Dear brothers and sisters,
As some of you know, my Gung-Gung (Grandfather) or, my mother’s father, the late Ong Tien Soo, passed away on the 15th of August this year. It has been nearly a month since then.
Firstly, I would like to restate my thanks to the close support of the church family towards our biological one. Your prayers, thoughts and affection reflect the bond of Christ and the law He laid down for us. Most of all I also want to thank God and His son Jesus.
However, this focus of this post is not on thanksgiving. I was asked to write something for the MGC assembly to understand more about my late Gung Gung, whom I believe not many of you would have met. About his life I am certainly not the authority. Far from it, I think I’ve been a rather distant grandchild. There was a wall between us – not of bricks and clay, but of geographical distance, linguistic and cultural differences, and most of all, my own general disposition of apathy.
However, as his passing became imminent, those walls crumbled and love became a bridge. Throughout the 3 nights of wake service, I mostly listened to the chatter of the crowd. Vicariously, I got to know Gung Gung better.
This is what I can say:
My grandfather was a thoroughly admirable man. Having been separated from his family and brought to Singapore as a teenager, he started out his independent life under tough circumstances. Having had to eke out a living during those days, he experienced a hard life that many of us may never understand. Perhaps a night out on the boulevard with newspapers as a mattress will give us a taste.
By learning the trade on-the-go, my grandpa became a mechanic and eventually went on to own his own workshop. Then he got married and started a family, and that’s where we come in. My mom was his eldest daughter out of six children, who are all doing very well now.
My grandpa was a real family man. Although I think we never really could talk things out and show “care” for one another in a conventional sense, he spoke love in his own language.
I recall that when he found out that we liked to drink Yakult, he would personally ensure that a special compartment in the fridge is stocked up with the small, colourful bottles every time the children come to visit. He, and indeed my grandma, always wanted to bring us to McDonalds every time we came over in spite of the fact that both of them absolutely abhor the food there. My Ah Ma remarked that McD burger buns are like ‘cardboard’ :X But they’d always bring us there, because we used to like it a lot when we were kids.
These are just some of the things that I can talk about in this short blogpost –drops in an ocean. Believe me, my grandpa was a man with a lot of love.
Right after his baptism, days before his passing, Gung Gung told my Ah Ma that he had a vision:
‘He saw a big church. The doors of the church opened, and many people streamed out of it, carrying gifts for him’
The vision prompted him to inquire of my grandma whether he is “part of the church yet”. My grandfather actually accepted Christ a long time ago during a Billy Graham gospel mission, but only reaffirmed his faith this year.
For me, the answer to his question would of course be “Yes”.
I do believe that my grandfather now is not only rejoicing in heaven, but has had a lot of treasure waiting for him up there. I understand that he was a man that didn’t seek glory for himself but was thoroughly focused his loved ones.
Sure he joined the assembly of saints a little late. Yet, the last can be made the first. And the worker who joins at the eleventh hour will receive wages that the Master sees fit.
I look forward to meeting him again.
-Derk-
