who's this Lee? he's Fong Soon. son of a manager of the then radio & tv of s'pore. mother a housewife. his eldest bro was a dir with moe then retired as principal of RJC. 2nd bro was a giant in the advertising industry who coined the famous slogan 'Grow like a Champion'. a sis nurse married to a dentist in down under. another sis married to a businessman who manages regional garment industries. younger bro teaches in a top sch. younger sis, a financial controller, married to a banker. he lives with a bachelor older bro, same as him doing minor jobs! most of his nephews, nieces, grand nephews & nieces are professionals, eg doc, lawyer etc. at his dad's funeral, most male guests wore black ties, & women in formal dress, many big cars too!
at this point, am sure you'll wonder why this guy is so different from his high-profile siblings! according to him, when he's a kid, his parents overlooked his high fever! that in a way burnt his brain & his later life too! causing him to speak slower than his mind! he's from ACS. well he's the sch captain for the english chess team. a sch closely associated with his family. after that he went to study book-keeping.
i know him in the 80s when i was the newly elected president of a pte college's alumni. lee, due to his accounting background, was made the treasurer. hardly know him. 1 night he phoned & highlighted that some members of the management committee created politics! not too long, that alumni was dissolved.
lee was robbed into my angling club to be the secretary & not treasurer cos i felt he could contribute more. he's a good administrator & eloquent in english. he speaks queen's english. (i can't tell noun & verb). he's a good english tutor. although he knew nothing about fishing, he's willing to learn & contribute. over the years, he disclosed that many competitors actually invited him out for good food & tried to buy him over. for many years, he gave his heart & soul to the club.
his career was changed by me. in the 80s he lived in bt timah & worked in kranji. a clerk in a timber co. as usual the co made him to do all kinds of jobs. he's even an unofficial timber grader. in the middle of the night got to go to the port for custom clearance.... i urged him to quit. he then switched jobs a few times.
now in his late 50s, he found his dream job. he's a security officer. in sch, he's a BB. he's a VC. think he liked uniforms & discipline!
lee was jobless after his indon boss closed shop. due to age, he can't even be a petrol kiosk staff! although his x boss passed him some contacts, those were too small for him to survive on. he took on 2 jobs, kitchen helper with several hotels & clubs, & surveyor. he did all kinds of surveys eg how many people checked into budget hotels (lol), how many cars enter the car parks.... once he needed my help as a whisky co wished to know drinkers behaviour..... he & i ans many questions with many rounds of whisky & of course some $.
another interesting topic about lee is romance. from the 80s till now, many women were intro to him but failed! a lady friend once highlighted that lee got no look, career, education or charisma. she suggested that he should go for overhaul! some friends teased that howcome i didn't advise him on romance luck. honestly he never ever ask, & i don't see the need. only once he drew his bedroom plan for me to advise.
my mum ever commented that where do find such a good man who doesn't smoke, gamble, womanise. drink! those women who're not interested in him must be blind.
he looks at women in a very shy & decent way. candidly he admitted that he's the last good virgin man in s'pore! in the tempting bangkok & batam he managed to stay clean & keep his virginity!
recently almost weekly he invites me to dine at nice english & chinese restaurants. it prompted me to ask him what's the occasion. he said no special occasion, only coz during his bad times, i paid for his meals...... also lent him money.
some friends & i felt that due to his strong family background, for him to work with them shouldn't be a problem. but he felt that he should be on his own, & he didn't wish to trouble others.
due to overwork... all his previous co made use of him to do lots & lots of work......
he went into a coma! 2 team of specialists led by 2 leaders came to his rescue. A team led by a younger prof felt that he should be operated on! B team led by an older prof felt otherwise.
in a half awake stage, while been pushed into the op room, lee, an unofficial christian, heard a voice: "Son, Your Time Isn't Up Yet!" when he's awake, he's told that B team actually rushed into the op room to stop the op!
now he's a dedicated christian. attend church service as often as he could (due to work). he also help in the home service or self-help group.
entertainment is his favourite leisure. he loves hk tv dramas. only you is his signature tune. and he could sing many english & cantonese oldies. he often throw himself into decent karaoke w/o women. now he also attempt mandarin christian songs. in a way he learns chinese to assist the chinese speaking bro n sis.
former pm goh chok tong is lee's idol. lee likes goh so much that he could speak in his accent & style. lee sees goh a gentleman. lee has his humour side too: once i told him that egg was added to a tonic drink package. he questioned who put the egg in? in bangkok only then he realised that pig blood was banned in s'pore while we're having noodle soup. in batam his chicken king friend was so eager to book a girl for tomorrow morning. lee teased him that tomorrow first thing in the morning he to make sure his watergun was full of water!
sometimes i wonder why or how our friendship can last for so long! guess he likes an honest, sincere, & no-nonsense fellow. i see all these qualities in him too.
i've no particular motive to write this page. just feel like letting the world know that there's a Living Saint. as defined by times-chambers dictionary, "Exceptionally Good and Kind Person".
if i could create an award, prize or foundation for friendship, humanity or virtue, it'll be called LEE FONG SOON. it's an Honour to have Him as Friend!
more about him can be found in older posts: Vision on Batam, Rolex n Friendship, & Brotherhood Kindness Keeping inThailand.
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