My Mother's favourite fish

Today my sister took me to the night market near her house. She showed me the fish stall where Mother used to get her favourite fresh white pomfrets. Today there were quite a lot of the fish.

One thing which I had definitely inherited from my Mother is my liking for the white pomfret. All my three children also had inheritied her love for this fish, probably due to the fact that she had always bought this fish for them since they were small.

I remember my Mother actually did not quite like fish at all. But the white pomfret was an exception, probably because the white pomfret does not really have a very fishy taste. When my Mother ate the white pomfret she did not eat the whole fish, only the tastiest parts, ie. the parts near the wings and the tail.

This is one of the little precious memories that I have of Mother.

Your children will always remember you

Just came back from Fairy Park in Meru, Klang, where Mother is buried. Second brother Tai Kam is back for a one week visit and wanted to pay his respects to Mother. As usual, whenever I visit Fairy Park I had to exercise a lot of self restrain to stop the floodgate from opening up. Looking at my Mother's beautiful picture on the tombstone brought back so much memories for me. I think it did the same for Tai Kam because I noticed his eyes wetting, also trying very hard not to cry.

I remember once in a small conversation with Mother (I cannot remember the context) I asked her " What is more important, to be treated well when one is alive or when one is no longer alive?" Her answer was "Of course when I am no longer alive". I remember the "of course" was very emphatic. I could not understand her reason for saying that then. Now I think I do. Even after death she would like to know that her children remember her and give her the due respect. I hope Tai Kam's visit made her happy because this is his first visit to her resting place after 10 years.

Mother, even though as your children when you were alive, we were not the best children, we will always remember you and we hope you will forgive our mistakes and all the hurt we have caused you.