You know that wonderful feeling when you gift someone something and you see them using it all the time?
That’s probably how veteran local actor Edmund Chen, 62, felt when he found out that his son Chen Xi, 32, who’s now studying arts management at the King’s College London, wears his black dial stainless steel Longines watch every single day.
Yesterday (Jan 29), Chen Xi, who moved to the UK last September, took to his Instagram to share about this very special gift from his dad.
“Before leaving Singapore, my dad gave me a watch – the one I had seen him wear on specific occasions since I was 14. At that time, its significance eluded me, but now it serves as a daily reminder,” he said.
“My father stressed the importance of cherishing the present and seizing the moment, especially since I’ll be far from home; and my time here in the UK might just become a distant memory. So, I wear this watch daily to echo this wisdom,” added Chen Xi.
When 8days.sg reached out to Edmund, he gushed that Chen Xi’s post was indeed “so sweet” before sharing with us the “legacy” of the watch.
According to Edmund, he’s someone who doesn’t wear watches or any accessories because he has a tendency to lose them.
However, this particular watch is different.
“It’s from the first time [my wife] Xiang Yun and I endorsed the brand Longines. It’s been more than 20 years. The brand flew us to either Sweden or Switzerland… I can’t remember… for a shoot and we took our kids along,” recalled Edmund.
He continued: “At that time, Chen Xi helped to take care of his little sister [Chen Yixin, who is nine years younger] because she was a rascal at that age. Even when we were having a meeting in a huge ballroom, she was crawling under the table and Chen Xi followed her down just to comfort her.”
Unlike all his other watches, which remain untouched in his drawer, he wore this the most, which is why it has “lots of markings and scratches on it”.
“The watch is a part of my journey, so there are many stories engraved onto the face of the watch. I wanted to give him a token that’s deeper than life, something that has a story. So apart from this watch, I also gave him a pen that was gifted to me by Xiang Yun, which I only use on special occasions.”
Sadly, Edmund was unable to find pictures of him with the watch.
He didn’t expect Chen Xi to hold the watch so close to his heart though.
“This fella is very sentimental. Since the day I gave it to him, he never took it off. I don’t even know if he removes it while showering or sleeping,” he chuckled while sounding like the proudest dad in the world.
“I hope [the legacy of this watch] can last forever and he will pass it on to his next generation,” he said.
That said, Edmund is proud of how Chen Xi takes after him when it comes to being sentimental.
“He kept so many things, like the first toy I gave him. I am like that too. I got a whole store room full of things from when they were young. These things are all useless [to other people]. Even if I leave the room unlocked no one would want to steal anything inside but they’re all priceless to me,” he laughed.
So how has Chen Xi been in the UK for the past four months?
According to Edmund, who recently visited Chen Xi with Xiang Yun and Yixin, his son is “generally coping well”.
“His neighbours are great and nice people. Of course it’s not as comfortable as being at home and he needs to take care of himself,” said Edmund.
The very close-knitted Chens also make it a point to keep in touch every day.
“We check in on each other every day. We have a group chat on Telegram that we use all the time. We keep each other in the loop about what we are doing, from things as small as: “Oh I’m having noodles now!” or “I’m drinking kopi” so that we don’t feel the distance.”
Speaking of kopi, has Edmund found someone new to “la kopi” with now that Chen Xi’s away?
“No, he’s not replaceable (laughs). Yixin says no caffeine for her. She’s more anxious as a person. So I’m left all by myself and rarely drink coffee anymore. Sometimes [Chen Xi and I] don’t drink because of the coffee lah. We drink it for the lifestyle and it just became habit for us,” he said.