Our Foster Aunt : Chieng Chung Hua

 When we lived in Brooke Drive, my parents made friends with a lovely career woman, Chieng Chung Hua who worked for See Hua Daily News. She had shared a flat with a friend but the building was to be demolished so she moved to one of the rentals near our house, thus we became neighbours. She was so helpful and soon called my father "brother" and my mother "Sister in law" .

Later, she had to move again and needed a room to rent. That was after my father passed away, thus she came to live with us, partly, to accompany my distraught mother. 

She fought like a warrior, stood up for my mother when people bullied her in any way. She encouraged my mother when she was losing hope and often gave her counselling when help was no where to be found. She would walk with my Goo Poh, Chang Yuk Ging to our house whenever possible.

Besides, she had a strong influence on me. I learned more Chinese (She worked for See Hua Daily News) and she guided my siblings like a real aunt.

She had a rough life because she was a single lady. For example, she was quite vocal about liberation for Sarawak and was considered a strong member of SUPP. So she was sent to Kuching for re education because she was accused of being a left wing in the 1970's and she wrote to me in Chinese while I was in MU, still teaching me to be upright, kind, and loyal to my mother who was a widow. I wrote back to her in simple English and she would write back in Chinese, answering my questions very well.

She is also a very close friend of the Ngui family and the Lau Hieng Ding family. She is like a sister to Ngui Soon Eng (Puan Sri )

In later years I moved to Miri and seldom saw her in her brother's shop. My mother too moved to Kuching. But our close relationship and good will remain.

She has always been grateful, kind and supportive, never saying any harsh words. We love her as a real aunt. My family never abandoned her when she returned from Kuching but this time she went to live with her brother, Mr. Chieng who owned a glass and aluminium shop. She  thus became a business woman from then on, helping her own family, helping her brother to raise a new generation of Chieng children.

There are a few women in Sibu who are unforgettable. She is one of them. 

Thank you for being with us in those difficult years, Chung Hua Goo Goo.

I too remain close to the Ngui family and this photo was sent to me by Ivy Ngui.