My Second Family

We were staying in Jalan Pudu during the May 13 incident. Later we shifted to an old wooden house in Jalan Imbi about less than one kilometer away. We rented a room from the main tenant. Behind the house was the Bukit Bintang Amusement Park. In the early 1950s’ I stayed with my grandmother in the shop house next to this park. Today in place of the park is the popular shopping mall Sungei Wang Shopping Plaza.

A year later the landowner sold the house. Together with the main tenant, we shifted to a nearby apartment. In 1975 we shifted to Penang where I first started my own business. I traveled monthly between Kuala Lumpur and Penang as my customers were from Kuala Lumpur.

My second wife (Florence) is the eldest daughter of my main tenant who had two daughters. Even before I shift to Penang, I was closed to both daughters. I rented a room nearby for my stay whenever I was in Kuala Lumpur. I was in love with her when she was a teenager. I married her in 1980 when she was twenty two. In 1982 we had a son (Alex). Today he is a permanent resident in Australia after graduating from the University of Melbourne.

In 1980 a friend introduced me to an electrical contractor from East Malaysia. There was a tender from the Ministry of Defense. I did the tender estimation and the project was awarded to him. I was offered to be his project site manager and some subcontract works. So I closed down my ailing business in Penang and stayed in Kuala Lumpur after that. Occasionally I went back to Penang to check on my three daughters.

Having three daughters, I always wanted to have a son. One day on the way to the Genting Highland Holiday Resort, Florence (who was then pregnant) and I stopped at the midway Ching Swee Temple. I made a vow that if I had a son, I would name him after the Patriarch. Months later Alex Lim Ching Swee was born.

I left the Sabahan company after the project in Malacca was over. The contract works were handled by Eugene (Esther’s boyfriend) and a partner. Being in the electrical industry for the past twenty years I was able to get contract works and also supply support from the wholesale dealers. However by 1985 there was an economic down turn and I suffered heavy losses. I did not receive payment from a project and went broke. There was nothing for me to do.

For survival I had to operate a gambling den in the Jalan Imbi area. This area was notorious for vice and gangsters. The good, the bad and the ugly of the city lived there. I had known them so I got no problem from them. In fact they were my customers. Sometimes they brought strangers to my place. Florence and I worked hard to keep things going.

One day a group of the bad approached me and talked about their operation. They were an international syndicate. After much thought, I decided to join them. I had no choice. The income from the gambling den could not sustain my two families. I had always been a risk taker but this is high risk. This time I had to gamble with my life. This was another turning point of life. Soon it changed my life style and personality due to conditions.

For a start I went to Singapore and did my part. I came back with a substantial amount and we shifted to Johore Baru. Occasionally my sister in law Esther stayed with us. I rented a semi detached bungalow and bought a sport car. Later I bought a apartment in Kuala Lumpur. That was my new life style.

I was a good front man and built up my reputation. However I did not get much job as I had the disadvantages with languages. I cannot speak Malay or any other Chinese dialect except Cantonese. I am good at English.

Four years later I left the syndicate. Florence and Alex were back in Kuala Lumpur. By that time Esther got married to a corporate figure (Vincent) who is today listed in Forbes Billionaire List as one of the richest men in Malaysia. In 1989 I worked in his group as a complex manager in one of the shopping malls. Florence joined one of his private companies as a manager and I helped her to set up its operation. It was an advertising company.

It seems that I was always having problems with my life. Those past years were good with no financial constraint though I lived dangerously. I had a personal problem that ended up losing my second family even though I loved Florence very much. I still love her but she cannot forgive me and I cannot turn the clock back. In 1992 I stopped working for Vincent. By 1994 we were separated and years later we were divorced. Alex stayed with her.