My Grandma's infamous slingshot story has been all the rage these past few weeks. As the story goes, my Grandma was once at a street market when she was a little girl. This police officer (who was a I think was some former member of the Indian Army or something) told this little girl to shoo. When he turned away, my Grandma reached into her pocket, grabbed her slingshot, shot the dude, and ran away. Hahahah...go Grandma! And the funny thing was that many, many years later after she had moved to a new city and started a family, the man was passing through town one day and still recognized her as that mischievous little girl! Good story.
This is a copy of the eulogy that was given by my Great Uncle at my Grandma's recent funeral. From a historical perspective, its pretty interesting--I didn't know a lot of what she had to go through to get here. What a strong woman. Its always good to know where you roots are from. =)
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Oct 31, 2009
Eulogy for Mrs. Shwe Lian Phan (4/12/1919 – 10/24/2009)
By Christopher Lee, Ph.D.
Mrs. Shwe Lian Phan was born in Pakokku, Burma on April 12, 1919.
She was the 2nd eldest child of seven children of Mr. & Mrs. Kim Ngoke Leong.
As for her own family, she was blessed with and survived by
- Five children consists of three sons and two daughters, and
- Nine Grand children
Her children and their family members are:
- Eldest son Ricky & Make Phan and two grand children
- Second son Hock & Eva Phan and one grand child
- Eldest daughter Mary & Dr. Vincent Ho and two grand children
- Second daughter May Shan & U Soe Myint and two grand children
- Youngest son Andrew & Rosa Phan and two grand children
She is survived by four of her siblings: two brothers and two sisters.
- Younger brother Sik Chu Leong
- Younger sister Shwe Pain Tor
- Youngest brother Larry Leong, and
- Baby sister, my wife Pamela Lee
Her parents, Mr. & Mrs. Leong, emigrated from China to Burma in the dawn of the 20th century. At that time China was in the final years of the Qing Dynasty. Both men and women wore pigtails in their hairdo; including her parents. They first settled in the town of Pakokku where she was born. Being immigrants to a new country, life was a struggle at the beginning. Later Mr. Leong moved his family to a city called Prome, known as “Pyi Myo” in Myanmar. In historical times, Prome was the capital city of many Burmese Kings. In Prome, their business was good and the family was able to grow and prosper. Mrs. Shwe Lian Phan was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend a Chinese girl school in the capital city of Yangon during her teen age years. In those days, educating a girl in the family was not a priority, and sending a girl to a far away city to study was a rare instance unless the family was very well off.
Disaster set onto Burma when World War II broke and the Japanese invaded Burma from the south. In an effort to escape the Japanese occupation, her parents abandoned their businesses and belongings and ran for dear life towards the northern Burma with the hope of escaping to Yunan China. They reached as far as the outskirt of the boarder town of Bhamo, but were unable to scale the mountain ranges and rough terrains at the border to China. The advancing Japanese army caught up and her family had to stop running and take refuge in a remote village outside of Bhamo. The struggle to survive was intense. After the turmoil settled enough to move again, her parents moved the family to Shwegu, a small village town south of Bhamo on the bank of the mighty Irrawaddy river. It was there that they hid, took shelter from bombings, and struggled to survive versus hunger and sickness. That lasted for three long years during the oppressive Japanese occupation.
World War II finally ended in 1945 when Japan surrendered. The family then moved to Mandalay, the capital city of the last King of Burma. Her father was a talented businessman and he quickly re-established his businesses and prospered. She married Ah Kyaung Phan on Sept 23, 1946 in Mandalay. The newly weds setup and operated tea shop in a small town Pyaw Bwe and they had their first born son Ricky in 1947. After a large fire consumed much of the town of Pyaw Bwe in the following year, they moved back to Mandalay and later settled in Myingyan with the help of Mr. Liu, her eldest sister’s husband. That was where they spent almost thirty years of their lives operating a successful tea shop and various trading business. During that period, her family was also grown to include five children.
By 1975, it was an opportune time to move on again. Under our sponsorship, she and her husband and the youngest son Andy were immigrated to the US in Sept 1975. The older children later joined them in the following years. Three years after they migrated to the US, her husband predeceased her on April 5, 1978. Life was still a struggle at that time. Even though the children were grown up, they were all struggling to get educated and professional trainings to establish careers in this new land of opportunity. She was a strong minded and witty leader of her family. She kept her family together until the children were able to stand on their own feet and settle with their own families. She was a dedicated and loving mother and grandmother. She touched the lives of many and we will remember and miss her deeply.
On behalf of the Phan family, I would like to thank you all, especially those who came from far away cities. Thank you for your out-pouring of love, support and sympathy at this most difficult time. The Phan family deeply appreciates your time, care, gifts, flowers and words of condolence. Thank you very much.
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