We know that he had been battling against nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cheerfully for the past few years. His saliva gland no longer functioned because of radiotherapy and he had to carry a bottle of water all the time. Despite the trouble, he was able to cheer up everybody around him. John had been an angel to me, lending me a helping hand whenever I was a bit desperate. He was survived by his wife, two daughters and Anthony, his son.
Before he was baptised, he had already taken part in activities held in St. Cecilia Parish in Diamond Hill where he once lived. He joined my catechumen class but I was only harvesting what others before me had sowed. He was a metal smith and he made full use of his expertise to help out everybody around. After baptism, he joined the St. Joseph Society of the parish and took an active part in its work. Every year, they would visit the Trappist Monastery in Lantau Island to do all sorts of maintenance works for the monks.
As a family man, he was a model husband. Not only did he earn the living for the family, but he also took full responsibility to help raise his nephews in mainland China. In the remembrance service held tonight in the funeral parlour, many parishioners came forth to retell their encounters with John, how he cheered up everybody he met even when he himself was suffering from cancer. He was truly a man of steel. Cancer could not bend him a bit. In contrast, I was very much withdrawn when DM erupted.
One Buddhist residence of the estate in which he had lived bore witness to his generous contribution to the maintenance works of the housing estate. He cheerfully bore witness to his Christian faith and was well accepted by whomever he met, with or without religion. Our parish priest was proud of his witness before non-Christians.
Once the owner of the flat below us complained that our bath tub leaked and bath water dripped. We hired some construction workers to remove the tub to build a shower to solve the problem. However, after quickly removing the tub, the workers did not turn up for the next few days. It caused so much inconvenience. Annoyed, we decided to call off their service to find somebody else. However, it turned out that these workers had triad background. They called at 1:00 am and 5:00 am to disturb our sleep. At that time, I was working at my computer and was able to answer their calls. In the end, a social worker friend in the Youth Centre helped us negotiate the matter out without going through the police and John helped us clean up the mess left behind. He carefully plugged the leak and built us a shower. Our family was grateful to him.
Dear Lord, You are the Resurrection. We entrust the soul of John in Your mercy. May he rest in peace and his cheerfulness remains in our hearts. Amen.
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