[Undated picture: Lim Kek Hwa at Reference Services, NLB]
At that time, I'd thought, "This was a librarian who's left a deep impression on some people". Not many. Only some.
There were no comments at the post then.
Some five months later, I somehow found my way back to the post. As I write this, there were 79 comments. The first comment was posted on 25th December 2006. A flood of comments came on 26th March 2007. The latest I read was posted on 12th April.
I wondered if the comments were posted by the individuals. Or that someone received the replies and posted them on behalf of the senders. But that's besides the point.
At the back of my mind, I'm also thinking, "Isn't blogging wonderful? What a way to remember and honor a colleague and a friend". But of course that's also missing the point.
The point is that while I don't know Lim Kek Hwa personally, I'm proud to be associated with a profession in which she was in.
To be honest, reading the post still doesn't make me know her. Because I've never met her. I've never heard about her (until the post). I've never read her words or heard her. speak.
What moved me were the number of people who remembered her. Her friends and ex-colleagues (many who are now based outside Singapore), an eight-year old nephew, and even her doctor. The many lives that she's touched.
That was apparent.
That's what made me blog about it now.
Thank you, Ms. Lim. You're an inspiration. To librarians and non-librarians alike.
I guess that's one of the beauty of blogging - it has a lifespan that sometimes outlives those whom it is created for. Its certainly a novel thought that one's online legacy can actually be far greater than one's physical presence sometimes.
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