Keith Ramtahal

A couple of weeks ago Sue heard that her good friend Keith was seriously ill in hospital and unlikely to survive.  He died a few days later on 12 January 2015.

His life-long partner Steve died in early 2014, a fact we only learned from the same friend that told Sue how ill he was.

He came to visit us in Borneo in 2012; this is a picture of him posing with bananas during a walk in the Saratok rice paddies.  We were worried about him then as he was drinking a lot and seemed frail and depressed.

I especially remember one afternoon during his
visit.  We were staying at our favourite hotel in Kuching and I was on the walkway outside our first floor room enjoying the view over the hotel's tropical grounds.  I looked down and saw Keith standing by the pool looking up at me.  He quickly shifted his gaze as if I'd somehow caught him out.  Which in a way I suspect I had, because at that moment  I thought I saw in his eyes a deep longing and sadness.  For what I'm not sure; lost youth or his "old self" perhaps?  "La bella figura" was always important to him I believe and illness and advancing age made it harder and ultimately impossible to achieve.  I think Keith carried a lot of sadness and I can only guess at how this must have been intensified by his partner's death and how hard his last months must have been.

I met Keith on several occasions over the twenty or so years Sue and I have been together, but I never really felt I'd got to know him.  By all accounts he was a fine person: teacher; academic; sensitive and caring friend; fashion lover and; fun guy to be with.  I don't think he had an easy passage through life, but he never complained about it.  I never dreamed that as I waved him off at Sibu Airport two years ago I would never see him again.  Goodbye Keith, you are too soon gone and I really wish I'd got to know you better.