A Tribute To My Mom This Issue

Mom passed away 1 year ago (Mar 20 2024) at age 89. The above photo shows her carrying me when I was probably about a year old.

I was very close to her and Dad (who passed on in 2020). I saw them almost every other day as I lived near them and they would need to see the doctors or do some medical checkups quite regularly in their later years.

I also never changed my personal correspondence address when I moved out so that I would always need to go back to their house to collect my mail and in so doing, I would be seeing them every so often even if they didn’t need me to take them anywhere.

Mom and Dad were both very accomplished individuals. Since this issue is a tribute to Mom, I’ll talk about Dad in another issue.

Mom was the eldest of 3 children. Her own mom died when she was only 6 years old, so she never really experienced her own mom's love for very long — something she had longed for. Her father then re-married, and over the years she became the sister of 9 more half-siblings. Thus she was the eldest in a family of 12!

I have a problem keeping track of who all my half uncles and half aunties are until today. Some have already migrated elsewhere, but we do keep in touch once in a while with those who are still here.

Here's a story from mom that stuck in my mind, because I (and I imagine, most people) couldn't have done what she did.

She told me that when she was about 10 years old, her father had not enrolled her in a school for some reason. It was probably because when she was at this age, World War 2 was just ending (WW2 ended in 1945 — my mom was born in 1935), so people were busy with getting back to their livelihoods.

Mom loved to learn. Most of her friends were busy attending school but she was not. And so she decided to enrol herself into a school near where she lived.

But she didn't go alone. She brought her 2 younger brothers along (aged between 7 - 8).

She went into the school compound and saw someone there and told him/her that she wanted to enrol herself and her 2 brothers.

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure the person dealing with her would be looking at her in disbelief. Enrolling in a school is usually not done by the child herself.

She didn't bring anything for enrolment because she didn't know what was required. But she somehow got herself and her 2 brothers enrolled.

Mom said she was elated, as she could now learn to read and write like all the other kids that she could see when she passed by a school!

But at the same time, she said she was also quite embarrassed as she was already 10 years old and sitting in a Primary 1 class with mostly 7 year-olds...

That feeling didn't last long, as she quickly caught up and eventually did her secondary education in an all-girls school (Kuen Cheng High School, now a co-ed school).

The photos you see here are of mom and her 2 brothers in a park wearing their white school uniforms about one year later.

The photo above shows mom with her secondary school classmates (she’s second from the right, bottom row). She was probably 15 or 16 years old then.

Mom and Dad's marriage lasted an amazing 66+ years, until Dad passed away at age 88 in 2020. They got married when Mom was only 19 and Dad was 22. My brother told me the story of how they met:

Dad was working in Rediffusion as a broadcaster back in the early 1950s (before he became a newspaper journalist). He was fresh out of school then.

"Rediffusion" was radio that got its content from a cable (not through the air like normal radios). Rediffusion customers had to subscribe to it on a monthly basis to be able to listen to its wide variety of content that consisted of songs, news and dramas.

These content came through a speaker with a power/volume knob. It would be installed on a wall in the house (usually near the kitchen as it was primarily for the person preparing meals for the house), and there would be a cable running from the speaker to some transmission lines outside it.

Anyway, Rediffusion was broadcasting from some studio. One day, it decided to organise a singing contest for the public to participate which would be broadcasted to their subscribers. Dad would be the MC for the contest.

Mom loved to sing, and she had a pretty good voice. So she decided she would participate in the contest.

As you would have guessed, she caught Dad's eye while there. It wouldn't be long before they started dating.

And the rest is history.

Here are some photos I found of their wedding. I tried to immerse myself into the times and circumstances of their day to get a better feel of what it would have been like for them on their big day, and for their friends and relatives who turned up (it looked like the entire town did!).

The photographer of the day was amazing and took some great shots. I also thought Mom and Dad looked awesome. It was 1954.

Mom was 19 and Dad was 22 when they got married. This is a photo of them taken in a studio.

And here are the photos from their wedding day:

There’s a lot more to tell as both Mom and Dad lived very fulfilling lives, but I’ll do this another day.

The 10x Lesson

There is just one in this story. And that is:

If You Know What You Want — Stop At Nothing To Get It

Mom, at only 10 years old, enrolled herself and her younger brothers into school without adult help.

A 10x performer doesn’t wait for permission. They know what they want, and they take the steps to get what they want — even if they don’t know if they’re taking the right steps.

Talk again soon.

Cheers!

P.S. Click here to be a 10x Solopreneur.

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