No Time for Tears: An Inspiring True Story of Hardship, Grit and Triumph

By Jeffrey Francis

Plunged into poverty after his father’s death in mysterious circumstances, the 10-year-old boy soon emerges with courage, confidence and determination, to relentlessly battles injustice, discrimination and unexpected crises that overwhelm his family.  No child should ever have to face such monumental challenges. One of his shocking adversities is the day he confronts the man, who brutally punched his mother’s nose, resulting in profuse bleeding. This is a book of hope and encouragement, especially for the younger generations, to look beyond their horizon and preserve their quest for success.

 

Reviews:

“We thoroughly enjoyed reading your book; an inspiring life story that is to be proud of what you have achieved.  The hardship that you and your family have gone through and come out on top is amazing. It proves that a dark fate can turn into a great success, if you willingly and determinedly pursue it.  You have risen, rightly so, more than that nickname ‘blue-eyed boy!’” – Tina and Don Clarke, Middle Swan, Western Australia.

“Congratulations, not only for your book, but also for the fantastic life and career you have made against the odds.  What a life story; it’s just brilliant. Wish I could say more to pay real justice to your life.” – Peter Nichols, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirate. 

“As a good storyteller, you have encapsulated your life story and spread within it, little gems of wisdom. Your book is inspirational and shows your grit, determination and ever-flaming hope in life. And how you have overcome so many adversities to always land back on victor’s  ground.  What a poignant story. I enjoyed reading it. Kudos!”-- Steven Tan, Singapore, retired Chief Executive Officer of Star Publications (M), now known as The Star Media.

“Interesting and insightful…your book should be read with a purpose. It’s not just about the courage to face challenges, but the willingness to make hard decisions that would change the way to a better life. Your book will be a beacon of hope to strive for objectives on how to be a better person through the turmoil of life.” -- Joseph Ganandra, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, former Senior Vice President of AMBank Berhad.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press AU
• Release date: Jan 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781982293673

Jeffrey Francis

Jeffrey Francis has been a journalist for more than five decades. During that time, he has been a columnist for 22 years. This, in itself, is a record in the media history. He has covered many events connected to the Malayan Emergency (a 12-year jungle war against the Communist terrorists) and written features dealing with this eventful period of the Malaysian history. In 1962, he covered Lord Lansdowne’s inter-government committee to North Borneo and Sarawak to work out the future constitutional arrangements to form the Federation of Malaysia. In 1967, he was invited by Mr. George E. Christian, Press Secretary to the U.S. President, for a month’s tour of the United States. The visit, sponsored by The White House, was to meet people and exchange ideas that would lead to “increased understanding of the many ways in which our mutual hopes and values are reflected in American institutions and American life”. In the same year, he was News Editor and later Acting Editor of a national English newspapers group in Malaysia, The New Straits Times Press. In 1970, he migrated to Australia and worked in The West Australian newspaper as a senior journalist for 21 years. He retired as Chief of News Bureau, Features Manager and Head of the Racing Statistics – all three sections at the same time. Jeffrey Francis now lives in Perth, Western Australia.

Book preview

Copyright © 2022 Jeffrey Francis.

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except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views

expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use

of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical

problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The

intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you

in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any

of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right,

the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-9366-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-9367-3 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date:   11/23/2022

This book is dedicated to my loving and caring wife, Mary Anne, whose irresistible belief is: If, there was such a thing as incarnation, I would want to marry you again.

So would I…if there could be such a wonderful dream, is my passionate response.

FOREWORD

Why this book is written

CERTAINLY, there was no time for tears in our family.

Tears that should have flowed, after my father’s plans for a family foundation on our future, crumbled following his sudden death under mysterious circumstances.

Tears for our financial and health problems that were caused by the harsh conditions we had to face.

Tears for having our happy childhood cruelly stolen from us.

Tears for our mother, who endured hardship, abuse and brutality.

We had no time for such tears as we had to fight to survive. It was our confidence, courage and determination against injustice, discrimination and attempts to break up the family that saw us regained our rights and security to live in harmony and happiness as any normal family should.

This is my story of our battle for survival. It is a story, I hope, will guide and inspire those, who read it, to better their future, despite any adversity they may encounter.

My objective is to encourage readers, especially the younger generation, to look beyond their normal horizon and persevere in their quest for success.

I know what it is like to be poor, to have no job and no money. It is tough not to have someone to encourage and guide you on the right path to achieve your goals, let alone to survive.

I have gone through poverty at its worst. Later, I was often hungry, working long hours as an illegal child labourer, cleaning engines stripped from cars for overhaul. I went home with grease and thick black oil all over my clothes and body.

As I grew up, I even had a tough time to marry the woman I loved so much. But I never gave up, even when I was told that the only way I could get her, was over the dead body of her foster father.

It all began with a stressful life after my father died when I was 10 years old. Being the eldest son, with two siblings and a devastated mother, I had to deal with the toughest and unexpected crisis. It wasn’t easy for a boy to bear the burden of uncertainty.

My greatest worry was how my family was going to survive without our only bread winner.

I lost more than my father on the day he passed away.

His death thrust my family into poverty, brutality and domestic violence. The lack of a normal happy childhood affected my personality and turned me into a loner, who was aloof and did not socialise easily.

But going through such hardship had made me realise the value of education as my ticket to a better life. I went for it with iron-clad determination with no money, but lots of dreams.

My determination saw me rise within 13 years, through the ranks from a cadet reporter to News Editor and then Acting Editor of an English daily newspaper in a major national group. You will find all these details in this book.

If I can do it, so can anyone, irrespective of their age. But they must have the desire, courage, passion and the will to take on the challenges before them.

If my book could help at least one person to change his or her life for the better, I would consider it to be mission accomplished. It is not about motivation or how to; there are many books on that subject on the shelves of the world’s book shops.

No Time for Tears is about my ultimate battle to rise, like a phoenix from the ashes of hell, to become a successful man, who lives the dreams of his late father.

Remember, nothing is impossible, if you put your dreams into action.

Note: This book is written from my memories and experiences of events that took place as much as I can recall. But, some names of the people and their characters, have been changed to protect their privacy.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

FOR years after my retirement, I have resisted suggestions from some close friends, particularly the late Tom Lambert of the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, to write about how I overcame the harsh conditions of my childhood.

Tom, who was a lively and widely knowledgeable person, insisted that my story would be an inspiration that brings hope and encouragement for others in similar positions, especially the younger generation. But I had hesitated to take his advice because I did not want people to think I was blowing my own trumpet. That is not my intention. Although my story is about my hard-earned achievements, it is, basically, a carefully thought-out plan of my fight for a better life. It is a sort of gateway for those in any adversity to think and find opportunities to live a happy and normal life.

I wished I had written this book earlier before Tom passed away so I could see him grinning happily. I thank his wife, Gail, for her support and best wishes. I have no doubt she will be happy to receive a copy of my book.

I thank my brothers, Jerry and Tony (the late), for their useful contributions of information that I would otherwise have forgotten. I also thank Tony’s wife, Chan Cheng Tuan, who is also a fine journalist, for proof-reading and editing my manuscript. Tony did part of it before he left us to go to the Lord.

His daughter Kylie, who graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a Master’s in Business Administration from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, checked the early part of the manuscript before she got married and now lives in New York.

I thank my good friend, Datuk Steven Tan, retired Chief Executive Officer of the Star Publications (Malaysia), who asked me to write a newspaper column, which had lasted for 22 years. I am glad to know him and his wife Datin Jenny, whose encouragement and friendship mean a lot to me.

I also thank my loyal follower of my Insight Down Under column, Major (Rtd) Manuel Dorall, formerly of Logistics/Administrative Branch of Royal Malaysian Air Force, who had regarded my column as most interesting, and had kept a record of my writings since 1988.

And last, but not the least, my greatest thanks go to my former boss, the late Leslie Hoffman, Editor-in-Chief of the New Straits Times Group of Newspapers in Malaysia. He gave me the career break when he promoted me to News Editor and later Acting Editor of the group’s afternoon newspaper, The Malay Mail, before I migrated to Australia.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1     Mystery of the shocking prophecy

Chapter 2     Where’s the missing remains?

Chapter 3     Escape from the City of Horror

Chapter 4     The assassination of a Japanese officer

Chapter 5     Ghostly encounter

Chapter 6     The ugly face of prejudice

Chapter 7     The love that loses its shine

Chapter 8     My darkest moments in life

Chapter 9     Well-kept secret of ‘special power’

Chapter 10   Memorable time in our little white house

Chapter 11   The turning point of optimism

Chapter 12   The evil of jealousy and backstabbing

Chapter 13   Human interest’s the key to success

Chapter 14   On the crime beat

Chapter 15   Caught in the tail of a typhoon

Chapter 16   Riots on exotic island

Chapter 17   Big test on my future

Chapter 18   Lord Lansdowne’s mission

Chapter 19   Mary, where are you?

Chapter 20   Borneo, here I come

Chapter 21   Dramatic challenges for survival

Chapter 22   Heading Down Under

Chapter 23   Heartbreaking departure for battling mother

Chapter 24   Facing responsibilities

Chapter 25   Your future is in your hands

CHAPTER 1

Mystery of the shocking prophecy

S omething about the stranger, who had come to the front door of our house, made me suspicious of him. What was it? I wasn’t sure. Maybe, it was just my instinct that made me not to trust him. Or, perhaps, his looks. He looked somewhat weird with his curly long beard, white shirt and white long pants with white canvas shoes that did not seem to be an attire usually worn by an old man of dark complexion. He had asked me to call my mother to the door. I was reluctant to do it at first. But then I thought my mother might have known him. That was why he had come to our house.

Mum, there is someone here to see you, I called out. She came to the door from inside the house and stood next to me.

Strange as it was, the stranger did not introduce himself to her. Without any pleasantries or explanations, he just looked straight into her eyes and, without a blink, said bluntly: I am here to tell that your husband will die within the next three hours.….

Mum was shocked, stunned and utterly speechless. She looked somewhat dazed, nervous and frightened. It was obvious she did not know what was all this about. It was shocking and unbelievable. She had never heard such an appalling announcement. She had expected to meet a friend. Instead, she saw a stranger, whose statement horrified her. She was trembling. She grabbed my right hand, probably, to ensure that I was still next to her.

This was all nonsense, I thought, as I looked at the stranger. I had not seen him in the vicinity before. And I didn’t know where he came from. Initially, I couldn’t believe his prophecy. How could someone, who was not even a doctor, predict that my father would die in the next few hours? This man had probably not met my father and knew nothing about his health conditions. Could this be a joke? But the stranger seemed to be serious about his announcement. I was flabbergasted and dumbfounded. I stared at him, wondering whether I could really believe him.

As Mum and I stood in despair, fear was also creeping up into my body. What are we going to do, if this prophecy turns out to be true? I thought. I turned to look at Mum. She was still traumatised. She took some time before she regained her composure.

No, no, it can’t be true, she cried. He is telling a lie. Where is the man? I want to ask him what made him say that Dad is going to die.

Mum was terribly emotional. She had every right to question the man, who had just dropped a bombshell. When we looked at where the stranger had been standing a few seconds earlier, he had disappeared, as mysteriously as he had appeared.

Since this shocking event took place eight decades ago and had caused a tremendous effect on our lives for many years thereafter, I have never given up hope to find the answers to several questions arising from his appearance. For example, who was this stranger? Was he a divine messenger? I had put these questions to some elderly people I knew. And they believed it was possible that the stranger had come to alert us of an invertible death in the family. But I found it hard to believe that a stranger could make such a drastic prediction.

As I was growing up, I continued to pursue for an answer from various sources. There were lots of theories, but no satisfactory answer. In my search, I have learnt that some health professionals have verified human phenomena. Their clients knew when they were going to die. As far as I knew, my father never had an idea when he would die. What puzzled me was that the stranger was incredibly accurate on the timing of my father’s death. This had been a great mystery to us …the mystery that had changed the entire life of our family into a harsh and bitter battle for survival.

How could the stranger be so precise? And his prediction was for such a short time for my father. I do realise the event has probably past the stage of finding an explanation. But I feel I have to find an answer to satisfy my curiosity. I am a person, who will not be happy until I get a satisfactory explanation on something that is as mysterious as this event.

With this in mind, I believe the stranger’s presence at our house was one of those inexplicable phenomena. Even scientists are understood to have acknowledged that such an event is factual and remarkable, but it is still a mystery. No one I know has been able to provide an authentic explanation on why these phenomena do happen at any time, somewhere on this planet of ours.

I have read some reports on phenomena, arising from many cultures and disciplines over many decades. These reports, too, have no answer that could relate to my questions on the significance of the stranger’s appearance at our house. Those, who were affected by the phenomena, seem to be aware of the time of their own death. My father did not expect to die. Nor did he know when he was going to die. He was still young. He had been planning a family foundation on our future. He had planned to send me to Australia to study engineering when I completed my Senior Cambridge. When we heard of the prophecy from the mysterious stranger, we did not mention it to Dad. So that ruled out the idea that his death could have been described as a phenomenon of a dying man.

The mysterious event in our family unfolded on a hot and humid afternoon in 1941, when I was 10 years old. I was coming home from school in an old ramshackle bus. Sweat was rolling down from my face to the neck, then into my shirt, which was drenched and clinging to my body. I had hoped to get home quickly and to cool myself with a nice long bath. But the bus was moving at a snail’s pace on the busy streets.

When it finally reached my destination in Jalan Raja Laut, Kuala Lumpur, I rushed to be the first to get off the bus and began walking on the private lane toward home.