Malaysian physician Dr Francis Ho was one of the happiest men in the world earlier this month when all six of his children gathered for the first time in over a decade to help him celebrate his 80th birthday.And making the gathering even more auspicious were some grandchildren, including two from Bermuda, Cordelia and Ethan Philip.Michelle Philip, who is the daughter-in-law of this columnist, married to my son Anthony, termed the gathering as momentous, as it came about rather unexpectedly. With this significant milestone looming, Dr Ho was overheard remarking that this could be the last time he might be able to see all of his children together in one place.“We did not think that was a just a frivolous or sentimental comment,” Michelle explained, but it was enough for the six sibling to get in full swing and make it happen, up to a point. They live in different parts of the world with different commitments, making preparations difficult to coordinate. They were resolute, and all converged on Kaula Lumpur.“We spent 11 days there meeting up with relatives and eating way too much, enjoying ourselves immensely.”Incidentedly, Michelle is the youngest in a set of triplets (seen above, left), born to Dr Ho. Her sister Rachel resides in Malaysia and Grace in Melbourne.Michelle and Anthony met in the late 1980s, during their final year as law students in London. They married in Bermuda, making Dr Ho a happy man with his first grand child, Cordelia, who is bound for McGill University in Canada next month, having graduated earlier this year from Warwick Academy; and there's Ethan, the only grandson in the family.Dr Ho qualified as a medical doctor at the University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He has been practicing for the last 50 years, working at a clinic he set up in a town called Seri Kembangan, which is near Kuala Lumpur. Somewhat semi-retired now, he likes to keep his afternoons free, working only mornings and evenings.