Dear friends, family,

As many of you know by now, Goh Poh Seng, father, husband, brother, and friend to so many people, passed away on Sunday, January 10th, 2010, after a long battle with Parkinson’s and recent complications from pneumonia. Poet, novelist, doctor, cultural entrepreneur and businessman, in his 73 years he touched the lives of so many people in so many places, from Malaysia, Singapore, and Ireland, to Newfoundland and Vancouver – where he lived – as elsewhere in his far-reaching travels and voyages.

We would like you to join us in celebrating Poh Seng’s life and spirit on Sunday, January 24th, at the lovely Wise Hall on 1882 Adanac Street (for a map, link to: http://www.wisehall.ca/contact.html), with poetry, music, food, wine and drinks. Think of it as something very much in the spirit of something he would delight in, much as the many parties held at the various Goh family houses and gardens over the years, which many of us will remember so fondly.

The bar at the Wise will have beer and spirits for sale, so let’s have a pint of Guinness in his memory! Wine will also be provided from the bar courtesy of the family.

We also invite you to bring food, in the potluck spirit that was regular tradition at our house. Think of something he would enjoy, and that you’d like to prepare as a last dish for him to savour.

Doors will be open at 6 pm. Commemorations, tributes, and readings will run from 7.30 to 9 pm, during which we will observe a minute of silence to meditate on his spirit, our memories, or whatever we would like to say to Poh Seng.

After this we have the hall til midnight. You’re welcome to bring an instrument or poem or anything else to contribute to the evening. We will also have a space set up where you can place objects, letters, poems, or photos in memory of our father. ( For those who cannot attend in person, we welcome you to add messages to Dad’s website: http://www.gohpohseng.com )

Also, In lieu of sending flowers, we would like to make a special request and have loved ones and friends donate to either of the following causes:

Much as he loved his garden, flowers and all things green, we believe Poh Seng would really wish help to go to those currently in need.

Please RSVP with your name (and the names of others attending with you) to mjoycewong@gmail.com to confirm (maybe also mention if you plan to bring food!). We’d love to see you there.

We’d like to thank everyone for the outpourings of love, warmth, support and comfort in the past week. As we are fielding lots of calls and messages at this time, please understand if we haven’t  been unable to answer or contact many of you who are dear to our hearts. Also, you might receive duplicates of this message from different members of the immediate family…a reminder of both how interconnected and outspread his pool of dear, loved friends and family was, and is.

With much love,

The Goh Family,

Vancouver

2 Responses to “A MEMORIAL & CELEBRATION FOR GOH POH SENG”

1. Katherine Knight on February 7th, 2010 3:27 pm

   In 2007 Katherine Knight and Almerinda Travassos made a short documentary about Goh Poh Seng including a reading of “Girl From Ermita” The above link takes you to a video of Goh Poh Seng reading this work.

2. Catholic Tide on July 4th, 2010 9:57 am

   Life on the Rock – Tri athlete for Christ – Fr. Mark and Doug with Brad Seng – 07-01-2010…

   My blog readers will be interested in your post so added a trackback to it on CatholicTide…

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