Dad’s what I did for love: 4 selfless fathers who stepped up for their kids
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SINGAPORE - Provider, playmate, protector. A father is all this and so much more.
Daddy is a child’s first hero. The one who always has your back, the one who teaches you to take risks, the one who believes you can reach for the stars.
When his children need him, a father who might describe himself as ordinary rises to the occasion with extraordinary acts of bravery. His labour of love requires no reward, save for a smile, a kiss, a hug.
Meet four fathers whose selfless deeds have made a huge impact on their children’s lives.
He started a fathers’ support group in his wayward son’s school
Pictured here from left: Mr Alex Tham, 49, Founder and Director of Trust Cleanz Initiative and his son , Joshua Tham, 20, waiting to enlist in NS Sunlife Father's Day cover, theme is A Father's Sacrifice on dads who have given up something meaningful for their kids. Back when Joshua was 11 years old at the brink of being a teenager, he was very naughty. Till the point of the school calling his father Alex almost every day. Joshua was addicted to gaming as well and wouldn't come home directly after school, preferring to hang out with the older boys at the void deck and getting into juvenile mischief. Alex had just left a steady career as a lecturer and started a commercial and residential cleaning company. His son's misbehaviour could potentially take a turn for the worse, so he decided to sacrifice his time and efforts from his business to caring and nurturing his son instead. Alex was one of the early members of Dad For Life, and he started a Fathers' Group in Joshua's school to get all fathers involved in their kids' lives. They would hold overnight camping experiences on school grounds for fathers to bond with their child, and other activities that would keep young teenagers occupied and instill good morals and values. He enrolled Joshua in a bootcamp to kick his gaming addiction and went with him together as well.
ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
Mr Alex Tham, 49, would sometimes cry in his car when his son Joshua was in Primary 6.
“The teacher called me every day, saying: ‘Mr Tham, Joshua did this, Joshua did that,’” he says of the time when his son regularly misbehaved in school, pulling pranks and skipping school instead of preparing for the PSLE.
“I really felt like a failure. What did I do wrong? Sometimes, I wanted to give up, but I knew I couldn’t – he’s my son,” Mr Tham adds, his voice breaking as he recalls the turbulent years between Primary 3 and Secondary 3.
He quit his job to care for his brain-injured stepson
ST20230609_202375939822-Eugene Tan-Stephanie Yeo-syfather17/ (from left) Lim Joo Phiau, 44, and his stepfather, Kua Sim Choon, 71, posing for a photo on June 9, 2023./ (ST PHOTO: EUGENE TAN)
ST PHOTO: EUGENE TAN
When Mr Kua Sim Choon takes his stepson out in his wheelchair, passers-by remark how they resemble each other.
“After looking after him for 20 years, how can we not look alike?” quips the affable Mr Kua, 71, in Mandarin.
He helps Mr Lim Joo Phiau, 44, shuffle to the only bedroom in their two-room rental flat in Sengkang and tucks him in for his afternoon nap.
Afraid of needles, but he donated kidney to his daughter
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF SAM FOO, ONG WEE JIN
Talk about needles and Mr Sam Foo, 50, winces. Yet he did not hesitate to donate his kidney to his daughter Celest in June 2020.
She was just four years old in 2005 when, without warning, her face became puffy and her urine had bubbles in it. Tests showed she had focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), which meant the filters in her kidneys were scarred and could not filter blood.
While no local figures are available, there are 0.2 to 1.8 cases per 100,000 people worldwide, says head and emeritus consultant Yap Hui Kim from the division of paediatric nephrology, dialysis and renal transplantation in the department of paediatrics at Khoo Teck Puat – National University Children’s Medical Institute within National University Hospital (NUH). She has been seeing Celest, now 22, since she was about five years old.
He sleeps four hours a day to care for special needs son
BH20220919_202257292588_syfather17_khalid_ Hazrin and wife who takes care of Mustaqim, diagnosed with rare disease.
PHOTO: BERITA HARIAN FILE
Muhammad Mustaqim Hazrin was playing at home when he saw his father Hazrin Husain go into the kitchen to pour himself a drink.
Then five years old, he yelled: “Pa.”
Overcome with emotion, Mr Hazrin shed tears of joy. It was the first and only time his son had called out to him.
