I wrote this sitting on a rugby field watching my son train.

I have been a closet admirer for many years and have collected a closet (literally) of books written about him and against him. I have formed my view about him over pretty much my whole adult life and read everything I could get hold of about him . The more negative it was, the more I needed to read it .

His dedication to Singapore was revealed in the days to come when the nation grieved. But as I wrote this sitting at that field that morning when I woke up learning that he was gone, it was my private moment grieving a man I admired, and whose steadfast commitment to the nation I never doubted despite his brand of politics.

THE DAY YOU PASSED

I woke up to the news you died
I thought I would be unfeeling
For you were at life’s end
And I never really knew you

But as I sat at the field
Bleak in the sunshine
Dullness came
Desolation
And then the pain

When your soul mate passed
I knew the albatross would grieve
But you held on
For your other love
Till the last minutes came

I wrote this as the tears came
It was cathartic
For commitment, dedication
Love and honor
For tears
For laughter
For a statesman, fighter
father, visionary
But most of all
To grieve and to celebrate
For a life far less ordinary