I find it hard to pen a few thoughts of my dear friend, Yolanda, without getting all emotional. True her sudden “home call” was unexpected and shocked many of her friends and family members. However upon reflection, I believe it is what Yolanda herself would have preferred.

In life, Yolanda was “like an egg, hard on the outside but soft inside” as her dear nephew so aptly described her in his eulogy. Yolanda was a considerate, caring and loyal friend who would fuss over her friends and loved ones. Yolanda gave her friendship unconditionally. She was generous with her time and money and never forgot the birthdays of friends and family members. For as long as I can remember, each year on my birthday, she would sing “Happy Birthday” to me and end with her loving wishes of good health and happy travel.

In 1968, Yolanda was asked by a Thai lecturer to trace my whereabouts in Singapore. The Thai lecturer was a good friend whom I met when studying at the University of Washington in Seattle. It was the beginning of my 43-year friendship with Yolanda.

Yolanda was a fantastic shopper. When ever we traveled together, Yolanda would find interesting native handicrafts, ranging from bookmarks to hand-woven notepad covers, to bring back for her friends. It was her way of supporting the cottage industries and she could also not resist buying the cheeses and the sweets. Once on a trip to Germany, we stopped at the Swiss town of Zematt and Yolanda almost bought up the entire shop’s supply of Victorinox nail clippers for her office staff. She believed in giving the best and cost was not a concern.

Yolanda was an adventurer at heart. She loved to visit places seldom ventured by Singaporeans. We had a truly memorable trip to Mongolia, three female librarians accompanied by two males, exploring the steppes. We had a Russian driver with an improvised Russian van who spoke no English and an interpreter who spoke very little English. Each night we were taken to a ger (traditional nomadic dwelling with a fire place in the centre) next to a farm house. I would call it bed and breakfast, Mongolian style.

I recall Yolanda being the only brave one to venture out into the pitch dark night with a torchlight to find the “loo”. The rest of us decided to do the needful at the back of the ger.

On this memorable trip, we covered over 2000 kilometres and visited several historic sites and Lake Bakal. En route to Singapore, we made a stopover in Beijing where we took a local bus to the Great Wall of China. Yolanda showed her stamina by joining the locals to walk all the way to the highest section of the wall. As for me, I was content to watch with admiration at the swiftness with which she reached the top and gave a victorious wave from above.

Yolanda was an excellent traveling companion—fun, amiable, considerate and careful. We made over ten trips together, the last one to Moscow and St Petersburg in March 2010. We were supposed to go to Harbin in February this year, but it was not meant to be and she made her own final journey to a much better place than all the countries that we had gone together.

Yolanda, you were an extraordinary person and a wonderful friend. I thank God in my remembrance of you.

Contributed by Lim Bee Lum