A bond so strong till death

Romance for the ages: Tai and Chang were promised in marriage as toddlers in the mid-1930s and wed when Chang turned 18 (inset).

PETALING JAYA: A couple who shared 80 years of life together passed away just hours apart from each other, staying true to the vow “till death do us part”.

The couple – Tai Hong Kee, 86, and his wife Chang Siew Lian, 84 – remained loving till the end of their lives in Jementah in Segamat, Johor.

Tai passed away peacefully at his home at about 10.30am on Sunday after being told that Chang had died of a stroke at a hospital shortly after midnight on the same day. Both will be buried side by side at their funeral tomorrow.

“When my father was informed of my mother’s death, he merely quietly said that he would be following her soon. He passed away shortly after that.

“We were surprised that he decided to be with her only 10 hours after she passed away,” the couple’s daughter Tai Siew Kim told The Star.

She said Chang was fine until Tai fell ill due to a heart ailment.

Romance for the ages: Tai and Chang were promised in marriage as toddlers in the mid-1930s and wed when
Chang turned 18 (inset).

“She lost her ability to walk properly and suffered a fall a week after my father was admitted to hospital for blocked arteries,” she said.

She added that her father, who was later discharged, wanted to visit Chang at the hospital but his heart was too weak.

“They did not get to see each other for the last time,” she said.

Despite their grief, Siew Kim along with her six brothers and three sisters were touched by their father’s love for their mother.

“We are sad but at the same time moved at how greatly they loved each other,” she said.

Siew Kim, who is deputy news editor-in-chief with Sin Chew Jit Poh, said Chang would often relate stories of her life with Tai when they were growing up.

Chang came from a poor family from Gemencheh, Negri Sembilan, and was given away to Chang’s family in Durian Tunggal, Malacca, to be raised as his future bride, as was the Chinese custom back then.

“She was only four years old when she was adopted by my father’s family in the mid-1930s,” said Siew Kim.

Her father was only six at the time.

“They grew up as playmates and later as friends before tying the knot when she turned 18.”

Asked about the secret of her parents’ marriage, Siew Kim said it was “trust and patience”.

“My father was a timber trader and travelled a lot. However, my mother trusted that he would always return home to her,” she said.

As the years progressed, their love grew deeper with both becoming inseparable.

“My father and mother were always ­together, be it having meals or watching television.

“They seldom argued and would talk things over together,” Siew Kim said.

She hoped her parents’ love and strong bond would be an example for young married couples who tended to opt for divorce as an easy way out of marriage.

“My parents went through a lot together but they remained committed towards each other,” she said.