Singaporean flies in former Filipino maid of 27 years for sister's wedding, sending both women to tears

Singaporean flies in former Filipino maid of 27 years for sister's wedding, sending both women to tears
Kelly Chua's (in white gown) brother revealing the big surprise at her wedding (left). Kelly and her yaya (in peach) in embrace.
PHOTO: Screengrabs/TikTok/Otter.totts

Get your tissues ready, this is going to be a rough one.

Singaporean Kelly Chua, who goes by Otter.totts on TikTok, probably had expected her wedding ceremony to be emotional.

But her brother, Keith Chua, somehow managed to raise the bar even higher by pulling off one heck of a surprise. 

"I've prepared a very big surprise for you. Are you ready? Look over there," the bride's brother said as she turned to view her guests in the wedding hall.

It seems that someone special was in attendance at the Church of Our Saviour in Queenstown last Saturday (April 23) – Lita, the family's former Filipino domestic helper of 27 years, had returned to the Philippines three years ago.

But she was now back in Singapore specially to see her former young charge.

Chua's tears began flowing almost instantly.

A 70-second clip captured this beautiful moment and it was posted to TikTok on April 28. The video had garnered some 49,000 views at the time of writing.

[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@otter.totts/video/7091349928202472705?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=6944924152827184641[/embed]

The former domestic helper was also in tears and the two women embraced as the wedding officiant described their special relationship to the guests.

Chua told AsiaOne that Lita even managed to sneak in a cute remark to her at the wedding, telling her: "Finally, I am so happy to see you get married."

In the caption, the TikTok user explained why she was so emotional upon seeing her yaya (means caretaker in Tagalog).

"She went home three years ago and told me she couldn't attend my wedding because she didn't manage to renew her passport. But my brother actually had it all planned from the start," it read.

Lita had been with Chua's family even before she was born.

"She's like a second mother to me. She's 72 this year, and I really don't know when's the next time I'll be able to see her again. It really means so much to me that she's able to attend my wedding," said this 28-year-old, who is self-employed.

It seemed like a well-planned surprise as everyone in the family knew of Lita's arrival except the bride-to-be.

"She stayed with my aunt and grandma for five days before my wedding. They gave her money to buy some clothes in preparation for the wedding. My friends also took her out for breakfast," Chua said.

TikTok users mentioned in the comments section that they were crying their eyes out watching the video.

"It's a violation to make me cry this early. It's 6am please," one wrote.

Another netizen felt all was well and good with the surprise but they could have provided the former domestic helper with "a nice dress as well" as it "would have made an impact too".

A TikTok user did not seem to mind the supposedly 'under-dressed' former domestic helper and mentioned the bride's brother had just won the "best brother of the year award". 

"My yaya Lita has been a big part of my family, and we're all very happy that she's back, even if it's just for a few days," Chua said.

Now that's a proper wedding surprise so if your sibling is going to tie the knot soon, it might be best not to reveal this video to them.

Should they have already seen it, it's time to step up your wedding surprises game.

ALSO READ: Surprise! Family throws elderly couple a wedding party on their 54th anniversary

amierul@asiaone.com

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