Amber Issue 1 - Feb 21

I hadn’t begun going through his things. I only paused in the emptiness of his cluttered
room, taking in this new aura that had overcome what used to be his space—the space
now filled by mere possessions that I would have to so carefully choose from.
I had to start somewhere. I scanned the room for Ah Gong’s wallet—I already knew what
I wanted to find.
1. The picture
The timestamp read 7 October 2006. Its yellowish tint and brittle nature proved its
fourteen years of existence. I picked the picture up, careful to not rip it. Creases had
formed where it was folded to fit into Ah Gong’s old leather wallet.
*
Ah Gong’s burly hands looked giant in comparison to my new-born self. He couldn’t keep
his eyes on the camera. Fixated on his first and only grandchild, they sparkled with such
immense pride that the new-born’s curious eyes couldn’t resist the urge to open and gaze
back at them. His wide smile made his angular jaw seem too large for his neck.
And yet, so fleeting were these moments we spent together, so vast the number of
memories we made. To choose to keep a singular photograph would be to select a
singular memory and deem every other one unworthy of remembrance.
But what choice did I have?
The door creaked open to reveal my mother, shopper handbag looped around her
forearm, hand on her hip.
“What are you doing?” She probed at a stack of old magazines with her foot, while
looking around the room wistfully.
“Gathering some of Ah Gong’s stuff,” I replied half-heartedly. “Don’t want to forget
him.”
“Come, let’s go back to the void deck. People all asking where you are.” She plucked the
picture out of my hand, analysing her new finding. “Wow, this was from so long ago... His
room probably got a lot of things, we clear later. Don’t go anyhow touch now, don’t think
about it liao.”
Before she left the room, she paused for a moment, gripping the tiny picture in her bony
hands. Then, blinking herself out of her daze, she passed the picture to me and turned
swiftly to leave.
“See you downstairs.”
I lowered it carefully into the tin and slipped the tin into Ah Gong’s closet for
safekeeping. My heart throbbed. The picture was the only item I was sure to include. But
what else should I put in?I shuffled through the heavy air of the void deck, bright blue
pants screaming the guy in the coffin is my grandfather. Standing before the casket, I lit a joss
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