The Way We LOOKED

Yet again a new year approaches. One year older, more hair loss, wrinkles appearing...... aah, what we will give to turn the clock back.

Fret not, there's always the memories.........misty coloured memories of the way we looked (with appologies to Barbra Streisand)

Merry Christmas !!

Amidst financial and global turmoils; while many may be wondering our future; wondering if things will get better or worse, it is good that at least once a year, we get to celebrate the 25th of December. For Christians around the world can remember this day, the birth of Christ, a Saviour born. Something to be thankful for that's bigger than our daily lives.
During this time, let's just reflect and be thankful for the things that we have, the blessings we've been given, the loved ones with us.
God Bless you and have a very Merry Christmas!!

ROOTS

The month of November had been particularly strange for me, genealogy wise that is.

First, out of the blue, a gentleman by the name Eric Djie (Chee/Xu) contacted me to enquire whether I am one of the Malacca [I prefer the old spelling :)] Chees. Eric is half Chinese/half Dutch currently residing in Xiamen, Fujian Province. Then later in the month, David Ong from Singapore emailed me about the Cheongs. His mother is a Cheong from the Singapore line of the Cheong Koh Boon family of Malacca, of which I am a descendant.

It was certainly a boost for my ongoing family tree project.

All this aside, after several exchange of emails David and I confirmed that we had met ech other at Uncle Harry's wake 11 years ago, 4th. December 1997. David was a dear friend of Uncle Harry. He wrote a poem to read as his eulogy at Uncle Harry's mass. Yesterday he gave me a copy.

While writing this blog, I realised that today (4/12/08) is the eleventh anniversary of our dear Uncle Harry's passing on. I thought it would be appropriate to publish David's poem here -

“MY DEAR UNCLE HARRY……”

“I thank my God whenever I think of you.” (Philippians 1:3)


My dear Uncle Harry,
I was so sorry to hear today
That you had died yesterday.
It was only last night
Fancy, only last night,
That I had taken out
That chunky gold and diamond ring
You had passed on to me.
And I had then reminisced on those
Wonderful old times we had shared
With Bobby and Robert
And everyone else
All those many years ago.

My dear Uncle Harry,
I remember the last time we met
At mass at St Peter & Paul
You said you were really so sorry
My Papa was so terribly ill
And you gave your kind regards
And good wishes
For his speedy recovery.
Instead, it was my Papa who called me today,
To tell me that you had died.

My dear Uncle Harry,
Of course you know
That we shall all miss you
And our endless banter
At the little booknook
At St Peter & Paul
Always in the Peranakan patois
Always about all sorts of nonsense
And funny jibes and stories that
We all laughed to tears about
Before and after mass
At St Peter and Paul.

My dear Uncle Harry,
We are all so very sorry
You’ve had to leave us so soon.
But then, we should not despair
Because ”the trumpet shall sound
And the dead shall be raised
Incorruptible
And we shall all be changed”.

Therefore, dear Uncle Harry,
What more can we say?
That you have not laboured in vain?
That you have now put on immortality?
That the corruptible has put on incorruption?
Goodbye then, Uncle Harry.
Adieu to you
‘Til we meet again
And laugh and banter together
Once more.

Fare thee well my dear Uncle Harry
My Brother, My friend
Fare thee well my dear Uncle Harry.
“O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?
O GRAVE, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY?”


David Ong
5 December 1997

(Dedicated to and in Loving Memory of Mr. Harry Chi)

The Daly's down-under..

Welcome back to our dear CheFi who's just paid a visit down-under !
After a brief interview I had with her, we got a very interesting overview of Melbourne, the city, the cold, the cleaninity (ok ok so my England not so good but you get my drift), the people and the most-noticably unpredictable weather. Of course, needless to say, the stay would have been a lot longer had she not missed her dose of char koay teow or mamak mee... not to mention KohPhil's deeply missed suckling pig, also known as "Rock". (I still wonder how a suckling pig ended up with a name like Rock)

Anyway... Congratulations Chef, Koh Phil on the much long deserved trip down under! Tell us all about it if you have the time k...

By the way... Team members who can post their own items here are : Beng, Cor, Alex.
Anyone else interested... do drop us a comment and we'll add you in so you can post your own too!

Later...

School Hols a comin'...

Perhaps a trip to Dubai this year? ...
Nahhhh !
Kuantan will do... monsoon or not.
What about you guys?
Going anywhere?

Lee Cheng Yan's 80th Birthday

Guinness Stout MUST be good for you... Celebrating your 80th birthday!
That was the caption on the spilt can of cake and 8 candles.
The party began at 8pm at the Royal Lake Club where the guests of honour occupied 3 tables. First to arrive were the Cheong's where I learnt from Beng in his split second 100mph sentence... "the trouble with smses is that after you delete the invitation, you cant remember what time was mentioned... so better come early". "oh..." was all i could answer as i still tried to tune in.
All immediate and local families were present... and "Thank you all" for coming...
The night was filled with food, fun and laughter, and finally the singing and cake cutting. I must say we didnt sound too bad singing as a group... (even with CheFi there too!)
At 11pm we attempted to leave the Bunga Raya and as usual, our trademark "good byes" and "good nights" lasted all the way till 11.45pm, with several stops made from the restaurant to the car park for drama, interviews, "hey where's my car?", etc... well, you get me drift if you're family.
Those reading this... As much as he missed mom and wished she could have been there with him, dad still had a wonderful night and wishes to thank all who made it a special occassion for him.
By the way, 3 guesses and no prizes why I've created this blog and picasa web pics with the name "chee cheong fun".