Baker's kind heart touches cancer-stricken mum

Madam Seow Suat Hong and her family with the cake made by Ms Priscillia Wong. PHOTO: TAKASHI LIONEL
The mermaid cake made by Ms Priscillia Wong for Mr Takashi's ill mother. PHOTO: TAKASHI LIONEL

SINGAPORE - On Sunday (July 24), cancer patient Seow Suat Hong was delighted to receive an intricately designed cake adorned with figurines of her favourite creature - the mermaid, at a chalet get-together her family had planned for her.

The cake was specially ordered by her son Lionel Peh, who wanted to surprise his 58-year-old mother. Madam Seow has late stage stomach cancer.

The gift brightened her day.

"It was the happiest moment of my life," Madam Seow said.

Mr Peh, a 33-year-old air steward, approached Ms Priscillia Wong Pei En, his former colleague who now runs her own baking business, to create a custom-made cake for his mother, who loves mermaids.

The details on the cake made by Ms Priscillia Wong. PHOTO: TAKASHI LIONEL

Ms Wong's response went beyond what he had expected.

"Even though I approached Pei En two weeks before the gathering, which is quite a tight time for making a 3D fondant cake, she told me to not to worry and leave everything up to her," he said.

The cake featured figurines of the 11 members of their family, transformed into mermaids and mermen, with Madam Seow atop the cake as a mermaid queen. The two-tiered cake could have cost hundreds of dollars, but Ms Wong did it for free.

The details on the cake made by Ms Priscillia Wong. PHOTO: TAKASHI LIONEL

Mr Peh said: "I told Pei En about my mother's condition and she told me that she understood what we were going through as her father passed away due to cancer as well."

Ms Wong later posted a picture of the cake on her bakery's Facebook page, describing the cake as the "most beautiful" cake she has made so far because of the heart-warming story behind it.

She wrote: "(This is) the least we can do to cheer for her (Madam Seow) is to take it as a pro bono order. A tiny token from our heart for a Mummy who dedicated her life to her family."

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