9th Anniversary of Dad's Demise on 26 July 2007 (Part 2)

Aug 5, 2007, 8:28 pm

Dad was a very quiet person, but when he spoke, wisdom came out from his mouth. He loved to eat fish and veges.

He was a contractor and when I had the opportunity, I would visit the houses he built. I was truly impressed that my dad could build such beautiful houses. He had a lot of Filipino workers and he did everything himself, including the payroll. He usually left home about six a.m. and came back at six p.m. He was a very hardworking person and worked seven days a week. The only time he had holidays was during Chinese New Year.

Dad hardly beat us when we were children as compared to mum eventhough his facial expression looked angrier than mum. But when he's really angry, beware! He would beat us up until we would remember the beating for a long long time. I could not remember any toys that dad bought me but I remember he gave us money to buy whatever we wanted.

When I first came back from Australia, my first job was working in Ho & Tan, an auditing and accounting firm in Kota Kinabalu. After working there for a few months, I was transferred back to Sandakan cos there was a big timber firm that needed to be audited. During that span of time, my mum went to attend a course at Kota Tinggi in Johor. My dad went to the market almost everyday, prepared dinner for me and washed all the dishes. When I offered my help, he declined. Eventhough dad never say how much he loved me, by his actions I could feel that he loved me a lot.