Li Hui Cham / notes

Yesterday, I received news that a colleague had taken his own life, and his wife’s along with it.

It was a devastating tragedy.

No one knows exactly what happened between the couple, or whether it was work or personal reasons that drove him to such an extreme act.

Because we worked on the same project (not closely, but with frequent meetings over about two months), a senior manager contacted me privately about the incident before the official announcement went out to the rest of the company.

Hearing that on the morning of my trip left me in shock for the whole day.

Just a week ago, he seemed completely fine when we talked about handing over some documents before I went on leave. I didn’t know, and will never know, whether he was suffering at that point.

The project was demanding. His role was under a lot of pressure.

As I sat by the lake today, reflecting on some of the exchanges we had, many thoughts crossed my mind.

Check in and ask, “Hello, how are you doing?”

We are all experiencing life for the first time.

Be kind to people.

Don’t be mean.