Francis Hoy-Kee Wong, was born on the 22nd of October, 1926. As a little baby he was adopted by a woman who was acting on behalf of her parents. This old couple really wanted a son to keep the Wong name going. So they raised him. They called him their grandson but they raised him. Their daughter, who legally adopted Francis, already had several daughters. Francis never referred to her as his mother. 

Years later his grandparents, who raised him, died. His adoptive mother, Lucy, felt that all the money should go to her, because she was the biological daughter. But Francis’ grandparents had other plans. They felt that because they had adopted Francis, he was as good as their son and he should, therefore, receive an inheritance. They were quite well off. They had several rubber plantation estates. So some of the property went to Francis when they died. Prior to their passing, Lucy had been in charge of all her parents’ money. Her parents told her explicitly, that specific estates were to go to Francis. And so he received a couple of houses. On a side note, because she didn’t give birth to any boys, years later, Lucy too, adopted a boy, this time treating him as her son. 

‘Every day he'd be phoning me asking, “What should I do? And then he got, I don't know from where, my home number. So we would talk often on the phone. One day I got so fed up with him. I said, “Why are you ringing me? Day and night you are phoning me.”

He said, “You’re the only person I know who can tell me what to do.”  

“Then Marry me,” I said. “Do you want to marry me?”

“Okay." 

Then I said, “Are you really serious?” 

And he says, I might as well.” 

Francis found a priest and we got married in a Catholic Church in Kuala Lumpur on the 19th of December, 1969.’ 

Francis became unwell after he’d had a fall. Every day he travelled home by train. He’d walk through a park in Epping on his way to the house. On this particular day Francis fell. He got up and walked and fell again. Francis sustained a bleed into his brain following these falls. He was in hospital for quite a long time and after brain surgery, he went to a nursing home called Chesalon Care in Beecroft. 

Francis deteriorated and never came back to where he was. Over time he began to lose his memory.  Eventually Francis had to go back to hospital and he passed away. This was in 2009. He was 83.

Pek-Lin reflects on her time with Francis, 

‘He was my best friend. As a person, Francis was a thinker. A quiet thinker. Half the time, you didn’t know what he was thinking. The thing was he didn’t communicate much. Even with me, he didn’t communicate much. A lot of our communication over the years was non-verbal. We did everything together. We married in 1969. We were married for forty years. We had Li-Chien together and she has brought both of us so much joy. We had a wonderful life together.’