More tributes:

From Alia Fatin Binte Abdullah:

My uncle had been a chain smoker since he was 12 years old. Since he remained single, he was adored by all-siblings, nieces and nephews, and family.

Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with heart problems in 2002. I remember how my mom bravely stayed by him as he was warded in the ICU, rushing all the way to the Singapore General Hospital to tend to him. Whether it be through cooking his favourite food or massaging his legs, my mom never tired out.

Being the caring, self-sacrificing person she is, she came down with gastritis because she did not have time to eat properly. Sadly, my uncle passed away after three months. The worst thing was that her troubles did not end there. My dad's growth on his knee tested malignant and he had to go through radiotherapy.

My dad is fine now but I am truly amazed at the courage and selflessness that my mom possesses. With five children to care for and only my dad working, she has always been our motivator and confidante. Never one to doubt our abilities, my mom has helped me through crucial times in my life and pushed me to achieve things I never thought I could like going to Victoria Junior College.

My mom rocks because she is the most loving, resilient person I know.

From R Amuna:

My mum is 76 years old now. We don't know her actual birthdate, and Mother's day is our way of celebrating her birthday.

She has 11 children, 23 grandchildren and 3 great grand-children.

If I only said she was a remarkable lady, I would be doing a great injustice to a grand old lady.

She took care of the 11 of us when my late father was the only sole bread winner. To help him help us, she would get up early in the morning and make "thosai" for us to sell to our neighbours for five cents each.

After collecting fifty cents , I would get my pocket money first, as I was going to secondary school then. This is just one of the many wonderful things she has done for us, the list is endless.

After many years , all of us have grown up and I came back from Europe pregnant with my son. She was at the labour ward helping my gynae to deliver my baby. My gynae left the room for a while when my son's head became more visible, and it was my mum who told me to push. She was comforting me in my pain and encouraging me.

Just knowing that she was there made me feel so protected and secure.

My son is 19 now, and he will always be very special for my mum as she was there not just for him but for me and she still is always here for all of us.

Thank you God for giving us Mums and may God bless all the MUMS in the world wherever you are and whoever you are.

YOU ARE ALL A SPECIAL BREED.

From Neo Lay Sian (Shirley):

I remember the good old days when she "forced" my two elder brothers and I to our long eventful Saturday which consisted of swimming, drawing and the dreaded piano lessons.

It was most memorable during rainy days, when she sheltered us (without umbrella!) as she attempted to carry each of us to her little green car to rush us to our next activity.

Her "favorite pastime" was to stop by my school every fortnight to "check" on my progress. If I were unlucky that day, I was sure to get a good scolding or, worse a whack in the evening. In addition, she would check on our schoolbags every other evening to see if we were coping well.

My mum's indeed the fiercest mum on earth. I still feel the shivers when I see her today, can you believe it?!

When I didn't make it the grade for English, I still remember crying in her arms, thinking that I'll never make it to university, but she just told me she will get me there.

She did! I worked extremely hard and after earning my diploma, I went overseas to get my degree. After a home-sick and stressful three years, I obtained an honours degree!

From Darrell Tan Yong Harn :

My Mum rocks the house down because of several reasons.

Firstly, as the eldest of 7 children, she gave up pursuing her degree just so she could help my uncles and aunties through their education.

She faithfully contributed to society as an educator after obtaining an official nomination for the prestigious President Teacher Award 2005, and raised two doctors in my elder brothers through her patient coaching, and nurtured me, a very difficult child, into becoming a mentor of youths in my church today.

She continues to rock my world with her wise advice and warm mothering, and continues to rock the worlds of children out there although she is semi-retired.

She is currently a counsellor in Geylang Methodist Primary School and I know she has impacted the lives of many children as a 'second mother' to them as well. My mum is genuinely a great and noble woman, though she would never have me say this publicly. She deserves every bit of this tribute. Happy Mother's Day mum. You ROCK big time.

From Kartina bte Rosli :

No, not because she is into heavy metal music like Led Zepellin and Sepultura.

In fact, she was against me listening to those type of music in my younger days.

She said it was NOISY. But, despite the fact that she did not favour me listening to hard rock music, Mum allowed me to explore into things that I love - and not only that - but to learn what is right and what is not and of course eventually what suits me as an individual. So, imagine her relief when I am NOT into Sepultura anymore but went into writing as a living.

My mum 'rocks' because despite being illerate, she knew the importance of education. I was not able to spell my own name at the age of six but she knew I would become someone successful.

I guess its mom's instinct.

She made me do my spelling everyday, made me write my ABCs and spell my name and bought me books - even though she doesn't understand the text. All she knew was that the books were good for me to improve my reading and writing skills. She was right.

Mum had to work as a domestic helper and sell cakes during weekends to help ends meet, but I remember a childhood that has a lot of love. Despite being a working mom, she made time for us. It was the little things that made me love her more. The simple 'feed the swans' session at Botanic Gardens and swimming at the pool was enough to make us feel on top of the world.

When I came in tops in secondary school and did well and moved on to tertiary education, she was filled with joy and pride as her daughter who can't write nor read has moved on to someone she is proud of today. Mum 'ROCKS' coz she made me ROCK my world.

Thank you for being the best mom. You always understood what I wanted and how I felt even without having to say it. You color my world! Love you. KARTINA.

From Poh Ee Ling :

My mum brought us up single-handedly after my parents' divorced when I was 9 years old. She chose to take all three of us instead of leaving my sis with my dad, which would have been a lighter burden for a single mum.

She wanted us to grow up together instead of other typical divorced families where siblings grow up not knowing each other.

The relationship she had with my dad's family was not good. It was their incessant monetary requests which shook my family's foundation. My dad couldn't say no, and my mum was so angry he didn't, because it meant taking on all the extra burden upon him and our family.

No one was on her side and they started spreading rumours that she was trying to drive a wedge between my dad and them because she was 'teaching' him to say no. She simply gave up in the end. I still remember my dad crying and asking me to ask my mum to stay when she was packing her things in the room. I was young and couldn't comprehend what was happening.

She could have crumbled but she didn't. She took up a training course to be a beautician, and when she graduated, borrowed to start a small neighbourhood beauty salon. The transition from a home-maker to a single mother who needed to support her family was huge, but she never waivered. The stress she went through must have been tremendous.

It was a difficult period for her, but her fierce independence kept her going. On her own, she made enough to support our school expenses, her beauty salon, and my grandfather.