Madam Chin Lie Choo, 70, almost didn’t live to see her dying wish come true.

“Doctors gave Mum a Fentanyl patch today,” her daughters, Evelyn and Cecilia Nar, mentioned in passing on Tuesday night, March 8.

They were on a Zoom call with a team of volunteer wish granters from Ambulance Wish Singapore (AWS). The charity fulfils the last wishes of adults who have less than 12 months to live.

Alarm bells started ringing for Grace Young, one of the four volunteers. Grace’s own mother had been given Fentanyl, a painkiller for severe pain, in the last few days of her life. She knew time was running out.

Mdm Chin had been battling breast cancer for 34 years. Just a month earlier, the family had realised that she was in the final season of her life.

Her last wish was a photo shoot with them, and this was scheduled by AWS for Sunday. Would Mdm Chin still be lucid enough or even alive?

“We’ve got to act quickly,” Grace messaged her fellow wish granters.

But how? How would she broach such a sensitive subject with the sisters? And what about the logistics of bringing forward the photo shoot at such short notice?

Silently, Grace prayed.

Then, Mdm Chin’s daughters mentioned: “Oh, Mum is getting baptised tomorrow evening.” All three generations of her family would be gathered to witness her affirm her faith.

It was an answer to prayer!

Up to that point, neither party knew each other’s religious backgrounds. It turned out that Mdm Chin’s team of four wish granters were Christians too.

They sprang into action and, overnight, rounded up a videographer and photographer to document the family event.

The AWS team had met the videographer – the boss of a production company – only two weeks earlier. The photographer – an award-winning former photojournalist – cleared his schedule to take on the urgent request.

Mdm Chin secretly shared the same faith as her eldest child, Evelyn (pictured as a baby). She was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer in 1988 – the year Evelyn was doing her ‘O’ levels. Evelyn, now 50, is an executive assistant.

“Mum was a positive and cheerful person,” said youngest child Cecilia, now 43, who works in financial services. Cecilia has a 13-year-old son.

Nothing gave Mdm Chin more joy than bringing up her four grandsons. The youngest one had not yet been born when this photo was taken. The eldest ones are now 13, 20 and 21.

“That must have been our quickest turnaround time, preparing for a wish to be fulfilled,” said Grace. “Things just fell into place in less than 24 hours.

“No one could have organised it so perfectly. It was all God, allowing us to do what we did.”

And not a minute too soon. Mdm Chin’s health deteriorated even further overnight.

A family reunited

Unbeknownst to the AWS team, things had started falling into place in February when Mdm Chin was hospitalised in an isolation ward. There, she dreamt that her own mother had passed away.

It was a week later when she had confirmation that her mother had indeed died on the same day of her dream. Mdm Chin’s family did not tell her, as they were afraid it would aggravate her already poor health.

Mdm Chin battled cancer for 34 years. She had four relapses, and each time, the family was told she only had a year to live. “She was a fighter. Oncologists said she had a very strong will,” said eldest daughter, Evelyn.

The proud grandmother with her youngest grandson, who was born four years ago.

At the funeral, the Nar family reconnected with Mdm Chin’s siblings, whom they had not been in contact with for a few years.

Subsequently, Mdm Chin’s siblings visited, and the reunion brought much joy all around. Little did they know, Mdm Chin would have only another two weeks on earth.

“After her siblings came to visit her, Mum was watching TV and singing!” said Cecilia.

“Only if my husband agrees”

Shirley, a church friend of Mdm Chin’s youngest sister, also came to pray for her. Mdm Chin responded in a voice that, by then, was barely audible, and “we realised that she wanted to rededicate her life to Christ”, recounted Evelyn.

“When Auntie Shirley asked if she wanted to be baptised, Mum said as long as my Dad agrees, she will go for it.” 

He agreed. Mdm Chin was in disbelief.

Baptism was a secret desire she had harboured for years, not daring to bring up the subject. Her husband, Nar Siang Wah, had insisted that the family follow the faith of their ancestors, and she was a “traditional Chinese woman who deferred to her husband”.

With husband Nar Siang Wah, son Rayson, and eldest daughter, Evelyn. Mdm Chin was then pregnant with their youngest child, Cecilia.

“Whatever Mum wants,” Siang Wah, a retired trailer driver, 75, said.

“It was a miracle. She was so happy!” said Cecilia.

Five days before she passed away, Mdm Chin got her wish to be baptised. With her family by her side, she declared her faith and trust in Jesus. Her AWS wish granters sent flowers, durian cakes and mangoes – her favourite things.

Mdm Chin’s baptism was a time of joy with her family joining her in singing her favourite Hokkien worship song, 牽我的手 (Take My Hand). During her last few days on earth, hymns like this comforted her as she slept in the day and tossed and turned at night.

What had brought about the softening of his heart?

“All those surrounding Mum and helping Mum in her last days happened to be Christians,” said Evelyn. “I still get goosebumps talking about it.”

They included the physiotherapist and social worker from Singapore Cancer Society and volunteers from Ambulance Wish Singapore – both secular organisations serving families of all backgrounds and religions. The family did not have to pay for their services.

“My Dad had seen their heart to serve and their genuineness. It changed Dad’s perception of Christians. Dad was very appreciative of all that they were doing for her.”

“好美 (it’s beautiful),” said Mdm Chin when she was presented with the family portrait the day after the shoot – four days before she would pass on.

It wasn’t just his perception that changed. “He used to be very hot-tempered,” said Cecilia. “Now he is very demure, gentle and is the peacemaker. He’s now got Mum’s character.” 

Added Evelyn: “God was using Mum’s last days. God’s hand was in her last days.” 

Preview of heaven

However, Mdm Chin started having bad dreams of being alone on a street, abandoned. Some people the sisters spoke with believed this was the devil’s attack on her mind.

In one dream, someone was trying to attack her. Then, a man in a suit came and fought off the figure.

“She said the man in the suit was Jesus,” said Evelyn.

The next day, Mdm Chin murmured “很美, 很美 (beautiful, beautiful)” in her sleep.

When she awoke, Evelyn asked: “Did you see your heavenly home (天家)?”

“Yes,” Mdm Chin replied.

“She said her heavenly home was very beautiful and very big. And she saw flowers. She loved flowers,” said Evelyn.

A tender moment with one of her four wish granters – former national bowler Grace Young, who serves on the board of Ambulance Wish Singapore. Another wish granter was Carol Wee, who started AWS.

Amid the family’s grief of knowing that they would be saying goodbye soon, this dream brought comfort to both Mdm Chin and her loved ones.

“We knew that she was prepared to go. She had a peace of mind, knowing where she was going,” said Evelyn. “It was assuring for us to know that God showed her the heavenly house He had prepared for her.”

Through her 34-year battle with cancer, her faith and trust in God helped her to stay positive each time she had a relapse, said Evelyn.

“She quoted Proverbs 3:5-6 and always told me to pray and trust that God’s way is higher than our ways.”

A palm cross and a framed Bible verse from Grace Young.

Even though she was leaving this life as she knew it, it looked like things were working out for Mdm Chin. She had always encouraged her family not to worry and had always told them: “船到桥头自然直”, which means: “You will cross the bridge when you get to it; things will fall into place in the end.”

Last hair wash

On Monday, March 14 – two days after seeing her heavenly home – Mdm Chin asked for her hair to be washed. “She always liked to be neat and clean,” said her daughters.

Then, her family changed her into her favourite nightdress and she fell into a deep sleep. Barely 20 minutes later, Cecilia noticed that her mother’s breathing had dropped and called the rest of the family to come to her bedside.

Evelyn holding her mum’s hand. Mdm Chin passed away the day after this photo was taken.

Evelyn called: “Ma.”

“She was trying to smile,” said Evelyn. “My dad noticed it and said, ‘Call again’.”

At her father’s urging, Evelyn called her mother two more times. Each time, her mum responded. Then she stopped breathing and slipped into her heavenly home.

“Our mum left very peacefully,” she said.

There was one more surprise to come. On the day of Mdm Chin’s funeral, her son, Rayson, 49, invited Christ into his life.

“He saw the miracles in the last days of Mum’s life: The reunion of the family, the change in our dad, and how Mum’s passing and wake was such a peaceful time,” said Cecilia.

“He wants to go where Mum has gone when his turn comes,” said Evelyn.

Support the work of AWS

Since it was set up three years ago, Ambulance Wish Foundation (AWS) has fulfilled the last wishes of 86 terminally ill beneficiaries from different backgrounds and religions.

“The memorable experiences give them and their loved ones hope, relief, closure and peace in what may otherwise be a sad, painful and lonely journey,” said AWS board member Grace Young, a former national bowler.

The family is unable to organise these experiences, as caregiving – and the prospect of losing a loved one – is overwhelming.

Join AWS in fundraising and raising awareness for their cause. One way is to participate in their virtual cycling challenge, Cycle of Peace 2022.

Register here (from May 15 to June 15, 2022) as an individual or team. Then, cycle any time and anywhere (stationary bikes count too!) between May 28 till July 2, 2022.

Donate or find out more about how else you can support the work of the charity drive or Ambulance Wish Singapore here.

This story first appeared in Stories of Hope (storiesofhope.sg), a growing collection of real accounts by real people of how they found hope in their darkest hour.

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