Our father - Yu Chong Chua  (December 23, 1929 - August 1, 2020) 

Our father, Yu Chong Chua was born to Zhe Trie Tsai (father) and Huan Qian (mother) on December 23, 1929*, in Jing Jiang, Fujian, China.  He was the youngest child in the family. He had three brothers and two sisters.  When he was six years old, his father passed away. During the war against the Japanese, he worked in the fields with his mother to survive. Life was harsh and food supply was limited. He and his siblings would often lay in bed to reserve energy. 

After the Japanese war was over in the 1940’s, our father continued his schooling in China and finished high school in Hong Kong, after which he was accepted at the Cultural University of Hong Kong. By then his immediate family had already settled down in Taiwan, the Philippines, or Hong Kong.  In 1949 communist China declared their Independence Day and recalled overseas young Chinese people to return to the motherland to rebuild the country.  He gave up his university education in Hong Kong, and instead completed his college degree in Economics at the Guangzhou Zhongshan University in China. During his college years, he was a collegiate basketball player (center) and star. He and his teammates participated in many local and state competitions.

In 1953 he graduated from university. He was assigned to work at the Food Import and Export trade company in Beijing.

In 1954 he married our mom, Helen Ting in Beijing.  In the same year, our parents were re-assigned to work in Tianjin as high school teachers, where our father became an athletic coach.

From 1966 to 1972, the Cultural Revolution movement overtook the entire country. Many intellectuals, professionals, and people with unfavorable backgrounds—such as counter revolutionaries, capitalists, and individuals with connections to anti-communist countries like Taiwan—were tortured, sent to labor camp, or killed. Our father was among one of those victims because some of his family members were in Taiwan.  He missed his mother and his siblings. He applied for family visitation permission multiple times; all were rejected by the local government. In 1973, with help from our eldest uncle in the Philippines, he finally got permission to visit his family overseas. When he stepped on the land of the free country, Hong Kong, he realized he was a free man and never looked back to his life in China.  He was so excited to see his brothers, sisters, and meet his nephews and nieces. He also learned from his siblings that his mother, our grandmother, had passed in Taiwan long, long ago.

In 1975, we and our mother reunited with our father in Hong Kong.  In 1978, with help from our third uncle and his wife, father brought our family to the United States of America, where we settled in San Francisco.  Our move to the US gave us the opportunity to study, work, and build our families here. However, our father missed his mother very much. In 1980, he moved to Taiwan to be closer to her.  He lived in Taiwan ever since then, for a total of 40 years.  During his time in Taiwan, he worked at the Chinese Overseas Bank as a consultant, until he retired about 10 years ago.

On August 1^st, 2020, our father passed away peacefully in his sleep. He was 92 years old.

Our father was patriotic to his homeland, an honest and straightforward man, an intelligent and a hard worker, and frugal. He loved sports, good food, travel, art, music, dance, Chinese calligraphy, and his family and friends. He lived a long and beautiful life, 92 years. Now he is in heaven with his mother forever.

We love you dad/grandpa/great grandpa.  We will miss you forever. Rest in peace.

First daughter, Linda Tsai (aka. Xiao Ling) and children: Elena (granddaughter), Austin (grandson)

Second daughter, Chieh-Sha Louie (aka. Xiao Sha), Raymond Louie (son-in-law) and children:

Elizabeth (granddaughter); Diana (granddaughter); Tony (grand son-in-law); and Gianna (great granddaughter)

*Footnote: Legal document dated December 23, 1929, actual birthday February 14, 1928