That boy was Rafie Ahmad Fauzi, now a 29-year-old entrepreneur.
“He just sat there by himself, avoiding everyone. I learned from a caregiver named Umi that Rafie didn’t want to go to school,” Tong recalls. “After visiting Rafi at school and meeting his teachers, I discovered that he had learning difficulties. So I enrolled him in a training center.
Rafie began to show improvement and interest in learning.
One day, while visiting the orphanage, Tong found a note written by Rafi, asking why he had lost his parents so early in his life and why he had been separated from his two younger brothers.
“It touched my heart. Umi suggested that it would be better if I adopted Rafi and asked him to stay with me because he only listened to me. That’s what I did,” Tong said.
After finding Rafi’s brothers, Rasyid and Abdul Rahman, now aged 28 and 24, in an orphanage in Klang, Selangor, Tong decided to take them to live with him in Bandar Sri Damansara.
“My mother was concerned,” Tong said. “Why would her second child, who is unmarried, decide to adopt these boys? Supporting me, she advised me that it would not be easy. But she promised to support me all the way.
“The boys are very respectful of older people, so having them in our family is not awkward at all,” Tong added. The sons call his mother popMandarin for grandmother, he said.
They all have their very own lives and their very own businesses and I’m happy with them
They all have their very own lives and their very own businesses and I’m happy with them
To be certain that the boys continued to receive Islamic teachings, Tong sought the recommendation of his Muslim friends.
“During Ramadan, I fasted with them,” he said. “When they were younger, they would wake up sahur (pre-dawn meal) was difficult. I remember spraying them with water to wake them up.”
For Hari Raya, Tong took the boys to his Muslim friend’s house in Selayang, where they prayed together. “We even celebrate Chinese New Year together. My sons would join us every year for the reunion dinner,” he said.
Despite raising the boys alone with the support of family and friends, Tong never intended to exchange their biological father.
“I am not Ahmad Fauzi; “I’m still ‘Uncle Mike,'” he said. “I did it sincerely so that the boys would grow into valuable members of the community.”
Although he hasn’t found a life partner, Tong said the “three R’s” are a godsend and he has never regretted taking them into his life.
“Rafie is now married and has two children. I am a grandfather now and I will never be lonely,” Tong said.
“They all have their own lives and their own businesses and I’m proud of them.”
