24 HOUR DELIVERY
I was born on the
24th of November 1967 in Singapore’s
Kandang
Kerbau Hospital
to David and Kimmy Lien. Dad was a high-flying tv entertainment
producer and Mum was a school teacher and just 19. It took 24
hours for my
delivery and I finally arrived at 8:50
am.
Mum was spent by the time she delivered me judging from a black and white photo
that Dad had taken of her lying there in the hospital bed…thin, pale and tired
but smiling…holding me, this black wavy toss of hair…swathed in white cloth
diapers. Po-Po (grandma in Hokkien), my maternal grandmother
always reminded me how difficult the birth was.
Mum
named me Sabine and Dad gave me my Chinese name, Su-Lin. Mum fed me loads
of Heinz, KLIM milk and eggs! And my favourite treat that I would suck
right off the spoon was Woodward’s Celebrated Gripe Water. At 6 months
old, I was more than a handful. Chubby cheeks that made everyone go “Oh
...
First Flight
I was 8 when I took my first flight out
to Hong Kong to visit Dad. For some reason,
Mum & Dad would not be coming home for their annual visit
this Chinese New Year . Dad had arranged for me to travel to Hong
Kong to see him. For this trip, Dad had posted a huge parcel to me. I
could hardly contain my excitement as I saw the huge package landing
with a soft thud before my nose on the counter. I hugged the
brown parcel under my arm preciously all the
way home. I always looked forward to letters and best of all,
parcels sent from Dad. For my last birthday, he had sent me a
Wrangler
denim jacket and jeans with even a red bandanna thrown in. I was
really miffed! Dad sure had me sussed.
I
unwrapped the parcel carefully when grandma and i got home. In it
lay a brown tweed three-piece suit tailored just for me. And my first necktie too! I loved it. Thought it was pretty swell to lo...
