He was the baby of our family and will always be.

These were the words of Tu Kiti to describe his late cousin  Ratu Malakai Radikedike Ravoka who drowned while swimming in the Navua River.

Tu Kiti could not hold back his tears yesterday at the Methodist Church in Nabua while delivering an eulogy at Ratu Malakai’s funeral service.

The body of 28-year-old Ratu Malakai was recovered from the Navua River on February 25 after he was swept away by strong currents while swimming with others near the Beqa Jetty.

The church service was followed by his burial at Nine Miles, Nasinu Cemetery.

He was the youngest of three siblings and son of  the late legendary Sevens coach Ratu Kitione Vesikula.

Tu Kiti said his cousin was a gentle young man.

“He was always smiling, went out of his way to assist people does whatever it takes to get things done,” he said.

“I could not believe or accept that he had passed away until I saw his body in the morgue this morning (Saturday).

“One of the fond memories I have of him is that whenever we had family meetings, once every month, he would sit in the meeting for five minutes then go out and spend about 30 minutes on his phone, then five minutes in the meeting again and he continued the trend.

“When his body came home last night and seeing the large number of people he had known, I now realise why he used do that.

“He was always there for everyone whenever anyone needed to speak to him.

“My brother wanted to migrate to Australia later in the year to start a new life overseas and he had started studying at University of the South Pacific.

“When he came to visit me last Christmas, he asked for advice. I gave him two that I always lived by.

“First was people cannot hear your thoughts so whatever it is, speak out. Second was nothing comes easy in this world; life is good but you have to work hard to get to where you want to be. And he was inspired by it and lived accordingly,” Tu Kiti said.