My friend Arthur passed away two weeks ago. I received the news on a cold and windy day in Italy on my mobile and email. Enedfea has been trying to contact me all morning but my mobile was off. When I on it after lunch, a couple of sms from Superboy and Enedfea came beeping in.
1st sms from Superboy: Pls call Enedfea, she got something to tell you.
2nd sms from Enedfea: If it is convenient, pls call me.
At the same time, I was logging in to my email and two emails from Superboy. Very seldom he will email me nowadays...
1st email: Dear, pls call Enedfea if you see this email.
2nd email: Dear, I think I have to tell you this bad news... Arthur passed away this morning...
I blinked my eyes to make sure I read the sentence correctly. Which Arthur was he talking about? I know 2 Arthurs and the one that both Enedfea and Superboy could most likely be referring to is the Arthur, my mahjong and supper kaki back in my uni days. I was momentarily stunned for a second and exclaimed "huh?!" so loudly that everyone turned to stare at me. I grabbed the telephone on the table and began dialling Enedfea's number. I need confirmation. I need to know is it the Arthur whom I often had late night ICQ with many years ago.
Me: Hello.... what happened?...
Enedfea: Arthur passed away this morning.....
Me: (pause) Which Arthur...?
Enedfea: (pause) Arthur, our SA bball senior...
Me: What happened?.... Was it an accident?
Enedfea: Nobody knows. We will be going to his wake tomorrow.
And the rest of the conversaton was difficult to continue. I can feel tears welling up my eyes. Many questions ringing in my head. Did he passed away suddenly just like this guy from my uni whose heart stopped out of the blue while on the phone with his friend discussing on the subject which we would be having an exam on in Suntec that afternoon? Or did he have some critical illness which he did not mention to anyone? Did he meet with an accident?
I rushed to the toilet and tears began rolling down. I was still browsing through his Friendster account the day before. I had not look through his Friendster for like a long, long time. Was even surprise to see that his status has changed from "Single" to "In A Relationship". The last time I met Arthur was sometime last year and we had Japanese dinner at this hotel he recommended. It was a short dinner, just some catching up with each other. He was looking good, slimmed down a lot from the previous time I saw him. Was worried that he was still suffering from the break-up with his long time girlfriend... but seeing the cheerfulness in his face, I was glad that he has moved on and was also doing very well in his job as some Account Consultant. He told me he was into this gaming thingy and had made some friends in Hong Kong and he would be going Hong Kong to meet up with them. He told me he is happy with his job but he will eventually start his own business or something and make his first million by age 30. Usually, when people tell me such things about making the first million, I will just listen half-heartedly; but with Arthur, I was confident he could do it. He has a happy family and is smart - no need to study also can get distinction for his Honours and Masters. Why does this has to happen to him?
The next day, Superboy forwarded me a newspaper article which described about an accident occurring on Turf Club Road at 3.30am. The car hit against the divider and crashed into a wall and bursted into flames. When I saw that sentence, it hurted me so much. Did his car malfunction? Was he dozing off while driving? Then I realised that driving is actually such a dangerous thing. It is like a time bomb. And God had cruelly pulled off the time bomb that Arthur is holding onto.....
