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'Dignity and courage was the measure of a man.' posted on our office wall. Willy or Tiger really loved that motto and lived it up. I can attest of his good hearted nature. Dr William R Leung (1962-2008) his codename was CHIEF (Tsip) or TIGER .
When he was in med school, he showed exemplary leadership and compassion among his peers. While he was an intern at Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital, he told us that he was touch by this old lady who brought her sick granddaugther for an outpatient check-up. My brother learned that she can't afford the medicines and that she earns her keeps by washing laundry for other people. He said he cannot bear to see these people suffer so much and gave her all his allowance money. I was so proud of him when he told us that incidence. And then there's this one time he came home from the hospital with a big pizza for mama. He said he helped deliver a baby and he realized the hardship and pain experienced by every mother so he thanked mama. That's how sweet he was to mama. Original mama's boy daw siya and proud of it.
There's also another incident when he rescued a young lady from the hands of the kidnappers. How can i forget that, it was the night that he and my brother benjie were going to fetch me and my parents at the airport. We just came back from the USA. Our flight was delayed then and they had to kill time by driving round the airport. So they took the route near the Nayong Pilipino. There, he saw a taxi at the loading area, inside the girl was pinned by 2 men at the back. He told us he knew there was a struggle going on and the street was dimly lit. Without hesitation he blew his car horn, blocked the taxi and jump out of his car to help the girl, the 2 men at the backseat were able to escape but he grabbed the taxi driver and hit him hard. He ordered benjie to call the police. The taxi driver was really the mastermind and he was on drug or something. The lady was a flight attendant trying to get a cab as she entered the cab 2 men suddenly pinned her on both sides. She suffered bruises on her legs other than that she was okay. The NAIA airport gave my brothers a letter of recognition. And to top it all the lady they saved was our customer at Wah Sun Restaurant. She and her family dropped by our restaurant to thank my family for saving their daughter that night. That's how brave my brother Willy was. Fear never touched his pure heart.
Fear never entered his mind when he fought the 2 snatchers who were trying to steal his wristwatch at noontime infront of Arellano High School. He just fetched our 2 bunsong kapatid from Hope Christian HS (just 8 and 10 years old) he (16) was carrying their bags when the 2 boys attacked him. He hold on to his watch and kicked, elbowed them and punched them hard until they ran away and got nothing. There were a lot of students at that time but no one dared try to help him.
He loved life and embraced it with open arms. He encouraged us (sibling) to speak our mind and never treat us inutil kahit na mas bata kami sa kanya (kasi ganoon din ang mga parent namin). He believed and listened to our voices and encourage us to explore and analyze things and confront problems with the best solutions that would not hurt other people.
He was invited to guest in the award-winning show of Ms. Cher Calvin and Mr. Teddy Locsin together with Ms. Jessica Safra and Mo Twister of P.O.V (Points Of View) way back in 2001. The topic was about 'Managing a family-owned business and how do relatives cope with the pressure?'. I think Tiger had that gift of jab and he talked with sense. I remembered that time he was wearing a black polo shirt and black pants because my dad had just passed away due to a tragic accident (2000). I think he was the only one among the guests who run his business with the traditional asian compassion. Like what Mr Locsin and Ms Jessica said he runs the business like the italians in a closely knitted family, more like 'The Godfather'. That was hilarious and the conversations was never a drag. My mom was so proud of him of course lalo na kaming mga kapatid niya. . He had this bright, charming personality that can attract good fortune. ,
Since then he was always invited in other shows like the morning show of channels 2 & 7 & 4 and telemagasine shows and the best of all we were featured at 24 Oras (prime time news of channel 7).
He loved animals and because of this hobby, most of his pets are incorporated and displayed in our restaurants. It's his idea to put vietnamese pot bellied pigs as guard pets infront of our restaurants. It was such a neat idea and we love those adorable pigs (Mr. Bacon, Dagul, Lucky and Juan). Besides he wanted all the people to become aware and love the animals as he loved them, to share his passion and let the customers enjoy his pets as he did. We got featured on television and print media because of his pets. Pure genius I would say, he was always reinventing himself and our business.
We looked up to him because he was a genius and a good adviser. Like what his classmates and friends said about him he was ahead of his time. Give him a problem he will give you a solution. He said he's the original ADD (attention deficient disorder) and OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) but you know what, to me, he was only a genius and an organized person. He was like papa very intelligent (hi-IQ), generous, thoughtful, compassionate EQ, honest, talkative and very articulate.
It's been 7 months and 7 days since he passed away, he will be greatly missed by us and by all the people whose lives had been enriched by his gregarious outlook in life. My mom carried him for 7 months in her tummy and he was only 7 pounds. He left us on Nov 7, 2008 but i feel is still guiding us. Tiger, thank you for everything and we will never forget you. We will miss you and all your kalokohan. It's an honor to be your sister and we are proud of you.
