Mum, I Love You!

My mother, my heroine! She cooks, she sews, she loves, she cares, she disciplines, she advises, she buys and she sells. She was like the woman of Proverbs 31. Indeed she was a wonderful mother of 13 children.

As “Mothers’ Day” is approaching, I begin to recall many sweet moments we used to spent together:

I am the youngest child she bore. As a kid, I used to follow her wherever she goes, she rides a bike and ferried me almost everywhere! She was quite a lady! She still rode her bike till she was 60 years old.

I remember one occasion where we went to visit my uncle (her brother) in Rembia, Melaka. We were travelling from Tampin, Negeri Sembilan on a motorbike. Suddenly, the sky turned dark and it started to rain cats and dogs. We were all soaked and, the worst thing was, that the raindrops felt like needles poking at us, especially when we were riding fast. It was very painful. While I was in the pillion seat, she was in front and was absorbing most of the raindrops. From then on, we learnt a good albeit painful lesson. . Since then, we never traveled long distances with a bike. We would rather take a cab.

My mum was also a great entrepreneur. She bargains, buys and sell almost everything!( maybe I’m beginning to be like her now).She sold clothes, durians, noodles, cakes, cookies etc. She and my father used to own a noodle stall and sundry shop.

I remember when we used to run a sundry business behind our home; the people we serviced were mainly the Malay folks. They called my mum “Nya” short for “nyoya” and as my father was rather fat, they nicknamed him “mok” as for gemuk. One day, a lady came by our shop to buy something. She saw my mum first and she greeted her by calling her “nya”. Just then, my father walked in. She immediately greeted him “mok”…. In that moment, we all burst into laughter. The Malay meaning of “nyamuk” is mosquito!! The poor, unwitting lady called my parents “nyamuk”! Thank God they are not “Nyamuk Aedes”.

Another incident I can never forget was the day when she was baking. She separated the egg yolks and egg whites into two bowls. I came in from somewhere and seemingly trying to help her, I poured away the egg white into the sink, thinking it was just water. Later, when she was looking for it (the egg white), the truth became known. She smiles….……..? No way, she screams…. lah!

She is also a fantastic cook! One of my favorites was “Tau Yew Bak”. It’s simply pork with soya sauce. This dish was forever implanted in my memory because of one incident: Since young, I was a fussy eater. To make me eat dinner fast, my brother will cycle me in a tricycle for one round. Then, my mum will feed me one spoonful of rice. That was the day, I recall saying to my mum,” What rice is this? It tastes very nice.” Later, I found out the “Tau Yew Bak” was the dish that I already named it “Very Nice Rice Pork”!

My mum was a very active person. If my memory didn’t fail me, I’ve never seen her taking naps. She was always on the move. As much as she was a workaholic, she also loved travelling and playing “Ma Jong” with friends.

At the age of 63, a tragic event happened to her life. She had a stroke attack. Since then she was limited in her movements. She was a very determined person; she would rather do things on her own without much help. But, her condition began to deteriorate as years goes by. I thank God for my brothers and sisters in-law who willingly took turn to host my parents in their old age. Towards the last few years, my sister took over and care for her full time. Those were the years that were tough going, both for the caregiver (my sister) and my mum. I could only visit my mum once a week due to my other commitments. At that point of time, she required much physical and medical care. Nevertheless, God is faithful to her. Her only prayer at night was that she will be gone to eternity in her sleep. No more suffering as it were.

On one usual Tuesday afternoon when I visited her, I bought “Indian rice with curry fish head” for her as lunch. I can see that she really enjoyed her lunch especially the “pampadam”. I can still visualize her smiling and munching away that pampadam.

On Friday morning, three days after my usual visit, my sister called me at around 8am. She said “mum did not wake up………”

I tried to calm my sister and drove to her house as soon as I can. As I entered my mum’s room, she looked as if she was in deep sleep. We called for a doctor and the doctor gave us a report that confirmed that she had passed on.

My beloved mum went home to be with the Lord peacefully on 2^nd June 2006 at the good old aged; 83 years old.

Mum, I love you. You are my Heroine forever!