我的老爸☕️

1 month passed by and I just would like to pen down some thoughts for my own memories. 

My dearest father passed away after battling with an acute infection in the blood and lungs. As I shared with some friends, no matter how mentally prepared I thought I was, no matter how many times I might have rehearsed the similar scenario in my mind, when things started to unfold in reality right in front of me, I just couldn’t hold on as strong and tough as I hope to be. I could felt the instant deep and sharp pierce in my heart when I had to sign off on his death certificate. It’s a feeling that I will never forget for life. When I saw his body lying lifelessly at the mortuary, the painful feeling is even more intense and it’s a moment that will remain with me for life. 

As Mum, Bro and I had a discussion beforehand when Doc informed that Dad was in a critical condition so we could reached consensus swiftly with Dad’s funeral arrangements. With the support from everyone else in the family and a very professional team from SFS, Dad’s funeral could be put in place swiftly and smoothly. 

Asked me how I went through the following 1 month after Dad has passed on, I honestly had no idea. All I knew was that there were 101 things to be done and 101 decisions to be made. Do I have time to properly grieve? I guess not. But I know I will be good eventually. Based on previous experiences with Grandpa and Grandma’s passing on, I’m not going to push myself to be okay right away cos I’m not. I’m just going to give myself time to be okay whenever I’m ready in my own way. 

Growing up, I wasn’t close to my parents, especially Dad. Bro and I will only see them on every weekend as they were busy at work so we were primarily taken care by our paternal Grandparents. I remembered that whenever we went home over the weekend, Dad will always bring us to McDonald’s and we could order anything we wanted. Perhaps because he don’t get to see us often, he had never been the stern father character who would scold, cane or discipline us. He was always a “Yes” man in front of us. As Bro and I started to have more commitments, our weekend outings had gradually stopped. So Dad started to make weekly trip to visit us instead. Sometimes he might not even get to see us as we weren’t home. Nevertheless he would still make the trip down, left us some money and went off. Even when we met, being a man with few words, he would usually just sit by the side quietly and observed us.  

In my memories, Dad wasn’t someone who talks a lot and when anyone, especially Mum and the family, needed him to do anything, as long as he could do it, he would just do it without asking much. From trivial matters such as setting up the big table for reunion dinner to bigger matters such as taking care of maternal Granny, as long as Mum needs his support, he would just be there to do it. Towards us, he never force us to do anything we dislike. His usual statement to us: 随便你喜欢. He was also someone who didn’t like to impose on anyone. As long as he could do it, he would do everything on his own. 

I became closer to Dad when he started his regular medical appointments and I became his main spokesperson and key contact. That was when Dad and I got to spend more father-daughter time together. While we still don’t talk a lot to each other, we would just enjoy the quiet moments together. This was also how I have observed that as I aged, Dad was growing older too. His movement was no longer as agile as compared to previous, he felt cold easily in air-con areas and he was eating less. He knew he wasn’t walking as fast as me, he would always signal to me with his hand to and said “你先走你的”. He didn’t insist that I walk slowly with him. He just tried to manage on his own. But initially I was puzzled by that statement. Why do I have to walk ahead of you on my own when I’m here with you to see the doc? Then I realised if I were to slow down to match his speed, he felt uncomfortable as I was deliberately slowing myself for him. So I would always tell him I would go ahead to register for him first and find a seat for him while he slowly made his way. I didn’t want to make him feel bad that he was imposing on me. Over time, we developed this father-daughter 默契. I would walk, stop and look back at times. As long as he could see me, he knew where I was heading to, and he would follow and I knew he was good. 

Dad’s last journey was peaceful. The weather was very cooperative. Rain stopped and sun came out when Dad’s hearse came home. Rain stopped and clouds came out when Dad’s hearse left for cremation. Over the 5 days of wake, Dad’s neighbours and friends in the estate came by. I knew Dad and Mum were close to people living in the estate as they had been living here for years and were frequent visitors at the market with their newspapers stall. However I probably didn’t realise Dad had left quite a good impression with many of them till they came by to send Dad off on his last journey. I vividly remembered the encounters with 3 of them. 1) She stood at the entrance of the wake for a moment, popped her head in to look at Dad’s photo and she left after a while. I asked Mum who she is. Mum said she is our neighbour from another floor. She isn’t normal, in Mum’s words, a bit siao. Dad would always greet this neighbour and spoke to her whenever they met at the void deck and in the lift. 2) A cleaner from the market came by late at night to pay respects to Dad and gave a relatively big sum of condolences money. He said he wanted to give to show his respects for Dad. In his own words he said “Because Uncle is a good person.” 3) This neighbour from neighbouring block came by first night, paid her respects and dropped off the condolences money and left. Thereafter she came back every night to pay her respects quietly and left without saying anything. On the last day, she came by, paid her last respects and walked quietly beside Dad’s hearse for the final sent off. I wanted to say a BIG thank you to all of them and others. Thank you for coming by to walk the last journey with my Dad. Thank you for telling me with your actions that my Dad is a good person. 

这是我的好人老爸！

原来老爸也可以act一个cute… 😂

老爸的生日，老爸自己拿自己的寿桃包。

“老爸，我说过我会带你回家。我做到了。少了痛苦，少了吃药打针，你应该轻松多了吧。你看到”阿达”和”阿內”了吗？帮我跟他们两老问好。现在有“头奖”和“二奖”陪你，好好享受哦。有空可以去看看你老婆/我妈，她应该很想念你。没有人给她每天呱呱叫，她应该不习惯。但她一定会好好的，不要担心。有空去去老哥的家，Asher🐶很想念你。你还记得怎么来大巴窑吗？有空来看看我和大家吧。”

我的外婆 My Maternal Granny

It was a peaceful Saturday for me on 20 July 2019 when I was lazing at home, catching up on my dramas and preparing to set off to a birthday party. Who knows, a call and many WhatsApp messages broke the peacefulness and plans. My brother said over the phone “Did you see the messages? Ah Jiak (Maternal Granny) has left.” “WHAT?!?” I raised my voice. Bro said he was on his way to hospital with my mother. And I quickly went to hospital to join them and the rest of my extended family members.

The 30mins journey from my home to hospital seems extremely draggy though there was no traffic jam. I reckoned it had to do with my feelings. I just saw Granny a couple of days ago and she was fully aware that I visited though she was having difficulty breathing.

When we arrived at hospital, Granny was lying in the hospital bed that was wheeled to a small room opposite to her original ward so that we do not disturb the other patients with our constant going in and out, grieving and crying. Granny looked so peaceful as if she was having a deep sleep. No matter how we called out to her, of course she did not responded to us. The nurses told us that within the first 6 hours of the passing on, the deceased would still be able to hear us so we could continue to call out to her. I called out to her, touched her head and held her hand. While there was no response from her, I could really felt her presence. Doctor said that Granny had passed away peacefully and her departure happened pretty quick. This means that there was almost no suffering and it was not a painful process for her. Really delighted to hear this as Granny definitely deserved a good demise after leading a challenging and eventful life.

My Maternal Granny became a widow in her early 40s. Single-handedly, as she tried to make a living being a hawker, she had to take care of the family with 8 children. Back in those days, survival was the key priority. Being able to find money to buy food to feed the children was more important than anything else. Being a resilient lady, Granny really did whatever she could to feed her children and made sure all of them are safe and sound.

My mother is 3rd in line. Being the oldest daughter, my mother was the one to help out with Granny's hawker business and household chores. Mum naturally became very close and attached to Granny . For my bro and I, while we weren’t brought up by Granny, when we were young, we visited Granny on every weekend with our parents and the other extended family members. So our connection wasn’t that far off either.

In my impression, Granny always has a smilely face when facing all her grandchildren. She has never scolded us and would always feed us with lots of good food whenever we visited her. During school holidays, occasionally my cousins, my bro and I used to do stayovers in Granny's house. With about 6-8 young kids running around in the house, how could the house not be lively and how will Granny not be busy. Haha...

As we grew older, weekly visit to Granny's house had became once a blue moon visit. When Granny's health deteriorated after suffering from 2 strokes, her mobility was limited. She had to be on wheel chair at times and even she could walk, she had to use a walker and couldn’t walk for a long time. For the past 10 years or so, Granny stayed over at my parents’ house so that my mum could take care of her. Whenever I visited my parents, I always meet Granny as well. Perhaps because our age gap and we do not see each other often, other than greeting her and asking if she has eaten, my convo with her did not really progressed. However I remembered that Granny will always look at me with that signature smile of hers and gave a little wave with her hand whenever I greeted her as I stepped into the house. Though Granny and my parents and extended family mostly converse in Hokkien, my Granny and the family are Hakkas. So my bro and I always conversed with her in Hakka. I’m always amazed by how quick she could switch between her language as she converse to me in Hakka while answering my mum in Hokkien. 😂

At the ripe old age of 90 years old, her demise should be considered as a blessings in disguise for both herself and her caregivers (my mum, dad and youngest uncle). Though they said that Granny's demise does not qualify for 笑丧 as Granny is not yet 100 years old, I felt otherwise. Granny had led a colourful life blessed with many children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. There may be unhappy moments, arguments and discontentment in Granny's caregiving after she felt sick, there were many other happy and memorable moments as well. And most importantly, Granny is a happy person no matter what happen. She may be fussy at times but that’s because she was fully aware of her wants and dislikes. Haha... She is a simple person who doesn’t like to say much. Always quietly and happily observing how we grandchildren played around her, occasionally tried to jump into the conversation with her children. One of my favourite pastimes with Granny around: to squabble with my brother and get Granny involved and Granny will use her hand to gently hit my bro for bullying me. 😃😃

Spent the final night with my bro and sis in law to look after the funeral set up. It was a peaceful moment as I have some "me time" to reminisce some limited yet memorable moments spent with Granny. On the final day of sent-off, as the tune of “Auld Lang Syne” was played to bid the final Goodbye, I could no longer control my tears, I decided to let them flow. This final goodbye was indeed not as easy as I have expected. No matter how well I have prepared myself, there will always be that very moment which I could not overcome calmly. 

As the hearse proceeded to Bright Hill Temple Crematorium, it did a detour to pass by Apex Day Rehabilitation Centre For Elderly in Bukit Merah View. The head of centre requested for the drive pass as he shared that the sisters and staff of the centre would like to say their final goodbye to Granny on her final journey. Granny visited this day care centre daily on weekdays for the past 10+ years. Mentioned by the centre’s sisters and caregivers, Granny was one of their favourite seniors in the centre. She is always polite, smilely and friendly. And Granny looked forward to going to the centre and enjoyed taking part in all kinds of excursion, activities and events. As the hearse passed by the centre, many of the staff stood along the roadside to wave their hands and bid their final goodbye to Granny! “Ah Jiak, surely you saw this awesome and heartwarming scene, right? :)” Many thanks to the sisters and caregivers of APEX for taking good care of my Granny and filled her times spent in the centre with so much joy and good memories. Thank you! 💗

Sharing some photos taken with Granny over the past few years: 

CNY selfie with Granny during CNY 2015. I thought Granny did a pretty good job for her 1st selfie. She kept still and smilely while I snapped the selfie! 

Granny with Sis Lihong (Grandchild) and Jia Le and Jia Rui (Great Grandchildren) during CNY 2016

Yearly CNY Selfie with Granny and Mum during CNY 2016

Family feast with Granny - August 2016

Happy Family Feast - August 2016

Roped Bro into my yearly CNY selfie with Granny during CNY 2017

2nd selfie taken for CNY 2017 including Sis Lihong! 

CNY Family Photo with Granny during CNY 2018

Happy Family Feast - June 2018

Granny posing with her bowl full of food! Happy Feasting! 

CNY Feasting with Granny during CNY 2019

This is definitely my favourite photo taken with Granny!
It was meant to be a selfie but I had no idea why did Granny look at me instead while smiling away. Haha... Anyway, I thought this photo captured one of the sweetest moments shared between Granny and I 💓

 “亲爱的Ah Jiak，您灿烂的笑容，我会永远记住；您的善良与慈悲，我会效仿；您的坚强与坚持，我会学习。请您一路走好。见到了外公后，记得和他来个温暖拥抱，他等您很久了。哈哈😄 请您继续做李家的守护天使吧。有空记得托梦给我妈妈，她肯定非常想念您。因为您和她的感情很好。关系是母女，相处犹如无所不谈的好友。”

My Grandma

8 March 2016 was an extremely long day for me and my family. We lost someone whom we love very much.

In the morning, I noticed that Grandma was not eating her breakfast nor was she able to swallow her medicine. Grandma was warded into TTSH just one week before that for bacteria infection. Ever since she came back from hospital, she had fever and had not been eating very well. That very morning, she was feeling quite uncomfortable. Aunt YY said that she will get the doctor to come by and take a look at Grandma. Hence, I left for work at around 1030am. 

When I reached Bugis Junction, headed to run some errands for my business trip departing the next day, Aunt YY called to ask me to cancel my business trip as Grandma was not looking too well. After finishing up with my errands, I quickly called Aunt Cindy for more clarification. She said that the doctor was on his way to our house to look at Grandma and Aunt Cindy will give an update after that. I spoke to my GM and decided that I should just cancel my trip and arranged for another colleague to go on my behalf regardless. I quickly headed to office and explained the situation to my Boss. He was agreeable for the replacement. As I was frantically reaching out to the airline, ferry company and my HQ colleague to make the necessary arrangement for name change, Aunt Cindy called at around 1215pm. I missed that call but I could sense that something unusual had happened, otherwise she would not have called but texted me instead. I quickly called her but the phone was engaged. I was even more convinced that Grandma was really not doing good. I called the home phone instead and Aunt YY picked up the call. She said " The doctor is certifying now." I replied "ok, I will get home ASAP!" Staring at my computer screen, my mind is completely blank and I do not know what to do. At about 1240pm, Aunt Cindy updated all of us in our family group chat that Grandma has passed away at 12pm and the undertaker will be taking away Grandma's body at 7pm. With that, I knew that I still have a few hours and I should finish up what I need to do before heading home to say my final goodbye to Grandma. While my colleagues asked me to go home immediately, I clearly know that Grandma was well taken care of by my aunties and I need to finish up my work on hand so that I can handover to the colleague who was replacing me on the business trip. This is also something that Grandma will expect me to do as she always said that we should be responsible for what we are supposed to do and complete. 

After handing over to my colleague, I headed home at about 5pm. While the taxi took the usual route, I felt that the journey was longer. Along the way, I kept asking myself "Did Grandma choose to leave only after I left the house so that I will not sit at home to sob and not able to finish up my work-on-hand? Did Grandma choose to leave on the day before my business trip so that I will not miss out in saying my final goodbye and feel guilty about it for life?" With all these thoughts running in my mind, I finally reached home. I headed to Grandma's room straightaway. She was lying motionlessly in bed, looking so peaceful as if she was asleep. My tears just kept rolling down uncontrollably as I sat by her side, holding on to her icy cold hand and calling out to her. Ever since Grandma was sick for the past few years, I tried to imagine how will I react when Grandma leaves. While in my mind, I knew that Grandma's departure was kind of a relief for herself as well as her caregivers as she had been fighting with dementia for the past 6-7 years, I just can't bear to see Grandma leaving us for good. I just cannot imagine life without the lady who had been taking care of me since I was born. After spending a good 1 hour of alone time with Grandma, I finally calmed myself down. Together with Cousin SW, Cousin SY and my Brother, we said our final goodbye to Grandma with our usual bickering and "suan-ing", something that we had been doing since young in front of our Grandparents and something that Grandma will enjoy, I'm sure. :)

My brother and I have always been very close to our Grandparents as we were taken care by them since birth. As our parents were busy at work, we spent most of our time with our Grandparents and we had been staying with them since young. Grandma had the 重男轻女 mentality, hence she had always sided my brother while Grandpa will always stand by my side. Being the youngest in the family then, Grandpa naturally doted on me the most, bringing me along to wherever he went. I was therefore closer to Grandpa. 21 years ago, after Grandpa passed away when I was 11 years old, I even had the thought that no one will dote on me anymore. However, I was wrong. While Grandma was very stern with me since young, she had never let go of my hand in fact. After Grandpa passed away, she had to shower my brother and I with even more care, concern and love as she was doing it for my Grandpa as well. Grandma had always been strict, stern and never go easy in canning us. Deep down inside her heart, she has also never stop caring for us. 

Over the few days of funeral, I had been thinking to myself and recalling valuable memories between Grandma and I:  

-  As she was taking up the role of my primary caregiver since I was born, she fed me, bathed me, ran after me when I refused to sit down and finish my food, cared for me when I was unwell.

- When I first went to Nursery, I didn't like it. Just like other children, I felt uneasy and scared. I cried and cried until I saw Grandma standing outside the classroom. I was assured by Grandma's presence. 

- After learning how to cycle, I joined my brother in an unofficial bicycle race in the neighborhood. Being the youngest among the neighborhood kids, I was not as fast as the rest of the big brothers and sisters. To make matter worse, I even lost control of my bicycle and rolled down the steps together with the bicycle. I had a big bump on my face near to my right eye and quite a number of cuts and bruises on my arms. My brother and I were scared to be scolded so we didn't dare to tell anyone after reaching home. I ran into the room immediately and hide under the blanket. When Grandma saw my face during dinner, she did not utter a word. All she did was prepared a hard-boiled egg and rolled on my bruises. She did that for about a week until the bruises went off. 

- When I was in primary school, Grandma will always be the one to go to school with my books and belongings, should I forgot to bring. 

- I had chicken pox when I was in Pri 2. Grandma prepared food everyday for my recess as she was afraid that I would take any food that may contain soya sauce or any other ingredients that I should not consumed then.

- One day after school when I was in Pri 4, I was playing with my friends my way home. Without realizing that there was a puddle of water on the floor, I slipped and fell. I dirtied my uniform. Feeling embarrassed with my dirty and wet uniform, I didn't dare to take the bus home . Thus, I walked home and ended up reaching home later than usual. I thought Grandpa will be home then and there would be someone to shield me from Grandma's scolding and canning since I was home late and was in dirty uniform. However, Grandpa was out and only Grandma was around. I was prepared to be scolded and caned but to my biggest surprise, when Grandma saw me, all she did was to ask me to take a shower and clean up. She took my dirty uniform to soak and prepared my favorite minced meat with noodles for lunch. I explained to her what had happened. She said "as long as you are safe and okay, everything else does not matter."

- Whenever my secondary school friends gathered at home after cross country day or sports day, Grandma would prepare a feast for them. I know many of my friends still miss Grandma's fried bee hoon very much. :)

- During AMKSS' school carnival, Grandma helped to prepare a big tub of fried bee hoon for my class' food stall. Though my aunties tried to persuade her not to do it as it was a lot of hardwork, she insisted as she wanted to help me.  

- During polytechnic days, there was once when I was involved in a charity event that was held in the old National Stadium. I had to go around to sell charity vouchers to the event attendees. Grandma was one of the event attendees. She used her 人情牌 and asked her group of friends to buy the vouchers from me. 

- Grandma was pleased that I went to Australia for university studies. For the first time, I truly felt that she was proud of me. Whenever I came back for holidays, I heard how she will boast to my relatives about what I was doing in Australia. Grandma and her gossip khakis... :)

- In 2007, Grandma went for her last overseas trip. She attended my convocation in Australia. I was very grateful that she managed to be there to witness one of my important moments. I was very thankful that at the age of 79, Grandma was able to travel all the way to Australia.  She was grinning from ear to ear as I received my degree on stage. After a full day of walking around, Grandma was very tired. Her hands were shaking as I held on to her while we walked back to the hotel.

Me in my graduation gown with Grandma at my faculty, UQ Business School

- In 2008, when I came back from uni studies, Grandma was so delighted that I 学成归来.

- In 2009, when I went on my first business trip, Grandma kept reminding me to be careful. She even stayed up to wait for me to be home after my late flight arrival into SG. 

- After celebrating Grandma's 80th birthday, Grandma's health started to deteriorate. Her dementia set in.

- From 2010 to 2016, Grandma's health went from bad to worse within a few years. With dementia, Grandma went from an active senior citizen who likes to move around to cooping herself at home all the times as she did not want to see anyone. In 2013, we almost lost her when she suffered from brain herrmonge. She completely lost the ability to look after herself since then. 

Here are some photos of Grandma and us at the various family outings: 

 

Family in Australia for my convocation
Grandma's CityCat experience in Brisbane

Family in Australia for my convocation
Grandma loves marketing afterall. She was sulking because she can't buy the fresh produces home! :)

Family in Australia for my convocation
Grandma exploring Surfers' Paradise

Family in Australia for my convocation
Grandma is an ice cream lover too! :) 

Family outing @ The Hakka Festival

Grandma and Little Lynnette... 1st generation vs 4th generation! :) 

 Grandma with Cousin SW and Little Lynnette

Grandma happily sipping the tea served by my Brother and Sis-in-law

Grandma's 80th Birthday! 

Brother, Cousin SW, Cousin SY and myself with Grandma @ Grandma's 80th Birthday! 

Eldest Grand Auntie and Grandma in 2014, a rare photo of Grandma smiling so happily ever since she was down with illness

Eldest Grand Auntie and Grand Uncle with Grandma in 2014.Eldest Grand Auntie and Grand Uncle have always doted Grandma very much and always make it a point to visit her once every few weeks and keep updated on Grandma's condition by calling up to check on her regularly. Somehow it is fated, they visited Grandma on 8 March morning after knowing that she was sick. Coincidentally, they were just in time to send Grandma off in her final journey. Thank you, Grand Auntie and Grand Uncle for always keeping Grandma in mind and make a point to visit her even when Grand Uncle is not feeling well. Grandma is very fortunate to have you guys as her younger brother and sister-in-law. 
舅公，舅婆，谢谢您们对奶奶的关怀与照顾。虽然舅公的健康欠佳，您们还是不辞辛苦，经常来陪伴奶奶。感谢您们这一段时间给予我们一家人的支持与帮忙。

1 week has passed by and I am still trying to get used to not seeing Grandma when I reach home everyday. I really misses Grandma very much and will never forget the good and bad times spent with her. As I walked down the pathway that she used to walk and go to places that she used to visit, I can't help to think "it will be good to have her with me". I know that we can't turn back time and we have to move on with life. Grandma is now reunited with Grandpa (someone whom I misses very much as well though he has left us for more than 20 years). I always believe that Grandpa is my guardian angel watching over me all these while. Now I have another guardian angel. :)

"Ah Nei (Grandma), I really misses you very much. I know you have reunited with Ah Da (Grandpa) and will continue to watch over us from wherever you are. Don't worry about us as we have all grown up and capable of taking care of ourselves. Thank you for taking care of me for the past 30+ years. I will continue to do my best in whatever I am doing so that you will always be proud of me."

"奶奶，感谢您这些年来的照顾。您的教导，我没有忘记。您对待他人的态度，我会学着。您在我心里永远有着重要的位置。对您的想念，我会放在心里。和您相处的美好时光，我会锁在记忆里。答应要让您为我感到骄傲，我一定会做到最好。奶奶，您一路好走。和爷爷相聚时，别忘了想念我们哦!"

Farewell, Grandpa Lee! May you rest in peace. 李爷爷，请您一路好走！

For the past 1 week, it has been a difficult and emotional period for us in Singapore. On 23 March 2015, Monday, we woke up to a devastating news that our 1st Prime Minister, who is also the Founding Father of Modern Singapore, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, aged 91, has passed away peacefully in the Singapore General Hospital after being admitted for more than a month. I was definitely shocked by the news as I just shared a note of well wishes for his speedy recovery on my Social Media platforms the day before. Though it was reported that his condition deteriorated further as days passed by, I was still hoping for a miracle and that I can see him waving to us with his radiant smile during our SG50 National Day Parade in August this year. However, the miracle didn't come.

Mr Lee's great vision has initiated and created several legacies which have benefited many people over the different generations. For the past 1 week, as people shared about their memories of Mr Lee and how their lives have been impacted by his legacies, I was thinking "What about me?". While I was not born in the years when he fought hard to transform Singapore into a metropolis, and I don't know him personally (Closest "personal encounter" was a photo taken with his wax figure in the Madame Tussaud Museum in HKG. Even it was just a wax figure, I tried to hold his hand like a granddaughter holding onto the hand of a grandfather. ^.^), my life and my family's well-beings are greatly impacted by his legacies. 

Photo with Mr Lee's wax figure at Madame Tussand Museum in HKG in 2012

In fact his legacies can be seen in our everyday life. Not going to list them all but just going to share those that I can personally associate with: 

1) My mother and her family were formally staying in Kampong Bukit Ho Swee. When the Bukit Ho Swee Fire broke out in 1961, my mother's house was burnt down and they became homeless. Mr Lee promised the residents of Kampong Bukit Ho Swee that they would be able to move into their new homes within 8 to 9 months. He and his team delivered the promise by building public flats with proper sanitation to house these residents within 9 months. All thanks to Mr Lee, my grandma and her 7 children (including my mother) managed to have a roof over their head within such a short period of time. 

2) Both my parents only had education up to primary school level. With that, they are not able to hold jobs with high salaries. Therefore, owning a house and starting a family back then were challenging tasks for them. All thanks to Mr Lee for introducing the "Home Ownership Scheme" (居者有其屋), my parents were able to have an asset of their own and started a family shortly after. As they aged, they will be able to retire and stay comfortably in the 3-room flat at Bukit Merah which they had bought in the early 80s. And with the scheme, I know I will be able to afford to get my own flat and be a proud owner in a few years' time as well. 

3) I went through 10 years of pri and sec sch studies in both English and Chinese (Mother Tongue). All thanks to Mr Lee's education legacy of Biligual Education which laid a good foundation for me in both English and Chinese. I am able to read, write and speak comfortably in both languages. Hence I managed to converse with people from the Western and Eastern worlds easily during my overseas uni studies in Australia. My schoolmates from China were impressed when I was able to write in Chinese as I helped to translate some of the lecture notes for them. When I started working, being biligual provided an advantage. I was able to communicate with my overseas counterparts confidently in both languages. Especially with associates from China, speaking in our Mother Tongue has helped to establish closer working relationship with them. 

4) As I travelled down the roads in Singapore, I felt sense of serenity and happiness as I looked at the greens along the sides of the roads. This is more evident whenever I'm back from overseas trips. As I travelled from Changi Airport to home along the expressway, I will always be greeted by the greenery on the sides of the roads. They seems to be smiling to me and giving me a warm welcome back to home. Whenever I was hosting overseas guests in Singapore, they would always talk about our greenery. They were surprised to see so many tress and shrubs growing along the sides of the roads as they travelled down the expressways from Changi Airport to their hotels. They were even more impressed when these greens are not limited to the roads to/fro airport but they can also be seen in every corner of Singapore. With that, I am always proud to share with my guests that Singapore is a "City in the garden" and that make us uniquely different from many city states in the world. All thanks to Mr Lee, our "Chief Gardener". 

As we moved on after 1-week of mourning, I would like to pen my thoughts for the great politician and icon of Singapore in my blog by recognizing his hardwork, honoring his spirit and continuing his legacies. 

When my grandpa passed away 20 years ago, I was greatly affected. Till date, I can vividly remember his daily practices and characteristics and I believed that he will always be somewhere around to make sure that my family and I are doing well and good. With Mr Lee, I believed that he will still be watching over Singapore as he simply cannot let go of his country and his people. And we have to continue to work hard in our own ways to bring Singapore's success forward in order not to disappoint him. 

Goodbye, Mr Lee! (Source: Instagram)

Farewell, Grandpa Lee! May you rest in peace. 李爷爷，请您一路好走！

Bloggers Trip to MACAU - Day 2

"Bloggers, are you ready for the interesting Mini Macau Amazing Race?"

Yeah! is Race Day today! Early in the morning we set off to Senado Square area within the Historic Centre of Macau for a mini amazing race around MACAU's heritage area. I told the bloggers that the race will be very relaxed. However, at the end of the day or rather along the way, they had been cursing and swearing. Haha.. in the Whatsapp group chat, one of them said that I bluffed them by saying that the race is easy. Oh well, the race questions were indeed manageable. I guessed it was because of the hot weather that made all of them perspired a lot. Most of them were soaking wet at the end of the race. Deeply appreciate their great efforts in completing the race within the designated time frame. In fact, I didn't want them to go beyond 12pm as the weather will only be hotter and it was really not wise for them to be racing under the hot afternoon sun. Glad that everyone made it back in a piece! Haha... Great Job, guys! :)

Questionnaire for the Race

Side Track: after washing my hair in the morning, I decided to look for the hair dryer to dry my hair. As I was looking for the hair dryer, I found this flowery bag. Mmm... what's in it?

Haha... is the hair dryer! what a lovely bag for the hair dryer...

Off we went when everyone gathered on time at 10am! After I flagged off the race at Sofitel @ Ponte 16, I decided to slowly walked to the ending point to wait for all of them as they were supposed to complete a task at the ending point. As I walked along, I decided to detour to fill my stomach ( I didn't eat breaky!!). Actually, this is part of my plan - to enjoy some street food for breaky. I planned to have a cup of bubble tea + Lok Lok for breaky. However, to my disappointment, Come Buy Bubble Tea was not opened yet. Haiz.. not fated to drink bubble tea, so I just settled for Lok Lok from my favourite stall, 恒友. I sat down to enjoy my Lok Lok and checking out Instagram for updates for their race. As I have asked them to answer some questions via Instagram so reviewing Instagram was part and parcel of my task. As I was enjoying my Lok Lok, I realised that their speed were faster than I expected. Before I could finished my last piece of Lok Lok, the first few teams were already more than half way through the race. So I quickly went to the last stop @ Margaret's Cafe to prepare for the arrival of the teams. :)

恒友 Lok Lok Stall

Yummilicious... You can even buy the sauce from the stall owner and try to make "Lok Lok" at home. I shall get 1 bottle during my next trip!

Egg Tarts for the task to be completed by all teams @ the ending point

Finally when the first team - Willy & Valyn arrived, I knew that the rest will slowly strolled in too. As they sat down, I could see their tiredness and shagness. I didn't mean to torture them by asking them to race under such hot weather. This Amazing Race was specially designed by me and I really hope that they have enjoyed MACAU in an amazing way and be able to know more about what MACAU has to offer in terms of culture, heritage, food and sightseeing. :)

Group photo after the race... All look kinda tired and shag.. haha...

As I didn't followed them during the race, I had to look into the Instagram photos to know what they have done and where they have been. I decided to include some of the photos to show the real action. All these photos are courtesy of all the bloggers via Instagram.

After flagged off at the starting point at Sofitel @ Ponte 16

First photo to be taken with any 1 local cookies shop located along Rua da Felicidade (Happiness Street)

Wow... Joey is like superstar with so many cameras taking a picture of her (or actually they are aiming the shop name behind her. :p) *Photo courtesy of Jerome

Chun See was asking for directions to the next question?? *Photo courtesy of Jerome

Yes! Of all people, why did Kaika asked a half-naked guy for directions? Hmmm.. according to her, there were no one else then. However, we weren't very convinced. Haha...

Rui Long's remedy to fight the HOT weather... Smart girl!

NICE jump by Joey! :)

According to Leo, he was faking a smile as he was soaking wet after going around under the sorching sun!

One of my favourite photos of St Dominic's Church as it captured the whole facade itself.

Photo of part of the Old Section of the City Wall which is one of the heritage site of MACAU!

Lovely photo taken by Kaika, capturing not only her 大头贴 self-potrait but also the landmark of MACAU - Ruins of St Paul's in the background.

Time for Egg Tarts!!! :)

Leo was not really enjoying the tart as he was too tired and sweaty to think. haha..

Of course, together with the video captured by omy.sg, I had a clearer picture of how's the amazing race like when the teams were going around. For the very first time, I felt that MACAU is so beautiful, even more beautiful than I thought of. The local street scenes were nicely captured in the video. :)

After the race, the bloggers had free & easy session to roam around. Most of them decided to further explore Senado Square area for good food and more photos. GOOD for them! :) I didn't joined their lunch @ Cheong Kei & Yi Shun as I had to join Grace and the guests for GTEF for a quick lunch. After lunch, I re-joined some of the bloggers to explore MJ Gallery @ Sofitel @ Ponte 16. I wanted to take some decent photos of the gallery for future promotional purposes. When we were done @ MJ Gallery, the bloggers went back to Senado Square while I went for some retail therapy @ my favourite outlet in MACAU. heehee...

Sau Jun, Joey, Rui Long and Ai enjoying the milk pudding @ Yi Shun. Yummy!!

MJ Gallery dedicated to the King of Pop - Michael Jackson

New items on display...

A time passage that showcased the timeline of MJ

The iconic white gloves of MJ..

If you are a MJ fan, do not miss the MJ Gallery. Quite a compact gallery which is good for a walk down memory lane with the idol's favourite outfit, accessories, music CDs and more. It is FREE admission!



My loot from Espirit Outlet in MACAU! Retail therapy didn't really work though I spent about S$90 in about 2 hours. haha..


After a long day going around, I went back to my hotel room to have a good night rest before a hectic schedule on the next day. & as I entered the room, I was wondering what kind of surprise will I be getting from the hotel? Mmmm...

Here you are! Yummy Macaroons of different flavours! Thanks, Grand Lapa Hotel for the hospitality! :)

Last but not least, for more information and photos of the trip and what did the bloggers do, please log on to My MACAU Travel Experience 2012 official website.