My Raniel wasn't athletic. When he started National Service, he couldn't do a single push-up nor chin-up. I worried, because how would my gentle boy survive army life?

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But Raniel was resilient, and he persevered, and his superiors saw it before he did. He was appointed platoon commander first, before gifting him the invitation to Officer Cadet School — the most prestigious training, for those with leadership already in their bones.

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20 July 2014 was the commissioning ceremony. Our son officially became an officer, and it was the formal recognition of what both my husband and I already knew: our son was born to lead.

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But he led not with shouting, not with muscle, but with his heart. That was always his way.