Seeking the love and affection of a mother

For 45 years Wong Tau Meng has done everything in his ability to look for his mother who left home when he was only nine years old.

KUALA LUMPUR: KUALA LUMPUR: Ever since he was a child, he had yearned for the love and affection of a mother. Wong Tau Meng, a taxi driver in the Klang Valley, was just nine years old when his mother packed up and left - leaving him and his three other siblings to be raised by his grandmother, Taing Meng. For 45 years, Tau Meng has never lost hope in reuniting with his mother, a stranger in his eyes yet he can still feel the strong connection in his heart. In his mission to find her, Tau Meng decided to become a taxi driver, with the hope that one day, a passenger would turn out to be that one person that has left a hole in his heart all these years – his mother, Tan San Kim.

An old photo of Tau Meng's mother, Tan San Kim during happier times.

“I want to know my mother’s status. I want to know whether she is still alive or not. I never had the chance to feel her love for me. I always see everyone with their mother, but it is not the same for me,” Tai Meng said during an interview on Lite FM. Tai Meng tried to stay calm and hold back his tears throughout the interview under the Wish List programme organised by the Astro Radio publication.

Wong Tau Meng during his interview under the Wish List programme on Astro's Lite FM.

He said if his mother is still alive, she would now be in her late 70s. “The last time I saw my mother was at Pasar Pudu. My grandmother never told us why she had left. “I was just a little boy when she left, I can’t really remember her face. All we have are old photos of her,” he added while trying hard to hold back his tears.

An old photo of Tau Meng and his siblings together with his mother, Tan San Kim and grandmother, Taing Meng.

Somehow he feels that his mother is still alive and is hopeful that she will come home soon, knowing that her children are anxiously waiting for her return. “I can still remember her bathing me as a little boy and dressing me up afterwards. That memory will stay with me forever,” he said. Tai Meng has tried everything in his ability to look for his mother and he is hopeful the reunion he has been waiting for all his life will take place.