I have done my best in the race, I have run the full distance, and I have kept the faith. 2 Tim 4:7

In my view, these are the words that best described Kelvin Joshua Lim Tze Ee, aged 30. On 31 October 2000, Kelvin had run the full distance, finished his race and kept his faith.

For the many people who knew Kelv, his passing was a tremendous personal loss. Many had joined him in his struggle against stomach cancer when it was first diagnosed in May 1999. Despite his illness, Kelv continued to be optimistic about resuming practice as soon as possible. Kelv was called to the Bar in May 1996 and joined Michael Khoo & Partners as a legal associate. Many of his classmates and colleagues who knew him well will agree with me that he had a great love for the profession and was an enthusiastic litigator. Kelv had a special passion that rubbed off on those who happened to meet him, either as friend or foe in court.

Kelv was married to Vivienne Lim Hui Bian, also a litigation lawyer practising at Helen Yeo & Partners. He was a loving husband and together, they have a son, Jonah Ryan Lim Jin (11 months old). Kelv was a caring and doting father. Time became a very precious commodity to him during these last few months, which he spent well with the both of them.

Right to the day of his diagnosis, Kelv continued to play active rugby and soccer. He was a winger with the Northern Knights Rugby Club. He had also previously represented Singapore in the nation's Under-21 rugby team. Kelv also played a crucial part in the Mergers & Acquisitions soccer team that won the 1998 Law Society Wednesday Shield Tournament - he was unanimously named 'Best Player' by fellow team-mates after the tournament. To top it all off, Kelv was a full-blooded Commando with the Singapore Armed Forces.

Kelv was one person who was equally comfortable and capable of being your beer-guzzling pub-going pal one moment and your church-going brethren who earnestly shares God's Word the next. Kelv was a Lector with the Church of the Risen Christ, as well as a group leader of the RCIA classes there.

A word should also be said about his brilliant mahjong skills. We were always amazed at the way he did not have to arrange his mahjong tiles like others in order to be able to see the combination.

Most importantly, Kelv was an inspiration. He had an infectious smile and a bubbly personality. When he first knew of his illness, he immediately decided that it was not going to be a debilitating factor in his life. His fighting spirit led him through a painful operation in Japan where his stomach, gall bladder and spleen were removed. Even while undergoing chemotherapy, he was so optimistic and upbeat that doctors and nurses started asking him to help counsel fellow cancer patients.

Miraculously, a regime of chemotherapy appeared to have brought the cancer into remission. He was then able to return to Singapore and experienced his greatest joy, the birth of his son. He continued to serve in church, to undertake the post of chairman of his rugby club's upcoming charity tournament and continued to lead a full life. Even when his illness returned in August, he never allowed it to prevent him from fulfilling his role as a husband, father, godfather and friend.

His wife told me after his funeral, which was attended by a huge number of friends and relatives, that it was so like Kelv to leave this life the way he did … with a bang and not a whimper. We will all miss him very much and will always cherish the many happy memories of him in our lives.

Vivienne would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for having rallied around her family during the period when Kelv was sick as well as during her recent bereavement.

Goodbye Kelv. Till we meet again.

Edwin Sim
M/s Alban Tay Mahtani & de Silva