A Letter To Myself - How the cello saved Hughes Chong from a lonely childhood and helped his mum recover from stroke

Cellist Hughes Chong remembers the day strangers from the bank entered his house, labelling anything of value because his family declared bankruptcy. During this difficult period, with angry relatives constantly showing up at their doorstep demanding money, Hughes turned to his “buddy” - the cello – for solace.

The composer and founder of the Cellography Orchestra started playing the cello when he was seven, fell in love with it and began pursuing it professionally. 

The instrument would later become a source of strength for a second time when his mother suffered a stroke. Despite a bleak prognosis, Hughes’ mother made a full recovery and learnt to move her fingers again with the help of the cello.  

In this episode, Hughes tells Joel Chua how the strings became instrumental in comforting his younger self and provided hope for his mother to heal.