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| Chinese depiction of Jesus and the rich man (Mark 10) - 1879, Beijing, China (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
My name is Edward Ng
Nyit Cho. I was born in November 30, 1951 in a small town called Beaufort. I
was the eighth child in my family. I came from a poor family since my parents
were hawkers. Due to the large size of family members, we were always humiliated
badly by some people. When I was 11 years old, I remember a day during Chinese
New Year when my father asked me to purchase a gantang of rice to make porridge
for the day. The shopkeeper humiliated
me by saying that even his dogs ate more than my family. I was very sad but I
never related the incident to my family.
During my childhood
life, I struggled to earn money by doing chores no matter rain or shine. My
family never had decent food on the table like everyone else. In the morning,
my mother served us teamed bananas and
boiled sweet potatoes. For lunch and dinner, we would have pumpkin, rice and
sometimes sago and some vegetables. During those days, the bananas and pumpkins
were free and we could always get them from the villages.
I was not like other
children who could enjoy themselves during
their leisure time. I would have to assist my parents in their hawking
business after school until late at night. Whenever there was a school holiday,
I worked as a laborer in the construction sites. Even during the weekend, I would also occupy my time to
earn some money by selling ice-cream, cooked maize and newspapers. I did this
to pay for my school fees since education was important for my future.
After I completed
school, I worked with Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Ltd and at the same time I
had other part time businesses which made me call myself a 'jack of all
trades'. I was a workaholic. I told myself that money is my god. My blood vein
was full of money sign and by hook or by crook, I must make it because I didn't
want my children to suffer like the childhood life I had.
I met my wife who
was a teacher in the same town. She was devoted Christian and so was her
father. The day I proposed to marry my wife, I went to meet her father for the
first time. I was stunned by my future father-in-law's consent to allow us to
get married only if I accepted Jesus and become a Christian. Without
hesitation, I accepted and promised to be a Christian. However, I was never
committed and serious in Christianity.
End of Part One. Make sure to follow Part Two
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