It never crossed my mind to write a blog entry about a deceased person but this individual is so special that I am compelled to write a few last words describing my admiration for him.
It's 27/10/2007 and I woke up bright and early this morning to catch the 8:45am shuttle bus our company arranged for us to go up to Gohtong Villa to pay our last respects to our boss, Tan Sri Dato' Seri (Dr) Lim Goh Tong, which we have came to fondly know as Uncle Lim. When I reached our pickup point, all my colleagues we there already, dressed solemnly in either black or white. They passed me a black ribbon which I was to wear on my left arm before going for the wake.
The journey up took around 1 hour from our pick up point, and when we reached Genting Skyway around 10+, there was already a few hundred people there. Genting had arranged many vans, limousines, private cars etc to ferry people from the skyway to Gohtong Villa located on an exclusive hill in Gohtong Jaya to pay their last respects to Uncle Lim, someone who truly touched the hearts of every Malaysian and possibly every living person who knows him.
We got down from the bus and hopped on the vans which took us up Gohtong Villa. The walk from Gohtong Villa's main entrance to his house was another 100m or so. Lining the walkway was wreathes from almost every company in Malaysia, Singapore, Hongkong, Japan, Macau etc. We had to line up to go in to pay our last respects to him, all around his house the memorial service provider had set up canopies and tents. We couldn't really see how big the house was but judging from the size of the compound, it was really huge! After waiting for around 15mins, we finally got a chance to go into the area where his coffin was placed. As we entered 1 by 1, a taoist monk dressed in black robe instructed each person to put their hands together and take 1 bow, as a show of respect to the deceased, after taking 1 bow, we walked 1 round his coffin and proceeded to the exit.
Uncle Lim was smartly dressed in a black suit with all his medals pinned neatly on it. I dun have any idea what medals he got but I reckon he had his Tan Sri medal and his Dato' Seri medal. He looked so peaceful. Its quite odd, all the way up, I didn't feel any sorrowful or sad emotions until I entered the room where his coffin was. Perhaps it was the sum of collective sadness and sorrow which immediately bounced off me and almost instantly I actually felt sadness for his demise, in that very room.
That feeling wore off the second I walked out of the room down to the basement carpark area where they served food and refreshments. When we were having our drinks, there were still people lining up to go in to pay their last respects to him. It was truly an amazing experience, I had never attended the funeral for a vip before and I really must say it is an experience I will never forget.
I have worked in Star Cruises for a little over 3 months only but really feel inspired and motivated by Uncle Lim, much so after reading bits and pieces of his biography on the internet. I'm not sure if I can still get his book 'My Story - Lim Goh Tong in the bookstores anymore, but if I can, I'm gonna rush out and snap up a copy.
My closing words is, Good bye Uncle Lim, your success is an inspiration to all of us to become successful in face of obstacles, the legacy you have left us in form of Genting resort etc enables us to enjoy our holidays and bring our families together. Last but not least, because of your effort, I have a job and a chance of a long term career in the company you founded. You are our leader, our motivation. Cheers to such a great man!
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