30 friends perform 'one last dance' at wake for woman who succumbed to breast cancer 

She had instructed her daughters to have her friends dedicate "one last dance" to her at her funeral.

And dance, they did — performing to not just one, but 12 songs in her honour.

Around 30 friends of Chen Meifang turned up for her wake last Sunday (Aug 13) to pay their unique last respects, Shin Min Daily News reported.

Chen had discovered a lump in her breast in April last year, her daughter Zhou Xinyi told Shin Min. It was determined to be second-stage breast cancer.

Although she had commenced treatment, Chen succumbed to the disease on Aug 11 this year. She was 56 years old. 

Zhou, 25, revealed that her mother had planned how she wanted her funeral to be — including an all-white theme, as well as the final send-off by her dance teacher and friends.

"My mum loved line dancing and she had been dancing for twenty, thirty years," said Zhou, who added that Chen's friends agreed immediately when told of her last request.

Her friends, all decked out in blue, turned up in the morning at Chen's wake, held at Block 117, Teck Whye Lane. And when the music started at 12pm, they danced.

Several of her friends were seen wiping away their tears while performing, which added to the moving scene.

When interviewed by the Chinese evening daily, Chen's dance instructor shared that the group had rehearsed 12 songs, making sure to include the songs that Chen loved, including Take Me To Your Heart by Danish band Michael Learns to Rock. The entire performance lasted for about an hour.

Loved to perform

On the fond memories she has of Chen, the instructor shared: "We had a very good relationship and she often helped to lead the group. I'm very sad but am happy for her that she's finally free from suffering after so long. We will carry her spirit with us in the future when we dance."

When she was alive, Zhou revealed that her mum, who was canteen stall assistant in a secondary school, would head off for dance practice immediately after work and dance for four, five hours at a time.

"My mum loved to perform and used to be a getai singer when she was a teenager. She got into line dancing only later on," said Zhou, who added that Chen "was very different when she was on stage" and was "full of charisma".

Even when Chen first began her cancer treatment, she would still go for practice twice or three times a week. "After she shaved her head, she wore a headscarf to dance and we even bought her several coloured scarves to match her different dance outfits," said Zhou.

Zhou told Shin Min that although Chen's chemotherapy treatment continued for over a year, the cancer was found to have spread to her liver, bones and brain last month. Chen also lost over 10kg as a result and weighed only 32kg.

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But Chen's fighting spirit was relentless, and she insisted on seeking a second opinion even after her doctor told the family last December that her condition had worsened. The doctor had suggested that Chen not go through with an operation to remove the tumours.

Zhou recalled: "Even though she kept getting bad news, she didn't give up. But her body became very weak from September last year and she was in and out of hospital from fever and a low white blood cell count.

Chen would occasionally be hit by waves of sadness, telling her family that she "didn't have much time left", said Zhou. She made Zhou promise to take care of her father, elder sister and younger brother.

Zhou added: "After more than 20 tumours were found in her brain, she was still looking for another doctor to treat her. We were supposed to see a doctor last Friday, but now it's too late..."

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candicecai@asiaone.com