Ruixiang passed away yesterday in a car accident. He was seated in the rear and the car (probably speeding) lost control and hit a tree somewhere along ECP. Driver and passenger in the front survived, but RX suffered a blow to the back of his head and died instantly. It was shocking news.

I was about to leave KHCO to send some stuff to my store when I heard of the news from Yanhao, Moses and Tian Yao. I was shocked - this can't be true. I stayed rooted at the drivers' seat for a while before I drove down to Far East Plaza... slowly, thinking about how fragile life can be.

Ruixiang was a great friend. I met him in SAF MDC. He was our double bassist. Since I play the cello and am part of the "bass" section, we were close friends. We would play music, games, talk crap. It's people like RX that made army life like a dream I wish I re-lived. Sometimes after you ORD'ed you realize your time in army was indeed the best days of your life.


Jiajing, Bryan and RX enjoying a meal of home cooked food at the annual CIE chalet.


RX, in the middle (maroon shirt), always the calm and "cool" guy we all get along with.

We went through countless shows, even performed together during the famous "opera" where we had to read Erhu scores and make up the bass lines as we went along. We would make mistakes but would usually attempt to cover for each other. When Maj. Tay yelled at us, both of us would surprisingly give the same excuse for playing wrongly. I still remember there was once we had to play a passage in 1/4 time at ~200bpm speed and couldn't catch up at all - so bad that Lim Yan had to use the keyboard and cover for us. There was also this kung-fu musical where we cracked jokes with his teacher Mr. Poh, a professional cellist in SCO.


Me and RX side by side in a group photo after a performance at the Esplanade outdoor theater.

He had always wanted to be a musician and was just beginning to pursue his dreams. He had picked up cello on his own, and was probably a better player by now than most other cellist you pull out of an amateur orchestra.

Ever since we left MDC most of us were too busy with our own lives. We hardly meet up and the last time I ever saw him was during Andy's graduation recital. After not having played music together for almost two years now it was such a great feeling to be playing with friends from MDC. We lived two years of our lives in MDC, performing almost once weekly at events. It was a bond that we built, and the style of each other's playing that we know deep in our hearts. The moment the music started, we know what we expected of each other and it was music in the air. It's a feeling hard to describe, but musicians will know what I mean...


Ruixiang playing the double bass behind me during Andy's concert.

About two years back soon after we ORD, I learnt about his attachment in hospitals and jokingly asked if he had "da-pau" any dead bodies. He told me off and said it was called "last office", not "da-pau". He even wrote it in his blog entry...

First of all, here's the reply to one of my buddy's, CPL(NS) Lee, question:
What 'da pau' 'da pau'! F**K you understand!
For goodness sake, it's called Last Office or Care After Death!
You think what? Mac Donald's Home Delivery ar?
* Give one tight slap to the back of LTZJ's head *
Respect the Dead hor!

Later, he also wrote in his blog after performing his first "last office"...

... Facing death is part and parcel of the nursing profession. I believe that nurses should learn not to get too emotional when handling deaths. By doing so, we can ensure every possible things that can be done by us are done properly for the deceased and their families. On other hand, One should not get too comfortable with deaths as well.

I almost teared after reading this. As a nurse, one who cares for patients, saves lives, cares and respects the dead, such a tragic thing must happen to him.

RX also was afriad of speed and treasured life. Everytime we sat in a friend's car and they drove like a maniac he would be the first to say, "bro, slow down, I still want my life". I did not expect him to be a victim of a car accident...

Sometimes those up there do things we can never understand.

To a great friend and musician... rest in peace bro. We will miss you.

I feel sad for Singapore...

Credits: Taken from Estee's blog! 

US Dollar against SG Dollar

US Dollar against Pounds

US Dollar against Australian Dollar

US Dollar against Yen

Oddly, Yen did not fluctuate as much against the US Dollar. Maybe some economics / forex experts care to enlighten?

On the side note, time to do some US imports. This is good news for SG market.