A meaningful top prize win

I was woken up at 4am yesterday by a call from Malaysia. The lady on the other line was from the Standards Agency. She announced that I have won the top prize in a national essay competition held in conjunction with the World Standards Day.

I've checked my CV awhile ago. This marks the fourth time that I've won the top prize in essay competitions. However, this is not the fourth essay that I've written. I've written in many essay competitions. Sometimes I win, many times I don't.

Many in FB have congratulated me and I thank you for that.

The prize money is especially meaningful to me this time.

Coming from the older generation, my grandmother doesn't have an insurance policy to support her health care. When she was ill two months ago , she needed to go to the hospital and needed a lot of money for the operation. The cost of the operation was shared equally by her three daughters. My mom was one of them. Being retired and living only on savings, my mom asked for help from my brother and I.

We did the logical thing as anyone would imagine. So we chipped in. The planned Taiwan trip, wedding angpaos and multiple events that I have arranged in Malaysia have set me back on my finances. So my cashflow was a little tight at the time.

But I had to do my best to help out the family nonetheless. After all, I've been working in the UK, so I do not hold much cash reserves in Malaysia. Somehow by God's providence and a modicum of luck I managed to get the cash out for my share.

After the incident I've been praying for my grandmother. I'm always worried that we will lose her one day. At her age, it's something that will come one day but it's not something that I want to think about too much. I think she prayed for us too.

But God works in mysterious ways. I found out that the winning money for the essay competition is the same as what I've paid for her bill. Not a penny more, not a penny less and I praise God for that!