Edmund

12 Comments
The airport is the sacred temple of tears. I couldn't help being afflicted by the aura of emotion as we approached the heart of the temple. I could feel the quiet excitement of my buddy, the man I was sending off.


Within seconds of dismounting the monster, Edmund unloaded his luggage swiftly. He returned a short wave, gave the trademark grin and vanished into the radiance.


His escort glided back to darkness, lost in thoughts. Reunion. A week ago, Thusara had his. This week, it was Edmund's turn. When Thusara made the comment about a young child not recognising his father after being away for months, he could had heard Edmund's heart clattered on the cold hard Winter ground. As a father of a young baby, I could accurately empathise how Edmund felt at that point.


Edmund was in an upbeat mood tonight and treated Steph, Joni and myself dinner. Dinner was excellent at Oriental Wok, it never failed to deliver delicious food at great value. Behind Edmund's wide grin throughout the evening, we could feel his enthusiasm. He had done excellently in 7 months, coming over to Perth alone without friends or job. Quietly he did his things without fuss, making mistakes and learning along the way. On the hindsight, we would have claim it was okay to do so, a lot of people had done so and it was 'nothing' but if we ask ourselves if any of us were to do that again, say moving to the eastern cities, New Zealand or even back to Singapore, most of us would break out in cold sweat. Edmund did it all alone, while having to cope with being separated with his wife and young toddler. It wasn't easy.


I could remember Jang Jung, the handsome South Korean ex colleague, crying out in jest, "Take me home!" when we saw an overhead plane during our smoko one evening. I remembered laughing along but quietly thinking of home seconds later. All of us have family and friends. And emotions. We are all the same, every of us. It had been painful just to think about how my mum was deprived of holding the baby of her only son. Fortunately, my young cute nieces were around to regulate the want. I gathered that mum miss me as much as I do, although we spoke nothing of that during our weekly conversations. 


I could imagine how Edmund feel when he woke yesterday morning, with his daughter within seconds away and his wife by the side. It could have felt like awakening from a long dream. Belong long, all of them will be joining him in Perth. In his own words, "Rebuilding has begun."

12 comments:

  1. Anonymous14 September 2012 at 10:55

    I think we are never so brave as when we have young children, our love for them spurs us on to do those things we would not otherwise :)

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    1. asingaporeanson14 September 2012 at 11:45

      Some say brave. Some say crazy. Whichever it is, not very good advertisement to encourage the young couples to have kids - lest they have to go through the same thing as we did :)

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    2. Anonymous14 September 2012 at 12:04

      Depends if you want to reach your potential or just coast thru life. I look back and am pretty impressed with the things I have achieved :)

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    3. Alan Heah15 September 2012 at 07:11

      I Like Anonymous 14 September 2012 10:55 's comment (whoever you might be).

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    4. Anonymous15 September 2012 at 19:19

      Thank you Alan. Anita

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    5. Alan Heah17 September 2012 at 08:30

      Thank you too, Anita. :-)

      I honestly wasn't trying to draw you out to identify yourself… it just feels strange when I don't know which Anonymous I'm talking to.

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    6. Anonymous17 September 2012 at 17:48

      I realized how silly it is, to write a post about bravery and then be too shy to put my name to it. Anita :)

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  2. Zororoz14 September 2012 at 11:08

    Are you ready for your own trip tomorrow, brudder? I am coming home tonite; hope to catch up with you before your flight tomoro.

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    Replies
    1. asingaporeanson14 September 2012 at 11:39

      What time are you landing in Perth? I am free tonight . But we can't host dinner tonight because of time constraint, coffee is no problem though. If you wanna drop by, let me know.

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    2. Alan Heah15 September 2012 at 07:13

      All your best for your latest voyage, -asingaporeanson- ; if this reaches you on time. :-)

      Delete
  3. Anonymous14 September 2012 at 20:45

    Ya ya i had a free dinner by accident... Steph lol

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  4. Anonymous13 November 2012 at 17:40

    Hi asingaporeanson, was reading ur blog and came across Edmund's story.
    I admire the courage in both of you.
    am currently a student and would hope to relocate to Perth in the future. (tho chances are bleak partly because of the new rules)

    Would like to make a small request:
    Could Edmund share more on his experience: when he migrated over alone(without any friends/acquaintance in perth.)

    Thanks and rgds,
    NR


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