Father figure

The first father figure that I've ever had in my life, well at least from my conscious life, was my Papa. No, not my biological father but actually his eldest sister's husband. I started calling him Papa and my aunt Mama because they've been taking care of me since I was a baby and I pretty much followed what my cousins were calling them.

As with most Singapore kids, both my parents were busy working to support us and we were lucky enough to have my Mama take care of us. So I pretty much spent most of my childhood (0-8 years) with my Mama and Papa in their Margaret Drive house. My kindergarten was there and when I wasn't in school, I remember spending lots of time on my bike with my neighbours riding around the area. I remember how my aunt will always leave a box of coins in the kitchen which I could plunder from to go buy sweets/snack with, and I'll ride with my neighbours to the Econ Minimart and spend it on Kaka, or marbles.

I didn't see much of Papa in the day cos I know that he too was busy working in the construction site to support his family. And when he was back in the evenings, he doesn't really say much, but he'll sit there quietly shaking his automatic Seiko watch while watching the evening news. He was a quiet man, but a very loving man. I remember how he would make toys for me to play with, like how he made a kinda pin ball machine thingie that I could put my marbles in and bouce them around. Or when he taught me to build structures with twigs by sticking them into the ground and by balancing some across one another. He never once scolded me or yelled at me, in fact I don't ever remember him yelling at anyone.

He passed on yesterday from cancer and even though I knew he suffered from it and haven't had long to live, I think I was secretly hoping he would get better. He was always such a strong man, it made me think he was going to live forever. I heard that he didn't suffer to much towards the end and that Mama was with him when he passed.

I don't think that I ever got to tell him how he was the first father figure I had, or that he has always meant a lot to me even though I can't converse with him well with my broken Hokkien. But I'm glad that he got to watch me grow, get married and have a son. I'm glad that he got to meet Aidan and he must know that he's done something right with me, that he's built a foundation fo me to become who I am today. My thoughts and prayers go out to Mama and my 3 cousins. In my heart I'll always (like I told my kindergarten teacher) have 2 fathers.