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The Singapore Law Gazette

Gina Ho Chok Poon

As Singaporeans woke up on 9 August 2018 to celebrate Singapore’s National Day, we woke up to a new sad reality. Gina (as everyone remembers her) left us at about 4.45am that morning after battling cancer for about three months. We lost a doting and loving mother to our two daughters and a wife and soulmate of 36 years. The profession lost a fellow member of the Bar and a partner at the firm. Gina was admitted to the English Bar in 1991 and was a member of the Inner Temple, Inns of Court in London. She was called to the Singapore Bar in 1993.

Gina lived her life as a lawyer in the highest ideals of the profession. She had a very strong sense of fairness and treated her fellow lawyers with the greatest of respect. She mainly practised in the areas of family law, conveyancing and other solicitors’ work. She shied away from contentious litigation often times expressing that she could not understand why some people had to be at each other’s throats and slugging it out in court. She always preferred the least acrimonious way forward and often times, patiently sat through many “without prejudice” meetings and mediation sessions. She was happiest when the matter at hand was settled and the warring parties were able to smile and shake hands with each other.

In a sense, this was consonant with her own character. She never had a harsh word for anyone and even when annoyed, never showed it but walked away with a lingering smile on her face. In a way, she was mindful of our transient presence in this life. She was not a defeatist but she saw good in everything. At heart, she was a peacemaker. In our 36 years of marriage, we never had a quarrel or any unpleasant moment. Her advice was always a simple one: “If you would not say something unkind or unpleasant to a friend, then you also ought not to say it to your spouse, who is after all, your best friend.” She was my strongest supporter, always watching my back and encouraging me to do my best, whether it was serving in the SAF or undertaking pro bono work. She was quite content to remain in the shadows.

I recall an occasion when she chirpily floated into my office and told me that she had successfully talked her client out of divorce as the children were still young and advised her client to be a little more tolerant towards her husband. When I told her that she had just lost a brief that could have paid the bills, she replied that there would always be another case coming along that may not have such a happy ending. She even celebrated her success at patching up that family by treating the office staff to lunch from her own pocket.

Gina went about her life and work with a quiet dignity. Anyone who came into her life became a friend, be it a client, a salesperson, the cleaner or the security guards. She had an especially soft spot for the least advantaged and on weekends and public holidays, would buy some nice food for the security guards and cleaners to boost their morale. In her own quiet way, she encouraged fellow lawyers going through a tough time. Once, when a senior lawyer was in some trouble with the law, she went to the Court to wish him well and boost his morale. Similarly, when she read how a senior lawyer had successfully defended a fellow lawyer at the disciplinary committee hearing, she personally delivered a cake to the defending counsel.

Gina was an avid reader; a habit she cultivated from the early days when she was determined to improve her English language, having spent her schooling years in the Chinese stream. Whilst in school, she was a member of the Chinese orchestra and in her later years she also played the piano to relax.

She was always very thoughtful in life and never wanted to inconvenience anyone. In her last days, she gave strict instructions that on her passing, there was to be no wake or obituary. She also wanted to be cremated the same day and have her ashes immersed into the sea. She just wanted to live on in our memories. In the evening, that same National Day, as the jets above thundered across the sky to the city for the flypast, we bid a quiet, dignified and tearful farewell to Gina on her final journey. As a testimony to the fact that she touched many lives and hearts, the cremation hall at Mandai overflowed with relatives and friends, many of whom stood on their feet throughout.

Weeks after Gina’s passing, while going through her papers, we found together with her Will a poem by Colleen Corah Hitchcock. Perhaps Gina, the deep thinker had a premonition and in her usual kind and caring way, wanted to encourage us to live our lives to the fullest.

And if I go,
while you’re still here …
Know that I live on,
Vibrating to a different measure
Behind a thin veil you
cannot see through.
You will not see me,
So you must have faith.
I wait for the time when
we can soar together again,
Both aware of each other.
Until then,
live your life to the fullest
And when you need me,
Just whisper my name in your heart,
… I will be there

Gina had lived her life well. She will continue to live on in our hearts and minds. May her kind soul rest in peace.

Gina at the Judiciary Appreciation Dinner hosted by the Chief Justice

Amolat & Partners