I knew my grandma's brother was in the entertainment business, but I never knew how famous he was.

Until I read Wanbao and saw that his death hit the headlines, together with the screwed up Superstar results.

Apparently he used to be the manager of this very famous band in Singapore, and he has 2 wives and 4 kids, officially (that 2 wives thing I knew, but not the manager thing). Someone, one of his friends from the entertainment business, decided to call the papers and the next thing you know, it became the headlines! Nah.. I'm quite sure he was not very famous before his death. Well, maybe during my dad's time. But not like, now. Funny how the tabloids dig juicy gossip right? A man in the entertainment business with 2 wives collapse and die suddenly. Like, WOW!

Anyway, I got the full story already. Autopsy's out. It was a myocardiac infarction. Commonly known as heart attack. He was out having dinner/supper with his 2nd wife and then they drove home. He asked his wife to go buy bread from a 24hr convenience store nearby while he parked the car. However, after his wife went upstairs, she realised he was not home yet. So she went down to the void deck, only to see him squatting beside the lift. He complained of severe chest pain, so much so that he could not walk. It was about 1am at that time, so his wife, not knowing what to do, helped him back home. After they reached home, he was breaking out in cold sweat. He could not control his bowel movements and felt like vomiting. So he went to the toilet, and fainted inside. Realising that something was really terribly wrong, the family then called for an ambulance to rush him to TTSH. Too late. His heart stopped in the ambulance. They tried reviving him at TTSH, but to no avail. No last words, nothing. Just, gone. The 2nd wife informed the first wife's younger son, who informed his elder brother. His elder brother just touched down in Japan for a business trip. He rushed back just now. The elder brother informed his mum, the first wife, about the death. It was just too sudden, the entire family was at a lose as to what to do who to call. After that, they sent the body to SGH for an autopsy, a must for all unknown deaths.

At around 2+am, someone called my grandma to inform her about the death, and she could not sleep the entire night. This granduncle of mine was a good man. Despite his very colorful life (my mum even joked that tomorrow more and more people will turn up at the wake claiming to be his children.. he seems to have more outside of his 2 wives), he was one man who took care of the family well. During my granddad's wake, he was one of the few who came everyday to chat with my grandma. He cracked jokes to make her smile and make the atmosphere less gloomy. After that, he rang my grandma quite frequently to chat with her, to keep her mind off things. When he met my dad the other day, he even reminded my dad to take care of my grandma. And there's also this other brother of his, who is really quite a pest, but yet he took care of him unconditionally. Not gonna say much about this other granduncle cos I don't like washing dirty laundry in public.

To be frank, I liked this deceased granduncle of mine, but we were rather distant relations. I know he was a good guy, and I felt sad about his death, but the one I'm truly worried about is my grandma. She is very upset, but she never reveals her feelings. She is one very strong woman, and I look up to her. But cos she never reveals her feelings, I dunno how she's taking it. Last time when her mother, my great grandma died, I remember her smiling at me and playing with me after the funeral. A very young and gullible girl at that time, I remember asking my granddad very innocently, "奶奶的妈妈死了，她都不难过的吗?" My granddad replied, "哎呀，她难过也不会让你看到嘛。妈妈死了谁会不难过？只是不要你们担心而已。" That is how she is. My grandma. The only time she revealed to me a little of her grief this time round, was when I asked her to come over to stay with us for the night, worried that she could not sleep well again. She said, "我没有事啦. 不会怎样. 只是昨晚听到他们打来的电话, 很不甘心而已. 这么好的一个弟弟, 就这样没有了..." Tears? They welled up in her eyes, but never fell. That was how strong she was. Thinking back about the way she cried her heart out when my granddad passed away, I think I finally understand the magnitude of their love for each other.

They always say, people who are about to die do many weird things, signs that they are kind of preparing for their death. My granduncle used to be very against his daughter entering the entertainment business like him. But recently, he made his elder daughter follow him everywhere when he was running the business. The morning before his death, he even talked about bringing one of his wives back to his dad's hometown in China to see how it was like, so the family know their roots. At night, he called his first wife out to have supper together, a rare occurance now that they are not living under the same roof. But the first wife declined, cos it was too late and she was tired. And now there's no chance anymore.

But like what my grandma told me, we must really applaud the first wife for her magnanimity, in recognising the 2nd wife and her kids, and sharing her husband with them. They once even lived under the same roof, the 2 wives, for 10 years. My grandma told the reporters off at the wake when they tried to interview them, but I think my aunt spoke with one of them. Shucks. Tabloids.. u never know how they can twist your words. I dread reading what my aunt says tomorrow night. That aside, I'm starting to think the bigamy thing may run in the family. My grandma's dad had 3 wives, the third wife younger than my grandma! The youngest sibling of my grandma (from the same mother) is the same age as my 2nd aunt! So my 1st aunt has to call someone younger than her "阿姨". Interesting right? Both my granddad and grandma's families have very interesting histories. My grandma's dad was a very influential businessman last time, while my granddad's granddad was a 秀才 from China. My granddad's mum came from a very influential landlord family that fled China after the CCP took over. Cos Mao Zedong was cracking down on families like theirs.

My grandma used to tell me interesting stories like that, about her family, while my granddad will sit at one side and add in stories about his family. I used to find it so interesting that I vowed I would write a book about them one day. But I could never find the time. And now it's too late, for my granddad's side. He's left us. I shall try to piece together whatever they have told me so far, and one day I will really come up with that book!! Seriously! Now, maybe I can tell you people the story here, in my blog. Anyone wanna hear?? Haha be nice and say yes k??