Lai Fun and I first met Ivan and Jean Horsley at Raffles Hotel, Somerset Suite in the mid-1980s. My English pen-pal, Fiona Watchman, sent me a letter informing me that her father’s colleague was coming to Singapore to visit and she had passed a gift for Ivan to hand over to me. But Fiona had only my address, not my home telephone number.
What amazed me was Ivan searched through the phone directory to contact me to collect the gift from Fiona. This was no easy feat. You see, my home phone number was registered under my father’s name, and Fiona did not know my father’s name. Imagine, my surname Wong is a common surname and there are a great number of people bearing that surname. In the 1980s, personal data were not confidential and could be listed. Wow, Ivan managed to scrutinize patiently the small prints in the phone directory to locate my address and then the phone number. I take my hat off to salute his persevering spirit.
Each time Ivan & Jean came to Singapore, my father would use his taxi to take them to find the house at 95 Arthur Road, the place that Ivan used to stay during his short time as a soldier in Singapore during World War II. The house was no longer there and in its place was a private condominium that looks completely different from Ivan’s memory of his Singapore home in the 1940s.
Another favourite place that Ivan would visit was the Changi Prison. Although he landed just after the Japanese left Singapore he arrived expecting to fight on the beach. As luck would would have it he didnt have to experience that. Whenever he visited Singapore, he would visit Changi Prison Museum and Kranji War Memorial I think to remember those who hadnt managed to return home.
One time after my business trip in London, I took a train to Newcastle-upon-Tyne to visit Ivan & Jean. They were such good hosts that I put on weight during the short stay there. They drove me for a day trip to Scotland and it started to snow. When I told Ivan that was the first time I saw real snow, I did not ask him to stop but Ivan pulled the car aside and let me get out of the car to experience snow. I played with the snow in the open space like a delighted child. Such lovely memory of Ivan being so sensitive to me.
Another warm gesture of love was extended to me when I got married. Both Ivan and Jean flew in to attend my wedding in Singapore. They brought me a lovely, English lamp and a necklace-earrings set as wedding gifts. The lamp is still by my bedside table and I wear the earrings and necklace on special occasions. Ivan even gave a speech at my wedding dinner. What an honour!
Jean, Brian and Margo, Ivan had many enriched life experiences, had many friends, young and old, local and international, and had lived to a ripe, old age. May you all experience peace and comfort knowing that Ivan now rested in peace.
With deepest sympathy,
Wong Lai Han
17th July 2019
P/S I am now in China and I do not have the old photos of Ivan with me in my computer to share with you. My sincere apologies.