EULOGY of Francis Khoo Kah Siang (1947 to 2011)

 Eulogy of Francis Khoo by his wife, Ang Swee Chai.

Mr Francis Khoo, a Singaporean living in exile in the UK, passed away last week, 2011. He was 64. Mr Khoo had fled Singapore after the PAP wanted to arrest him under the ISA in 1977 for defending an accused charged with rioting over the Tan Wah Piow incident. Mr Khoo fled the country. The Government ended up detaining his wife, Dr Ang Swee Chai, instead for about one month.

After her released, Dr Ang joined Francis Khoo in the UK where they both have been living. Below is Dr Ang’s moving eulogy of her husband:

 

EULOGY

Francis Khoo Kah Siang

1947 to 2011

(Born October 21, 1947 in Singapore - Departed on November 20, 2011 in London, England)

It must be so bizarre that the one person who loves you beyond words and whom you also love the most in this world goes on to make you a widow – and without polite notice!

So it is the case with my beloved. As I stepped off the plane, I received a text message sent a few hours ago that he “cannot come”. As I came into the house, I smelt delicious chicken macaroni soup freshly cooked in the kitchen. There was some left in a bowl which he must had eaten from to stem his hunger as the plane was delayed. But there was no answer to my call, except from our agitated cats. Yes, my beloved had died in the room upstairs.

Did he choose to die before I got to him to spare me the pain of resuscitating him? Was it Divine Mercy that he was taken home to God so painlessly, silently, and alone before medical science complicated his humanity? Was it to spare his wife anxious moments waiting at the hospital intensive care? Could I not just cradle him in my arms in these last precious moments on earth? Only at our re-union with our Maker and with each other can these questions be answered. For now, I am grateful to be able to look after him on this last lap of his earthly journey as he returns to the One who created him.

As news of his death broke out, thousands of emails, letters, text messages, phone calls, flowers poured from all parts of the world and all walks of life. From heads of states, diplomats, politicians, and friends employed and unemployed. I am not only overwhelmed by the volume but by the affection and admiration they held for him. Friends and family are flying in from all over the world. I have managed only to reply to just over a thousand messages over the last 48 hours. The rest might have to wait for their reply until the funeral is over.

So who was this Francis Khoo?

He was the fourth generation of an established Singapore Peranakan family. It is a close knit family. As a boy he sang in the Singing Khoos with his brothers Lawrence and Victor, and the family is devoutly Catholic. As he grew up he began to acquire a strong sense of justice – beyond merely legal. Of course he was a lawyer, but even in University as Vice President of the Students’ Law Society, he served a greater justice. He opposed the introduction of the Suitability Certificate, the abolition of the jury system, and later on the heavy bombing of Hanoi on Christmas day. His other interests include photography – he patented a pocket camera at the age of nineteen. He loved drawing, writing and ran the St Joseph Institution school paper and the university Undergrad.

Despite all the above “distractions”, he qualified and was called to the bar. Within months of arriving as a junior lawyer in his firm, he took on the legalities of forming a Citizens’ Co-op to save the Singapore Herald, the liberal English daily closed by the government.

In 1974, I met him at a Justice and Peace meeting. His deep commitment to social justice was to him a Christian obligation. The first commandment is to love God; the second is to love your neighbours as yourself. Two weeks later I read in the Straits Times that my new acquaintance was to defend a controversial trial in which factory workers and a student leader were charged with rioting. I called him to ask him to re-consider since he might invite personal repercussions. Being a “kiasu” (law-abiding timid) Singaporean, I sensed that the government wanted the workers and the student leader imprisoned, and to defend them would be seen as being anti-government and the consequences would be dire!

He patiently explained that everyone is entitled to legal defence – and no one should be deemed guilty until proven beyond reasonable doubt. These workers were poor and established lawyers would not take their case on and someone just got to do it, in the interest of justice. If he had to pay the price of doing so, he would accept it!

I am still not sure when my admiration for him turned to love. In 1976 when I sensed that he might be detained under the Internal Security Act I asked him to marry me, so that if he were to be arrested I can visit him in prison and at least be his link to the outside world. We married on 29 January, 1977.

The arrest came, and he managed to escape. I was detained shortly afterwards and questioned about him. Upon my release I joined him in exile in the United Kingdom.

Francis started his live in exile as a cleaner in a Central London Hotel. He then went on to work as an administrator in a British Charity, Medical and Scientific Aid for Vietnam. Two years later he was journalist for an international third world magazine, South. From there he went on to direct War on Want, a prominent international NGO founded by the late British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson. Apart from chairing numerous charities he was co-founder and Vice Chairman of the British Charity, Medical Aid for Palestinians from 1984 to 2007. He had to step down as new British Charity Commissioner Legislation advised against office bearers serving more than 9 years , He had served 23 years!

From War on Want he returned to legal practice in London until his failing health forced him to stop work. Despite this, his work for many charities continued.

He wrote many poems, songs and articles. He sang for many including the wives of the striking miners. One of his songs Father Christmas in the Slag Heap brought the whole of Hemsworth, a town faced with pit closure, to tears during their poverty stricken Christmas in 1984. He also sang at canteens catering meals for the aged. His songs and writings are available to the Singapore public for those who are interested.

He suffered renal failure from 1998, went on dialysis, but had a successful renal transplant on the NHS in July 2011 – the generous gift of an anonymous British woman donor. The day before his death he was at the Annual General Meeting of Living Stones, a charity to which he was trustee. His diary is full of future engagements including the Haldane Law Society, charities for the homeless, Medical Aid for Palestinians, the Scottish Parliament, and the House of Commons – plus supporting me in dozens of public lectures and talks. It is full of engagements until end of September 2012.

His untimely death left a huge void in all our lives. We are all in a state of shock. But by God’s grace, time will make it possible for his memory to overwhelm the pain of our loss. My tribute to him will be to continue to serve the cause of peace and justice. I also hope to be the widow who will take his ashes back to his beloved Singapore after his 34 years of exile.

Dr Ang Swee Chai

22 November 2011

Francis Khoo 的妻子 Ang Swee Chai 的悼词。

 流亡英国的新加坡人 Francis Khoo 先生于 2011 年上周去世。他享年 64 岁。在 1977 年人民行动党想根据 ISA 逮捕他后，Khoo 先生逃离了新加坡，原因是他为一名被控暴乱的被告辩护 陈华标事件。 邱先生逃离了这个国家。 政府最终拘留了他的妻子 Ang Swee Chai 博士大约一个月。

 获释后，洪医生在英国加入了 Francis Khoo，他们一直在那里生活。 以下是洪医生对她丈夫的感人悼词：

 颂

 傅家祥

 1947 年至 2011 年

 （1947 年 10 月 21 日出生于新加坡 - 2011 年 11 月 20 日离开于英国伦敦）

 一定很奇怪，一个爱你无以言表的人，也是你在这个世界上最爱的人，却让你成为寡妇——而且没有礼貌地通知！

 我的爱人也是如此。 刚下飞机，就收到几个小时前发来的短信，说他“不能来”。 当我走进屋子时，我闻到厨房里新鲜烹制的美味鸡肉通心粉汤的味道。 碗里还剩下一些，他一定是从 到

 飞机延误时，他忍住了饥饿。 但是除了我们那些焦躁不安的猫，没有人回应我的呼唤。 是的，我的爱人死在了楼上的房间里。

 难道他选择在我找到他之前死去，以免让我为他复苏带来痛苦吗？ 在医学使他的人性复杂化之前，他如此无痛、安静、孤独地被带回家见上帝，是出于神圣的慈悲吗？ 是为了让他的妻子在医院重症监护室等候的时候不着急吗？ 在地球上最后的宝贵时刻，我不能把他抱在怀里吗？ 只有当我们与我们的造物主以及彼此重新结合时，这些问题才能得到解答。 现在，当他回到创造他的那一位时，我很感激能够在他尘世旅程的最后一圈照顾他。

 随着他去世的消息传出，数以千计的电子邮件、信件、短信、电话、鲜花从世界各地和各行各业纷至沓来。 来自国家元首、外交官、政客以及在职和失业的朋友。 我不仅被这本书的数量所震撼，而且被他们对他的喜爱和钦佩所震撼。 朋友和家人从世界各地飞来。 在过去的 48 小时内，我只回复了一千多条消息。 剩下的人，恐怕要等到葬礼结束，才能得到他们的答复了。

 那么这位Francis Khoo是谁呢？

 他是新加坡土生华人家族的第四代传人。 这是一个紧密相连的家庭。 作为一个男孩，他和他的兄弟劳伦斯和维克多一起在 Singing Khoos 唱歌，这个家庭是虔诚的天主教徒。 随着他的成长，他开始获得强烈的正义感——不仅仅是法律上的。 他当然是一名律师，但即使在大学里担任学生法律协会副主席，他也为正义服务。 他反对适用性证书的引入、陪审团制度的废除，以及后来在圣诞节那天对河内的猛烈轰炸。 他的其他兴趣包括摄影——他在 19 岁时获得了袖珍相机的专利。 他喜欢绘画、写作，并负责管理圣约瑟夫学院校报和大学本科生。

 尽管有上述所有“干扰”，他还是获得了资格并被召入律师行列。 在他的公司担任初级律师后的几个月内，他承担了组建公民合作社的合法性，以拯救被政府关闭的自由派英文日报《新加坡先驱报》。

 1974 年，我在一次正义与和平会议上认识了他。 他对社会正义的坚定承诺对他来说是基督徒的义务。 第一条诫命是爱神； 二是爱人如己。 两周后，我在《海峡时报》上读到，我的新朋友要为一项有争议的审判辩护，审判中工厂工人和一名学生领袖被控暴动。 我打电话给他请他重新考虑，因为他可能会招致个人反响。 作为一个“kiasu”（守法胆小）的新加坡人，我感觉到政府希望将工人和学生领袖监禁起来，为他们辩护会被视为反政府，后果很严重！

他耐心地解释说，每个人都有权获得法律辩护——在排除合理怀疑之前，任何人都不应被定罪。 这些工人很穷，知名律师不会接手他们的案子，为了正义，有人不得不接手。 如果为此付出代价，他也愿意！

 我仍然不确定我对他的钦佩何时变成了爱。 1976 年，当我感觉到他可能会根据《内部安全法》被拘留时，我向他求婚，这样如果他被捕了，我就可以去监狱探望他，至少是他与外界的联系。 我们于 1977 年 1 月 29 日结

婚。

逮捕来了，他设法逃脱了。 不久之后我被拘留并审问了他。 获释后，我与他一起流亡英国。

 弗朗西斯在伦敦市中心的一家旅馆当清洁工，开始了他的流亡生活。 然后，他继续在英国对越南的慈善、医疗和科学援助机构担任管理人员。 两年后，他成为国际第三世界杂志《南方》的记者。 从那以后，他继续领导 War on Want，这是一个著名的国际非政府组织，由已故英国首相哈罗德·威尔逊 (Harold Wilson) 创立。 除了主持众多慈善机构外，他还是英国慈善机构的联合创始人兼副主席，从 1984 年到 2007 年为巴勒斯坦人提供医疗援助。他不得不辞职，因为新的英国慈善专员立法建议不要担任超过 9 年的公职人员，他曾 任职23年！

他从 War on Want 回到伦敦从事法律工作，直到他的健康状况不佳迫使他停止工作。 尽管如此，他为许多慈善机构所做的工作仍在继续。

 他写了许多诗歌、歌曲和文章。 他为许多人唱歌，包括罢工矿工的妻子。 在 1984 年贫困的圣诞节期间，他的一首歌《炉渣堆中的圣诞老人》让整个海姆斯沃斯这个面临矿坑关闭的小镇流下了眼泪。他还在为老年人提供饭菜的食堂唱歌。 他的歌曲和作品可供有兴趣的新加坡公众使用。

他从 1998 年开始肾功能衰竭，继续透析，但在 2011 年 7 月通过 NHS 成功进行了肾移植——一位匿名英国女性捐赠者的慷慨捐赠。 在他去世的前一天，他出席了活石协会的年度大会，这是一个由他担任受托人的慈善机构。 他的日记里写满了未来的活动，包括霍尔丹律师协会、无家可归者慈善机构、巴勒斯坦人医疗援助、苏格兰议会和下议院——此外还支持我参加数十次公开演讲和演讲。 直到 2012 年 9 月底，它都充满了约定。

 他的英年早逝给我们的生活留下了巨大的空白。 我们都处于震惊状态。 但靠着上帝的恩典，时间会让他的记忆战胜我们失去的痛苦。 我对他的敬意将是继续为和平与正义事业服务。 我也希望在他流放34年后，成为将他的骨灰带回他心爱的新加坡的寡妇。

 洪瑞才博士

 2011 年 11 月 22 日