Dear family and friends, 

A donation has been made to the Vancouver General and University of British Columbia Hospitals in memory of our Dad. Thank you for your generous contributions in fulfilling his last wishes. Thank you also to those who made donations in his memory directly with the foundation. Dad always appreciated the kind and dedicated medical professionals who took care of him and Mom during their years in Vancouver.

With appreciation,
Michelle and Grace

Tomorrow is Dad’s interment but I already feel he is in God’s hands and reunited with Mom and his departed family and friends. They must be having a big reunion in heaven.

I am forever grateful to our family and friends for their love and kindness during this painful moment. I am grateful to Father Richard Au for welcoming my dad and us to his church through the prayer service, rosary virgil and funeral mass. The service was full of God’s warmth and guidance and Father Richard's homilies remain with me forever.

Losing a father is unique and we are now truly in the care of the Lord, the Father of all fathers.

Kee Ching and I became friends way back in our days of early teens.  I came across this old email dated a little over  7 years ago.  Among the many topics/issues we freely exchanged opinions on via emails, sport was a favorite one.   As a way of fondly remembering my close friend who has left us for good, let me share with all this email by me to him saved in one of my files.

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Mak, Mankin
Thu 7/17/2014 1:43 PM
Reply

Kee Ching,

Great to hear from you .  I notice that you have a new email address now.
Did you know that I called you by phone last Christmas and left a voice message?  I also sent an email to you to your old email address about a month ago.  Well, it is good to have the "line" reconnected so to speak.

Yes, I watched the world cup games and the Wimbledon a lot.  It was like a full time job !
How Nadal was ousted by the French  teenager was amazing & in a way disappointing because I was hoping to see Djokovich and Nadal at the final.  That French kid has great potential.

The world cup games were by and large enjoyable to watch.  You have to tip the hat to Germany for that sensational shot to win the championship.  Watching the world cup brings back fond memory of watching soccer in the high school day.  Remember the epic  Nam-Ba games ?  I recalled I sometimes brought along the homework to do during the games in the stadium !

BTW, the British Open (golf) has just started today and will last until Sunday.  All the good players in the world are in it.  Golf is a very different kind of beast.  It is a game of precision, strength, strategy as well as psychology.   In the past, there were champions in the 4 annual Majors who are over 40 years old !  I play golf two to three times a week.  I know of someone here 92 years old and is still playing a decent game.  That would be the holy grail for me to reach.

Back to the issue at hand.  Yes, I will be in HK for about one week starting on July 26.  I will be traveling alone this time.  I look forward to seeing Man Yee again since our last gathering with Chan Tong 2 years ago.

Take care and keep in touch

Mankin

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There are not enough words in my vocabulary to describe Ivy and Mike (as we knew them).  From the first meeting in Boulder 1974 to many years later we always thought of them as extended family.  They were both the kindest, sweetest (yes), most generous and most intelligent people we had met up to that time.  We arrived in Boulder at the same time but from 2 different companies and we were neighbors.  Truly, meeting them both was a life-changing experience for us.  They were from "exotic" Hong Kong and we were from Detroit with 5 kids.
Yet, we bonded immediately.

I, Marion, was able to spend time with Ivy.  I feel we were like kindred spirits.  She had a cooking class in the home and my love of Chinese cuisine began there.  Even after we moved and they moved we were able to visit a few times: in Texas, our trip to Hong Kong in 1984, at Michelle's college graduation, Michelle & Elio's wedding, and another visit to Vancouver.  Never enough!  Ivy always made me feel special to her.  I learned too late of her passing and had always hoped to visit again.  I truly miss her.

Upon our first meeting of Mike in Boulder we were immediately attracted to his friendliness.  We soon discovered his humor, generosity and intellect.  He amazed us with his knowledge of America.  We thought he knew more than us in ways we took for granted.  What a teacher.  Often after trips to either coast he would return with some delicious Chinese food and we found ourselves invited to a tasting.  It was our first experience with many delights and soon we became enamored of Dim Sum.   In eating out, Mike was often the host encouraging us to try various dishes.  Oh, my, what fun with Mike!

So many more memories and yet not enough time spent together.  Over the years our thoughts never strayed with the idea of them, and then Mike, visiting us or us visiting them.  We truly loved both of them and our hearts are heavy at the thought of them being gone from this life.  I pray that the family has comfort and peace knowing they brought precious memories and much joy to many.   

With love.
Marion & Jim Dries

Dad brought me one last sweet snacks with Grace from Aberdeen Center about a month ago. It is one of my favorite Japanese Buttery Cookies from Yuku Moku. Dad, will enjoy that with G together.

Back in 2019 Christmas, Dad had already planned and booked our 3rd Holland America Cruise Trip. It was originally planned the 14 Day Far East Discovery from Hong Kong to Singapore. I am pretty sure it will be another big hit especially for Ale and Isa. Unfortunately, Covid hit hard & we decided to postpone it at that time. Did not know that the pandemic will be that serious and the lockdown will last more than a year long. This Year, Dad originally hesitated to take the C19 vaccine shot at all. Later he decided to take it anyway simply he wants to travel soon for our family reunion and would like to travel together for this HK-Singapore Cruise Trip.

Dad, Thanks for suggesting and organizing those cruise trips and family gatherings in Rome-HK-Macau-Vancouver-NY-Taiwan-Portgual in the past few years alone. We definitely loved it, had great times and far exceed our expectations. We had shared such a wonderful times and memories with the whole family… Most of the times at the end of these trips, when we said goodbyes at homes or airports, Dad usually could not hold back his tears at all and started weeping… Another emotional and touching experiences we had encountered more often recently. You can imagine how much he will miss us when we leave…

Dad, Enjoy your New Journey and Cruising in Heaven with Mom!

It was always a pleasure to see Uncle Michael. Since I was a kid, I find him to be the true gentleman that came right out of the old movies. He always carried out himself with great poise, polite and full of knowledge. Whenever we heard of him coming to town, we knew it’s time for great stories, good music, fine food, and a good laugh. He was a great teacher. Every time I see him, I learned something from him, from his knowledge of the history of June 4th to the story of how our ancestors built the temple. He was never short of great stories. I especially enjoyed his childhood story about how he ate tofu till he vomited. It was also one of those stories that shed a light about the life in the Tang household. Our Grandfather passed when my mom was still very young and we never had the chance to meet him. I was told Uncle Michael resembled him in many ways. For me, I found my connection with my grandfather through him.

We love you and miss you very much, Uncle Michael! I know that wherever you are, there is joy!

Love,
Lu Family and Lau Family

Dad is not a drinker at all & he rarely drinks by himself, but he is definitely an enthusiastic social drinker with me and Elio. Every time we had dinners during our gathering, he always want to have couple glasses of cold beer or fine wine with us, especially if we are having roasted goose or roasted pork and steak. For the last couple of gatherings, we did have a chance to visit Taylor Winery at Porto with the Whole Family & the Bacardi Rum Factory with me and Grace. At both locations, Dad brought us a good bottle of Vintage Port and a brand new bottle of Rum that we sealed the bottle with engravings ourselves on site.

Dad, you will be missed. Next time when we open those bottles of fine wine and liquor, you will be cherished and missed dearly. Will Enjoy with you in our hearts!

Whenever I go to the barber shop, the barbers always ask me "Where is your grandpa? How is he doing?". Since I went with him 4 years ago, they always remember him despite the fact they didn't even speak the same language! This illustrates the ability of Gung Gung to make friends under any circumstances and within any culture. In Rome, everybody recognized him. Even the butcher at our local market remembers the special Chinese pork cut he always asks for.

"My Way" is one of Dad's favorite songs and his 飲歌 for karaoke, which is his favorite pastime. It is also the last song I heard him sang at home before he went into the hospital. Less than two days before he passed away, Braden, a volunteer musician came by the hospital and sang with the patients. Dad told us he had a great time singing some oldies with him, as well as chatting about music. Braden was also at the hospital the day he passed away. He told us "My Way' was the last song they sang together, and he sang it by his bedside as Michelle and I said our goodbyes.

R.I.P. Uncle Michael.

From Rockson Tang and family

Michael and I first knew each other seventy years ago in primary and high school. During the past 25 years, we were very happy to see each other here in Vancouver on a weekly basis.
We shared companionship, mutual advice, music, medicine, food, fun and anything wonderful under the sun! Michael was a warm, generous and easy-going person who always made his friends comfortable even under difficult circumstances. As a loving husband, father, and grandfather, he was always willing to help anybody in need.

Michael was a few months younger than me. We were almost equal in height, weight, personality, sense of humour and looks (although he was much more handsome!). Needless to say, we were like twins!  I will miss him deeply and he will always be in my heart.

Rest in peace, Michael. May the good Lord bless you!

Daniel Yuen Yau Tong 唐元右

Whether we are having large family gathering at Macau or at Porto and Lisbon, if we are having meals at local Portuguese restaurants, Dad will definitely try to order this dish. As you can see in the picture, Dad is super happy he can order this in real local Portuguese restaurant during this family vacation trip.

By Louie / 2021-07-15

"When I get up in the morning, I have the option to be happy or sad. I always choose happiness". 

Up until Dad's last hours, he stayed true to his own words. In the short time he was in the hospital, he kept our hopes and spirits up and always rallied back to stay strong. Less than 48 hours before he passed away, he had a great day. He asked for his razor, to shave his growing beard as he wanted to look clean cut and fresh for the doctors and nurses. He looked so vibrant and happy and showed no signs of living his last days. 

Dad was a true optimist and positive thinker. In my personal and professional life, I have been guided by his life perspective. When faced with challenges or difficult situations, I choose to remain hopeful and try to see the good in others. It may not have made me the best negotiator but perhaps by being kind, it ultimately leads to making the world a better place. May his smile and faith in others carry us forward.

Michelle - 15 July 2021 Vancouver

認識Daddy 嘅人,都會知近年佢有好幾句常用口頭禪。其中一句他經常用而又係我嘅致愛，無時無刻掛在口邊嘅， 就係 “好爽⋯⋯”；“真係幾爽⋯⋯”, 唔知幾鬼爽⋯⋯”。可惜Michelle 同阿Grace 都得唔到Daddy 嘅真傳,將呢句好頂癮金句發揚光大。

有次成家人一同去台灣玩。我們到了一個出名放天登市鎮，一家人當然要入鄉隨俗, 試吓放天燈。Daddy 亳不猶豫就拿起了毛筆，隨隨揮筆，寫了“闔家平安”，“健康快樂”，及 “好爽好爽”。那一刻，我的確有點驚喜！從而知道及深深體會到他做人做事，呢兩個字，係佢心目中有幾重要地位。人生在世，冇乜特別奢求，希望日後可以得到Daddy真傳做人哲理，遂步只求至緊要“好爽”，“夠爽”，慢慢升級至 “勁爽” 同 “超爽“境界！

by Louie / 2021-07-14

Every time we talked about a family cruise before Mom left us in 2012, the younger generations always resisted, thinking it was an elderly activity. Lo and behold, in the summer of 2017, Dad, Michelle, Ale and Isa ended up going on a cruise on a whim, and from that point on, the family was hooked. Our first cruise together was Christmas 2018, and destination was The Caribbean per Isa's request to visit The Bahamas. Our second cruise was the summer of 2019 to the Baltics, which was Dad's choice. We were planning to go on another one around Asia at Christmas 2019, which Dad had been thinking of for two years. Sadly that did not happen and Covid hit. We will forever miss going on another one together, but will always have Mom and Dad in our hearts when we go on our next trip.