Thursday, January 28, 2010

Melissa(Biography of Elizabeth Choy)

Elizabeth Choy-Yong Su-Moi was a hero in the Singaporean war,educator and councillar.with her husband,choy Khun Heng,she supplied medicine,money and messages to british civilians interned in Changi Prison during the Second World War.


Choy was born on 29 November 1910 to a Hakka family in kudat,British North Borneo.Her great-grandparents first came to Kudat from Hong Kong to assist German missionaries in their work.Choy's father worked as a civil servant after completing his studies in China with some English education in North Borneo,where he married the daughter of a priest.



When she grew up,she became a volunteer nurse with the Medical Auxiliary Service during the Japanese invasion of Malaya.After the fall of Singapore in 1942,the Choys set up a canteen at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital,after all the patients and doctors had been moved from the Miyako Hospital,where they soon started a regular ambulance run for British civilian internees.They also helped the POW by delivering things for them.



After the war,the Choys were invited to England to recuperate.Her husband returned to his job and so,did not accompany her.Elizabeth Choy made the journey,where she met the Queen and Princess Elizabeth.Lady Baden-Powell awarded her the Girl Guides' highest honour,the Broze Cross,and the Rajah of Sarawak presented her with the Order of Sarawak.



After all those years,she died at the age of 95 on 14 September 2006 pancreatic cancer.

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