A grateful family took their dad Hew Kwai Sin for a slap-up Father's Day dinner yesterday, glad that they have much to thank Mr Hew for, given the sacrifices he had made to build a good life for them here.
Mr Hew, 79, worked in a rubber plantation in Kluang, Malaysia, as a child to support his parents and nine siblings but had to flee into the jungle when the Japanese invaded during WW II. After the war, he moved to Singapore and scrimped and saved to raise his own family while supporting his relatives in Malaysia.
Yesterday, together with five other families, the retired technician joined daughter Hew May Leng, his son-in-law and grandson, to mark Father's Day with an eight-course dinner at Curate, a fine-dining restaurant at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS).
They got to savour delicious food such as Aussie Wagyu beef, sweet prawn puffs and strawberry pie.
The special treat was all down to Ms Hew, one of the six lucky Straits Times subscribers who won a dinner for four worth $752 after participating in a contest held by the ST+ loyalty programme.
ST+ started in April last year to reward subscribers with special discounts and benefits offered by more than 100 partners.
Participants in the contest answered the question: "Why does my dad deserve the best?"
Ms Hew's entry recalled how her father took night classes to learn how to repair electrical appliances at home. His hard work and frugal behaviour allowed him to save enough to send Ms Hew and her brother to university.
"I really look up to him... his biggest gift to me is raising me up and the values he instilled in me - hard work, frugality and care for loved ones," Ms Hew told The Sunday Times. "He normally eats hawker food, so I'm glad he got to enjoy this."
The dinner was hosted by Straits Times food critic Wong Ah Yoke and prepared by Curate's German-born chef de cuisine Benjamin Halat. ST readers can look out for further details about dining opportunities at RWS on the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) Rewards app, such as a dinner at Chinese restaurant Forest with local celebrity chef Sam Leong in November.
