I can't help it. I tear each time I read about Lo Hwei Yen - the 28-year old lawyer who was killed by merciless terrorists in the recent Mumbai attacks.
A pool of emotions flood through me as I imagine every moment that is described in the newspapers. I feel how how her family must have felt. I imagine how her husband must have felt. I imagine how her closest friends must have felt. I imagine how she must have felt. And though I don't think I can really feel exactly what they felt, it is overwhelming enough for me. What more they.
Etched on every Singaporean's memory is perhaps her smile. I imagine she must have enjoyed life and brought joy to a whole of people's lives. I imagine she must have been the shining bright star in her husband's life. I imagine she must have been the light that came to any darkness in life.
And with her leaving, I imagine she remains the person she is - still bringing light to a whole lot of us who have been living in our dark world of busy-ness.
I wish she hadn't have to die to show us that life is precious, that it could just come and go in a fleeting moment. I wish she hadn't have to die to teach us to spend more time with our loved ones. I wish she hadn't have to die to remind us to seize the day and to place our fears aside to face what the present holds for us. I wish she didn't have to die.
I remind myself to say a prayer for her soul and for her husband and family in their bereavement every day. I pray that as she joins God in heaven, she keeps that smile on her face knowing she has touched thousands of Singaporeans in one way or another. I guess all of us wished she didn't have to go.