Life's dichotomies

Myformer colleague, Eddie Toh, the former Singapore Business Times Associate News Editor and H&K Financial Practice Group Director, passed away last week, just two days short of his 41st birthday. He died of a massive heart attack on Sunday night. The news came as such a shock, and my previous company shut down its Singapore office to allow staffs to pay tribute to him on the last day of funeral service. I can’t say I really know Eddie; I didn't get a much opportunity to work with him. However, I was the first person he met on his first day at work. I always turned to him asking for help with Business Times pitching. The most memorable moment of him was that he kept his beard to make himself look like Tony Leung; thus we called him Tony for almost three months. During the amazing race in our company’s offsite, he was driving the four wheel drive over taking a few cars to try to get to the finishing line – he had shown that he was from the real Malaysia. Apart from others’ gossips and grumbling about his attitude, Eddie was a good man. He looked after our Associates well, gave as many instruction and guidance as possible to guide us through the PR/Media landscape in Singapore.

The news of his sudden death was published in all Singapore major newspapers. I was stunned and shocked by his departure even though I am no longer belonged to the country. I wish you rest in peace.

Here are some Singapore articles reporting the sad news of Eddie’s sudden departure:


Tomorrow isn't guaranteed

Teh Hooi Ling Senior Correspondent
2008 年 4 月 5 日
Business Times Singapore
(c) 2008 Singapore Press Holdings Limited

So keep your perspective and make every day count, sensibly and lovingly

LIFE is fragile. Life is transient. And the unexpected departure of former colleague Eddie Toh from this world last Sunday was, for me, a much-needed reminder to take stock.

In our hectic lives, the days literally zoom past; it seems like everything is in fast-forward mode. Rarely do we have time to stop and consider what is really important to us.

It seems like just yesterday when a friend of mine, Carol, called me around 10 on a Sunday morning.

'Guess who's in front of me now,' she said.

Me: 'How would I know?'

Carol: 'Thaksin. He's having bak kut teh at Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh at Rangoon Road. It's very near where you are. Come quick. You can catch him here and interview him for your paper.'

Me: 'You sure it's him? Aiya, even if it is him, he may be gone by the time I get there.'

I put down the phone. But the chance that The Business Times could score a scoop with deposed Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra while he was having bak kut teh at Rangoon Road made me pick it up again.

Life's dichotomies

I called Eddie. Knowing the true news hound he was, I was sure he would make his way there. Furthermore, he lived in that area. About 10-15 minutes later, both of us reached Ah Sio's shop about the same time. Eddie came well prepared - with his note book, tape recorder and a barrage a questions for Mr Thaksin. Alas, he never got to ask them; the ex-PM had already finished his breakfast and gone.

To prove that he was there, my friend Carol showed us a photo she took with Mr Thaksin on her handphone. So we ended up having our brunch anyway. Eddie, then the deputy news editor of BT, subsequently got that photo published in the paper.

Although this happened more than a year ago in January 2007 (how time flies!), it is still fresh in my mind.

After that, Eddie left BT - and, alas, we managed to catch up only once for dinner and drinks.

There are a lot of dichotomies in life. Humans as a species are different from others because we can delay our gratification, which is one of the reasons we have progressed more than other animals.

Instead of eating all the food we have straight away, we save some for tomorrow. Instead of spending all that we have today, we save and invest. Instead of enjoying life to the fullest today, we study, we work. We sacrifice spending time doing things we like because we have an exam to take next month, or have a project deadline to meet next week.

We do all this in the hope that, some time in the future, we will get to enjoy the fruit of our labour.

Indeed, it is those who have the discipline to delay gratification who will be successful in life. What can a person make of his life if all he does every day is sip wine, loaf on the beach and feel high?

On the other hand, if we strive too much to keep up with the Joneses and keep on increasing the speed of the treadmill we are on, life becomes a drag.

There is no denying that some folks - a lucky few - derive pleasure from the work they do. Others, however, become too obsessed with material pursuits. As Nassim Taleb noted in his book Fooled by Randomness, the higher a person is promoted, the less of his time will belong to him.

In life, the fact is that we all have to do what we have to do so that we can do what we want to do. We have to work to survive, to indulge ourselves, to ensure we are financially secure so that we can raise a family or devote our time to some cause we believe in.

Perhaps, given the unpredictability of life, we should not feel guilty about pampering ourselves once in a while.

As Berkshire Hathaway's vice- chairman Charlie Munger said, every day you should give the best hour of the day to yourself. It can be spent with a loved one, or it can be spent exercising so you can remain fit and healthy, or it can be spent thinking about how best to manage your finances. And the rest of the time, you can do what you have to do.

But, of course, to have a goal, a target, is what keeps humans going. The key is to try to not make this an all-encompassing purpose that makes you lose sight and perspective of everything else.

One way to keep perspective is to derive pleasure and satisfaction from little achievements along life's path. For me, an article well done is something to be happy about. A dish well cooked is another reason to be satisfied.

But, ultimately, what people seem to remember most about life when they reach the end of their earthly journey is other people who travelled with them and the experiences they shared.

A dinner with a group of friends at Holland Village. Enjoying a picnic and concert in the park with your family. One particularly flawless game of tennis you played. Moments when the silliest of things made you laugh until you cried.

Since we never know what tomorrow will bring, we should make today - every day - count. So give your mum a call. Arrange that lunch with the friend you said you'd meet 'one day'. Make the first move to know a person you have been wanting to know. Buy a ticket to a concert to hear your favourite music.

And while you're at it, try some random kindness with no expectation of receiving anything in return. Make somebody's day. Because, like Eddie, we are all but passing through this world.

My regular readers will know my column is about the nitty-gritty of money, which is something we all need. But sometimes it pays to stop and think: there are plenty of other riches out there too.



Remembering Eddie Toh...

Reme Ahmad
2008 年 4 月 1 日
Business Times Singapore

EDDIE Toh would have been 41 years old today.

Born in Johor, he was a long- time reporter with Singapore Press Holdings, then switched to stockbroking firm Kay Hian for a couple of years in Singapore and transferred to Kuala Lumpur.

He later rejoined SPH as KL correspondent for The business Times. And we became buddies when I joined the KL bureau of The Straits Times in May 2000.

Lunchtime would see us roaming around Wisma Cosway or KLCC or its surrounds, looking for lunch places or the latest (ahem, pirated) DVDs.

Compared with me, Eddie was always the reporter who could walk up to a newsmaker and charm them into giving beautiful quotes for stories.

And he knew a lot of top people too.

Once, when we were lunching at that ground floor cafe in Equatorial KL, Hong Leong Bank boss Yvonne Chia came over from another table to talk to us for about 20 minutes because she knew Eddie.

Another time, we bumped into Rashid Hussain of RHB Bank, and the two of them spoke like old buddies for half-an-hour at a cocktail reception, while I pretended to be part of the conversation.

The way Eddie joked with newsmakers at press conferences told you he knew them well.

During our time in KL, we debated politics, business, cronyism and Mahathirism - and 'talked cock' about life.

Eddie helped me explore angles when I got stuck with stories. He even helped me make calls.

We became such mates that we even contemplated joining forces to buy a studio unit at The Marc. It was one of the first condos to come up in the KLCC area and was 'cheap' - starting at RM500,000 for a 700 sq ft unit.

But by the time we argued over bumiputra rights (I'm not a bumiputra because I'm a Singaporean, but what the heck) and Chinese hegemony over business deals, and who should own 51 per cent of our joint company, the discount window ended and the price went up to RM650,000. (Today, the price of the studio is about RM750,000- 800,000.)

Then there was the time when I pretended to be the driver of 'Datuk Eddie' when we went to visit a car showroom in Kampung Baru. We parked his old silver Citroen ZX far away and breezed into the showroom, where Eddie fiddled with the Mercs and Beemers.

He even sat in one open-top Beemer and started the engine - much to my embarrassment. Because after a few minutes, it was clear that this 'Datuk' was not quite the real thing.

How close was I to Eddie?

In KL, from 2000-2005 when we were there, if you saw a Malay chap and a Chinese guy sharing food in the midst of dozens of other office workers in a high-end restaurant or at roadside hawker stalls, that was us.

I was his 'Muslim brother' and he my 'Chinese brother'.

We even joked about his little goatee, because Muslim me didn't grow one then.

And somewhere in between all the work and laughter, Eddie met Linda.

He was very secretive about her; I guess he didn't want to get ribbed too much. And then they got married and moved to Singapore.

He left BT last year and joined Hill & Knowlton as director of strategy or some such fancy title.

On Sunday, I saw the last minutes of Eddie's life.

He was struck by a severe heart attack about 3.30am that day and never recovered.

I arrived at Tan Tock Seng hospital about 1.45pm . . . and it was heart-rending to hear Linda calling him to wake up to go and eat mee pok together.

He died about 5.10pm.

And suddenly I realised that I hadn't cried over someone for a long time.

Thanks for all the help, laughs and love, Toh Wei Chee.

I will miss you very much, my brother.

The writer was formerly Malaysia bureau chief of The Straits Times. He is now assistant foreign editor



Singapore
Former BT deputy news editor dies

Chong Chee Kin
2008 年 3 月 31 日
Straits Times

THE one true passion of former Business Times (BT) deputy news editor Eddie Toh was journalism.

Even after leaving the newspaper for public relations last year, he retained a voracious appetite for politics and current affairs.

Yesterday, just two days short of his 41st birthday, Mr Toh died in hospital after suffering a massive heart attack at home.

He is survived by his wife of three years, Linda. The couple, who had no children, had birthdays one day apart and planned to celebrate her birthday today.

Mr Toh, a Malaysian, started his journalism career at The Straits Times almost 20 years ago, reporting on financial news.

He left to work as an analyst before returning to BT as its Malaysia correspondent. He was later made the paper's deputy news editor here.

His sudden death was a shock to his family and friends.

BT senior correspondent Ven Sreenivasan, who knew him for over a decade, described Mr Toh as 'easily one of the nicest people around'.

'He was warm and approachable and one of those genuinely friendly people,' he said. 'He was very laid back and easy to talk to. He was very knowledgeable about Malaysian politics and we used to talk about it all the time.'

A close friend of nearly two decades, former BT news editor Quak Hiang Whai said: 'Other men may talk about football when they meet but, with Eddie, it was always politics and global issues. Even after he left BT, we would spend our time doing a postmortem of the newspapers when we met.'

Mr Vince Chong, Beijing correspondent with The Straits Times, said he was in Singapore last week and had dinner with Mr Toh at Clarke Quay.

'He was his usual jovial self, joking about politics and catching up on the gossip in the corporate world,' he said.

At about 3pm yesterday, Mr Toh complained of discomfort and began to vomit.

With the help of a neighbour, his wife took him to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. By then, he was unconscious.

Mr Quak, who was among the friends and colleagues who went to the hospital as soon as they heard the news, said: 'I kept whispering in his ear, telling him we should both return to BT and we would stir up a storm together - anything that would excite him. I felt so helpless.'

But Mr Toh slipped away.

BT editor Alvin Tay, who had also gone to the hospital, said: 'I was shocked when I heard the news. He seemed quite fit when he was with BT.'

He remembered Mr Toh representing the paper at one of the Singapore Exchange's Bull Runs in the Central Business District.

'He was also affectionately known in BT as the newspaper's CEO, or chief entertainment officer, mainly for chairing the organising committees for several of our fun events.

'I was disappointed when he decided to quit the paper last year. To me, it was a loss to journalism.'



BT's ex-deputy news editor, 41, dies

360 字
2008 年 3 月 31 日
Business Times Singapore

THE Business Times' former deputy news editor Eddie Toh passed away yesterday following a massive heart attack, just two days before his 41st birthday.

Mr Toh had left BT at the end of March last year to join public relations firm, Hill & Knowlton, after almost 18 years in journalism.

He joined Singapore Press Holdings as a Straits Times reporter on its Money Desk covering the property market. He left after about five years on the desk to join stockbrokers Kim Eng as a research analyst, then moved to rival firm Kay Hian's Kuala Lumpur office. He spent about a half dozen years in research before joining BT as its KL correspondent. He returned to Singapore in 2004 to become BT's deputy news editor.

Said his distraught wife, Linda: 'His passion was always journalism. He talked about it all the time.' She was to have celebrated her 32nd birthday today.

Former BT news editor Quak Hiang Whai, who is now with United Overseas Bank, said of Mr Toh: 'An intellectual with balanced political views. Eddie belongs to the rare breed of true-blue journalists who loved, lived and breathed news.'

His love for journalism never left him and he carried on writing through his own blog.

'He always enjoyed a good debate on anything under the sun and his blog was essentially a political platform for him to expound his views on regional and global affairs. His death is a real loss to journalism and the blogosphere. More importantly, he was a great buddy, and I will never forget him,' Mr Quak added.

BT's editor Alvin Tay said: 'I was shocked when I heard the news. He seemed quite fit when he was with BT. I remember him representing BT at one of SGX's Bull Runs in the CBD. He was also affectionately known in BT as the newspaper's CEO, or Chief Entertainment Officer, because he chaired the organising committees for several of BT's fun events.

'I was disappointed when he decided to quit the paper last year. To me, it was a loss to journalism.'