A Reflection....

Last night, Soon Ling and I attended the wake service of one Mr. A.C.Nonis. In all honesty, Soon Ling and I don't know this man but we do know his son, our friend, Dr.Joel and his spouse, Anna. I came to know that Mr. A.C.Nonis was a teacher, a Scoutmaster and a man of few words. I was really astounded by the number of people who turned up for the wake service. I couldn't imagine such a crowd at a wake service. There must be something good that this man had done to deserve such a crowd at his wake service. After mingling and listening to the words of sharing from Dr.Joel, granddaughter, Mariel and Anna. I was awe struck by what I have heard about this man. I was told that he led a very simple life, a man of principles and a man of few words but he was a man where action speaks louder than words. Obviously, he impacted many people's lives by the huge numbers of flower stands with words like "Deepest Condolence " from Class of 57, 69 and so on. I had the opportunity to speak to one Uncle Lee who was a student of Mr. A.C.Nonis in 1957 and he was Uncle Lee's English teacher! He had really good words for this man. Wow! Look what a simple teacher can do to affect the lives of his students!

This morning, I attended the funeral service at St.Peter's Church. Again, a good crowd of people were at the funeral service. An array of young to the old to the very old were at the service. As I was about to be seated , I saw the arrival of Joel's eldest daughter, Fleur, who managed to get back from Germany in time to catch the funeral serving. Yeah! She was weeping all the way. Service went on as usual and I just followed what went on though I couldn't really understand the standing up and the sitting down thing. However, I was really impressed by the Eulogy part which was a great tribute to this man, Mr.A.C.Nonis. The Eulogy was beautifully handled by Mr.Peter Suan. Anyway, I could have sworn that I didn't see any dry eyes this morning as the casket was wheeled out of the church heading towards the crematorium.

I guess, the grieving actually starts when the family goes home later, I know it because I've gone through it. However, as I reflect on the teachers who had been such a tremendous impact on my life, I just want to say thank you to the late Mr. Chua Cheng Chye, the late Mr. K.O.Chandy, Mr.Boon Kim Bock [ thank you so much for encouraging me a lot in my younger days in school, sir! ] , Mr.Wong Swee Lim [ a real encourager ], Mrs.Betty Dorsen, Mrs.C.Navaratnam [ I enjoyed the Chapel service ! ], Mr. Phu Ah Kwee [ my Form teacher who actually took the time to advise me! ], Mr. Alex Lim [ hard man but caring at heart! ], Mr.Seow M.L. [ my Add maths teacher who goes really bonkers teaching me! ] and so many other men and women who had been such an inspiration in my life! Naughty and nuisance I may be but I think, I turned out alright,though!

Today, I salute the man I don't know - Mr.A.C.Nonis. All I know, he was an encourager to many people. He was a husband, a father , a teacher, a Scoutmaster and a real human being. That to me, my friend, is reason enough to salute this man!

Here's a toast to you, SIR! ~ In Memory :- Mr. A.C. Nonis [ 1936 - 2008 ]