Family devastated as father and son die less than 24 hours apart

SINGAPORE - A father and son died within a few hours of each other, leaving the family devastated and in deep shock.

The son, Mr Alex Pak, 48, a businessman, died on Sunday (Dec 19) after he collapsed while praying in a temple.

His father, Mr Peter Pak, 75, who had been admitted to National University Hospital for several months, died the next morning.

The cause of both deaths was heart disease.

Madam Apple Wong, wife of the son, said his death, followed by her father-in-law's was a double blow for her.

"The feeling is indescribable," Madam Wong, 47, an operations executive, told The Straits Times (ST) on Wednesday morning.

She added that her husband had heart bypass surgery in October last year, but had always lived a healthy lifestyle since.

Madam Wong, who was married to him for 23 years, said: "He exercised frequently and had a balanced diet."

Thinking back to Sunday morning, she said: "He looked okay, there was nothing wrong with him."

Madam Cheong Kim Geok, the mother of Mr Alex Pak and former wife of Mr Peter Pak, said that she is still unable to come to terms with her son's death.

Choking back tears, the 66-year-old housewife told ST in Mandarin: "I can't describe the pain that I felt. I took care of my son since he was young and he just died at the age of 48.

"How do you expect me to accept this? No matter what I do, he can't come back any more."

She said the last time she saw her son was the day before he died, when he visited her with his son.

"I made tea for him. He was looking through his son's photographs and saying how big he had grown since," she said.

Madam Cheong said that she and Mr Peter Pak, a retired restaurant manager and getai host and singer, remained friends after they divorced in 1974.

Business administrator Wong Khai Xin, 26, Mr Alex Pak's niece, who has been living with his family for four years, said her uncle was an easy-going person and loved children.

She added in Mandarin: "I will miss the sound of his voice, there will be one less voice at home now."

Mr Peter Pak's older son Aloysius, 49, said his father's health had been deteriorating since he underwent heart bypass surgery 20 years ago.

The son had visited his ailing father at the hospital on Sunday, before going to the temple in Jurong West to pray for his father's health.

He dropped his wife and son off at Kent Ridge MRT station because the 17-year-old son had a school assignment due soon and wanted to go home.

While praying, he collapsed. One of his friends applied cardiopulmonary resuscitation on him while the other called the ambulance.

He was taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 4.30pm.

The next morning at about 8am, the father died.

He added that his father had been hospitalised since August this year and that the doctor had told them this month to prepare for the worst.

"When (my brother and I) visited our father together on Sunday morning, our father had held on to both of our hands despite being too weak to talk," he said in Mandarin.

He added: "We were mentally prepared that our father would go any time, but for my brother, it was really sudden. I am really heartbroken."