FAREWELL ISABELLE LIOW---YOU ARE NOW A QUEEN IN HEAVEN AND ACCEPTED BY BUDDHA, KUANYIN AND MANJUSRI. PLEASE BLESS US FROM HEAVEN AND I SPEAK ON BEHALF OF ALL YOUR FRIENDS THAT IT HAS BEEN A PLEASURE AND HONOUR TO HAVE MET YOU! IN HEAVEN THERE IS NO PAIN OR SUFFERING OR MORPHINE LET ALONE CHEMOTHERAPY! SO IN A SAD WAY, WE ARE HAPPY BUDDHA HAS CALLED YOU HOME
DATOKEEHUACHEE@GMAIL.COM
MY LAST MEAL WITH THIS GORGEOUS LADY WAS AT LITTLE TAIWAN RESTAURANT IN MIDVALLEY MEGAMALL LAST YEAR HOSTED BY OWNER DATIN SRI VIVIAN CHAI.
It was a memorable dinner with plenty of jokes, some of which were highly colored! Her adoring husband was beside her, keeping a watchful eye and we enjoyed the delightful food and camaraderie intensely.
By a sad coincidence, Little Taiwan and Isabelle Liow are no more with us! One has closed due to Covid and the other has ascended to heaven, answering the call of Buddha to join the Godhead.
I used to admire Isabelle Liow who continued to attend glam-slam events dressed to the nines, beautifully made-up and looking like a million dollars. Dressed like a beauty queen that she was, no one could suspect she was battling breast cancer which had caused her to lose one breast. She lost her hair due to chemotherapy but wore the most fabulous wigs and you would have thought she was blessed with a great crowning glory.
Her son Melvin said, "Mum never cried in front of us nor allowed us to see her suffer. But a few times I spied on her as I hid in a corner where I could see her on a sofa. She sobbed and my heart broke. But later when we met for dinner she would be smiling and joking."
I told Melvin his brave mother did not cry feeling sorry for herself and complaining to God "why me?". But she wept because she feared she might be unable to care for them and watched them succeed and marry. Her dream of being a grandmother was not to be granted though.
Melvin, 24, nodded and said, "Yes but we are now old enough to look after ourselves. I am the eldest followed by Adrian, Chloe and Chanel. Mum had cancer 6 years ago so we had to prepare for the worst while hoping for the best."
Melvin said the family supported her desire to go out and attend gala functions. "We agreed with Mum it was better for her to go out as the act of dressing, doing make-up and enjoying the company of friends helped her forget the pain. But she had to take morphine and painkillers. Usually 20 grams but sometimes she took 100 to 120 grams so she could stand and chat."
Isabelle Liow's last outing was the Pink Ribbon Gala at W hotel in aid of breast cancer. It was ironic as she was a breast cancer victim (or survivor at the time) and regarded as a heroine who battled this insidious disease. All admired her strength and determination to live and we assumed she had won or at least the cancer had gone into remission.
Recalled Melvin Liow, "Mum always smiled and looked perfect so people tend to forget she had cancer. After the Pink Ribbon event, she practically collapsed upon returning home. That was when she started going downhill again. The cancer had spread from her breast to bone to kidney and liver."
When my father Kee Nai Seng died on 1 August 2016 on my bed in our house in Kota BAru Kelantan, I told myself he did not die but simply went to heaven to 'reki' (reconnaissance) for me and Mum so as to make sure all is in good order when we join him sooner or later. And so it is with Isabelle Liow who remains with us in our hearts.
My cousin Kee Hui Beng passed away a week earlier in Kota Baru Kelantan so I am mourning 2 deaths within a week. But I take comfort knowing Kee Hui Beng and Isabelle Liow are now in an infinitely better place.
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