Funeral Wake

On Sat afternoon, 4th brother in-law called and asked me to order a wreath on behalf of The Chong family. Apparently, my 2nd sister in-law's father had passed away.

On Sun, we left the kids at 3rd brother in-law's condo. Larry took care of the kids while Alvin, Jean and I attended the funeral wake at Mandalay Road.

That night, we learnt that the old man had committed suicide. My sis in-law's late father had been a very independent and healthy person until he fell ill about 2 to 3 months ago. Due to his illness he had to depend on his wife and maid to care for him. His family believed that he decided to end his life as he didn't want to be a burden to anyone. He had lived to the ripe age of 78 years old. I believe he had a happy and fulfilling life.

May the good Lord bless his soul. Amen.

CNY shopping at Chinatown

It has become an annual ritual for us to shop at Chinatown before Chinese New Year. So on Sat evening, we went to China Town.

The kids had already declared that they want to have tim sum for dinner. We arrived early and managed to get a table. The tim sum was really good and value for money. Amanda and I loved the century egg and ham porridge.

We bought some new year decor, cushion covers and new year goodies/cookies. Due to mass production the cost of the new goodies were unbelievable. A small box costs $1.30 and for 5 boxes it cost $5.00.

On the Sunday Times, there was an article entitled "Ray of Hope". The story was about how the VH students had to compete with their normal-sighted counterparts at main stream schools. The main picture showed Amanda using her electronic magnifier with Dickson in the background. The journalist got Amanda's surname wrong. She became Amanda Tan instead of Amanda Chong!

CNY Family Reunion Dinner

It's our turn this year to host our Family Reunion Dinner. Alvin's family is big. He has 7 brothers. So in total there will be 20 persons including sisters in-law and the kids.

We have decided to do steamboat. As usual, MIL would make her 'yam abacus'.

I'll take a day off on New Year's Eve to do last minute shopping and preparations. I plan to buy prawns, fish and meat from Sheng Siong. The rest of the food stuff I'll buy from the market.

Grandma gave Amanda hongbao to buy New Year clothes. We went shopping yesterday and today. Yesterday, Amanda bought a cardigan and a pair of running shoes (she wanted to exercise to lose weight). Finally, today she was satisfied. She was very happy with the 2 dresses bought from our neighbourhood store. And she bought a study chair too!

P.S. Went to evening mass today. Met Fr John after mass and asked him to bless Amanda.

Information on cornea transplant

I've been browsing the net over the weekend to search for more information on cornea transplant. It seems that cornea transplant has been done in the US for the last 50 years. The success rate is over 90%. I've found many interesting sites of cornea recipients relating their stories. In particular, a real life story of a young man who had been blind for a decade. He finally regained his sight after he had received a pair of cornea from a 17 year old girl who had died in a car accident. His story was very touching as he even wrote a song in memory of the dead girl. I read this story to Amanda. And she said "someone has to die so that I could get a cornea!" Well, I said to her that when a person dies his/her organs can save another person's life - be it cornea, kidney or liver. The donor is really someone big hearted and unselfish as he/she wants to help others.

Heartache

Today's the 4th day after we learnt that Amanda needs a cornea transplant. Whenever, I think about it tears just started to flow. This usually happens when I'm on the MRT on my way to work. I can't believe that this is happening again. Amanda's last op was 4 years ago. Worse still, things are not getting easier for me at work!

Yesterday, I informed Mdm Yap, the school Welfare Teacher of Amanda's condition. She was very kind and helpful. She helped to inform the school's office clerk and the Form Teacher. So when the time comes, they know that they had to look for Amanda quickly.

Last night through Auntie Cheng Choo, I contacted Francis. He had a cornea transplant done in January. I had a long chat with him and now I know what to expect.

Amanda spoke to her school Councillor yesterday and today. I think she needed to speak to someone about her fears and anxiety. She told me that her Councillor recommended music therapy (what's that?). I need to speak to a Councillor too!

Yuen Leng called this evening. She wanted to come down tomorrow to vist and pray for Amanda.

It's very comforting to know that we have many friends praying for us.

Cornea breakdown

Over the weekend I noticed that Amanda's good eye was very red and tearing excessively. My instinct tells me that something is not right. So I have decided to call the clinic (on Monday) to fix an urgent appointment with the doctor.

As usual, I got delayed by boss and only managed to leave office at 3.45pm. I left the office as fast as I could and managed to hop into a taxi. As I did not have any money, the taxi driver was so kind to drop me off at an ATM to withdraw some money. By then, it was pouring 'cats and dogs'. In the taxi, I silently prayed to God to bless Amanda.

We couldn't believe our ears when the doctor told us that Amanda's cornea is starting to show signs of breaking down. Her cornea is very weak and she needs a cornea transplant urgently. We had no other choice. As advised by the doctor we put her name down on 2 waiting lists (for overseas and local donors). Amanda cried silently. I tried very hard to control my emotions.

We were all too shocked by the news! I felt so drained emotionally and physically. This is my worst nightmare!

Edusave Scholarship Award

Sunday, 13th January 2008. This afternoon, Amanda received an Edusave Scholarship Award from Mr Yeo Cheow Tong, MP for Hong Kah GRC. The event was held at Yew Tee Community Club. For achieving excellent result (top 10% student in Sec 1), Amanda received a certificate and a cheque of $300.00.

We were the first mother and child to go up to the stage to have our photo taken with Mr Yeo. It was a very proud moment, and we are all so happy for Amanda. Bao Li, Auntie Jean and Uncle Larry were also there to lend their support.

2008 New Year Resolutions

Matt and Amanda has each written me a letter stating their 3 goals for the New Year.

Matt's goals are simple: 1) study half an hour every 2 days; 2) study hard for exams (to be prepared for PSLE exams); 3) make art pieces for fun/and for mummy frequently.

Amanda's 3 goals are: 1) practice hard to pass her piano exams; 2) study hard to improve Science grade to A2; 3)read more books to improve English grade to A1.

So what do I hope to achieve in the New Year? Here is my list:

1) exercise 3 times a week to keep fit and healthy.
2) participate in more women's running events as well as charity runs.
3) cook dinner for the family at least twice a week.
4) bake at least once a week and experiment with new cupcake recipes.
5) keep in touch with old friends ie. phone or email them.
6) enourage my children to work hard on their weak subjects. (I will enrol Amanda for an English language course and get Matt a personal tutor for Mandarin).
7) make a trip to BKK with my kakis for spa retreat and shopping.

The list is not too difficult. So I hope I can achieve all these things.