Madam Choo is the feisty "auntie" whose name became famous locally as a result of her tug-of-war with Marina Bay Sands over her jackpot machine payout, and I blogged about her on Wednesday.
TODAY writer Tanya Fong's profile on her today (11 Nov) is such a compelling and heartwarming read that -- even though I am sure many people would have seen the story already-- I will put it here, as an antidote for such times as when we become cynical and sceptical:
Lady Luck smiles on her at last
by Tanya Fong
She was once illiterate but, thanks to years of running her own hawker stall, Madam Choo Hong Eng can now read in Mandarin.
And she can certainly tell the difference between the words "cash" and "car".
Mdm Choo, 58, is today a celebrity of sorts, having taken on Marina Bay Sands (MBS), and coming out tops, after it had initially refused to hand her the more than S$416,000 in cash she had won at its jackpot machine on Oct 18. The integrated resort -- citing a technical glitch in the machine -- had instead offered her a sports car worth S$258,962 and S$50,000 in cash.
In an interview yesterday, Mdm Choo said she decided to fight for her case -- MBS this week agreed to pay her the full prize money in cash -- as "a matter of principle".
"That was how I was brought up and these are the values that kept me going in life," said Mdm Choo, who does not frequent casinos or buy lottery tickets.
On that fateful day, she was at MBS for a stay-cation with her daughters and showing her friends from Macau and Hong Kong around. Wearing a pink polo T-shirt, white capris and slippers yesterday, Mdm Choo looked like a typical "aunty" at the Geylang coffeeshop where her Kwan Inn vegetarian stall enjoys brisk business.
But beneath her petite frame is a feisty woman with a big heart. Mdm Choo has two daughters, 19 and 17, whom she adopted when they were young from a friend who could not afford to bring them up. They live in a five-room [public housing] flat together with a maid. [Note: for the benefit of non-locals, a five-room public housing flat has three bedrooms; the other two rooms are the living room and the kitchen.]
"I never got married because I think I'm independent and strong-headed. I think any man I married would have been unlucky," Mdm Choo said with a laugh.
Before she adopted the girls, Mdm Choo had helped sponsor three university students, giving them a stipend of S$600 a month for four years. But they have stopped visiting her since they graduated.
Mdm Choo, who was abandoned in an orphanage, grew up without ever knowing her parents. Her foster mother, a nun, adopted her when she was three.
"When I was about nine, I saw her working really hard trying to make ends meet. She was so tired, she fell down the stairs. From then on, I decided to work to support her," said Mdm Choo.
The odd jobs she took ranged from plucking rambutans from trees in her village in Paya Lebar and selling them, to selling tickets at Gay World, an entertainment centre in Geylang [it no longer exists].
Her world came crashing down shortly after she turned 21 when her foster mother died. "She was my world. But I had to quickly pick myself up because I had no one else to rely on," said Mdm Choo, fighting back tears.
She then took on various jobs, such as working in a machinery factory, before she was asked to help run a vegetarian stall in 1985. She was then 32. "I realised Singaporeans love chicken rice, so I thought of a way to cook vegetarian chicken rice with soy for the meat and flavoured the rice with ginger, pandan leaves and vegetable oil," she said.
It was a hit and Mdm Choo then started making vegetarian laksa, for which her stall is now famous for. Her thriving business meant that she had more money to employ workers. That was when she adopted her two daughters.
When asked how her lucky strike will change her life, Mdm Choo -- who has pledged half her winnings to charity -- said: "I don't think anything has changed or will change. I guess maybe it's a gift for the charity I've been doing, to do more charity."
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