Carolyn Too: "When I was told I only had six months, I said: 'Okay, fine. Let's make the best of the six months.' I refuse to mope about it."SINGAPORE — Regrets, she's had a few — but they don't keep Carolyn Too up at night."When it gets really bad, I take an ice pack and put it on my stomach until the pain subsides," says the 48-year-old, who was told by her oncologist in May 2023 that she probably had six months to live.
"When I was told I had only six months, I said: 'Okay, fine. Let's make the best of the six months.' I refuse to mope about it. I can wake up every day and say: 'I'm dying, I'm dying.' But I try not to.Her No. 1 wish was to visit Disneyland in Los Angeles, but the distance as well as her health and medical needs — she requires dialysis three times a week — made that difficult, so she settled instead for the one in Hong Kong, in July 2023.
They were talking about Michelle Ng, a 29-year-old entrepreneur who held a living funeral with the help of HCA on Dec 23, 2023, 10 days before she died from ovarian cancer. More than 30 of Ng's friends turned up to share food, stories and memories at the gathering, which also featured a performance by Rai, a musician from her favourite local band, Jack & Rai.
"It is to showcase their love for me and my love for them. It's also another opportunity to create another memory for all of us," adds the extrovert, who posts candidly about her fight with cancer on TikTok . "My flat is small, so I had to shortlist. These are the people who check on me and ask me if I need help or money most often — they are the ones who have impacted me and inspired me in so many ways and to whom I want to say thank you," says Too, who spent the weeks leading up to the party penning personal notes and letters to all her guests.April 7 finally rolls round.
The hostess, meanwhile, is in the bedroom, looking at herself in her handheld mirror as an HCA volunteer deftly applies make-up to her face. Sporting a chic pixie haircut, she is dressed in a black top and black slacks, because "black is slimming, mah". Laid out on her bed are two rows of envelopes containing personal letters she has written to each of her guests.
"When she told me about this gathering, I told myself I have to be here in person, not just to give her support but to tell her I love her," says Yuen, adding that she would be flying back after the event."Carolyn has always been the life of the party. She is very outgoing and this is quite in character for her," he says, referring to the living funeral. "I think it's quite meaningful.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: The Straits Times - 🏆 8. / 63 Read more »
Source: STForeignDesk - 🏆 4. / 71 Read more »
Source: ChannelNewsAsia - 🏆 6. / 66 Read more »
Source: The Straits Times - 🏆 8. / 63 Read more »
Source: TODAYonline - 🏆 1. / 99 Read more »
Source: The Straits Times - 🏆 8. / 63 Read more »