A Tribute to My Mother

My mother is an extraordinary woman. a woman of strength and character. she has lived through the British rule, Japanese Occupation and seen our country gain independence.

my mother was born a Chinese but was adopted by a wealthy Malay songket merchant. she's used to luxury (imagine walking to town in gold embroidered sandals) until she was married off during the Japanese Occupation to my father, who was 17 at that time. she was 14 (god, i didnt know anything at 14). being married to my father meant a change of lifestyle, as she had to be a housewife, during troubled times. she used to tell us stories of escaping to Setiu to find shelter when there were air raids, and to make ends meet when economy wasnt prospering.

as she recollected her memories of the past, i could detect sadness, like when one of my brothers died during infancy. or laugh at her retelling of how she ended up eating only bananas on the way back from Singapore after a diamond shopping spree.

mother's love knows no bound, and she'll go at all length to make the children happy. when i was in Seri Puteri i expressed my desire to have a certain dish (sambal goreng) brought back to school. before i knew it, she was making it. i told her she didnt have to go at such length to do it. i got a stern reprimand from her. she said "this is mother's love for you. a mother never forgets the children's wishes".

i was close to my late father, so when my father passed away, my mother's attention was solely on me. that meant every action was scrutinised. i couldnt understand this at first, but my siblings told me this is because i'm the only one she has left (that she can bully). she was calm and composed when my father died. but six months later, she suffered a stroke, which left her half-paralysed.

when i graduated, my mother insisted that i return to terengganu to teach. being away for so long, and having friends in KL, i rebelled. i was offered the post of journalist with the NST, and dreamed of a writing career, my dream since i was in Seri Puteri. but i had to turn it down. it was a difficult time for both of us. being the youngest, i matured late; and only these past few years did i realise my wrongdoings.

my mother, despite her constant nagging, is a loving mother. she has so much steel and brain in her that we used to joke she'd make either a good Mafia leader or a businesswoman. thus, when she was diagnosed with cancer stage 3 last year, we were devastated. i was very upset when i saw her one day, so aged, wanting to give up on life. she just didnt care about life anymore. it was the hardest time for us, to see our strong mother thus.

now she is among her loving children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. our grand matriarch rules the roost again, but from her bed. our wish is to make her feel comfortable and happy, because she has made us the people we are. i love u, mother.