In the 1930s, my grandmother worked as a “socialite” – what we now call a nightclub dancer. 

She was 100% Chinese and very beautiful. She met a British soldier and they had a daughter: My mother.

My grandmother, who grew up in Hong Kong, had come to Singapore seeking a better life, just like many people from her ancestral home of Guangdong.

But in 1942, when Japan invaded Singapore during World War II, my grandfather returned to the UK, leaving my grandmother and my mum behind.

Mum was Granny’s money tree

My grandmother was bitter and angry. My mum grew up fatherless.

As a child, my mum remembered men – her so-called “step-fathers” – constantly coming in and out of their home.

My grandmother didn’t protect her from their bullying or abuse.

My grandmother was also a compulsive gambler. Loan sharks came to our home – it was terrifying.

One day, desperate for money, she took my mum – just nine years old – to a wealthy older man and forced her to “receive a guest”. 

From that moment on, my mum became her own mother’s money tree.

When she was 20, my mum met a tycoon from Malaysia and had a daughter (my oldest sister) with him. But he never married my mum. She later found out he had a wife and children. 

She didn’t want to destroy another family. So she returned to Singapore, resuming her role as her mother’s cash cow, and her life of shame. 

Linda recalls that her mum was a kind and gentle woman who was self-sacrificing.

In all, my mum had five children by different men.

One son died after three days. 

My grandmother sold my fourth sister to a Shanghainese couple right after my mum had given birth. 

When they carried the baby away, my mum crawled out of bed begging them not to take her baby. Trying to stop them, she fell down the long staircase of their five-foot-way shophouse.  

“Monster from England”

By the time she had her last child (me), my mum had passed what is known as the “golden period” – her prime – as a prostitute.

The money she earned in her youth was spent by my grandmother.

I grew up in a one-room flat in Geylang – Singapore’s red-light district. We were desperately poor.

“I didn’t know who my father was, and I didn’t know his name,” said Linda.

From the way the neighbours looked at us, I felt like we were like garbage, like filth. They used the worst words to insult our family. 

When I was four years old, one neighbour called me over then slapped me in the face just because he knew my mum was a prostitute. 

At school, I was called names like “Monster from England”. No one wanted to be my friend. I was mixed-race. I had no father. 

When I saw a father holding his child’s hand, I would think: “If only I had a dad.”

At least, if I was hit, he would protect me and fix everything. But I didn’t know who my father was. I didn’t know who I was.

Because of all this, I was very attached to my mum.

After seeing her come home beaten black and blue by clients, I would wait up for her every night. If she didn’t return, I couldn’t sleep. I was terrified of losing her.

I lived in constant fear, in constant loneliness. Even today, I find myself still wrestling with that lack of security.

Wicked granny’s turnaround

Then one day, my grandmother had a stroke at the mahjong table. 

When my mum and I visited her in the care home, she grabbed our hands and said, “I want to believe in Jesus.”

We were so shocked.

She told us that the night before, the old man across from her bed was dying. She saw a glowing figure gently hold the man’s hand and touch his head. 

Then the figure looked at her with gentle eyes, and she felt His love. 

She felt He knew all the wicked things she had done. But he didn’t say: “You’re a terrible sinner”. 

Instead she sensed Him say: “No matter how many sins you’ve committed, if you’re willing, I will save you.” 

“The greater the sinner, the more dramatic the change,” says Linda of her grandma. “She saw her sin and grasped the true meaning of grace.”

She was certain that she had seen Jesus. 

Her life changed in a profound way.

Many people who have done a lot of wrong fear death. But my grandmother was no longer afraid.

We often heard her pray out loud in Cantonese: “Jesus, when are you taking me home?”

She had seen a miracle, and believed her sins were forgiven. That’s the only reason that someone could say such a thing.

We had called her “the wicked Granny” in Cantonese. She used to be a fierce woman who cursed people with foul language. But after she believed in Jesus, her personality changed 100%.

These two things not only showed me how real her transformation was, it also showed me that no sin in this world is too great that God cannot forgive it. 

God loved her, and God saved her. 

Mum was rescued on the streets

My mum encountered God differently.

She never cried at home. If she needed to, she would go into the street to cry. 

One day, two men walking by saw her crying and asked, “Auntie, are you okay?”

My mum explained that she was troubled by a family issue.

The men, who turned out to be Christians, told her that Jesus loves her. And on the spot, she believed in Him.

She invited the two men to our home. 

At that time, I was a teenager with a bad temper, and I didn’t like Christians. But strangely, I felt a deep calm when I found out that these men were Christians who cared.

They said: “We don’t know how to fix your situation, but we know God loves your family. He gave His only Son to die for you.” 

When I heard that, I saw something in my mind’s eye – someone reaching out a hand and saying, “Come home, child.”

Linda demonstrated how she saw Jesus’ hand reaching out to her, in a video on 还好吗 hhm.sg Facebook.

I wept, feeling like a child who had been away from home for so long, who couldn’t wait to run back to her Father. 

Linda being baptised.

My older sister would come to believe in Jesus, too.

Three generations of us were saved by God.

Miracles and a final comfort

My mum worked in the lowliest profession despised by the world. But when she became a Christian, she was given an identity as God’s beloved daughter, honoured and cherished. 

Because of that, she lived her last 20 years in peace.

She took a job in a fast food restaurant. It was humble, but she loved it. You could see it in how she ironed her uniform, how she smiled going to work – so different from when she left home crying as a prostitute.

Over the years, we’ve seen many miracles from God – even on the day my mum left this world in 2016. She was 74.

Linda’s mum in her 50s.

After her fourth stroke, Mum’s entire body was paralysed. She could only move her eyes. 

As she gasped for breath, I told her: “Mum, you can let go. If you see Jesus coming for you, take His hand.” 

I meant that her spirit should go to Jesus. Her hands couldn’t move; she was immobile.

But in the last moment of her life, she raised her paralysed arm as if she was taking someone’s hand. 

Linda was comforted by how her mother passed away, with her paralysed right hand linked to someone’s in midair – a sign that she had gone to be with Jesus.

God loves me so much, and He knew how painful it was for me to have her leave.

Through Mum’s gesture, He comforted me by letting me know: “Child, I’m taking your mum home.”

Finding my surname

The miracles didn’t end there. 

Two years ago, I did a DNA test in an attempt to find my father. 

The result came with many names of possible relatives.

I prayed: “God, can I be greedy for once? The world doesn’t know, but You do. Could You tell me who my father is? I just want to know my surname.” 

Within a week of that prayer, I found someone in the US who turned out to be my half-sister.

She told me that our biological father had passed away in 1999 – some 26 years ago.

Linda visiting the final resting place of her biological father.

Finally I knew my surname: Murphy.

“In the same week, I also found my maternal grandpa’s identity,” said Linda.

God had answered my desperate wish to know where I had come from.

Childhood dream come true

When I was a child, growing up hungry, walking past other people’s homes, and smelling their home-cooked meals, I longed to have a normal family and a home with love and laughter. 

Today, I am happily married with two children. 

Linda’s mum, in her 70s, with her granddaughter – one of Linda’s two children.

I’m doing work I love – as a stage actor, writer, producer, director putting out plays that tell about the goodness of Jesus.

God has given me a life I could have never imagined as a child. 

I am Murphy. Linda Murphy. And I am also God’s child. 

I Am A Murphy, a Mandarin-language stage drama based on Linda’s story, will be performed on Friday August 1, 2025, at 7.30pm at Church Of Our Saviour.

Tickets are priced at S$15 each.

To purchase tickets or to find out more, email fionkypau@yahoo.com or WhatsApp 9768-7476.

The English translation of this story was based on a video interview that first appeared on 还好吗 hhm.sg Facebook, and Linda’s testimony at RiverLife Church.

A version of this story first appeared on Stories of Hope.

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