It’s been two weeks exactly since I got the sudden news. Only now however, do I feel up to writing this. I’ve known Kenny since 1997 when I started work in what was probably the best technology company in the world, Digital Equipment Corp (DEC). All the best IT people I know worked with DEC at least once. Throughout the years of friendship, you have good times and you have arguments. Friends may come and go but good friends are always with you no matter what happens. That’s because they leave footprints on your heart and invariably change you, even if it’s in a subtle way.
His fight with cancer took two years but even though it was a losing battle without even a chance of sucess, he never lost hope. Most people gave him months but the courage, strength that he had came from God and he could live a normal life as any one of us. From the monthly phone conversations I had with him, it was clear to me that he faced each new day with certainty and the confidence that he knew where he was going. He made plans like the rest of us, went on our hikes and climbs, volunteered at the Turtle sanctuary. He did not make it to the pre-CNY coffee meet he’d planned on Feb 7th. He also will not be able to make it to the next Datoh Climb, or Gunung Nuang or even the next Chiling hike. I wondered over the past few days about why God took him home so early but then again with the pain and suffering he’s been going through, I’m sure God in his abundant mercy decided to set him free and take him to a far, far better place.
Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God[a]; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.
~John 14:1-4
So, to the late nights fixing server problems, the days trying to install linux on a VMS box, fragging into the early hours of dawn, the Counter-Strike evenings, the days at work, the miles of hikes to the meters of elevation, the muddy rivers of Malaysia to the clear white beaches and red sand of Western Australia, the clear waters of Lang Tengah, the BBQ nights, the mindless chatter, the endless “jimmy” jokes, the tears and the joys, the gallons of coffee at Starbucks and Gloria Jeans, the countless jokes and emails; Kenny, you’ve lived a full life in 33 years as many people do in 66. You’ll be missed but never forgotten.