MOTHER'S DAY
14 May 2006
Mom celebrated her 80th birthday last year. We are extremely fortunate that mom is still with us and in good health. Dad is still around too. It looks like the Ng family is blessed with the longevity gene.
Mom was born in KL in 1925. She was married off at sweet 16, a hastily arranged marriage before the invading Japanese army occupied Malaya. Life in those early years were no bed of roses. Food and basic necessities were scarce. Only the big towkays could afford the luxury of domestic help. Family planning was also not in vogue. Despite the adversity, in the space of 12 years along came 6 children before she reached 30. Although her hands were full, Mom managed to enroll and graduate from a tailoring course. A vocational skill that would be extremely useful had the need arise.
In their younger years, Mom and Dad had very different personalities, much like chalk from cheese. Had their data being fed into a match making computer, the result would have been a zero match. But then, the match maker of the past era would not sweat over such frivolous and intangible details.
Mom had been all her married life, a full time home maker, fully devoted to her children and husband. She is a homely, filial, warm and generous person. Her only vice (if it can be labeled as such) was her passion for a game of mahjong.
By contrast, Dad was an anglophile, corrupted by the vices of her majesty's servant in Colonial Malaya and proudly educated in an English stream school. I have no recollection of Dad going to work or ever going to work. I remember while in school, I had to check with him every year what to put as his occupation in those school forms and was told to write the ambiguous "contractor". He seemed to have it easy. He drank, bogied, gambled and womanised. Dad was a stern man with few words. I don't remember him telling us a joke. We stayed clear of him when we were young.
The years flew past. The children grew up and left home one after another for further studies and work. Mom and Dad were left very much to themselves, except for the relatives and friends in quaint old Kluang town. The outward expression of love has never been a strong point in our family. This is even more so with the older generations. I had not seen Dad buying Mom a present. Even concern is expressed as a admolishment for being so careless. But the companionship and love definitely grew and mellowed with each passing years. When Dad was seriously ill and had the operation in Singapore, Mom was at his bedside the whole time. That was the purest expression of love. Dad expressed his gratitude to Mom when he declared that he loves her very much followed with a big kiss, during their Diamond wedding anniversary celebration. It is so beautiful to have parents that are still in love with each other after all these years.
HAPPY MOTHER'S AND FATHER'S DAY.
Mom celebrated her 80th birthday last year. We are extremely fortunate that mom is still with us and in good health. Dad is still around too. It looks like the Ng family is blessed with the longevity gene.
Mom was born in KL in 1925. She was married off at sweet 16, a hastily arranged marriage before the invading Japanese army occupied Malaya. Life in those early years were no bed of roses. Food and basic necessities were scarce. Only the big towkays could afford the luxury of domestic help. Family planning was also not in vogue. Despite the adversity, in the space of 12 years along came 6 children before she reached 30. Although her hands were full, Mom managed to enroll and graduate from a tailoring course. A vocational skill that would be extremely useful had the need arise.
In their younger years, Mom and Dad had very different personalities, much like chalk from cheese. Had their data being fed into a match making computer, the result would have been a zero match. But then, the match maker of the past era would not sweat over such frivolous and intangible details.
Mom had been all her married life, a full time home maker, fully devoted to her children and husband. She is a homely, filial, warm and generous person. Her only vice (if it can be labeled as such) was her passion for a game of mahjong.
By contrast, Dad was an anglophile, corrupted by the vices of her majesty's servant in Colonial Malaya and proudly educated in an English stream school. I have no recollection of Dad going to work or ever going to work. I remember while in school, I had to check with him every year what to put as his occupation in those school forms and was told to write the ambiguous "contractor". He seemed to have it easy. He drank, bogied, gambled and womanised. Dad was a stern man with few words. I don't remember him telling us a joke. We stayed clear of him when we were young.
The years flew past. The children grew up and left home one after another for further studies and work. Mom and Dad were left very much to themselves, except for the relatives and friends in quaint old Kluang town. The outward expression of love has never been a strong point in our family. This is even more so with the older generations. I had not seen Dad buying Mom a present. Even concern is expressed as a admolishment for being so careless. But the companionship and love definitely grew and mellowed with each passing years. When Dad was seriously ill and had the operation in Singapore, Mom was at his bedside the whole time. That was the purest expression of love. Dad expressed his gratitude to Mom when he declared that he loves her very much followed with a big kiss, during their Diamond wedding anniversary celebration. It is so beautiful to have parents that are still in love with each other after all these years.
HAPPY MOTHER'S AND FATHER'S DAY.
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