Life & Death

Health

Reflections on sudden deaths and unexpected tragedy: Our time will come

I knew Steven Lim, but I hadn’t heard of Pradip Subramanian. Not until the news started to pour in. Subramanian, the president of the World Bodybuilding & Physique Sports Federation...

Music

Out of the depths of despair, a song of hope

In 2015, I heard the amazing testimony of Ivan and Rachel Tan. Their baby, Johanna, had been diagnosed with a series of congenital heart defects that were diagnosed as life-threatening if left...

Music

Numb – the cry of a generation

I’m tired of being what you want me to be Feeling so faithless, lost under the surface Don’t know what you’re expecting of me Put under the pressure of walking in your shoes Every...

Life & Death

In the end: Reflections on death and the lives of Chester Bennington, Chris Cornell

An unashamed confession: About two weeks ago, the entire Thir.st team was huddled in a karaoke room celebrating our In-Dependence Day, throats going hoarse as we screamed into the mics: I tried so...

Life & Death

What really matters when you’re gone?

I was 27 when my life changed forever. I lost one of my best friends. He was the most generous person I knew and a real source of strength and support to many of us. He was a Christian – “one...

Real Life, Real People

See you soon, Dad

I remember climbing the Great Wall of China with my father in 2009. My sisters and mother were predictably not game enough to ascend the cobbled steps, but we men were always so brave. I led the way...

Life & Death

The kind of life I want

I was recently at a funeral wake of someone I’m not related to. My wife’s friend’s father. Let’s call him Uncle P. It was obvious that Uncle P was loved by his family,...

Real Life, Real People

I was 18, full of ambition, full of myself. Then my heart stopped beating

I woke up groggy and disoriented in a bed that was not my own. I looked around and realised I was in a humid hospital ward. Beside me, an old man was wheezing violently, hands gripping onto the...

Movies & TV

The longest day in the world

Death. You know this feeling according to what you’ve been through. The death of a person. The death of a dream. The death of hope. I admit I probably haven’t experienced great tragedy...