PASSING OF AN OLD FRIEND

I was in KL when I received a message from the church that a dear old friend, Mrs. Rosie Pung, had passed away. She was 86 years of age. Her passing away affected me in a strange sort of way, as I reminisced of the times our paths met.

Who was this lady and How did I get to know her? I knew her as Mrs. Pung, wife of the late Pung Onn Fah, ex banker and ex- Chairman of BCCM . In my early years in Sabah, I stayed at the end row of a double-storey semi-detached house in Taman Foh Sang and Mrs. Pung and her family stayed at the other end of the row. Our paths met when we had Home Fellowship meeting at her home.

My impression of her was of a woman, immaculately dressed and always well coiffed. Always smiling and one who had a greeting for everyone she met. But beyond that was a woman who has a heart of gold. I remember once, as I was struggling with two young children, she called out to me : "Penny, how are you coping ? Do you have a maid?"  Those were the days when maids come and go as they wish. Sometimes, when they go off on Saturdays, they would not return on Sundays, as some other employer had offered them $10/- more. I was in this predicament. So I told her that my maid had left. Immediately she said, "I will help you get a new maid. Come to my house next week. I help you find one." And lo and behold, the following week, she had found one new maid for me. And she went beyond that by saying, "If the maid gives you trouble, bring her to me.". 

Apart from her kindness, Mrs Pung was hospitable. Every Chinese New Year, if she were celebrating the festival in KK, she would extend her invitation to us. "Come to my house, 1st day of CNY. I am making rojak. You will love my rojak." Or "This year, I am making laksa. You must come okay?" You know she was sincere in her invitation for, the following Sunday, she would say reproachably to me : "Why didn't you come? So and so were there. You would have loved my rojak / laksa." 

Even when she and her husband migrated to Australia, they would return to Sabah every Christmas and she would without fail, extend her invitation to us to stay in her house in Gold Coast.

She was an encourager. I supposed she understood the struggles of a young wife and mother, away from home, without much family support. Thus, after Sunday services, she would stop by to ask me how I was doing and offer some tips on how to relate to my in laws and to remind me to 'Enjoy your life!' Or she would share with me her experiences in the early years in Sabah. In a way, she was telling me to hang on, things would get better!!

As matriarch of the Pung family, she was the button that held the family together, and she took great pride in the achievements of her children and grandchildren. Thus, on and off she would share that she was going to attend this or that grandchild's swimming competition, or some concert performances.

Mrs Pung was not one to display religiosity. Not for her, the loud Hallelujahs but faithfully, every Sunday, she would be sitting in the pews, surrounded by her loved ones. Even in her last few years, despite her obvious discomfort, she would be sitting in rapt concentration to the sermon during the church service. 

Mrs Rosie Pung, faithful wife, loving mother, doting grandmother and a genuine friend. What a life she had led. A role model to her children and an inspiration to the younger generation. To me, she was the epitome of grace and beauty.