The move

The death of her papa changed almost everything. Her mama had always relied on her papa especially financially. His sudden death led to the loss of their property, a small but adequate house.

Anna was very upset but she knew she had to put a brave front on. She found her mama quietly weeping away when she thought Anna was asleep. The loss was devastating to them both. Fearing that they would hurt each other by talking, they decided to quietly deal with their loss and sorrow; each in their own way.

Her mama, Mei was from Hong Kong. It was love at first sight. Her papa was performing when their eyes met and locked for a lifetime. He was the son of a middle class family in Hong Kong, destined to take over the family’s business. However her papa rebelled against his family and went on to perform martial arts, left Hong Kong and married Mei. She ran away from home when she met Lee and fell madly in love. She was only 17 at the time. She had never worked and didn’t have much education. Now, she felt completely lost after 30 odd years of marriage and being dependent on one man.

Her mama loved her papa dearly. She vowed that she would never re-marry and would try her best to bring Anna up on her own. Staying on was too painful. So she took the decision to leave and move to Singapore. She had a friend from Hong Kong, now in Singapore working as a housekeeper who could possibly find her some work.

They didn’t have many possessions, just a few bags and Lee’s ashes. Anna took her favourite and only photograph taken with her papa and packed her bags with a heavy heart. The two lonely souls made their way to the old Butterworth station and took the night train to Singapore. Nothing was said but they held each other’s hand tightly as the train pulled out of the Penang station to the mournful sound of the steam whistle. Tears rolled down Anna’s cheeks as she looked back at the lights of the town and whispered goodbye to her papa. She knew she would never return.