81

Singapore

If my dad was alive, he’d be 81 today.

He probably wouldn’t be making annual pilgrimages to the South China Sea to catch marlin anymore, the way he used to when I was a kid. He often told me, in his later years, that he didn’t have the strength / endurance to do sport fishing anymore. Enjoyed talking about it though. And still going fishing with his buddies for the table variety of fish: tenggiri, selar, grouper, ang zho (respectively: spanish mackeral, yellowtail scad, cod, red snapper) etc.

He’d also object strenuously to all of the Christmas and Chinese New Year baubles that Mum and I have taken to hanging on the big fibreglass marlin that still hangs in the living room. One does not adorn the holy grail of sport fish with seasonal trivialities!