To my dear ex-colleague Irene,

I hope that you are in a better place now. I will always remember your enthusiasm in work, your optimism and cheerfulness in the face of adversity.

You will always be remembered dearly.

Article taken from Shin Min newspapers

English translation of Chinese article on Irene Yap Ching Sze - Shin Min Daily News, Singapore - 21 September 2008

Fishball-sized tumour - Girl with Masters from Australia fought against breast cancer for 2 years.

Girl with Masters from Australia discovered that she had a tumour (the size of a fishball) on her left breast and made a brave decision to remove the entire breast. Unfortunately, she still lost the fight against cancer and recently passed away.

Yap Ching Sze (32 years old), studied in Australia for 6 years and obtained her Masters. Upon her return to Singapore, she worked in an American firm helping expatriates to settle down in Singapore. She was the 2nd child in her family and had one elder brother and a younger
brother.

Yap Ching Sze's mother, Mrs Yap (53 years old) said that her daughter found a lump in 2006 and went for a check-up in the following year (2007). To their shock, the fishball-sized lump was diagnosed as a cancerous tumour in her left breast. Doctor had wanted to remove only the cancerous tumour but as its position was directly above the nipple, the entire left breast had to be removed instead. As the cancer was already in its 3rd stage, Yap Ching Sze bravely made the decision to go ahead with the surgery without any hesitation. She also underwent chemotherapy in the hope of subduing the cancer and for a while, her medical condition seemed to have improved.

Cancer cells had spread to lymph nodes
Unfortunately, in February this year, the cancer cells had already spread to her lymph nodes and 3-4 tumours visibly appeared on her neck. Surgery to remove these tumours was not an option as these were too near the veins. Yap Ching Sze had no choice but to continue with chemotherapy but she remained optimistic and continued living life to the fullest.

Yap Ching Sze's colleague shared that even during the period when Yap Ching Sze was sick, she continued to provide a listening ear and offered support to her friends and colleagues whenever they had problems. The colleague said, "She was a very helpful girl and even though she was
sick, she was the one who comforted us and not the other way round." From July 2008 onwards, Yap Ching Sze's lungs suddenly had fluid retention, which caused breathing difficulties and she had to be hospitalised in August. On 17 September 2008, she went into a coma and
passed away the following afternoon.

Her last words to her family was that she had regretted not taking good care of her health and hope that her friends and family will watch their diet, take good care of themselves and stay healthy instead of just focusing on work.

- Translation by Irene's friends