那宝贵照片的故事：我的第一套西装。。。 Story of that precious photo: My first suit ever…

是的，这张照片的确非常有纪念性，而且是我唯一的一张。。。前阵子找不到时，我的确有点紧张，所以我祷告，终于让我找到了，感谢主！
那为什么这照片那么特别？你们有一些猜对了。。。

Yes, this photo is really very memorable to me and it is the only copy that I have… When I could not find it a while ago, I was a bit worried so I prayed and finally I found it, thank God!
Then why is this photo so special? Some of you guessed right…

它的确是我第一次参加歌唱比赛时拍的，当时才五年级，未满十一岁，也不知哪来的资讯和勇气会自己去报名参加成人歌唱比赛。
我想当时主办单位原本只安排前三名有奖，但大概看我勇气可嘉，也年幼可爱，就临时包了一个十块钱红包放在信封里，颁发给我当安慰奖，哈哈。。。
还记得我当时唱了刘文正的“最高峰”，在我们的小镇林梦一炮而红！哈哈！你有没注意到照片里那些哥哥姐姐们都在旁边笑，大概觉得我很可爱吧，哈哈！

但这照片还有一个更重要、更特别与叫我很感动，也是我很珍惜它的原因，那就是我身上穿的乃是我第一套西装。。。
小时候家里很穷，一年只有一次能有新衣穿，就是过年的时候；但我爸爸是裁缝师，他非常爱我。。。得悉我参加比赛，我并没要求，他竟为我量身定做一套西装，还带我去买一条领带，亲自帮我打领带，把我打扮得整整齐齐，让我去参加比赛。爸爸不善于表达感情，但那一天我永远不会忘记，我深深知道他很爱我，也很为我而感到骄傲。。。很可惜今天他看不到这篇文章了。。。

所以你们明白为什么这张照片对我那么重要了吧？

It was really taken when I participated in my first singing competition ever, I was only in Primary 5 then, not even 11 years old completely. I don’t know where I got the information and courage to register for the adult singing competition myself.
I think the orgainising committee only prepared prizes for the first three positions initially, but seeing my commendable courage and probably thinking I was small and cute, they just found some envelope to put a RM10 note inside for me as a consolation prize, haha…
I remember I sang a song from the veteran singer Liu Wen Zheng called “The highest peak” and became famous overnight in our small town Limbang, haha! Did you notice in the photo some big brothers and sisters were smiling as I sang, they probably found me very cute, haha!

But this photo has another more significant reason why it is so important, special and touching to me that I treasure it so much, and that is the suit I was wearing was my first suit ever…
We were very poor when young, we could only afford to have new clothes once a year during Chinese new year, but my dad happened to be a tailor and he loved me a lot… when he knew I was in the competition, without me requesting, he tailor-made for me this suit and brought me to shop for a neck tie and helped me to put on the tie himself. He dressed me up properly to go and sing that night. My dad was not an expressive person but I will never forget that day, I knew he loved me so much and was so proud of me… unfortunately he is not able to read this story today…

So you now know why this photo means so much to me?

过后我读中学预备班那一年（12岁多），我又参加了第二次歌唱比赛，爸爸又为我量身定做了第二套西装！他真的是很疼我。。。
这一次又是只拿了安慰奖，哈哈！我还听到有个大人说，他唱得比我好却拿不到奖，全都因为我的西装赢了他！
我的第二次歌唱比赛和第二件西装。。。

Later when I was studying in the transition class in secondary school (12 year-old plus), I joined another competition, and my dad tailor-made another suit for me! He really did love me a lot…
This time I won a consolation prize again, haha! And I overheard an adult saying he could sing better than me but he did not win any prize all because he lost out to my suit!
My second singing contest and second suit…

后来我出来古晋读书投靠姐姐们，那时没跟爸妈住在一起。
高二那年又去参加歌唱比赛。。。这一次爸爸没在，也没有人给我做什么西装了。。。而这一次比赛，我第一轮就被淘汰了，哈哈！这跟有没有西装无关，原因是其实我本来就不是很会唱歌！小时候那么敢参加歌唱比赛都是因为爸爸相信我，还为我量身定做西装鼓励我。。。上帝对我就像爸爸一样，明知道我不太会唱歌，竟然也让我成为福音歌手！爸爸的爱真是很伟大。。。

Later I came out to Kuching to study as my sisters were supporting me, so I did not live with my parents then.
When I was in Form 5, I joined another singing contest… this time dad was not around, so no one made any suit for me… and in this competition, I was kicked out after the first round, haha! This had nothing to do with wearing a suit or no suit, it was all because I actually could not sing very well! I dared to join singing competitions when young because my dad believed in me and tailor-made suits for me to encourage me… God is really like a dad to me too, knowing I can’t quite sing and yet He made me a Gospel singer! How great is the love of a father!

第三次歌唱比赛。。。没有西装。。。也没有得奖。。。
My third singing competition… no suit… and no prize too…