Born in 11 October 1935. Lam Chong Hong is the grandfather of my brother, cousin, and myself. He worked as a quantity surveyor before he retired.
Why is he a hero to me? Well, because he fulfills the above criterion's of a hero to me. Furthermore, he is kind-hearted, as seen when he never fails to give a generous amount of money to beggars he sees. Helpful, as he always helps around with the housework although being tired from a hard day's work. Loving, he had always loved his grandchildren tenderly by showering us with his love, care and concern. Making us feel cared for and protected. And he is caring, i remembered once when i had a fall and broke my arm, i vividly remember my grandfather cradling me in his arm's and rushing me to the hospital. He is also very determined, when it was my aunt's wedding, they forgot to bring the ring from home, and i remember my grandfather rushing out of the hotel to buy a new ring for the both of them. And thus “saving” the day.
I can still recall an incident since, once when i was a baby, my maid irresponsibly left me alone at home and went out with the neighbour's maid, as it was their day off. Furthermore, she did not bother to lock the door and left it ajar. In the meantime, my grandfather called my house as he wanted to bring my maid and I out for lunch during his two hour lunch break. But when nobody replied, he got suspicious and called my mum to check if she or my father had brought us out. When they said they did not, my grandfather rushed to my house from his workplace in Jurong, one hour before his lunchbreak began.
When he reached my house, he quickly slammed the door and realised it was not locked. In fear of my safety, he ran up the stairs despite his tiredness and cradled me in his arms to soothe my loud and shrilling crying. And with love, he made milk for me to drink and changed my soiled diapers. I still remembered the sense of security his presence gave me after i had cried for hours in hunger as nobody fed me milk. And as i was still young, i cried and cried as i did not like being alone. But what touches me the most was that he was willing to travel great distances to ensure my safety. And i later learnt that my grandfather got a big scolding from his boss for rushing off without informing anybody.
And despite not having a high paying job, he always spent his money on my grandma, on his grandsons, or with the whole family. I remembered that he brought the whole family on an overseas trip to Hong Kong after getting his promotion. And he was very generous and treated us more like his children instead of his grandchildren. But i was very close to him as my parents usually worked till the wee hours in the morning. And thus, i was with my grandpa most of the day. My brother would be at home with the maid as my parents did not want both of us to play non-stop. However, when my parents went overseas. My brother and I would go and stay with my grandparents. So we were very close to my grandfather. And when my parents were overseas, my grandfather would apply for leave to spend the day with us. This touches me a lot as i took him for granted.
When i was in primary 1, my grandfather was diagnosed with the last stage of stomach cancer. This shocked everybody as he was relatively healthy. Furthermore, it was in the terminal stage and we all resigned to losing him. However, he put on a positive and brave front despite knowing he stood no odds in surviving. I remember my brother innocently crawling up my granfather's lap before his chemotherapy, asking “Yeye, is it pain?” My grandpa smiled and gently replied, “After this, it wouldn't be pain.”. As if God blessed him for his positive front, the chemotheraphy was successful. He even surpassed the doctor's giving him of only 3 months to live. During the 5 months, he battled on courageously, and carried on with life as if nothing had happened. One day in the middle of the night, my grandmother was awakened by my grandfather's loud and painful groaning. She woke up and waked the rest of the family up as she did not know what to do. I remember seeing my grandfather grabbing his stomach with both hands, curlling up in a ball. Although i was 6 years old, i could tell that "yeye" was in great pain.
My father was calling the ambulance, while my grandfather kept mumbling about seeing a white light. Before the call connected, my grandfather suddenly stopped breathing altogether. My grandmother, father, mother and aunt wept. My brother and i, who were too young to understand death merely thought he was sleeping. As i grew older, i understood that grandpa was "sleeping" physically, but he was busy watching his loved ones up in heaven. And i also start to understand the feeling of losing a loved one, after having lost my grandmother recently. Now i grow to appreciate the things both had done for me, and i realise, that my grandfather was a hero all along.