i received this email.....

sometimes, life's short. really short. i've met so many instances. Young men with promising future and an all rounder. somehow, they cant fight mother nature. they have been called back to where they belong. sigh. yet another tragedy.

be THANKFUL, ppl, for the lives u live right now at this moment, and this second.

my utmost condolences to their family members.






Dear Members of the NTU Community,



I was at the memorial service for the five members of the national dragon boat team who lost their lives in the accident on the Tonle Sap River in Cambodia representing their country. I was privileged to learn more about the five brave young men who were such great examples of our men, their lives cruelly snuffed out by an act of mother nature. Three of them are members of our extended family. As their eulogies were said, there was not a dry eye in the house. We all shed tears for the brave ones who did not make it.



Stephen Loh received his B.Eng. (Elect) in 2001 and M.Eng. (Elect) in 2004. He found his calling in teaching and went to NIE at NTU, receiving his PG Dip. Ed. in 2007. He was a well loved teacher at NJC before he perished in the accident. He was an inspirational teacher, someone we are very proud to have come from our NIE.



Poh Boon San was known as the "comeback kid". He took 8 years for primary school and 5 years for secondary, and yet in Nanyang Polytechnic he found his stride and earned his place in NTU, receiving his B.Eng. (Elect) just this year, with honours. He had just started work for a few months when tragedy struck.



Chee Wei Cheng was admitted to Aerospace Engineering in 2006 and would have enrolled next year after national service. A straight A student, he is also a filial son, taking good care of his mother and younger brother. With his loss his family lost a great source of strength.



Stephen and Boon San were members of our dragon boat team. Wei Cheng would most likely have joined the team if he had enrolled as planned. They were lively, energetic young men who think of others first, with the best qualities of a member of the NTU community. They had great mental strength and endurance. Our entire dragon boat team and our sports officials were all at the memorial service and funeral, paying their last respect to their friends, their comrades, their brothers.



As we mourn the passing of these outstanding young men, their will honed on the battlefield of tough races, do remember them and their best qualities, and support each other as a community. We shall ensure their qualities will last and endure in the NTU community. Together, let's help their families get through these trying times.



With deep sorrow,



Su Guaning