Passion and focus were also traits that another victim
Mr Stephen Loh, possessed, said his father Mr Victor
Loh, 64.

He also described his son, a PE teacher at National
Junior College, as an independent and obedient son.

Said Mr Loh: 'When he was in Primary 2, he came home
one day to tell us that he didn't want to take the
school bus any more because the woman on the bus was
not nice. He started taking two buses to Saint Andrews
School every day.

'Once, we lost him at a shopping centre and he was
just waiting for us at the main entrance.'

He also described Stephen as a frugal person.

He said: 'His grandfather left $28,000 for him to buy
a car, but he didn't want to use it. He wants to keep
it for further studies, to get a sports science
degree.'

Brawn and brains were what his son possessed, said Mr
Loh, who has two other sons aged 33 and 26.

Mr Loh said Stephen obtained a bachelor's degree and a
masters in engineering and worked for one year as an
engineer before quitting to join teaching.

SUPER-FIT

His son was also a super-fit man, who was a commando
officer during national service and completed a
marathon recently after two weeks of training.

Said Mr Loh: 'I never had to worry about his studies
or anything.'

Nor did he and his wife Cathy Loh, 59, have to worry
about his involvement in dragon-boat racing.

But even Stephen's super-fit status could not have
saved his life, said Mr Loh.

'In an open sea, they would have all survived. But
it's because they were swept under the pontoon. If you
can't surface, you can't breathe, you will drown...

'I hope the people in Singapore will learn from this.
I hope the sacrifice of my son will help prevent
similar incidents in the future.'

Taken from The New Paper article by Kor Kian Beng (Cambodia) (November 27, 2007)

STEPHEN'S CAT