The will

When I read about how CHEMOIL Energy founder and chief executive Robert Chandran died tragically in a helicopter crash in Indonesia last week, leaving behind a company with an annual turnover of S$4.4 billion, I started thinking about my will.

I have never given it any thought all these years because the past few years were all about getting by and struggling to survive. When I told my friend about this, she exclaimed, "How can you not think about this? Who's going to run your company if anything happens to you?"

So I called my friend who's a lawyer. "I need to make a living will so that when I die, my assets will be properly distributed." Before she could utter a word, I quickly added, "Not that I have any assets right now...."

Her reply was quite unexpected. "I have not done any living will. I'll need to do some research first and call you tomorrow."

I hung up feeling very puzzled. How is it possible? She worked for a large law corporation for many years before setting up her own law firm last year, she must have done some along the way.

I received her call the next day. "When you talk about your living will, are you thinking of donating your organs when you die?"

Ah, so that's what it is! It's my mistake. What I wanted now is a 'will', not a 'living will' (maybe later). Following her advice, I'm in the process of listing my (non-existent) assets, naming my executor and beneficiaries. Though my little company is not making loads of money, I wouldn't want it to die a natural death upon my demise.

Talking about that, I read about the ICE campaign in Janice's blog today. Imagine if we're involved in a mishap, the people attending to us would have our mobile phone but wouldn't know who to call. The concept of "ICE" is catching on quickly. It is a method of contact during emergency situations. As cell phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name "ICE" ( In Case Of Emergency).

I promptly stored 3 ICE contacts in my phone after reading this. Talk about paranoia...