By : Jocelyn Yong
Standing at 168 cm tall, Dr Chow Li Sze may appear like she has everything together, but wait till you read her book, “A Grieving Heart is Most loved” and discover her personal life’s battles and challenges.
In her book, self-published recently, she shares her experiences of despair, loss and grief from her husband’s rejection to the death of her beloved son.
“I want to motivate and reach out to as many single mothers as possible,” said the Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of UCSI University. “God has given me the baton of hope and strength, it is now my mission to continue the race and pass on the holy baton to people around the world without giving up.”
She wrote the book to motivate people who face the
same situation in life to stand strong when overcoming life trials.
Hailing from Ipoh, the 43-year-old from Chung Hwa Secondary School in Ipoh, said that her life would just be an unfulfilled dream without the strength and courage given by God. “Without God, I might not be able to survive until today!” she said in an interview on Zoom with a group of children involved in creative writing.
Even writing the book was indeed a painful experience for her. “I had to recall and describe the sufferings in my life and the death of my beloved son in great details,” she said. “One thing I know, I shall not give up as I see
myself as God’s servant to carry out His mission of motivating and encouraging single mothers, who face great challenges in life through my real-life story.”
I could not help it but noticed Li Sze eyes were moist at this juncture. The book took her five years to complete, but when it was finally published, it was on the sixth anniversary of his son, Zhen Khan’s death.
Having read through the book as a 14-year-old, I learnt that life is not always a bed of roses. We may have to undergo a series of obstacles and sometimes become overwhelmed with all sorts of emotions, despair, grief, sadness, heart-broken and sometimes, even happiness.
In fact, the book is not an end of a series of life’s miseries for Dr Chow. She had been in and out of hospital because her father had been ill with liver cancer. It is one thing reading the book, it is another thing hearing her story in person.
I could not help but to feel the heartbeat of a mother as she described every detail about the loss of her nearly 3-year-old son, Zhen Kan to liver cancer. Although she had divorced her Brazillian husband, and had gone through
the pains of divorce, when a glimmer of hope remained for her to take Zhen Khan to Brazil for a liver transplant, she did not hesitate to go.
“As a mother, I will never give up any opportunity to save my son’s life, I put my faith in God that he will take his promise and everything will go on smoothly for he is sending me to Brazil for my son’s liver transplant,” explained Li Sze.
However, shortly after their arrival, Zhen Khan died. I am amazed reading in the book that even at the death of his son, Dr Chow did not grumble or regret, as she knew she had done her best and her son is now living with The Almighty God happily in heaven without illnesses.
“I don’t blame God at all! God is now taking care of my son, he is living in a better place as God knows that the burden in taking care of both
my daughter and son at the same time is too much for me. My son is now living peacefully in Heaven,” said Li Sze.
This book gives me a fresh perspective that the journey of life would not be as smooth-sailing as one would like to think. What I learn from her book is that we have to persevere in life and overcome the turbulent waves and stand strong against the harsh wind in life in order to reach our desired destination successfully.
The 43-year-old first time author said that her PhD
from a UK university is just a certificate that enables us to earn a living. I guess that her son’s death helped her to see that there is no greater treasure in life than God, as He was the one who guided Dr Chow to walk through the tunnel of death, sufferings, heart-broken and hopelessness.
In the darkest moments of her life, she found comfort in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine o
wn understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.”
While Dr Chow’s advice to her fellow friends and readers is to appreciate the people around them, giving the reason that “life is short,” I want to recommend this book to my peers as it deals with a lot of challenges in life that adults face, which children do not understand.
It is also in this book that Dr Chow taught me about forgiveness in the real sense. Having gone through all the tough times, I find it interesting how she could tell us that nonetheless “we should learn to love and forgive.”
The writing of this book in some ways is a healing process for Dr Chow as she puts it beautifully in her own words: “Writing is a process that enables us to put our thoughts together. It is a leisure activity to me as writing is like completing a beautiful painting. We need to be patient and put in our efforts in order to complete the art beautifully without leaving a crease on
it. Most importantly, practice makes perfect.”
For more information about her book, check out Dr Chow’s website: http://www.liszechow.org/
Where can I buy her book if I am interested?