Taiwanese man finds Singaporean mum after nearly 40 years

They reconnect via Zoom video call after ST ran article on his search for long-lost mother

- Ian Cheng

For nearly four decades, Ms Wang Wen Lian did not know if her son Hsu Hu-chin was alive.

She did not know where he was, or whether he was safe. All she could do for him was pray.

She had left Taiwan, the place of her son's birth, in the 1980s when he was just a toddler, to return to Singapore because of some family issues, and lost contact with him.

But her prayers were answered at last when she finally saw her son, now 42, over a Zoom video call on Dec 21.

"How are you, Hu-chin? Mama has really missed you," Ms Wang said on that call, her voice cracking. "Even though it's been 40 years, I've prayed every night for your well-being." Leaning forward to take a closer look at him on the computer screen, she added: "You look a lot like your father." This story of a reunion between mother and son began earlier in December after Mr Hsu contacted The Straits Times seeking help to look for his long-lost Singaporean mother, who is now in her 60s.

It was a last-ditch attempt by Mr Hsu to find his mother, after previous fruitless efforts to look for her via social media and her past employer, Singapore Airlines, where Ms Wang worked as a stewardess in her younger days.

The Dec 15 ST article, which had old photographs of mother and child, immediately caught the attention of Ms Wang's nephew in Singapore, who went on to alert her.

Both Ms Wang and Mr Hsu agreed to ST arranging a meeting between them over Zoom on Dec 21. The duo approached the call with apprehension, each wary that it could be a scam.