It's the little things that seem to stand out the most. Teaching me to read and write Mandarin. Walking me to the barbershop down the road. Showing me how to wash and cook rice. The scent of almond drink. The embers from the coal stove. The chatter from mahjong sessions. I know you're now in a better place. For your wisdom, compassion, sacrifice, love and care, thank you so much Mama.

Dearest 3-Chim, Having left home at the young age of 20, my memory of our time together is restricted mainly to those early years. I wasn’t the obedient and submissive type of girl you expected of me, as a consequence, we were constantly at loggerheads. As a young girl, I wasn’t aware of the tremendous pressures you endured during that period: giving birth to 5 kids within 5 years and still having to continue to work as a teacher throughout, an ambitious and hardworking, though absentee husband with a very short fuse, and having to cope with an old fashioned and controlling mother-in-law living under the same roof. Many times I copped a beating from you because I considered myself quick witted and always talked back with no respect. I could only do that because you were the gentle one. I would not have dared to talk back to 3-Peh. You were the conduit for any messages we wanted to send to our father. We didn’t dare to talk to him view all