Red Dot United chairman David Foo and secretary-general Ravi Philemon paid their last respect to the late Sergeant (1) Edward H. Go during the wake service held at the Trinity Casket Chapel of Light at Sin Ming Drive on Monday night.
Sgt Go lost his life in a firefighting operation at 91 Henderson Road on 8 Dec. He was posthumously promoted from the rank of Corporal to the rank of SGT1 for his steadfast dedication in duty and sacrifice in service to the nation.
A ceremonial funeral was held on Tuesday afternoon with a light fire attack vehicle leading the procession with the carriage bearing the casket of Sgt (1) Go. The funeral procession was supported by the Singapore Police Force band. Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Minister of State for the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of National Development, and more than 250 SCDF officers were in attendance, paying tribute to the firefighter.
“The late SGT Edward H Go’s ceremonial funeral was held today. He gave his life in service to Singapore. He was given full ceremonial honours and posthumously promoted. From all accounts a brave and responsible young man. Our thoughts are with his loved ones,” posted Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam on his official Facebook page on Tuesday night.
“There will be an investigation on what happened. And we will keep the family informed of the findings.”
During the wake service were tributes delivered by Go’s family members, school friends, and pastor which touched Philemon’s hearts. One of Go’s uncles who were at the wake told the RDU’s secretary-general that the 19-year-old man found inspiration in a quote attributed to Dwayne Johnson, to “always be the hardest worker in the room”.
“I saw so much of myself, of how I have lived my own life, in that inspirational quote. Being the hardest worker in the room doesn’t mean working the longest hours, it means working smarter and outmaneuvering the competition, while at the same time seizing opportunities as they present themselves,” shared Philemon on his Facebook.
Philemon explained that from the eulogies shared, he gathered that was how Edward aspired to live his life, adding “To roll up his sleeves, get into the trenches, and get the work done if he has to, and regardless of if anyone else was doing it or not. And he did it with a great big smile on his face.”
“Everyone who talked about the life of Edward, shared about the big smile he always put on his face. And he wore that smile regardless of whatever life threw at him.”
The representatives from the opposition party also had the opportunity to chat with the deceased’s sister who told them about a very important life lesson that the late Sgt (1) Go had experienced when he was in his teens.
“Edward’s sister Rachel said that he learnt that very important life lesson at the age of 13, as he was training to get into his school’s basketball team. His schoolmates from Hwa Chong International School shared about how Edward loved basketball, and how although he was a star player, he went out of the way to make sure that everyone enjoyed the game. He kept reminding his teammates that it was a team sport,” posted Philemon.
“Edward always encouraged the weaker players in his school to never give up. He picked up that mantra after failing to make it to his school’s basketball team because of a traumatising personal incident.”
This character remained with him even as he enlisted as a firefighter to serve his National Service. Rachel shared that he grew to love his job as a firefighter. He loved it despite feeling at times that his body was going to crumble. There were multiple times when he wanted to quit. The rigours of the job and the suffocating gear he had to wear as a firefighter made his job very challenging.