He likes to take walks. We used to let him do that on his own, but lately we get worried, because he’s getting older. We tried making him carry a hand phone around, but he didn’t want to. Until Ah Ma fell ill and got admitted into the hospital. Then we insisted that he did. I remember helping him to save my number into his phone for him and trying to teach him how to use it. I don’t think I did a good job though. And I probably confused him even more.
Ah Gong always worries for us. He’d call me on my hand phone every now and then to ask if I was home and if I had eaten. He’d ask if I’m doing well in school and encourages me to keep going. The phone calls don’t usually last longer than a minute because I’m always too busy for Ah Gong. I’m sorry. I’ll try to make them last longer.
Ah Gong likes to have simple food. He doesn’t like interesting or extravagant food like fusion dishes. Give him Teochew porridge and he’s happy. Or dim sum. I remember him saying that he really liked the dim sum place at the OCBC Building we went to once.
I made Ah Gong cry once. Because I messed up my life and made him worry. Even everyone tried hiding it from him; he still knew that something was wrong with me. He said I didn’t laugh as much as I used too. And somehow, he knew that I was spiraling downwards, out-of-control. And the fact that he couldn’t go anything to help me, scared him, and he cried in front of me. That was the first time I’ve ever seen my Ah Gong cry. I’m sorry I was the reason why. I promise I’ll try my best not to screw up again.
Ah Gong always made sure I knew that he’d be there for me. Be it feeding me chocolates and ice cream whenever I looked upset or stressed out, or asking the maid to cook my favourite soup if he knew I was going over. Sometimes, he’d smuggle money to me and ask me to spend it wisely. Above all, he’d always tell me that everything was going to be alright because Ah gong is here to help.
My Ah Gong is a stubborn, silent old man, set in his ways. He hates depending on others and most of the time he seems quite taciturn. But he actually teases me a lot and makes fun of me. One time, it was drizzling and he stood in the shelter talking to me, while I got rained on, just to laugh at me. Other times, he’d tell me he was going to buy me lunch, but I would be paying. And we’d laugh about all these times that they have become our own private jokes.
Thank you, Ah Gong, for never giving up on me and for loving me as stubborn as I am.
