Dennis Chew Doesn’t Drink ’Cos His Dad Was An Alcoholic And Used To Hit Him When Drunk

His dad's behaviour when intoxicated is why Dennis has completely sworn off alcohol.

“I don’t want to become an alcoholic,” he confessed. “My parents love me very much, but my dad would forget that when he got drunk. He would apologise to me the next day and I’d cry while he did that.”

Another traumatising episode from Dennis' childhood was the time he was caned by his parents because of a misunderstanding.

“Once, a childhood friend told me to shoplift with him. I refused but he persuaded me to go to the mama shop with him. He asked me to take [the chewing gum] but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, so he grabbed one and we ran out of the shop. He said, ‘Look how easy it is!’ and gave me half of it...”

“I was very proud of myself [for not shoplifting] so I went back home and said to my mum: ‘My friend told me to shoplift today, but I didn’t.’ I was so pleased, but my mum asked me what he had stolen. When I told her that it was chewing gum, she asked me why I had gum in my mouth if I hadn’t shoplifted too. I defended myself by saying that he gave it to me, but she didn’t believe that my friend would be so generous.”

His mum then told his dad that their son had shoplifted. Dennis' dad was so angry that he hit him "even though he was sober at the time,” added Dennis.

When Dennis went to school the next day, he was teased badly by his classmates because his legs were covered with cane marks.

Embarrassed and hurt, Dennis ran to the nearest department store where he decided to shoplift for real.

“I was caught immediately," recalled Dennis. "The person who caught me said that I had to go to the office with them, and they would call my parents. I was overjoyed as I knew that my mum would have to come over. When she reached, she asked me what was going on, and I just looked at her indignantly. She paid for the item and we went home. We didn’t speak the whole way.”

“When we got home, she asked me why I shoplifted, and I said, ‘I didn’t steal [yesterday] but you insisted that I did and and I got hit by dad. So I went to steal something for real because if I didn't it would mean that I suffered that beating [for no reason],’ said Dennis.

Upon hearing that, Dennis' mum hugged him and apologised. “That was the first time she said the word ‘sorry’ to me. She finally realised that she had framed me for something I didn’t do.”

But Dennis' childhood had its heartwarming moments too.

Dennis reminisced how he used to visit the now-defunct Yaohan department store with his mum once a month to play on the kiddy rides.

Next to the rides was a store selling cute knickknacks, and Dennis fell in love with a cup on display.

“I told my mum that I wanted it, and she agreed that it was really pretty," said Dennis. "She picked it up and looked at the price before putting it back and telling me, ‘Let’s wait and see’. I listened to what she said without protest. Two weeks later, she brought me back there to buy the cup. She said my dad had given her some money, which was why she could buy it for me.”

With tears brimming in his eyes, Dennis continued, “I’ve learned at a young age that you don’t need to grab on to something even if you like it. If you wait and work hard, it’ll be yours one day. I have a few cups that look like that to remind me that I have to work hard to earn money in order to buy the things that I want. This is the [life lesson] that my mother imparted to me.”

To find out what else Dennis revealed on Hear U Out, click here for part 1 & part 2.

Tune in to Dennis & the rest of the Breakfast Quartet, weekdays 6-10am on LOVE972.​​​​​​​

Photos: Dennis Chew's Instagram, Mediacorp