Mum’s love knows no bounds

By LEE YUK PENG

PETALING JAYA: Love is not ever feeling sorry.

Life had given Tey Hong Eng, 66, and daughter Sia Siew Chin, 41, more downs than ups, but for every heartache, headache and backache they suffer, they always see a sunbeam shining through.

And being wheelchair-bound has not stopped the two gutsy women from continuing to inspire and motivate others about seeing the best in people.
















Great inspirations: Tey and Sia with little Pui Yarn.

For years, Tey worked as a domestic help and, when she returned home, would bring piles of clothes to wash to earn some extra income.

In between chores, she would cook for her seven children, prepare them for school and attend to their every need.

More challenging for her was that five of her children suffer from muscular dystrophy - a disorder characterised by degenerating or abnormal muscle development.

In 1999, when she was with Sia, who was having a difficult delivery in Kuala Lumpur, they heard that a fire had gutted their wooden home in Sungai Rambai, Malacca.

In that same year, Tey was diagnosed with a spinal problem and needed to go for an operation.

Despite being wheelchair bound since her surgery in 2000, Tey said she has a better life now.

Sia, who inherited her mother’s guts and courageous nature, beamed as she talked about her only daughter – for whom she risked her life to give birth.

Due to her muscular dystrophy, doctors advised her to get an abortion. She, however, took the risk and baby Ng Pui Yarn was born.

“Pui Yarn is a God-sent gift. I have no right to take her life away,” said Sia, who was fully aware that the child had a 50% risk of inheriting the genetic problem from her.

Now, Pui Yarn has been diagnosed to have similar signs like her.

“Being a mother has made me feel complete and proud,” said Sia, who now champions the cause of the disabled as executive director of the Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled.

Sia will be receiving a special Mother’s Day award from the Kiwanis Club of Taman Tun Dr Ismail here on May 20.

Pui Yarn, who grew up with many disabled around her, used to tell Sia: “I hate to be like you.”

However, Sia has repeatedly told her young daughter that being wheelchair-bound would not make her life unhappy. “You can still do a lot of things” she told Pui Yarn.

The young girl, inspired and motivated by her mum, made a Mother’s Day card for Sia, complete with a drawing of a woman in a wheelchair

Source : http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/5/13/nation/17704988&sec=nation