Sad but glad

I was having a quick-fix dinner at one of the New Lane coffee shops last night when at the spur of the moment, I mustered the courage to talk to one of the hawker stall owners.

"Boss," I asked him, "may I ask you something? Is your surname Teh?" He looked surprised but replied that it was Goh. But, I said, I do know that there is someone here with the surname of Teh who used to work in Ban Hin Lee Bank.

"Ban Hin Lee...I've been selling here for almost 30 years and there's nobody else with that surname. But wait, let me ask the coffee shop owner here," he offered.

True enough, the son of the shop owner said the person I was looking for was his mother's brother. But if I wanted to see him, I would need to visit him at the Loh Guan Lye Hospital.

Minutes later, I was beside my old ex-colleague from my Ban Hin Lee Bank days. Teh Chew Hoe, who started his career at the bank as a messenger in the Bukit Mertajam branch and ended up as a clerk in the Batu Pahat branch, is bed-ridden suffering through the end stage of a debilitating illness that has left him looking gaunt, a pale shadow of the person I used to know.

It was stage four of lung cancer, diagnosed some three years one month ago (yes, he was still counting), which had seen him undergo chemo-therapy 27 times and radio-therapy 40 times. He said he couldn't bear more of the treatment. Painful.

He was surprised and over-joyed that I had come to see him. Not many of his former colleagues had visited him, he said plainly as a matter-of-fact without feeling bitter or disappointed. But he was so glad to see me. I was also glad to see him.

He looked comfortable in bed and would be discharged today. He had been warded four days for stomach discomfort and would be checking back into the newly opened Red Rock Hotel which was less than a kilometre away. This is the former Agora Hotel in MacAlister Road. A few days from now, he will be travelling back to Batu Pahat with his wife.

Teh was very alert and he talked about old times. I did not try to interrupt him. I let him talk. It's important to do that. So he talked about his days in the bank, how he was transferred to the Batu Pahat branch, how he suffered working under the branch manager there who likened him to a Volkswagen compared to the other staff who were all "fast cars". You can deduce what he wanted me to know.

He also talked about being diagnosed with lung cancer in 2004, undergoing a biopsy in Penang which confirmed it, how he had been travelling around the peninsula with his sister to visit every sinseh they knew, how he underwent the rounds of chemo-therapy and radio-therapy treatments.

He is a staunch Christian and I was heartened to see that he still had his faith in his God. He talked a lot about his God and I told him to remain strong and keep the faith. It's good to see that his mind is still very clear.

He understood it was the final stage of this disease. That's why he wanted to come back to Penang (it was 14 April) for a last visit to his relatives and friends.

Before I left him, he told me to promise that I will always take care of my own health. Yes, I told him and then I left quietly, deep in my own thoughts. I don't know when I'll be able to see him again.....

UPDATE (13 May 2007): It was quite unfortunate that I forgot to get the mobile number from his wife. Anyone wishing to see him can go to the Red Rock Hotel in MacAlister Road and ask the Front Desk for their house guest who came in a wheel chair and was discharged recently from the Loh Guan Lye Hospital. As far as I know, Teh's room is on the 10th floor and he will be checking out on Saturday (19 May 2007).

UPDATE 2 (17 May 2007): Teh is in Room 816 of the Red Rock Hotel in MacAlister Road . Spoke to him last night after some other ex-colleagues phoned me to get his latest whereabouts.