How I remember my Dad

Dad to me is always a pillar in my family. Since young, we reverend him, we adore him. We think he is the smartest and most hardworking man in the world.

Dad always gets up early in the morning, punctuality is his trademark. He was never late in sending or picking us. By this I mean, he would send 30 minutes earlier or arrived 30 minutes earlier to wait for us to finish our events.

Dad is a dedicated man, he is singularly focused on his family. In his mind, he has our best intention planned out. In his eyes, he is set on his family alone.

Dad is a visionary man, he has our future figured out and planned out. He hardly talked about it but he always challenged us to do better, promising that he would do his part to give us the best education that we could get into. And he did this to all four kids.

Growing up, we feared dad a lot. His thunderous voice and his commanding words seized us in fear. His orders was our commands. When he said move, we moved on the double. When he said hurry up, we ran. His patience seemed to run dry each time he saw us. He was really short-fused.

Dad has been very frugal all his life, he saved and saved for his family and kids. He uses very little on himself, almost all in education.

The legacy Dad passes to us are :-

Love for our mum
Growing up, we did not think our dad love our mum much. But now that they both have aged and mum is ill, he takes very good care of her. They are almost inseparable. He would never think of leaving mum behind, especially that she is ill and he has not taken any holidays since she is unwell. His love for her is a true romance.

Orderly Routines
Everything is orderly and runs in routines, driven by commitment and dedication. What is required of him, he will deliver. At the age of 77, he still goes to Sunday market and buy the four items that he has been buying a few decades - Taufu, Rice Dumplings, Chinese Kao and Vegetables. He may be forgetful but his orderly routines are always in place and in rhythm.

Values of Pride and Simplicity
Family pride is utmost importance to him and likewise, family shame is his worst enemy. In all that we do, he measures by this yardstick. We could be doing less or earning less but just do not bring shame to the household. Simplicity is his trademark, if the shirt or pant can still be worn then it should not be thrown away.

Excellence Mentality
Set to do things excellently well. Keep doing until we have accomplished the job well done. It may be out of the way or out of the box thinking but it must be a job completed with excellent results. Something that people will refer back as a breakthrough or new height.

In short, his LOVE for us is singular and deeper than what his words could not express. He is a man of actions and little words. His love language is likely to be Service.