My Nei Nei and Dah Dah

I am Hakka.
This is my Nei Nei and Dah Dah.
They came to Singapore from China.
Nei Nei = Paternal Grandmother
Dah Dah = Paternal Grandfather

My Nei Nei came to Singapore at a young age to marry my Dah Dah.
She was born on the 11th day of the 8th month in 1922.
Only 16 when she came to Singapore to marry my Dah Dah, she had her first child (the girl she was holding in the picture) at 17 and her second child (the girl seated) at 18.
In this picture, she was not even 20 years old.
She has a total of more than 10 children.

She suffers from terminal stage cancer and is now lying in hospital, in a coma and on a life support system.
My youngest uncle and his wife whom she lives with have made the decision not to tell her she has cancer as they feel that she would get all depressed and negative.
In the recent weeks, she has been bugging my auntie (her first-born child) to return her these pictures.
She must know something.... and wants to relive her life again.

This is my Dah Dah. He was probably in his early 20s in this picture.

He is really a born entrepreneur.

He came to Nanyang (Chinese name for Southeast Asia, meaning Southern Ocean) to carve out a living as life was difficult in China.

He started out peddling haberdashery, then became an apprentice in a Chinese medical hall.

Having learnt the ropes, he started his own Chinese medical hall in a rented premise, using furniture that people discarded.

If you have been to a Chinese medical hall, you would know that the shopkeepers have rows of drawers in which they keep the herbs.

When he saved enough, he had a good set of drawers made, with Chinese words carved onto them.

And then they bought over the shophouse and rented out a room to another family.

He also invested in a joint venture with his older brother to set up a haberdashery shop.

He died 25 years ago... I still miss him and think of him occasionally.