Sunday 13th MAY 2007
Dearest Jade ,
Today is Mother’s Day ! It’s the day when we pay special tribute to all ‘Mothers’. On such an auspicious day I would like to pay tribute and toast to six outstanding ladies who have made invaluable contributions to our family. Through their undivided love, untiring dedication and service they have instilled in their children the necessary values needed to constitute a rich legacy.
Kong Kong’s Mums ( Your great grannies) - You notice that ‘mum’ is in the plural form. Yes, one is my biological mother and the other is the one who has played a very integral part of my life
Firstly I shall talk about your Ah Chor , yes the lady who brought me to this world. She’s Beh Swee Kin. Unfortunately I was not really very close to her as I didn’t really stay close to her. As far as I could remember I only stayed with my parents during my toddler’s days. According to my granny I was very sickly when I was a baby. I had a brother who died at infancy. Hence granny took me under her wings to nurture. It was not that I didn’t love her circumstances had separated us. Distance had torn us apart . They were residing in Singapore where she and my father were working then and I in Argyll Road, Penang with granny. There was this cultural difference all these years and hence there was the lack of bondage between us. She only came to stay with me after her retirement in the late nineteen nineties until her death in November 2004. It was just a few days before your dad’s wedding that she had a stroke and was hospitalised before she passed peacefully away on 18h November. She had been looking forward to the wedding of her pet grandchild.
It was my maternal grandmother ( your great great grandmother – your Chor-chor – (Goh Saw Cheng ; known to her friends as Seam Ee ) who had and will always have that special seat in my heart. She gave me life. Without her I doubt I could live to see you today. Under her wings I survive d, I learnt to fly, I had a good life! Behind her is this special lady –( Beh Swee Kim / Tan and fondly known to close relatives as Ah Yeang. To me she is my Goh Ee , my Ee ee, and our aunt Agatha to some of my cousins She raised me with undivided , unselfish love. She disallowed me to call her Ah Mak, Mama or any other terms that are synonymous to ‘mother’ as she said that my own biological mother has only one child, me, and that I should always remainr son. My hats off to her in salutation. She gave me love, she gave me support both financially and emotionally. She was and will always be my favourite mother, (oops sorry, it should be my Ee ee ! Now with my own mother gone she shall reign supreme as my MOTHER, right? .
It was said that the hands that rock the cradle rules the world . It was not so for this special lady with a ‘sanggul’ and clad in sarong. Lok Goo Leng is her name but known to her Kg Station friends as Heng Kim Soh. She had seen through two generations ; her own children (all five of them ) and her grandchildren . She had rocked the cradle of your daddy, your uncle Ti and Chien. She bathed them. She fed them She was their first tutor. She was always there for us. Unfortunately she left us before she could enjoy the fruits of her labour. Yes, she’s your Ah Ma’s mother.
The next special lady of the OOI family is your Daddy’s mother . ( Your Ah Ma ) . She is very special in many ways. She is a very responsible mum to your dad and uncles. She always put her family members first. She is ever willing to sacrifice for the betterment of the family. She rules the family with love , care and understanding and definitely not with the cane!. She had worked round the clock shuttling from place to place to earn enough to get her children on good footing in this challenging world . She took optional retirement at age 50 packed her luggage and ventured into the Middle East all alone to make sure that she had enough in her account to give the best to her children . To date she is still working in Oman . What we are today is the result of your Ah Ma’s hard work,. Her sacrifice and sweat have seen good days for the OOI family!
Just as you are a gift of GOD to the family, your mummy is a gift of GOD to you, Jade. She definitely has my vote of the model mother of this generation. While other modern mums might have given up comfort-feeding ( breast feeding ) after a few months your mummy never trades it for her convenience . Like all dedicated and caring mothers , she’s constantly searching for ideas and information in books and from the net to elicit ideas from experienced mothers on how to nurture you better . Suffice to say she has spent many sleepless nights to try out new strategies needed in raising a child. She is without doubt your gift from GOD.
With Love from Kong Kong
Dearest Jade ,
Today is Mother’s Day ! It’s the day when we pay special tribute to all ‘Mothers’. On such an auspicious day I would like to pay tribute and toast to six outstanding ladies who have made invaluable contributions to our family. Through their undivided love, untiring dedication and service they have instilled in their children the necessary values needed to constitute a rich legacy.
Kong Kong’s Mums ( Your great grannies) - You notice that ‘mum’ is in the plural form. Yes, one is my biological mother and the other is the one who has played a very integral part of my life
Firstly I shall talk about your Ah Chor , yes the lady who brought me to this world. She’s Beh Swee Kin. Unfortunately I was not really very close to her as I didn’t really stay close to her. As far as I could remember I only stayed with my parents during my toddler’s days. According to my granny I was very sickly when I was a baby. I had a brother who died at infancy. Hence granny took me under her wings to nurture. It was not that I didn’t love her circumstances had separated us. Distance had torn us apart . They were residing in Singapore where she and my father were working then and I in Argyll Road, Penang with granny. There was this cultural difference all these years and hence there was the lack of bondage between us. She only came to stay with me after her retirement in the late nineteen nineties until her death in November 2004. It was just a few days before your dad’s wedding that she had a stroke and was hospitalised before she passed peacefully away on 18h November. She had been looking forward to the wedding of her pet grandchild.
It was my maternal grandmother ( your great great grandmother – your Chor-chor – (Goh Saw Cheng ; known to her friends as Seam Ee ) who had and will always have that special seat in my heart. She gave me life. Without her I doubt I could live to see you today. Under her wings I survive d, I learnt to fly, I had a good life! Behind her is this special lady –( Beh Swee Kim / Tan and fondly known to close relatives as Ah Yeang. To me she is my Goh Ee , my Ee ee, and our aunt Agatha to some of my cousins She raised me with undivided , unselfish love. She disallowed me to call her Ah Mak, Mama or any other terms that are synonymous to ‘mother’ as she said that my own biological mother has only one child, me, and that I should always remainr son. My hats off to her in salutation. She gave me love, she gave me support both financially and emotionally. She was and will always be my favourite mother, (oops sorry, it should be my Ee ee ! Now with my own mother gone she shall reign supreme as my MOTHER, right? .
It was said that the hands that rock the cradle rules the world . It was not so for this special lady with a ‘sanggul’ and clad in sarong. Lok Goo Leng is her name but known to her Kg Station friends as Heng Kim Soh. She had seen through two generations ; her own children (all five of them ) and her grandchildren . She had rocked the cradle of your daddy, your uncle Ti and Chien. She bathed them. She fed them She was their first tutor. She was always there for us. Unfortunately she left us before she could enjoy the fruits of her labour. Yes, she’s your Ah Ma’s mother.
The next special lady of the OOI family is your Daddy’s mother . ( Your Ah Ma ) . She is very special in many ways. She is a very responsible mum to your dad and uncles. She always put her family members first. She is ever willing to sacrifice for the betterment of the family. She rules the family with love , care and understanding and definitely not with the cane!. She had worked round the clock shuttling from place to place to earn enough to get her children on good footing in this challenging world . She took optional retirement at age 50 packed her luggage and ventured into the Middle East all alone to make sure that she had enough in her account to give the best to her children . To date she is still working in Oman . What we are today is the result of your Ah Ma’s hard work,. Her sacrifice and sweat have seen good days for the OOI family!
Just as you are a gift of GOD to the family, your mummy is a gift of GOD to you, Jade. She definitely has my vote of the model mother of this generation. While other modern mums might have given up comfort-feeding ( breast feeding ) after a few months your mummy never trades it for her convenience . Like all dedicated and caring mothers , she’s constantly searching for ideas and information in books and from the net to elicit ideas from experienced mothers on how to nurture you better . Suffice to say she has spent many sleepless nights to try out new strategies needed in raising a child. She is without doubt your gift from GOD.
With Love from Kong Kong
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