He ain’t heavy, he’s my son

JOHOR BAHRU: On most Wednesdays at about 3am, 70-year-old Cheong Kah Pin gets onto his motorcycle and begins a journey he has made countless times before.

Leaving before dawn to avoid traffic, the ride takes him from his home in Taman Johor Jaya across the Causeway to Singapore.

Waiting on the other side in Changi Prison is his son, 44-year-old Cheong Chun Yin,  who is serving a life sentence.

The oldest of Kah Pin’s four children, Chun Yin was arrested in Singapore in 2008 on a drug-trafficking charge. He was initially sentenced to death before the punishment was commuted to life imprisonment and caning.

After about an hour on the road, Kah Pin arrives well before visiting hours and waits at a petrol station until the prison opens at 8am. Then, he finally gets to see his son.

“When I see he’s doing well, my heart feels at ease,” Kah Pin told FMT Lifestyle.

Over the years, he has sacrificed much to help Chun Yin. After his arrest, Kah Pin sold three houses to pay legal fees, a significant sacrifice for a vegetable seller who had spent decades working and saving.

“I just wanted him to be well and come home. It doesn’t matter if I don’t have houses or money. I just want my son to come home.”

Kah Pin said he also paid people who claimed they could help, but nothing came of it.

Former DAP assemblyman for Johor Jaya Liow Cai Tung has witnessed Kah Pin’s devotion firsthand. For over a decade, she has supported Kah Pin, including standing by him through efforts to save Chun Yin from the death sentence.

To this day, before each trip to Singapore, he stops by her office to get her help with the MyICA Mobile app, which travellers use to submit their arrival information before entering the country.

“You can see his biggest worry is his son. He wants to earn more so that if Chun Yin is released, he will have enough money to support whatever he wants to do,” Liow, 40, told FMT Lifestyle.

“We hope Kah Pin stays in good health to see his son released.”

Along the way, Kah Pin has encountered kindness from strangers. Petrol station staff sometimes offer him coffee, while a church in Singapore provides meals and even bought him a motorcycle.

Yet the years have not been easy on him. Despite suffering from high blood pressure and heart problems, he continues to push himself to work, selling vegetables at morning and night markets.

During FMT Lifestyle’s visit, he was hard at work at a night market in spite of gloomy weather. Kah Pin said he is driven by hope that Chun Yin may someday be granted early release and have the means to start afresh.

Cherished memories, hopeful dreams

Long before prison visits became part of his routine, father and son spent their days working at the pasar malam together. Chun Yin sold cassettes, CDs and DVDs, while Kah Pin manned his vegetable stall nearby.

Asked what he misses about his son, Kah Pin does not speak of birthdays or celebrations. Instead, he remembers the ordinary moments: coming home after a long morning at the market to a meal cooked by Chun Yin, or the time their car broke down and Chun Yin insisted on pushing it himself.

Above all, Kah Pin remembers a hardworking son who never hesitated to lend a hand. “He was always willing to help people. If a friend asked for help, he would agree.”

For Kah Pin, one photograph in particular holds special meaning. Taken after he bought his first house, it shows him carrying a young Chun Yin on his shoulders, gazing at his son with pride while the toddler smiles at the camera.

Neither could have imagined that one day, their lives would be measured by prison visits and years apart.

Kah Pin also carries another burden: as his health declines, he fears the day may come when he can no longer make the trip to see Chun Yin.

More than that, he worries he may not live long enough to see his son possibly released.

But until that day comes, he will keep making that pre-dawn motorcycle ride across the Causeway: a devoted father who will never stop waiting for his son to come home.