Whenever I look at Grandma’s kind face, I see a woman of courage, love and passion. A lady warrior, made tough through suffering, emerging victorious from World War II and an unhappy marriage.

Second wife to a Chinese migrant, she was physically and emotionally abused. My Grandpa had always favoured his first wife.

He lavished luxuries on his children with his first wife and refused to pay for my Grandma’s children’s education.

A quiet lady, she never complained, quietly supplementing her meagre allowance by doing laundry for the neighbours to pay for her children’s education.

A bearer of 13 children, she mourned the deaths of seven young children and was asked to give away four out of her five remaining children because they were girls.

She resisted in her usual quiet way. With a heart full of compassion and forgiveness, it is amazing that she did not hold a grudge against my Grandpa.

Plagued with poor health from the numerous pregnancies, she had to provide food for Grandpa’s employees.

Juggling between caring for her children and helping my Grandpa with his business, she still managed to show kindness to those who had fallen on hard times.

She even ‘adopted’ one of her friend’s sons, so that she could help to support him in his studies. She is a faithful friend who will never fail to lend a hand.

Although folks of her generation generally favour grandsons to granddaughters, Grandma never showed any of that partiality to her grandchildren.

She has personally taken care of each and every one of her 15 grandchildren. She is so attuned to us that she can discern the different baby cries when even our own mothers could not do so.

Unsurprisingly, she can read our moods like an open book and knows just what motherly care and love we need.

Even now, she still takes time to check on all of us via phone calls everyday. She never fails to make every one of her grandchildren feel special when we visit her.

Now, a Great-grandma of four, she still helps to take care of the little ones, even though she is 86.

Grandma is like a ‘Mother Theresa’ figure to me – a colossal influence to inspire me to be a better person. She has a place in my life and heart that can never be replaced by anyone else.

It is an honour to be a grandchild of such a gem.