DON'T let his stern military bearing fool you.

Mr Keith Leong is both the father and mother in his family - he is both stern disciplinarian and nurturing caregiver.

Mr Leong, 45, whose wife passed away from stomach cancer in 2005, has four children: Esther, 15, Fiona, 12, Krystal, 11, and 10-year-old Daniel.

A sales director at Hewlett-Packard, Mr Leong led his family through trying times before and after the death of his wife.

During his wife's illness in 2003, he had to juggle her treatment, family and his work at the same time. Eventually, he also had to handle the children's grief together with his own sadness, on her departure 16 months later.

Mr Leong is no longer the authoritative ex-provost officer he used to be - "running the family like an army", he even set bathing times for his kids.

He said: "I had to learn to develop a more sensitive nature of a mother, especially to interact with my three girls.

"It was tough initially but now I can listen to them share their problems and even go shopping for girl stuff together."

On his biggest lesson as a father, Mr Leong said: "I used to concentrate on my career and outsource household decisions and discipline to my wife. Now I know that as a father, I'm responsible for my childrens' needs too."

The dedicated dad regularly takes leave from work to spend one-on-one time with his children. The family also spends time together on weekends when they go cycling and running.

For now, Mr Leong has no plans to remarry - his first priority is to bring up his kids. And on Father's Day, his children plan to surprise him with a musical number, which is specially composed by their friend.

For more my paper stories click here.