Lighting A Candle For My Uncle

       He would have been 90 years old on 28 August this year. But he left us for a better place 4 years ago, after a short battle with the Big C. I miss him a lot, and more so at this time of the year. This is the time when I would send him birthday cards and buy him his favourite mooncakes.

     He was another father figure to me, someone whom I revered. As a little girl, I used to look forward to his visits. He was then working in Kuala Lumpur but made frequent trips back to Ipoh to visit Granny, and he always put up at our house. There was usually a multitude of gifts for me, some of which were souvenirs from his many trips abroad. I loved listening to his stories and my passion for travelling stemmed from these stories.

     He gave the impression that he was a taciturn martinet, but to me, he was always loving, understanding and wise. I love my name Irene because it was he who gave me that name. I remember bidding him good night on one of the occasions when he was staying at our house. He then sang the American folk song "Goodnight, Irene" in his rich baritone.

     He was highly proficient in both English and Mandarin. Every time he was back, he would enquire about my progress in learning Mandarin from the Saturday classes in school. It was, unfortunately, the one aspect that I was a disappointment to him as I never got a good grasp of the language. Although I had to tell him I always scored 0 or close to 0 for Mandarin dictation, he never once reprimanded me but would only encourage me to work harder. I have, however, ensured that if I cannot write a slew of Chinese characters to impress him, I could at least write 二舅父      (Second Maternal Uncle) in the birthday cards that I sent him. 

     He had an insatiable interest in learning new things. Being in his 80s did not deter him from learning the ropes of using a computer, buying a laptop, getting connected to the Internet and starting a Facebook account. Whenever I find myself missing him, I open up our Facebook message chat where I can view all our past messages. I often shared hubby's sunrise and macro photos with him as he admired hubby's photography. In fact, he used hubby's sunrise shot at Gunung Brinchang as his profile picture.

     He had often dismissed his sharp stomach pains as gastritis. It was a severe bleed on one night that revealed something more sinister. I remember sitting by his hospital bed the day before his operation and he weakly clutched my hand. He softly said, "I have fought many battles in my life, but I don't know if I will win this battle."

     He never regained his vitality after his operation but deteriorated fast. It was heartbreaking to see him struggle with even a few sips of water. The only bright side of his illness was he came to know Christ and accepted Him. Cousin KC sent him a Bible and when I visited him, he eagerly asked me to read to him from the Bible.

     His demise has left a void in our lives and to this day, we miss him dearly. I wanted to look for photos of us together to be shared in this post, but sadly, I could not find any. If I could turn back the hands of the clock, I would love to have a photo with him and to tell him, "I love you very much, Uncle Wai."

My suave Uncle Wai