For more than two decades, Dominic Neo has been estranged from his two children.
Now, the 52-year-old is hoping for a chance to see them again.
In a Facebook post on Monday (Oct 26), the Liang Ji char kway teow hawker made an emotional appeal to his son and daughter, sharing a childhood photograph of them.
“Daddy misses you both lots. Please forgive me,” he wrote.
Addressing his children, Dominic said: “Your dad’s health is deteriorating. My last wish is to see you both.”
Reflecting on the past, he asked: “Who is without fault? It takes two to tango. An error can remain unforgiven, so why does repentance never receive recognition. [sic]”
He also appeared to suggest that if his children do not wish to reunite with him while he is still alive, they need not turn up when he dies.
Dominic told AsiaOne on Monday that his recent health troubles had prompted him to make the public appeal, but he declined to share details on his condition.
“Looking at their photos, I feel pain,” he said, “I really hope they come back, before I pass away, to call me papa”.
He added that he had lost contact with his children completely after his divorce.
While he had thought about looking for them over the years, the hawker told us he was reluctant to disrupt his children’s lives.
Despite the years apart, Dominic said he had never stopped thinking about his children, Kendrick and Gwendolyn, who are now 30 and 25 respectively.
This is not the first time Dominic has opened up about his estrangement from his children.
In fact, he talked about it multiple times, including on a Singaplex podcast, where he revealed that he is divorced and had neglected his children in the past.
Dominic told AsiaOne that he had been in and out of prison since he was young, serving sentences ranging from months to years.
His mother died while he was in jail, prompting him to turn over a new leaf.
The brushes with the law also added to the breakdown of his relationship with his children, whom he has not seen for more than 20 years.
Part of his regrets as a father are also reflected in something that has become synonymous with the branding of his hawker business — the colour yellow.
Dominic had noticed that his son really liked Pikachu, the mascot of the popular franchise Pokemon.
This became his motivation to not give up, he told Singaplex.
One way Dominic has kept his son close to his heart over the years is opening his Liang Ji stall at Chinatown Complex Market and Food Centre on a date special to him.
“This stall should have started on Dec 1. I chose Dec 13. For a better memory. This date is my son’s birthday. Happy birthday my son Kendrick Neo,” he wrote in a Facebook post last year.
Wishing him happy birthday, the father of two continued to seek forgiveness from his eldest child.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DdNky6YzlQc/
Dominic has been in the hawker business for over 25 years — starting Liang Ji in 2001.
In April 2023, Dominic rallied fellow stallholders at a Telok Blangah coffee shop to offer $2 budget meals in hopes of attracting more customers, he told AsiaOne then.
The brand subsequently gained attention for its dishes, including a ‘humful’ char kway teow with over 30 cockles as well as $18 Atas Fried Oyster.
Liang Ji moved to its latest location at Chinatown Complex Market and Food Centre last year.
[[nid:696975]]
carol.ong@asiaone.com
Top In Asia
