Reader's Digest

July• 2018 | 35

EVERYDAY HERO

Asia-Pacific War. With four chil-

dren to feed no education and jobs

hard to find his mother fought to

makeendsmeet.Withalow-paying

jobasahousekeeperwiththeBrit-

ish army she had to work at several

jobstokeepfoodonthetable.In

the children’s home she knew Tony

wouldn’t go hungry.

By age ten Tony often accompa-

nied his mother as she walked from

church to church and temple to tem-

ple kneeling and praying for food.

Dinners comprised of whatever food

there was – caulilower stems bacon

offcuts and whatever leftovers she

could get from her employers. “We

had the hardest life” recalls Tony.

As he got older Tony found a job

working for the then British-owned

grocery store Cold Storage. “In those

days you either slogged or joined the

gangsters.”

He eventually found success in

the insurance and printing business

married and raised a family. He was

looking forward to spending more

J

ust before Tony Tay’s

mother passed away in

2003 she gave him her

well-worn commercial

kitchen and cooking uten-

sils. “You never know when you will

need them” she told him. The as-

sorted pots pans and ladles were as

familiar to Tony as were her special

dishes – she used them countless

times when cooking for family occa-

sions and large gatherings.What am

I going to do with all this?he thought.

Notlongafterwardswhileathis

mother’s funeral a nun attending the

ceremony asked Tony for help with

collecting bread from a bakery and

delivering it to the church’s orphan-

age.Hedidn’thesitate–herewasa

chance to give back for the charity

showntohimover55yearsearlier.

Tonywasonlyivewhenin1947

hismotherwasforcedtoplacehim

in a Catholic children’s home for

ive years after his father abandoned

the family. At the time Singapore

was struggling to recover from the

For businessman and founder of Willing

HeartsTonyTaybindingacommunity

starts with a nourishing meal

BY LAM LYE CHING