SiMach

Here are the 2 eulogies by Tuan's very close friends.

EULOGY FOR PHILIP MACHADO

By Kevin Rodrigues

Dear Alison, the Machado family, relatives and friends of Philip. We are here today to say our final goodbye to a great man. A man who in his relatively short life has left behind a legacy for us to cherish and a vacuum in our hearts and thoughts that will never be filled.

As I sat down to pen this eulogy, I asked myself how can I tell the world how great he was and how big a heart he had. In typical fashion and character of the man, Philip, would prefer that it be simple, without the complicated jargon, and fuss. Tell them what you know of me from your heart and they will understand.

Philip was a gem of a friend and like most of his friends, I was blessed to have known him from a young age when we were both evolving out of our schooling years and trying to find our paths in life. Philip joined the Navy, which also marked the beginning of his love and long time devotion to the diving profession. Not long after, he left the Navy and went into commercial diving. He worked his way up from being a frontline diver to hold supervisory and management positions within the diving fraternity. Through the years he worked hard and earned the respect of his supervisors and peers alike and became an icon in the diving community, a symbol of dedication, fairness and sincerity.

While this is only a snapshot of Philip's commendable career path, it helps steer our memories of him as a person who cared so much about his family and friends. He worked hard for those he loved, not to satisfy his own material needs but more so that he could provide for and share in the good times with those he cherished. I remember when he would return from his diving assignments and say to me, “ Okay Kev lets go and enjoy ourselves” which meant days on end of painting the town red with his friends. After a month or two he would be back to work and eventually this cycle took on a life of its own. He enjoyed life and what it had to offer and always made sure that his friends were included in his agenda. I remembered once when a few of us with Philip were out drinking ourselves senseless and could not even manage to crawl to a cab to get home. In most cases one would have had to fend for himself and find his own way home. But not for Philip, he checked us into the Hyatt hotel and then went down to Newton to get hot supper and teh tarik for us. Through my blurred vision I saw Philip standing at the door with packets of “tulang”, not even bothering about what the hotel would have to say about his choice of food. Even in times of being a burden to him Philip took pains to make sure that he provided the best for his friends. I am sure that all of you here will have similiar memories of Philip's character and devotion towards his friends. Over the last couple of days as I sat and mingled with his friends, I was proud to know that I was not alone in my opinion and admiration of Philip. He was a gentlemen who never left his friends behind nor did he ask for more than just their friendship.

Deep down inside he longed for a family of his own and eventually found this in his beautiful wife Alison, a personality so like his, and their three adorable children, Philip, Megan and Michael. Alison shared his dreams but more importantly gave him the confidence to go out and fulfill what he wanted. From his adventures with turtles, building a mini aviary to the two dogs he so secretly went and bought signified simple ways that a man who loved life so much could stay in touch with life itself and teach his children about it. He now had a family he always wanted and through his years of trials and tribulations, it was finally a dream come true for Philip. His friends were never forgotten but instead welcomed to share in this family of his. His heart was big enough to accommodate both his friends and family where he made an effort to ensure that the start of one dream did not mean an end to his friends and their friendship.

Our hearts are broken with his passing and many of us still ask “Why”. Our strength shattered and confidence rattled by such a great loss and all our plans with Philip will now remain only as a wish. This was not the way it was suppose to be, the agreement was to share our greying years together at coffee shops talking about the good times we had growing up. I do not have an answer to the Why's, and I am not qualified to suggest a reason for his departure. Only Philip himself and God knows the reason as to why his life was taken at such an early stage and so suddenly. I have lost a dear friend but count my blessings that I had the chance to be a part of his life.

PHILIP MACHADO’S EULOGY

By Alfred Galistan

I was asked to write Philip’s Eulogy by Alison last Saturday evening

My first thought was ‘how am i going to do so with a heart brimming with bitterness?’

I believe that I was robbed of a good friend and I just couldn’t come to terms with Philip’s death. Looking at my dear friend in his casket on Thursday evening confirmed that he had departed from us but I just couldn’t accept it. And for the last few days, I just didn’t know how to approach his death and come to terms with it. I just couldn’t see God’s infinite wisdom in this no matter how hard I tried.

But the last few days had thought me many things about Philip and who he was and so I shall try to do justice in this eulogy about Philip the man and his life with us.

Philip was a man who grew up being independent at an early age, and by doing so, he came to understand the true secret of valued friendship. With his disarming style and gregarious smile, he could make a stranger feel as though that stranger had known Philip for many years in less than an hour. He made people around him feel comfortable to say the least. And I have yet to meet someone who doesn’t like Philip unless that someone felt threatened by Philips presence.

Even though Philip had a so called laidback disposition, he was never known for shoddiness when it came to work. Work was a so-called religion to him and he took it very seriously. He has been known to run off friends from the worksite because of their attitudes. That says a lot about this man lying here.

He is never the sort to neither hold grudges against anyone nor bear false witness; and if you ever wanted a frank opinion, just ask Philip and he will give you one. Philip was a people person and people from all walks of life could get along with him.

Philip was like a magnet and people were just attracted to him and just wanted to be around him and call him friend. Although Philip has never been alone with so many people around him, I believe that to a certain degree, he was a lonely man but he never showed it. He felt incomplete. It was only until he met Alison that his world changed and his loneliness finally left him. I have met many great couples but Philip and Alison was truly a unique, rare and beautiful marriage.

Who would have thought that Philip Machado, the cool cat would be so happy to have his wings clipped but instead, it was his family and those close to him that mattered most. In fact, his wings were unclipped and he truly started to enjoy life because he had uncovered one of life’s secret.

Philip could have lived life with the rich and famous but he chose to live as a simple man because his true love was for the simple things in life. A visit to the zoo with his family was a day well spent instead of it being a chore (like for most of us adults). With his laidback ways, who would have thought that he was the sort that would wake up at 5.00am in the morning to travel to the various Marshlands of Singapore to snap a few photos of Mother Nature at her best.

Who would have thought that he dreaded travelling due to work not because of its dangers but because it kept him away from the things that mattered most to him, which was his family.

I once attended a wake and a funeral of another so called ‘simple’ man. Through a 5 day wake, thousands of people showed up to pay their last respects and I was humbled by this profound experience. I told my wife Sandy one evening that if I had the same amount of people show up for my wake, I would surely know that I had lived a fruitful life for we should count the cup of life by the number of people who have come to be our friends and not by the superficial financial wealth. That, my dear people, is the secret of Philip Machado. Today, I can safely say that he had accomplished this because of the number of people who have come day after day and even today to bid him our last farewell.

The other secret that Philip knew and would like to share to all present is this….enjoy life to its fullest and love those around you like you’ve never loved before because we shouldn’t plan for such things as we do not know what lies ahead and how short life can be. And Philip had lived these secrets of life to the fullest.

Even during his wake, Philip was at work again, making us make new friends. I have gotten to know new people and I have renewed some old friendships. Again he was present and made this happen in typical Philip Machado fashion.

Philip Machado, through all our conversations over the years, I have learnt many things from you, my friend. I am proud to have known you and honoured to call you one of my dearest friends. And I would not trade one memory for all the riches this world has to offer.

You have set the pace and have marked the yardstick for us to follow and should we ever want to arrogantly consider our lives a success, all we have to do is look at yours and be humbled.

A truly remarkable life you’ve lived and a truly blessed man you are. I am sad that I have to say goodbye to you so soon in life and will never see you nor hear your voice again. I will truly miss you indeed my friend and I will never forget you.

Your legacy is the way you loved your family and the people around you and we in turn love you for touching our lives.

We shall meet again my friend but soon I hope not, for I have to learn to love my family and life like you have before we meet again.