Leiping and I got to know each other when he joined the Bank over ten years ago. We didn't have much interaction then as I left DC soon for field assignments. We reconnected again when he joined South Asia in the Islamabad Office as the Lead Energy Specialist and when I just
finished my assignement there, but still supporting the country program from Nepal.
We had extensive discussions on the country, the energy sector and its challenges as well as personal matters, such as relocation logistics, family visa status in DC, the Chinese community in Islamabad. I actually gave him a long list of Chinese restaurants hidden among the Islamabad neighbourhoods, and informed him about the health clubs and the tracking trails etc.
Leiping loved his family very much and family was one topic we talked about a lot, me explaining the family evacuation experiences after Marriot Hotel bombing and him explaining to me how he went about the challenge and the efforts he understook to overcome the G4 Visa issue when one's duty station changed. To him, family is always Number One.
Leiping was then all excited and eager to engage and start actions on the ground. He had lots of experiences in this sector and had already a good analysis of the energy situation and development strategy in Pakistan. He gave me a full doze of his thinking. He was quite committed and eager to take up the challenge. I explained to him the complexities, challenges and difficulties in Pakistan as well as within the Bank to engage in hydropower development on Indus, all from the social political side, which is my field, and let out my frustration and pessimism over the hydropower development in Pakistan. I really gave him an earful. His answer threw me off the chair. He said - I'm an engineer and I don't think these are big problems. I almost jumped from my chair. He then said - I take care of the engineering side and you take care of the social political problems. So there's a division of labour among the team and in that sense these are really not my problems. I then realized he was having fun of me. I can visualize him sitting there talking.
It is very sad and unfortunate that God didn't give him the time to complete what he has started. Otherwise he could have made a huge difference on the ground. We'll keep him in our heart and continue the mission he has started. May he rest in peace.