At 95, widow keeps to her creative ways
Published on: Sunday, May 09, 2010
By: Mary Chin
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She would not cease making flowers, using cotton wool and leftover pieces of cloth, and other handicraft with her pair of creative hands.
"My hands are a 'gift' from God," she said when met at her son's residence at Jalan Damai, Luyang, here.
About nine years ago, Vun joined the Kota Kinabalu Widows Welfare Association at the urging of friends.
Since then, she has hardly missed the association's programme for senior citizens on Mondays.
Then in her eighties, she was seen engrossed in making bead necklaces and bracelets as well as floor mats.
And in recent years, Vun diversified her skills into making round-shaped containers and vases, using cut-up playing-cards (that have been discarded by gamblers). Family members say she has given away a sizeable number of these handcrafted items (as souvenirs from Sabah) to visitors.
When she visited the Peninsula some years ago together with other widows, she presented some to her counterparts there.
Vun became a widow more than three decades ago when her spouse, John Lee, died after suffering from a stroke.
She has six children (three boys and three girls), 26 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.
Following her marriage at the age of 24, she and her husband migrated to Kuala Belait, Brunei, where he worked for the British oil company for a few years.
"When the Japanese Occupation was imminent, my husband's employer advised us to return to North Borneo for fear that we might perish in Brunei. The company even arranged for a motor vessel to send us back.
There was no commercial flight in those days," Vun reminisced.
The couple then settled down in Telipok where they raised pigs and poultry on the family's farmland.
When asked for advice for younger contemporaries, Vun replied: "Who am I to offer advice?
I am not well-educated. There are many highly-educated women in our society today."
Pressed for an answer, she finally ventured to say that the secret of her longevity is God's blessing.
"Maintaining good health is equally important. One more thing, make friends but don't gossipÉmind your own business. Don't utter 'bad' words.
It's good to talk things over when there are problems, instead of quarrelling.
"Remember that laughter is the best antidote. And last but not least, be kind to people and help those in need, regardless of race or religion."
According to Vun, she went through a health check recently, and the doctor told her that her blood pressure was still normal, and she had no medical problem.
Daughter-in-law Rose Wong See Yun described her mother-in-law as a patient woman who hardly complains about life.
Asked whether she is treated well by her three daughters-in-law, Vun said matter-of-factly: "I strongly believe that it has to be a two-way relationship. If you are good to your daughter-in-law, she will be good to you too."
While living in Telipok with her husband, Vun was reportedly kind to their workers and neighbours, some of whom were Dusuns and Bajaus.
"One day, I asked one Bajau worker why he was late for work and he told me that his wife was sick.
Next day, I took her to see a doctor in KK at my expense. She was moved to tears."
Vun, together with a brother, first set foot on North Borneo (now Sabah) at the age of 14.
By then, she had lost both her parents and was looked after by two paternal uncles.
They landed at Pinangsoo in Kudat and started toiling on the land, growing coconuts and maize.
After a year, she moved to Telipok where her third youngest uncle became a pastor of the Basel Christian Church of Malaysia (BCCM).
"Here, we grew vegetables for our consumption. My brother later sold the land."
At one stage, owing to poor nutrition, she developed jaundice and was hospitalised.
"The doctor gave me an injection," she recalled.
When Vun turned 16, her uncle sent her to St Francis Convent, Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu) to be cared for by the Franciscan Sisters.
"At first, I did not know what was in store for me as he said he was going to send me back to Kwangtung Province (my birthplace in China).
Instead, I ended up at the convent. I had no choice as I was an orphan."
She attended the Chinese class but not regularly.
According to Vun, she spent much of her time doing domestic chores such as washing the clothes of the English nuns and cooking daily meals for them.
"That was where I learned more about cooking. The nuns loved me very much because I was obedient and never went against them," she said while demonstrating how she starched the nuns' habit (white uniform with a hood).
She also remembers how the girls (most of them orphans) were made to sew flowers on veils, tray and table cloth as well as handkerchiefs which were transported to England by vessel before the Christmas season.
"These were gifts from the Franciscan Sisters for their families and friends back home.
We were told that the vessel would take a month to reach its destination." At 24, Vun left the convent to get married.
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