the stuff champions are made of
 Grandpa would tease us with his tricky strokes and challenge us, saying that he could beat us even with one hand tied behind his back.
When grandpa passed away in 1980, an obituary in the newspaper said
Ng Ngoh Tee was the "Maker of Champions".
- taken from JohorBuzz, Where Champions were born, by Peggy Loh.
I opened the mail from Peggy today with much delight. She'd sent us the hard copy of the newspaper article she had written about her memories of Ah Gong's place -- my ah gong!
I don't know a whole lot about my grandfather, because he passed away before I was born. My brother was too young to remember, and besides, we were mostly apart from my extended family because of our Singaporean citizenship. All that I know have been told to me in snippets by my dad, my Uncle Roland, and my cousin Peggy.
And I'm always very amazed but what I'm made of: Champion-material! LOL. (:
I always wished that someday somehow I could meet my ah gong and ask him to tell me about his badminton club, and all the trophies he has ever won. But I'm quite a disgrace when it comes to playing badminton, or any racket sport for that matter.
I really want to play well, but I'm just not very good at all. I don't know why. I was actually really disheartened not too long ago, but I'll keep trying. I think. I believe ah gong's endurance at his game must have rubbed off me somewhere. I want to play like my ah gong someday. (:
And I love my dad (: I love him for everything he is, regardless of all his imperfections... his bad temper, his occasional mood swings, the way he ignores me sometimes and make me wonder if I mean anything to him.
Haa. Papa, I love you! (:
And here's a photo of my ah gong celebrating his birthday with my cousins, uncles and aunt.
My dad and I were looking at this photo together and then he pointed out that the boy on the extreme left, standing, is my eldest cousin, Jeffrey. He passed away from cancer many years ago. I have only vague impressions of him, because I was quite young when he passed on.
Then I told my father that ah gong looks a whole lot like Uncle Roland, my dad's eldest brother. I had to say it in that manner (rather than saying uncle Roland looks like ah gong) because I've never met ah gong before... I would have thought it's uncle Roland in the photo if nobody told me it's my grandpa!
And I love my uncle Roland too! He's my tua pek (eldest uncle), who always kisses me on the cheek and hugs me with his very strong arms everytime I see him... for as long I can remember! And yes! Even now!
Well yeah. I love my family; how about you? (:
Ps. Read the rest of Peggy's story here!
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