February 11th

Mom would be 70 today. Birthdays are big deal to her. She bought our birthday cards a year in advance, ok. So today's entry is all about Mak.

Mak oo Mak... or Mamious (my sister liked to call her that, and her usual remark is "kau jgn nak mengada eh"). Never can we call anyone that ever again. Sad.

Ok happy thoughts.

Mak took her personal space and personal belongings very personally. Do not stand near (near meaning 3 meter radius from where she is) her when she's reading the morning paper (let alone reading over her shoulders, a huge NO NO), you would be blocking the 1)light, 2) fan 3) oxigen or 3) chi energy flowing her way (heheheh, kidding). Do not share her things especially at the dining table. She has her own napkin that is not to be touched by anyone else. My sister always choose eating time to play game, "who can sneakily use the napkin without her noticing", which usually end up with one of us having to get her a new one :P

Mak was the Guru Besar at my primary school. Phowar! Hey, I was actually in a different school from standard 1 to 3. Unfortunately, due to my mum's utter dislike of sharing, my school (which was sharing the same building as her school), was made to move a few kilometers away to a new building. A few kilometers which is not meant for walking. The school was behind my house, just 10 minutes (if you takes tiny, tiny steps) away. I was in standard 4 and just made a prefect, when she told me, "Esok kau pergi sekolah dengan aku. Senang". Huh?Huuh?? I was allowed 5 minutes of silent tears. Anyway, the years to come was kind of fun. You would think I would be a spoilt brat ruling the school, eh? Not if you have a mother like mine. I spent the 3 years at the school as rakyat biasa. It did teach me a lot about politics when I ponder back those days. The teachers were crawling over one another to get into my mum's good book....thru me. I was in everything I could possible be. Chess competition (which I totally suck!), hockey, choir (yes, CHOIR!), nasyid, persembahan hari guru dan pelbagai mak nenek acara yg lain. Little that they know, my mother is not to be bought. The only time I ever exercised my "aku-anak-guru-besar" card was when I'm late to school.
"Kenapa lambat?" asked prissy Miss Prefect
"Tanya belakang" would be my usual answer, pointing smugly to my mother who's sauntering behind. Can't you see, that I'm ascorting the Queen-bee herself? That's why I'm late, darn it! Duh!
I was never made a prefect, I get called by the discipline teacher as well, and yes, I have to pick up the school mail everyday (at the school's PO box, at the local post office) because my mum don't really trust her peon. Special treatment? I don't think so.

Mum loves to write. She wrote in her diary every day. She loved writing letters. If she would ever embrace the technology, she'll be the queen of emails. Heck, she might even have her own blog. She's been in touch with a pen pal in UK for almost 50 years. Imagine that. She even managed to meet her when she was in UK on holiday trip. Below letter was the last letter from her pen pal , Brenda.

click on imgae to view

Mum hates that if we wake up late. 7am is late. Her philoshopy, by 7.30am "orang dah boleh sampai London, kau tido lagi". But it's utterly ok to sleep again at 11 am, because it's her nap time. And well, if 7.30 you can reach London.. I fiigure by 11am you would have completed the city tour, so of course, you can go back to sleep. Hah!

Mum hates if we buat pekak when she called us to bring her 1) sudu, 2) garpu 3) senduk 4) mangkuk (yg kecik la bodoh) 5) piring 6) (salah) pinggan 7) tutup periuk 8) garam or anything else imaginable, while she's cooking. When she call, you are expected to be front and center - ASAP. If not, here comes the "Cina depan rumah pun dengar aku panggil kau" lecture. The rule of thumb is always, when she's in motion, you must be in motion too. "Jangan berdiri mcm Stanfort Raffles!". So if she's cooking, you should be either 1)sweeping 2) pretend to be sweeping my sister's favorite) or 3) just go around and around the house pretending that you are looking for something (my favorite). I came to know about the 'pretend sweeping' from my sister eons later. She would just hold the broom and just do a lazy *swish* swish* if my mother is looking. Hampeh! No wonder I'm always stuck with the chores! Well, I figure any 7 year old are easily manipulated anyway.

Mum never hits. But goodness, her kata-kata are killer! Favorite threat " aku sterika muka kau!". Again, 7 year olds are easily threaten as well. Don't worry, the laundry are always piling up (imagine a small mountain), she can never find the iron anyway. If any of us ever gets bad marks, I think the roof would actually collapse. I would personally prefer to run away from home than face her.

Mum loves visiting people at the hospital. I think I have been to almost all of the hospitals in KL. At least the old ones. She spents so much time in the hospitals and only her can understand how much visitor meant to sick people.

Mum must always look good. "Nampak tak uban aku?" I on the other hand, love to dress slopily just to spite her. Heheheheh.

Mum loves the song Bahtera Merdeka. Even sang it once at school during teachers day. Phoawar!

Mum loves kuih tart nenas. Seedless grape. Quacker oats. What else? Anything sweet. I think I inherited her sweet tooth.

Mum loves shopping. Or is it she loves buying things for people. I think I inhertited that from her as well. Favorite shopping place is Globe Silk Store in Jalan Tar. There were frequent excursions to CK Tangs in Singapore too.. but I was too young to remember. Going shopping with her meant that you have to be her personal assistant ie 1) check the price tag 2) look for the items in different color (that is obviously not there) and 3) carry her stuff. I always gave up and come up with "nak muntah" scheme. My brother simply throw tantrums and lie down on any couch or open space he can find and my sisters sulk, sulk, sulk. Ooii happy days!

But despite all, we love you so much, Mak. Beneath the cool exterior, we know you love us too. We missed your phone calls and missed your letters. It's not the same without you.

Here's to you Mak. Happy Birthday!

Al-Fathihah.

This was taken on her 65th birthday

Shout out: To my friends who have lost a parent or both, I dedicate this entry to you. Memories is all we have. Treasure them. Those who still have their parents, enjoy every moment that you can still call someone Mak or Ayah. To ngantukalways, who survived Aquarius parents, here's to us! Happy Birthday to both your mom and dad.