter to my family, and could we furnish him with our address.
We had expected a short note written on a card. So we were taken aback when we received a full-page letter from the Prime Minister addressed to my mother. It detailed what Mr Lee remembered of my father, whom he described as 'an old friend'. The letter gave my mother a welcome respite from her grief and my siblings felt a renewed sense of pride in dad.
I felt deeply gratified that Mr Lee spared the time to pen a letter of comfort to an ordinary family like mine, living in a Housing Board flat, and that he remembered a man who was of humble background with such detail.
He has shown me that he is a prime minister who governs not only with his head, but also with his heart.
Yvonne Tang (Ms)
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What PM Lee wrote
Dear Mdm Lam,
I was saddened to learn from your daughter, Yvonne, that your husband, Maj (Ret) Tang Seng Koong, had passed away. Please accept my sincere condolences.
Seng Koong was my OC in Bravo Company OCS in 1971, when I was an officer cadet in Safti. I had joined the course late, together with the other SAF scholars in my batch. Seng Koong took a personal interest in us, helping us to settle in and get up to speed. He mentored us, taking some lessons himself, and accompanying us on field exercises. I have an image in my mind of him walking ahead of me along a path, in his helmet and skeleton battle order, carrying a little pack on his back. He cared for the cadets under his charge. He seldom raised his voice, and never flaunted his authority over us. But he always demanded high standards of us, as he did of himself.
Later, Seng Koong became chief of security at MediaCorp. I would meet him from time to time when I went to the MediaCorp studios at Caldecott Hill for events or to record TV programmes. We would chat a little. It was always good to catch up with an old friend, and see him well.
You must feel Seng Koong's loss keenly. I hope the memory of your happy times together will comfort and sustain you. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family at this difficult time.
With deepest sympathies,
Yours sincerely
Lee Hsien Loong
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Dad's death: Comfort from an unexpected source
<!-- by line --><!-- end by line -->
<!-- end left side bar --><!-- story content : start -->
TWO days after my father passed on, I decided to write an e-mail to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. I remember my mother telling me that my father had served with the Prime Minister in the army.
Even as I composed the e-mail, I felt sillier by the minute.
'Message for Prime Minister Lee', the header read. 'Dear Prime Minister Lee, I don't know if you remember a ...'
What in the world was I thinking? Nonetheless, I completed the note and e-mailed it, not expecting a response. Two days later, I received a call from the Prime Minister's secretary informing me that Mr Lee had read my e-mail and would like to send a letter to my family, and could we furnish him with our address.
We had expected a short note written on a card. So we were taken aback when we received a full-page letter from the Prime Minister addressed to my mother. It detailed what Mr Lee remembered of my father, whom he described as 'an old friend'. The letter gave my mother a welcome respite from her grief and my siblings felt a renewed sense of pride in dad.
I felt deeply gratified that Mr Lee spared the time to pen a letter of comfort to an ordinary family like mine, living in a Housing Board flat, and that he remembered a man who was of humble background with such detail.
He has shown me that he is a prime minister who governs not only with his head, but also with his heart.
Yvonne Tang (Ms)
<HR SIZE=1 width="50%">
What PM Lee wrote
Dear Mdm Lam,
I was saddened to learn from your daughter, Yvonne, that your husband, Maj (Ret) Tang Seng Koong, had passed away. Please accept my sincere condolences.
Seng Koong was my OC in Bravo Company OCS in 1971, when I was an officer cadet in Safti. I had joined the course late, together with the other SAF scholars in my batch. Seng Koong took a personal interest in us, helping us to settle in and get up to speed. He mentored us, taking some lessons himself, and accompanying us on field exercises. I have an image in my mind of him walking ahead of me along a path, in his helmet and skeleton battle order, carrying a little pack on his back. He cared for the cadets under his charge. He seldom raised his voice, and never flaunted his authority over us. But he always demanded high standards of us, as he did of himself.
Later, Seng Koong became chief of security at MediaCorp. I would meet him from time to time when I went to the MediaCorp studios at Caldecott Hill for events or to record TV programmes. We would chat a little. It was always good to catch up with an old friend, and see him well.
You must feel Seng Koong's loss keenly. I hope the memory of your happy times together will comfort and sustain you. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family at this difficult time.
With deepest sympathies,
Yours sincerely
Lee Hsien Loong
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