Growing up as the eldest child in a middle-income family, finances were often tight and meals out were a luxury. Good grades were rewarded with food, and exceptional grades called for a family outing to KFC or Pizza Hut. The family lived in a four-room flat on the ground floor in Serangoon together with her grandparents. Her grandfather, affectionately called “Ah Gong”, was the silent hero who held the family together.

While the parents worked, the grandparents looked after the children. Eile’s favourite moment was coming home from school, plopping her schoolbag down and asking  “Ah Gong, Jiak Simi?” (“What are we eating, Grandpa?”), and laughter would accompany the delicious aroma of dishes Ah Gong had loving cooked.

Ah Gong was a steely man of a few words – with his immaculate Brylcreem-slicked hair and Lucky Strike cigarettes. He lost an arm in a work accident while carrying rice as a coolie in the 1960s. But that did not stop him from doing the marketing, taking care of the little ones and cooking all the meals.

Food is the Asian way of showing love and Ah Gong was no exception. He was a great cook, well-known for his handmade Ngoh Hiang (fried meat rolls), Cabbage Rice and braised dishes. His forte was making laksa and curry from scratch. Ah Gong was also the ‘green fingers’ of the family – even abandoned plants flourished under his care, providing an endless supply of curry leaves and chillies.