May You Rest In Peace

I was today informed of the demise of a close family friend whom I am very fond of. It came as a surprise for me.

We met over 10 years ago in the swimming club's gym. I was asked not to acknowledge him as "Uncle" but "Brother" or just Foek On though he's of my parents' generation (his dad and my maternal grandpa were good ol' pals). Over the years, I've grown closer to him from being the spotter in the gym for him to being someone I confided with and seeked advices as well as opinions from. We also share the interest in photography.

There were some discussions about me futhering my studies in established universities for reasons of their well-known alumnis, advices on my timber floor after the flooding of my apartment and personal issues that I have gone through over the last few years.

I would certainly miss the stuffs we did together:

• Bugging him in his office
• Enjoying nasi kandar together
• Having a cuppa
• Visiting camera shop together or meeting in the shop
  
• Sharing of images taken by both of us and the knowledge
• Bantering of Windows v Mac; Lightroom vs Aperture; Nikon vs Leica; AF vs MF; Fully Auto vs Fully Manual systems

One of the flashbacks is the very last chat we had of which he asked me about flash and backlighting on his D700 few months ago. I can't believe it that he's gone.

Certainly, the next trip and every subsequent trip back would be very different without Brother Onn. Your jokes, sarcasms and laughters would be sorely missed.

He was talking about doing a trip to Melbourne and Adelaide since 2 years ago. I guess we won't be able to make that trip down the Great Ocean Road to capture the images of Twelve Apostles, the intended trip that will never eventuate.

May You Rest In Peace, Uncle Foek On (uncle as my due respect for an elder).