Mother enjoyed looking at big houses

One of the things that Mother enjoyed so much doing was to be driven around the city to look at buildings and big houses, the bigger and the more luxurious looking the better. I used to pamper to her hobby by driving her around the Kenny Hills and Damansara area, and some areas in PJ where there are big mansions, sometimes at her request and sometimes on my own initiative. When my children were small they used to come along and it was not only an outing for them and their grandmother but also a time for bonding. I too enjoyed those leisurely moments with her, which also broke my own monotony.

Mother's strange liking for cliffs

Last night I went to a friend's son's wedding at the far end of the city. So I used the NKVE Duta exit. Driving through the stretch of the expressway with my son, I recalled Mother used to request me to drive her through that stretch of the expressway just to see the cliffs on both sides of the road. The road was a cut - through into some high hills, resulting in high cliffs flanking both sides for quite a long strech. Mother used to marvel at the sight of the cliffs and she used to wonder aloud how the engineers were able to do it.

My Mother really loved her grandchildren

My Mother genuinely loved all her grandchildren. Even though I married against her wishes (and in hindsight I realize how right she was), she loved my children just as much as she loved all her other grandchildren. In fact, my second son used to think he is grandma's favourite. My sister's son also thinks he is grandma's favourite. I think she treated all her grandchildren as her favourites.

I also distinctly remember Mother's claim that each time just before any one of us (her 2 daughters and 3 daughters-in-law) got pregnant she would have a dream that she was given a baby and she would hold the baby in her hand. I believe her.

A piece of my Mother with me

When my mother passed away on 9 August 1998 she had with her a few pieces of jewellery. I remember giving my sister- in- law Lucy the jade ring, my sister -in- law Aminah the jade bracelet. My sister in law Vicky did not want anything as she is aversed to keeping anything belonging to a departed. My big sister kept a pair of jade earings and I selflessly took my Mother's gold band that she wore on her finger everyday and a pair of diamond earings that she wore sometimes. Having these 2 pieces of jewellary in my possession remains the closest I could come to taking a piece of her with me.

My Mother the kind soul

My sister and me were discussing the problem faced by our cousin brother Tai Seow who was involved in an accident. He has been operated upon and could be released from hospital but he opted to stay on despite the high cost because there is no one to look to his needs at home. Sister and I both think that if Mother were alive, she would definitely welcome Tai Seow to stay with her during his recuperation. Yes, Mother was the kind of person. We remember Mother used to allow some of her nephews to stay with us even though we hardly had enough space ourselves.

Memories of the cherry tree

When I was small I used to play for hours under the cherry tree in our compound in Sabak Bernam. I still remember most of the time I used to play under the tree, but sometimes I climbed onto the tree when I had company. There was once when I was on one of the tree branches and played there with several other children about my age group. As usual Mother would come out to call me for lunch. On this particular occassion I refused to come down the tree. When Mother scolded me I told her I wanted to play with my friends on the tree. Suddenly she gave out a scream, climbed up the tree herself, brought me down and promptly shut the door. When my Father came back from work I heard her telling my Father there were no other children on the tree with me. This memory had stayed with me for so long and although memories had become blurred, I am still sure I did play with several children on the tree.

The morning glory reminds me of how Mother used to struggle

Today during my daily brisk walk I came across a beautiful bush of morning glory. I was reminded of a time long long ago (more than 45 years ago) when I was a 14 year old girl in lower secondary school. Our class teacher ordered us to bring a bunch of flowers for the vase on the teacher's table everyday. Most of the girls in my class were from well to do families. They would buy flowers costing quite a lot when it came to their turn to fill the vase. It became almost like a competition of who brought the nicest flowers. I definitely was not looking forward for my turn. I definitely was not looking forward for my turn. I received 20 cents each day for my snacks in school from Mother and there was no way I could afford the money to buy flowers for the vase. I had planned for a few weeks. When it came to my turn I brought a pair of scissors in my schoolbag and cut a big bunch of morning glory from the fencing of the army depot on my way to school. I felt very ashamed when I put the flowers into the vase and even more ashamed when the teacher said "Who brought this? You should not bring wild flowers like this!" Now, I think she should be really really ashamed of herself, not me. Fortunately for me she was transferred to another school soon after that and the tradition of bringing flowers for the vase stopped.

One thing I was very conscious of when I was young was how Mother had to struggle to manage the little money that Father gave her for household expenses. Sometimes she even pawned her precious little valuables she had kept for many years. I remember I normally did not use the 20 cents Mother gave me every day (unless I had to buy a pencil or an eraser or other stationaries). I did not like the big crowd in the canteen during reccess and I wanted to save the money. When I saved enough, about 2 dollars, I would give the money back to Mother. She was not a demonstrative person, but everytime I gave her my savings I knew she was moved, although she would always advise me not to go hungry in school. Actually I was never hungry because my best friend used to share her imported biscuits with me.