Sunday 17 May 2020

(43) In memory of Professor Lam Yeh




頌亡友林埜君

                            時不利兮志不渝
                            內蒙外逐意難書
                            光陰似箭心如矢
                            舊業從頭亦未躇
                   



Wrong times did not dent your devotion.
Words are inadequate to describe your expatriation.
Time lost in Hohhot urged you,
Like an arrow, to struggle thru',
And to recover lost grounds without hesitation.

Professor Lam and I went back a long way. I first met him at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) in 1980 when he attended my lectures on stochastic control. He was a middle-aged student (-five years older than the lecturer) along with other students of similar age from Mainland China; China was beginning to open up after the disastrous cultural revolution. Our friendship that started there lasted till his departure from this world, a total of 40 years. The best way to describe our friendship is Zhuangzi’s 君子之交淡如水. I followed his career closely. And from time to time he would consult me on various change points. For example, he asked me for my advice about the offer from HKU shortly after he had just accepted one from the National University of Singapore. He accepted my advice and honoured his acceptance by going to the NUS. I can remember visiting him at the NUS as his house guest. A couple of years later, I was very glad that his wish of returning to Hong Kong was realised and he moved to the Department of Statistics of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, to which he made many important contributions. He stayed there till his retirement, having served it as its head of department at one time. In retirement, he continued to be an active teacher at the University of Hong Kong. On looking back, in many ways, his life trajectory and mine have many points of intersection, some contemporaneously and others sequentially: UMIST, CUHK, HKU, NUS and Peking University. 

 

Professor Lam Yeh’s life was full of ups and downs but he faced them all with fortitude, humility, and generosity. If I were a novelist or a film-maker, I could write a novel or make a movie based on his colourful life-journey, and I’m sure it would bring tears to my readers/viewers. Many pictures have appeared in front of my eyes and I will always treasure his memory for he was a real Junzi! 

 

May Lam Yeh, my dear friend, rest in peace!


 




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