News

I found the commentary, " " (Sept 26), interesting in helping me understand that every family has its own unique habits. In my case, it's the monthly family news that I send out to connect members of my family who are now in three different cities. I've been sending postcards containing family news almost every month for over 14 years, with the most recent issue being volume 157. I came up with this idea when I noticed my two sons had become busy with school and found it difficult to visit their grandmother (my mother), who was living away from us. Just seeing one another once in a while was not enough for my mum to catch up with what was going on in our family, so I decided on the postcard updates. In July, I went back to Japan for the first time in more than two years, to see the remains of my mum who died during the pandemic. When I was clearing her belongings, I found postcard folders containing all the family's news, right from volume 1. Even after my mum's death, I have continued to send news from Singapore to my two sons, both in their late 20s and in Japan now. It is our family's habit now, the sending of these postcards with short handwritten comments from my wife and me, alongside a choice of beautiful stamps.