Lim Teck Leong

My name is Teck Leong, and this is my story.

On the first Monday of July 2024, I was working from home when my dad mentioned he was having trouble breathing. We called an ambulance and rushed him to the nearest hospital. By Friday, I had gotten a phone call from the hospital during work — my dad had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, and the doctors estimated he had only six months left to live.

Shortly after, I made the difficult decision to leave my job to care for him. While I was dealing with the stress and emotional weight of this situation, financial challenges began to surface. Overnight, I became the sole breadwinner of a family of three at just 26 years old, only a year after graduating.

It was during this time that I uncovered the full extent of my parents' lack of financial planning. The harsh reality hit when I realized we couldn’t sustain the costs of daily living and my father’s medical treatments without huge sacrifices. A month ago I couldn't decide what to eat and fast forward now, I had to make one of the hardest choices of my life — selling our family home to ensure there was enough for their retirement needs and medical expenses.

Through my story, I hope to raise awareness about the importance of financial planning and how a single unforeseen incident can turn an entire family upside down. This experience reshaped my understanding of life and finances. It highlighted the crucial role of financial planning in safeguarding a family’s future. While we cannot predict life’s twists and turns, we can prepare for them.

A Personal Reflection

I used to dream of buying a car to drive my parents around, taking them on vacations to places they longed to see, and providing them with a comfortable life as they had for me. All these dreams were destroyed by a single hospital call. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this experience, it’s this: we often believe we have all the time in the world — until we don’t.