Remembering Mr S R Nathan, the People's President

​A kind word, available and accessible, obliging - these are just a few of the descriptions of the late former President S R Nathan from Singaporeans who met him over the years. Mr Nathan passed away on Monday aged 92. 

The Singapore Women's Everest Team, who embarked on a trip in 2009 to become the first all-women group to scale the world's highest mountain, shared that they had the privilege of meeting the then-President Mr Nathan over a meal before their climb.

During the meal, he suggested that they write a book to document their five-year journey towards Everest, and even volunteered to write the foreword for the book. "If you summit I'll write the foreword for the book, if you don't summit, I'll write the backward," he joked, according to the group's Facebook post. 

"We remember calling him, like a friend, from Everest Base Camp with the good news that we've summited the mountain. He congratulated us, and sounded genuinely happy that we're safe," they wrote.

"That's probably the way we would like to remember him. A friend we can call, and who we know genuinely cares."

Another who penned thoughts about an encounter with Mr Nathan was Ms Kamini Ramachandran, who spent time with him two years ago to tell his life story in performance art.

She remembered that the former President used a fountain pen and real paper to write on. "His script was incredibly beautiful, the kind of cursive my grandparents had. I asked to keep that piece of paper, and he was amused at my request," she wrote on Facebook. 

"Education meant so much to him, and reading especially. He said reading aloud time should be brought back to schools," Ms Kamini added.

"It was difficult not to cry when I told his story to more than two thousand teachers, for his life was not easy, not at all. But his tale is truly inspiring, the tale of a hero of our times."

Facebook user Gideon Lim also shared how the then-President obliged his eager sons with a photo during a dinner in 2009.

According to Mr Lim, the boys - Isaiah, Nathanael and Josiah - did not dare to approach Mr Nathan for a photo, but the former President, "who was halfway through his dinner, sensed the boy's eagerness, smiled and waved at me and asked if I could help him take a photo with these three boys".

"Fleeting but an extremely memorable moment," wrote Mr Lim. "Echoing what PM said of Mr Nathan, he was indeed a warm and approachable President who endeared himself to Singaporeans."

​Another Facebook user, Raven Ng, shared a photo of Mr Nathan with the Istana Presidential Guard, taken on his last day of service as President.

"Although we were just NSFs, you still wanted to take a photo with us on your last day of service as the president," Mr Ng wrote. "Recalled every time your vehicle passes by and you would wave to us with a smile."