Congrats to Cousin Edwin and Jamane!

Tomorrow is 26 March 2011. Cousin Edwin finally weds Jamane! *Hopefully I get her name right. :)* It will be a exciting day. Cousin Lynn has flied back from the states to attend the wedding. It will also a gathering for the cousins tomorrow. It has been a while since all of us attend a wedding together.

Another iconic figure has passed on...

Another iconic figure in ASL history has passed away on 15 Aug 2010. He was my second aunt's husband. I called him "Boo Lei". He was best remembered as someone who took things in his stride. He lived a life of ups and downs. He could have led a comfortable life but he chose to live a colorful life. In his latter years, he was plagued with illness during his latter years. The illness that caused him his life was the kidney disease that he contracted several years back, which took a toll on his health and left visible marks on his hands arising from the dialysis treatment. According to his eldest son, the medicine that he took to thin the blood was probably what caused his life.

Unlike the other elders, he truly lived up to the notion "Live to eat". Despite his illness, he did not avoid fried food, cokes. He did not let the fear of health deterioration stop him from eating his favorite food. On the contrary, he was enjoying his every meal. He taught all of us a lesson. We do not let fear of failure, rejection or death to stop us from our dreams! Life is short. Enjoy every moments!

He was survived by three sons and two grand sons.

Good Bye boh leh!

The passing of an ICON in the history of ASL...

Granduncle "zee gong", ASL’s lovable icon, passed away peacefully on the evening of 24 June, 2010. He was 80. However, his sudden death was unexpected as he appeared to be in the pink of health, when he travelled to hometown in Hainan not long ago.

Remembered for his approachable nature, "zee gong" had the ability to defuse any tension in the family and always brought laughter to whereever he went.

An icon of ASL history, he had lived a simple life and never wanted to trouble anyone. After retirement, he was actively involved in volunteer works in Marine Parade. He was known to the other volunteers as "Uncle Boon Jam". As one volunteer shared. "His daily routine would be to make coffee for the old folks at the old age home, who were seemingly younger than him everyday.

His death brought forth an outpouring of grief from family, close relatives, volunteers and friends. Close to 2 bus loads of people came to pay their last respects to him on the last day of his wake.

He is survived by one son, one daughter and two god children as well as three grandchildren.

Good bye Zee Gong! We will always remember you.

Another "A" to the expanding Ang Sa Li family!

In Dec 2008, we welcomed Ashley to the family. Last year in Dec, we welcome Alethea Soh. This year, a healthy baby girl, Amanda*, was borned to Cousin Simon and Christy on 7 Jul 10. Congratulations! Take care and rest well, Christy! We will probably see Amanda before or during Tommy's wedding end of this year.

Another baby girl to the expanding Ang Sa Li family!

Last year in Dec, we welcomed Ashley to the family. This year in Dec, a healthy baby girl, Alethea Soh, was borned to Cousin Caiyi and Xuejing on 8 Dec 08 at 2.57 pm. She weighs 3.795 kg. Congratulations and welcome to parenthood! Take care and rest well, Xuejing. We will probably see Alethea before or during chinese new year .

It's that time of the year again...清明节!

Unlike previous year, we had qing ming on 5 Apr 2009 (Sun)i.e. the second day of the festival. This year was different from previous years. For the past years, we usually had it 2 weeks before the actual event. It also involved only smaller group. Only 5 of us (My parents, Edwin and his mom including me) set off from ASL at 6 am in Edwin's car.

In a nutshell, we visited ah gong's tomb (entered by pathway 11) first, followed by ah po's tomb (pathway 14F) and finally gong dou & po dou (level 2, sect E) at Bright hill. The morning was kind to us. It was not very hot. We reached there around 6.45 am. Luckily there is a place for us to park the car at every location. Our ancestors are watching us. :)

We did the same things every year. We cleaned the tomb and laid color papers with stones on grass patch behind it. There were other families around us, mostly coming in big groups. Some put up elaborate offerings that were piled up like a small hill beside the tomb. Some did simple praying. Just before, we were prepared to burn the offerings for ah gong. It was the thought that counts. It suddenly dawned on me that the Qing Ming gave family the chance to meet each together. It reminded me of the chopstick stories. As long as our family are united, we will not be broken easily. What say you? : )

Feed the Homeless

Today me and my colleagues(7 of us) went to feed the homeless at the Las Vegas Rescue Mission. The whole mission deeply touched my heart.

There were about 120 homeless in line for their dinner we prepared for them. I was in charged of distributing toiletries and blankets to them after their dinner on the way out. Economy here is getting from bad to worse. People falling out of jobs, with no ability to pay their mortgages. A lot of houses are foreclosed. Salaries are severely cut with no company contribution to 401K(our retirement fund just like CPF).

There were about 40 volunteers. Everyone is full of enthusiasm. They were sincerely concerned for these homeless, making sure they get the best of their needs. They are volunteers who come every week without fail. People who drove from another side of town for this mission.

We are too fortunate to be living in an affordable and comfortable environment. We might not be able to afford a Chanel Handbag but just to live with a Coach bag. We might not be able to stay in a Bungalow, a 4-room flat does just well. We might not be able to afford an expensive dinner in CHIMMES, but a plate of $4 chaguotiao is just alright. We might be able to afford prada shoes but Charles and Keith is just as elegant.

In bad times like this, we should never forget about people who lead a poorer life than we do. A simple thought makes a difference. Giving is a happy thing to do. I really wanted to share this with you all because of what I saw today.

Or maybe you have some of your old clothes today that can make someone who needed it be touched by your kindness.... or some volunteering acts in an old folks or an orphanage home during your days off?

Something to ponder about....

Posted by: "Neo Lynn"
Fri Mar 6, 2009 2:17 am (PST)