My mother passed on peacefully in her sleep, in the early morning of 3 April 2024. I just arrived at Lhasa the night before, after travelling 21 hours in the overnigh train from Xining.
I received a call from my elder sister at around 7am+, alerting me of the news. I was stunned momentarily. Subsequently, I called the tour agent who helped to organize the Tibet trip to book urgent flights to Penang the next day.
She managed to get flights arranged, flying from Lhasa to Chengdu at 8 am, then transferred to another 2 flights (from Chengdu to Guangzhou, and then flying to Penang subsequently). Also made a last minute booking of rental car to drive from Penang Airport to Nibong Tebal.
By the time I reached Nibong Tebal, it was already 11pm.
母亲这几年的健康情况每况愈下，已经无法攒着拐杖走动，只能整天躺在床上歇息睡觉。眼睛也一直闭着，难以睁开。所发出的声音，也往往相当脆弱。
不过偶尔会突然睁大眼睛，声音也蛮“响亮”。
一年前，因为长时间卧躺床上，没有及时反转身体，导致脊椎与臀部，长了几个又深又大的褥疮，经过好几个月的料理，上个月才完全康复。但也在过去4个月，吞咽功能有些失调，导致连续患上急性肺炎两次，得入院就医。
也多亏家里又我姐与女佣帮忙照顾，母亲才不至于被送去老人院生活。
我们兄弟姐妹们也明白，已经是86高龄的母亲，留在这世上的时日，可能已不多了。
3月中回老家祭拜父亲，回新加坡那天，母亲突然发烧，临时给她服上家里尚存留的抗生素。后来与家人联系，得知已经没有在发烧，一切情况稳定。
万万也想不到，在抵达拉萨游玩的第二天，我姐在早上7点左右，便打电话通知我母亲去世的噩耗。当时有点懵了，但静下心来后，便赶忙安排飞回老家奔丧的事项。
隔天辗转乘搭3趟飞机，终于在晚上11点左右，抵达老家。
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| 灵堂 |
As far as I can remember, my mother is a hard working women.
She had been helping my father in his food stall when my siblings and I were in primary school.
She started off in helping in preparing the ingredients for noodles. Then, she branched off to sell chicken rice on her own.
I was amazed at how she was able to hold on to the heated metal bowl containing cooked rice with her bare fingers --> it was very hot. For a moment, I thought she must have mastered the skill of 铁砂掌。
She hardly scold her children. I was scolded once in my primary school days for making a random comment of "what if the ship that my maternal grandfather took to visit his relatives in China in 70s were to come into problem in the middle of the sea", and a few days later some rumours surfaced of problem with the ship my grandfather was travelling... but luckily, it was just a rumour, and my maternal grandfather returned safely a few weeks later!
我双亲都是苦命人。
我父亲自小是一名小贩。但他的厨艺很好，所以生意也搞得蛮不错。当年若有人提起高渊公市“阿贵”， 无人不晓。
我母亲也在我们兄弟姐妹们还在念小学时便到公市档口帮忙。起初是帮忙添加干面果条等的配料，后来自己买起鸡饭来。鸡饭的销量也蛮不错！
他在30多年前，突然因为小腿骨折而行动不便，有后来因为帕金森病症而行动更加辛苦。起初还能运用拐杖缓缓步行，但在冠状疫情那几年，慢慢的恶化，过去2-3年，已经无法行动。
我们很少替母亲拍照。幸好我的表弟保留了不少照片，以供回忆！
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