Skip to main content

PE, finally!

I had a good feeling, a really good one.

I ran downstairs, two steps at a time, to collect the mail, something I only do once a month if I can be bothered.
There, I saw the magic red words: Professional Engineers Board.
These are the words I have seen, annually, for the past four years.
I bounded upstairs, waved the letter around, KK’s eyes widened and he retreated straight to the kitchen.
I couldn’t bear it either. I cut the letter open and passed it to Day who had just come out of the shower with the words: Don’t say anything, Day, don’t say anything!
Day, green bath towel wrapped around his wet body, unfolded the two sheets. He read. And read.
Jo joined in the letter party. She read and read.
I finally mustered the courage to whisper: Did Papa pass or fail?
Both looked up. “I don’t know,” both said.
I grabbed it. I still couldn’t bring myself to read it. I got up and went into the kitchen. I handed KK the letter. He took it and stared. He looked at me.
Only then I read.

1343663281873
Oh my God.
We hugged each other and started jumping like kangaroos in the kitchen, squealing away. Kids must have thought we were mad.
Four years, nearly $2000 in exam fees and months and months (every year) of hard, hard study, KK has finally passed the Professional Engineer’s exam. Fourth time lucky.
He’s not quite one yet. He still has to pass the interview hurdle to become Er Loh (Er is the honorific for professional engineers), but he’s passed the paper!
He snapped out his daze to industriously bathe the girls and brush their teeth. “I feel like crying,” he said.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Celebrating KK's life

This blog is dedicated to Loh Kar Kheng, known to his friends as KK or Kheng. He died unexpectedly on Thursday, 21st October 2021, in an accident.  He was a Professional Engineer who loved his job, an inspiring coach and mentor, a passionate and gifted sportsman, a leader, a biker, a dedicated father. In the years from 2004 to 2017, I maintained a family blog.  These extracts celebrate his life. They capture his resilience and drive, overcoming the odds, to become a top-notch engineer (he just won a BCA award 3 weeks before he died, for his work on the new State courts - stories   here  and   here ), his sporting passions and his love for his children. The blog goes hand-in-hand with a memorial page here . If you have a story about what he said, what he did, if he inspired you or what you remember of him, do leave it there. It would mean a lot to us. Thank you so much. Love, KK's family
2 comments
Read more

The conclusion?

Finally, today, 16 months after his death, I receive the police investigation report and Coroner's Certificate for KK's death in my inbox. Apart from a few small things, this would be the last chapter in the book of things I have to settle. The findings do not tell me anything. I have bolded the main conclusion. Extracts from it: Further investigations revealed that around 11.00 a.m. on 21 October 2021, Mr Loh had texted his friend inviting him to go for a kite surfing session together.  Later that afternoon, at about 1.30 p.m., they met up at the west side of Bedok jetty beach front and prepared their equipment. They had set off separately, with Mr Loh's friend starting his kite surf first, followed shortly after by Mr Loh on his hydrofoil board. That was the last time the friend saw Mr Loh.  As they were surfing separately, the friend had assumed that Mr Loh decided to surf far down west and did not take further notice of him. At the material time, there were also other f...
Post a Comment
Read more

Year 4

It's been four years. The children and I are all blessedly OK. We are living in the same family home and they are following very normal, unremarkable life trajectories. May that be the case for many more years. #1 will be finishing his NS stint in the Naval Diving Unit at the end of this year. It's nice that he went into NDU, since KK was a commando. #2 has gotten a NUS scholarship and is studying Industrial Systems Engineering. She is staying in the hostel and is very much a grown-up now. Her favourite subject is Physics like her Papa. #3 has informed me that she managed to clear JC Year 1 by the skin of her teeth and will get promoted to Year 2. They are all good, sensible kids who try very hard not to waste my money. KK would have been so proud of them all. I am soldiering along, freelance writing.
Post a Comment
Read more