My grandma, affectionately known as Popo in the family, was born in 1920 in China. When she was a teenager, grandma came to Malaysia to work in her uncle's rubber plantation. She settled in Ipoh after marrying my grandfather and gave birth to 7 children: 2 boys and 5 girls. My mum was her 4th child.
Grandma was poor when her children were young so she had to work day and night. Among a plethora of jobs she had, one of them was cooking food and selling them in her neighborhood. That is when her passion for food shines. Later, grandma and my grandfather started a wanton noodle store (in which the very secret for a perfect bowl of wonton noodle soup was also passed down to me). Grandma survived the horrible Japanese occupation in Malaya during World War II and sometimes would retell her experience to me (to scare the shit out of me!).
I lived with grandma after my parents migrated to the US when I was 6. For almost 15 years, life with grandma was fun and filled with tasty tasty food (which probably explains my husky size). She was my second mother and I'm her 8th child. Grandma instilled a lot of wisdom in me and most importantly grandma taught me how to laugh and be mischievous.
Grandma lived to be 89. She passed away on April 1st, 2010. She was mischievous when she was alive and it comes to no surprise that she chose April Fools Day to pass on. She's probably laughing at us right now, not with us. Grandma will be missed but will not be forgotten.
Mary Choy Ying Ng
Mother, Grandmother, Great Grandmother, Friend
1920 - 2010
“Death ends a life, not a relationship”
