Chiam Hye Mai and Joshua Lim Kai Jun
Our Stories
Chiam Hye Mai:
I have minimum education and I learned to sew clothes from my mother growing up as a child. After I married, I worked as a seamstress to help support my family. Life was simple, tough but happy.
After losing my husband to a stroke, I was overwhelmed at how sensible my 4 children were. They made sure I never felt lonely and kept me busy to refrain me from falling into depression.
I am very thankful for my 4 beautiful and amazing daughters!
Embroidery, culinary and gardening are a few of my favourite hobbies which gives me a great sense of fulfillment to live each day more meaningfully. Look! Even the bird was building a nest and raising its young on my plants.
I learnt to embroider when I was twelve. In those times, there were no templates like in the modern sewing machine today. I had to first draw the desired designs on the cloth before embroidering on it. The deer was sewn on the dresses for my children. I sewed the flower embroidery on pillowcases for my wedding and I still keep one for memory today.
Cooking with love is my passion. It keeps me busy and connects me with my family. Food preparation and cooking processes may seem to be onerous tasks, nonetheless, they are all worthwhile when I see my family and grandchildren smile in satisfaction after every meal.
My daughters love baking, they would bring me their creations when they visit me during weekends. My grandchildren enjoy making "tang yuan" with me during Dongzhi Festival. I love how food brings the family closer together.
At a very young age, and throughout my whole life, I am manifested with a profound traditional culture, perhaps instilled into me through the course of growing up in a traditional family.
Lion dance has become a yearly affair on Chinese Lunar New Year to bless my home and family. Huat ah!
At the blink of an eye, my 7 grandchildren are so grown up now. The eldest has completed army and 3 of them are currently in university.
Our family always looks forward to festive seasons as we meet and bond together. I am indeed very fortunate to have a strong kinship with my children and grandchildren.
I hope the strong family ties and values will continue for generations to come.
Joshua Lim Kai Jun:
Hello, everyone! My name is Joshua. This is a photo of me on my 1st day at Northland Primary School. I was very excited to go to school and I told my mummy to go home the moment I reached the school gate. I was not afraid of my new school. I enjoy going to school to meet friends, both old and new.
A little story about me… I was a glutton when I was very young. So, most of my photos are of me eating! And because I loved to eat so much, I was a little round, tubby baby. So my yiyis gave me a nickname "little bun"! My grandmother was always saying that I eat everything including bitter gourd! Hahaha. My favorite vegetable is BROCCOLI!
The playgrounds around my house do not have sand. So, I am always happy when we go to sand playgrounds. Going to nostalgic playgrounds with sand always makes me very happy. Because I can dig and build sandcastles there.
I like to play with excavator toy and during one of the pre-school field trips to Kidzania, I had a chance to play the role of a construction worker to operate the excavator. I was very happy!
Now that I have grown up, I start to enjoy cycling. The last photo on the right is a photo of me and my new bicycle that my daddy bought for me recently.
2 years ago, my mummy gave me a brother! I love him very much. I am very happy that I have a brother to play with at home. My little brother likes to follow what I do in the house now. Many people say he looks exactly like me. Do we look alike?
Lastly, I want to introduce my grandmother who took care of me when I was a baby. She takes care of my baby brother and my 2 other cousins as well. My grandmother always says we are her "Bao Beis" and we love her too!
