Centenarian woman dies aged 105, leaves behind 98 family members

A woman who outlived six of her younger family members died at the age of 105 last Friday (May 3).

Centenarian Hong Yinxian (transliteration), who died at home, left behind 98 family members spanning across five generations. She had three sons and six daughters. 

Her husband died 20 years ago.

Hong's granddaughter, Chen Qinghua (transliteration), told Shin Min Daily News that she lived through World War II, and made a living by rearing animals and selling fruit. 

The 56-year-old finance manager said her grandfather was sickly and often had stomach problems. As a result, Hong became the family's breadwinner. 

She not only took care of the household chores, but also did all the physical labour on the family's farm at Jurong East.

In the eyes of her family, she was a "superwoman".

"When we were young, we always felt that our grandparents had switched roles. We even thought that our grandfather was very lucky. But we later realised that neither of them had it easy," said Chen. 

Hong outlived six of her younger family members — her second son, fourth daughter, eldest daughter-in-law, one granddaughter and two son-in-laws. 

Her third son, 73-year-old retiree Wang Tianyuan (transliteration), told the Chinese daily that his second brother died in 1942 when he was only five. 

"I wasn't born yet, but my mother said he ate something by mistake and complained of a stomachache," he recounted. 

"She couldn't find a doctor and he died that night. There were worms crawling out of his mouth. Our family was devastated." 

Independent, disciplined woman

Chen described her grandmother as very independent. 

After her husband died, she lived alone and would take public transport to the hospital to visit her sick granddaughters. 

At the age of 85, she travelled to Toa Payoh alone in search for a lawyer to do up her will. 

"When she was 99, she fell at home. Since then, she became much weaker and her movements were slower," Chen said. "We were worried about her, so we hired a maid to take care of her." 

Hong led a disciplined lifestyle. She went to bed early and had afternoon tea daily after her nap. 

She rarely ate out, preferring to cook. She enjoyed eating pumpkin, sweet potatoes and beh teh saw (horseshoe biscuits with malt filling), and disliked canned food. 

According to a Straits Times report in May 2023, there were 1,500 centenarians in Singapore in June 2020 — more than double from 700 in June 2010. 

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claudiatan@asiaone.com

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