My motherless mum gave everything to her children
She was unwaveringly invested in her children’s education despite her lack of it and strove to be everything to them.
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Her mum’s devotion as a selfless mother is typical of many from her generation, says the writer.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Joanne Tan
At 22, my mother declined a proposal from the husband of her second sister to be his second wife. Her decision defied what was then, in 1959, a socially accepted custom of polygamy within the Chinese community in post-colonial Singapore.
Giving up what seemed like an easier life in marrying a small-time businessman did not quite make financial sense for a poor, orphaned and illiterate woman. Yet, a defiant streak got the better of her.
