Something miraculous occurred over the weekend and it was never done before. For the 1st time, I engaged in a heart to heart chat with my mother. Prior to this miraculous day, I was always busy. I am busy either with coursework during my university days, or busy with chasing girls; busy with playing the latest computer games or busy with OTs. This Saturday was like a god blessed Saturday. Somehow on that day, there was no OT at work, somehow all my friends were unable to meet up with me and somehow my internet connection went down. I was bored like hell, but I was determined to go out. As such, I had this crazy idea; why not go out with my mother?
We had dim sum and somehow we ended in a starbucks café. Trendy Huh? To be in a starbucks café with your MUM. Anyway, she spoke about my grandma, and tales cum gossips about her siblings, the sort of daughter-in-law and mother-in-law conflicts and battle of wits between her mum and my uncles’ wives. Such battles were as exciting as reading “Romance of three kingdoms”.
And she also talked about her childhood. You see, growing from a poor family in the kampong area, my grandma could only afford to send her to a private primary school run by the communist party then. It was the 1960s yeah. As such, she has very good dealings and friendship with a lot of communist friends. She recalled once, there was a huge raid on communist in the kampong area, and in a decisive manner, my grandma instructed her to burn away all her textbooks and photographs with her communist friends. It was so exciting.
Then we also talked about her childhood misdeeds. The most memorable event was when she saw a huge stack of scribbled papers wrapped in a plastic bag outside her home. Thinking it was trash, she threw it, only to realize later that those were illegal 4d bets. You see my grandma has accepted money from the syndicate to offer their place to safe keep the betting slips during raids by police. The triad towkay was so furious that they threatened to cut off the hand my mum used to throw the slips away. It was eventually resolved by my mumÂ’s friends who were senior leaders in the communist echelon. In fact, it may seem ridiculous but the communist party enjoyed wide support among the Chinese community in that era.
Another funny incident occurred when she moved to HDB estate in Whampoa area. Then while playing in the estate one day, she stumbled on a clock which was hung on top of a tree, hidden partially among the leaves. The clock looked new, and out of curiosity, she climbed up the tree, and tampered with the timing, adjusting the hours and min hand. An hour later, there was a huge ruckus in the void deck. Little did she realize that the clock was placed there by an illegal football betting syndicate, where the position of the hour and minute hand indicated the payout rate and match date. The ruckus happened because those folks placing the bets are furious at the mis-interpreted payout rates from the tampered clock. My mum sure made the syndicate lose money like hell then!!!.
Anyway, at the end of the day, all I want to convey to you is, please spend some quality time in chatting with your parents and you will realize most of them had an exciting childhood and family experience. That knowledge on retrospect will in turn make you understand why your folks insisted on raising you up a particular way. Treasure it and start making time for such quality chats!
