I did not write my weekly blog last week as I was in China for 6 days. It was a meaningful trip for me, even though it was a pretty chill and relaxing semi-vacation.
This trip was not planned. Dad called me and my youngest sister about 2 mths ago and asked both of us to accompany him and mum to Hainan in Nov. It was more like an order and I originally resisted, citing work commitments. My dad is 90 this year and mum 85. While active, they have slowed down considerably. His only overseas trip nowadays is to visit his hometown in Hainan. Sis and I eventually figured that we should spend more quality time with our parents, given this opportunity. My brother in law decided to follow us too.
The trip also coincided with my other brother in law’s yearly charity medical mission. He brings a large group of 50 doctors and nurses to the town of Chengmai in Hainan to provide pro bono operations and aftercare services to children and young adults with cleft lip conditions. He has been doing this for the last 10 years. A trip is done in Apr every year to access the total number of cases to manage the logistics in Nov when the main group arrives to do the procedures.
He is affiliated to the S’pore Hainan association where he raises funds yearly to sponsor this mission. It started when his firstborn had to go for cleft lip surgery as a baby and he got to know Professor Lee very well. With his close links to Hainan, he decided to organize a medical mission in 2009 with the doctors and nurses from the S’pore General Hospital who all worked for free and normally apply for leave to join these annual trips. Slowly, the medical group grew to its present strength of almost 50 persons that also included speech therapists and plastic surgeons. We even had a famous plastic surgeon Woffles Wu joining us this year!
Given its limited resources, the medical mission targets children and young adults who still have their lives ahead of them and are most likely to recover well from the operations that require multi-year follow-ups to make it a successful process. This year, they managed to operate on about 40+ cases and usually finishes around 10 pm on most nights. In total, about 150 cases were reviewed. Most patients needed speech therapy or minor plastic surgery in the later stages of the process. There were also a lot of walk-ins as more people hear about this service over the years.
It is heartening to hear of stories of some families who needed to borrow money to bring their kids to the hospital for the ops, which normally would cost at least USD 20K. This medical group gave their services selflessly and without any payment required. It is indeed an honourable endeavour and kudos to Richard, my brother in law, for his perseverance over the last 10 years to enrich the lives of impoverished children in Hainan.
My parents, sister, another brother in law and I spent a day with the medical mission before we headed off to our hometown for the next few days. We parked ourselves in the biggest city of Wenchang (population 500,000) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wenchang which was near our village. The hotel was decent and it was only about USD 20/night!
A related cousin who rents his car for hire was our go-to person for all transport during these 5 days. On the following morning, we headed back to our village to visit our ancestral home. We had a simple ceremony within the old house that Dad has a title to the property too. No one is currently putting up there as the previous couple who were helping us take care of the property had already passed on a few years ago.
Next, we went to our main village (BoFang) to meet the mayor and others. Dad, as usual, generously asked a relative to set up 6 tables for a grand lunch feast. It was a big lunch gathering and most people we knew were there. The mayor had 3 sons whom I first met during my first trip here in 1990 when we were just young adults. Now, the eldest is already a grandfather at 57. The youngest son (our driver) was a teenager then and now 47. He has just started a new business by renting shop space in Wenchang to sell provisions.
How did the last 30 years fly by so quickly? The village has modernized over the years and life quality has improved dramatically. We used to keep our old clothes to send back to them and 3-in-1 coffee was a luxury item then. Now thanks to the internet, everyone has a smartphone and car/motorbike.
We spent good quality time with mum and dad, taking things easy most of the time as they tire easily nowadays. The next few days were packed with activities in the morning while afternoons were spent in the hotel room resting. I had to do conference calls for my consultancy work too.
Too soon, it was time to return home after 5 nights in Hainan. We reached S’pore on Tues afternoon, tired from all the travelling. I believe that Dad did enjoy himself during this trip. I was glad to have spent quality time with him and Mum. They have aged gracefully and I hope I can follow in their footsteps too.
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