I first met Dato' Teo Chiang Quan (1949-2021) (CQ) back in 2012/13 at his baptism in church. I was in full-time pastoral ministry and remember meeting him and his wife (Esther) that Sunday morning.
CQ and Esther greeted me with a warm and friendly smile. No fanfare, no entitlement. Just an ordinary couple making an extraordinary decision about their faith. Baptism signifies the outward declaration of an inward decision. CQ and Esther both made that decision and I was privileged to have met them.
Since then, we met in church every now and then. The short pause, greetings and quick conversation - always with a warm and friendly smile.
Our paths crossed outside church when I was at the Paramount Board Meeting back in 2018. We exchanged pleasantries and CQ was pretty much the same person in church and in the Board Room. Humble, warm and friendly - and with the same smile.
We kept in touch and our last conversation was on April 5, 2021. I had a missed call from him that morning and messaged him in return. We then connected via phone at 3pm. Busy as he was, he said, "Bernard, somehow I accidentally dialled your number. But it's ok, God must have a purpose for us to connect". We spoke for a while that afternoon not realising that would be our last conversation here on earth.
I am reminded again that our lives here on earth is temporal and momentary, when compared to eternity. It is like the mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes (James 4:14). How then shall we live our lives? We were created for a purpose and we must live our lives with purpose. I pray in our lifetime here on earth, we will intentionally discover our purpose, sharpen it and live it to the fullest.
CQ found his purpose in God for his life. He was committed to living his purpose. Through his family, work, relationships, etc - he was able to see his purpose come to life. That my friends, is a successful and significant life. A life that is devoted to Paramount’s vision of "Changing lives and enriching communities for a better world".
Our deepest condolences to Esther and the family, and the Paramount Group.
The Lord's peace be upon you.
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