My precious family I Koh Huey Fang

Goh Jin Han (Left)

Tan Hong Lean (Right)

Goh Yong Xuan (Bottom left)

Koh Kong Yik (Bottom middle)

My precious family

For a long time, Koh Huey Fang harboured a secret dream—to have a professionally-taken family portrait. However, as money is always tight, she had to push away this daydream and focus on her caregiving responsibilities.

Estranged from her husband, 45-year-old Huey Fang has to care for her autistic son and diabetic father. With her hands full at home, Huey Fang is unable to work. Thankfully, with assistance from the Social Service Office, the family receives financial aid to help with their living expenses. Two of Huey Fang's children attend CDAC tuition and enrichment classes, further easing the family's burdens.

This year, as part of CDAC’s “A Wish Come True Project”, Huey Fang and her family were gifted a photography session to fulfil her long-time dream.

On the day of the photo shoot, the family headed to the CDAC Headquarters by public transport. Huey Fang's father, who is wheelchair-bound and hardly leaves home, was excited to be out and reminisced enthusiastically about the good old days during their commute. Even her second child, who usually does not take well to unfamiliar places because of his autism, was relatively accommodating that day. “I am thankful to CDAC for their constant support and for this photo shoot to preserve precious memories for our family,” she said.

Now, Huey Fang feels a quiet contentment every time she looks at the precious photograph of her, her three children, and her parents.

Huey Fang’s eldest daughter is awaiting employment, and her youngest child doing well in school. While her girls’ independence takes a load off her mind, she remains worried about her middle child. Even though he is already in Secondary Two, his autism and dyslexia make it challenging for him to communicate with others. So, whenever he has a stress-induced meltdown in school, Huey Fang has to rush to the school to comfort and pacify him.

Despite the hardships of being a caregiver, Huey Fang is thankful to her son for teaching her how to be a better person.

"Over the years, I've learnt how to communicate with him. I want him to know that he has taught me more than I have ever done for him and that the family is always proud of his every improvement.”

Huey Fang’s hopes for the future?

“There are blessings in the simple things in life. All I want is for my family to live well every day.”

左起

李昊璟 马欣和 李欣禅

框住美好回忆

六年前与丈夫离婚后，单亲妈妈马欣和独自撑起家计，辛苦打拼抚养一对年幼子女。尽管工作 疲累，每晚下班回家，两个孩子依偎身旁撒娇，她就觉得一切辛苦都是值得的。

马欣和（43岁）曾是一名美容师，九年前肚子里怀着大女儿的时候被公司裁退，一生下女儿后， 就到华助会寻求援助，为了生计，还学开车想当德士司机。后来通过华助会，她申请到一家慈怀 医院的日间托管中心当护理人员，一直到今天。

转眼之间，她的一对七岁和九岁子女已上小学。两个孩子年初开始上华助会的补习班，并且也成 功申请到华助会－宗乡总会助学金，应付上学开销，帮马欣和减轻一些负担。

马欣和几个月前在面簿上看到华助会推出“圆梦计划”，于是为自己和子女报名，希望能拍一张 全家福。她本来也不以为意，没有料到华助会后来真的联系她，要助她圆梦。

“我们一家三口有很多合照，但都是用手机拍的，从来没有正式拍过一张有纪念意义的全家照。 我觉得能拍这样的照片留念也很有意义，以后孩子长大了，看到照片也会有美好回忆。”

拍照当天，华助会还安排了化妆。她笑说，他们三人都不太习惯，但拍出来的效果令人满意。

马欣和对于未来的心愿很简单，就是希望孩子健康成长，选择自己喜欢的教育和职业道路。 她开玩笑说：“希望他们快点长大，不要再粘着我了！”