Remembering Yvonne Tan

http://yvonnetannz.blogspot.com

I got a blog from my friend about Yvonne Tan. She passed away in Auckland, New Zealand June 2006, due to brain tumor that couldnt be eliminated even after several operations. She was an actress that ever involved in few famous drama and movie including Xena - The Warrrior Princess. However, what really touched me is her courage and faith to face the death.

Yvonne Tan’s funeral at the SGINZ ( Soka Gakkai Internation New Zealand) Culture Centre in Auckland, Saturday morning; 17 June 2006, was an event. It set a precedent, it was the first funeral service held in a Kaikan in New Zealand. It was a celebration, a festival of song and dance, with an Austin Powers theme, which Yvonne had requested, just prior to her death. The reason - She wanted everyone to be HAPPY on that day !.

Was this really a funeral? ... No, It was a celebration! As Yvonne's wishes

I adapted here a poem writen by Yvonne :

~ Read Me ~

Who knewIt could happen,
That our paths would cross one day
And here you are.
Remembering every word,
And of all the things
The spirit has to say...

Guess I
Was hoping that,
You wouldn't see right through me.
Then... there you are,
Pondering every word.
So should I...
Or should I not speak?

Slowly
I get to know you,
The intimacy of ink & paper.
There you are.
Reading me like a book.
And I am comfortable in your presence,
There cannot be one without the other.

Untouched
Ideas through the years,
Releasing of the sub-conscious mind.

So. Here you are.
Absorbing every word.
And through you and this,
Some of me will float in everlasting time.

Poem By:
Yvonne Tan
13 Oct 2004