Happy Birthday to you, me and everyone人日!

Renri or Yan Yat (Chinese: 人日, literally Human Day), refers to the seventh day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar. This year’s Renri falls on 29^th January which is today.

According to Chinese legends, Nuwa (女媧) was the goddess who created the world. She created the animals on different days. Chickens were created on the first day, dogs on the second day, pigs on the third day, sheep on the fourth day, cows on the fifth day, horses on the sixth day and humans on the seventh day. Humans were created from the mixture of earth and water. Thus the seventh day was the birthday of mankind. To feed mankind, she then created cereal on the eighth day.

If the weather on Renri is fine, it can be forecast that God will grant good luck to all people on earth while rain means a tough year ahead.

Since the first six days of the first lunar month are considered birthdays of different animals, Chinese people avoid killing these animals on their respective birthdays. Prisoners will not be punished on Renri.

To celebrate Renri on the seventh day of Chinese Lunar calendar初七人日撈魚生慶生日, a dish of seven types of salad with raw fish called yee sang “Seven-color sliced fish” (七彩魚生) is eaten both at homes or restaurants. Just toss the ingredients with a pair of chopsticks. The higher you toss them, the better luck you will garner. Don’t forget to utter auspicious phases as you toss the yee sang!

 

So, Happy Birthday to one and all!

Eat, drink and be merry but…….

Please pardon me for uploading this video clip at this time of the year – when we are wedged in between bunny’s tail and dragon’s breath, as my favorite food blogger puts it. Yes, I know many of you might find it unpleasant, nauseating even.

Food is an integral part of any celebration. What is a festival without indulging in some feasting, right? For some, it is a way to reward ourselves for working hard the past year. Most of us are thinking of what to eat in the coming days. I hope shark fin soup is not one of them.

As you all know, shark fin soup is a very expensive delicacy, served in the best restaurants, on special occasions. A piece of authentic shark fin can fetch a very hefty sum. This video shows exactly how shark fins were harvested. Baby sharks were hauled out from the sea, have their fins chopped off mercilessly and then thrown back into the sea – blood flowing, raw wound and all. Can you imagine the lingering pain these poor animals suffered? They were left to bleed to death just like that. They have to endure excruciating pain in the course of satisfying the palate of a few.

Many people are beginning to say “no” to shark fin soup. It is pure economics – the demand and supply theory. When we stop demanding for shark fin soup, less baby sharks will be killed for this purpose.

Having reunion dinner in the restaurants is getting popular as people do not want the hassle of cooking at home. If you and your family are having the reunion dinner in a restaurant, this is a good time to say “no” to shark fin soup if it is part of the menu.

Another young animal that has to endure great pain and early death is the little piglet. In fact they are still suckling when they were cruelly torn away from their nursing mothers, slaughtered and roasted to perfection and then presented on the table as “Yue Chu.” I think many of you are familiar with this dish, prized for its thin and crispy skin, best eaten with plum sauce and hot buns called “Man Tao”.

Start the year by saying “no” to cruelty to animals and practise compassion towards them instead. I am sure you will feel good doing a small part in relieving their pain. You are planting a merit. You are practicing a good deed. Yes, we can eat, drink and be merry but please spare a thought for these poor animals whose lives were shorten horribly so that they can grace our dinner table. Our collective efforts will make a big difference to them. It is not difficult to say “no.” It is all in your heart.

 

“ Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison

by

widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures

and

the whole of nature in its beauty. ”

Albert Einstein quotes

(German born American Physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity. Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. 1879-1955)

A legendary race to Buddha’s side…..

“Please summon all animals, big or small, wild or tame, to see me for one last time before I make my departure from this world,” Buddha instructed Ananda, his closest disciple, one day in 483 BC.

At 80 years of age, The Enlightened One was dying and he wanted to bid farewell to all animals. Of course the animals loved and respected him very much. They were all eager to meet him too.

The cat and rat were good buddies at that time. They play, eat and sleep together. The cat, upon hearing this news, wanted to take a beauty nap first before going because it wanted to look prim and proper. “Remember to wake me up when it is time to go,” it reminded the rat before curling itself up and drifted off to sleep.

This cunning little rodent thought to itself, “The cat is bigger in size than me and its legs are longer, surely it will reach faster than I.” “No, I must run first, or else I will be left behind!” Off the tiny animal ran and along the way, met the ox who was also on his way to meet Buddha.

“Hi Mr. Ox, how about giving me a ride on your strong and handsome horns as my little legs were tired from all the running?” asked the rat.

The ox was a humble and kind animal. He took a pity on the little rat which was panting breathlessly. ”Alright, alright, get on my horns, my little friend, and I will get you across the river!” answered the friendly ox.

When they reached the other side of the river, the little rat jumped down from the horns and ran as fast as it could. It was the first animal to reach Buddha’s death bed. As a result, it was named the first animal in the zodiac calendar. The ox was the next animal to reach and was named the second animal in the cycle.

Of course the cat was furious when it got up and found the rat missing. It felt betrayed by its best friend. From then on, the cat would chase the rat around and eat it up when it sees one.

Meanwhile, a tiger roared loudly on its way, frightening many small animals along its path. They ran helter-skelter to make way for the King of the Jungle. The great feline managed to clinch the third place at Buddha’s side.

A cute little hare hopped and hopped tirelessly to reach the gathering place. It was given a place of honor as the fourth animal in the zodiac calendar.

There was a small village suffering from drought at that time. The villagers were begging for some rain to end their sufferings. The Jade Emperor, upon hearing the people’s pleadings, dispatched the mystical dragon to bring rain to the land. After sprinkling water droplets all over the skies, the majestic creature soared high into the sky before landing at Buddha’s side. It was the fifth animal to make it for the farewell gathering.

A horse came galloping from a faraway land and on its way, met up with a snake. The cunning reptile coiled itself around the horse’s hoof, thus saving itself from having to glide a long journey. When it reaches the site, it uncoiled itself and made its way to Buddha’s death bed. It was given the sixth place while the horse was placed seventh.

After grazing the grasses to its content, a little goat ran over to meet the Buddha. It was the eighth animal to reach there.

The ever greedy monkey swing from tree to tree, plucking fruits and stuffing itself full before making its journey to see the Buddha for the last time. Upon reaching, it found itself to be the ninth animal to arrive at the scene.

“Are there any more animals who wish to see me before I closed my eyes forever?” chuckle the Buddha.

Just then, the rooster came walking in, fresh from his daily duty of waking up the people at dawn. “Ah, so you are the tenth animal that I saw today!” Buddha exclaimed.

Before he could finish speaking, in ran the dog. He was rather late because he had to wait for his master to come home from work before he could take his leave.

“A dog is man’s most loyal, reliable and faithful companion. Although you are late but you did come and I shall honor you with a place in the zodiac, the eleventh place!” Buddha told the canine.

Lastly in came the pig, just aroused from his sleep and reached there in time. It was the twelfth animal and the last in the zodiac calendar.

“Farewell my friends, I wished I could wait longer so that more animals can come but then the time for me to go is already here and I could not wait anymore!” he said to them and closed his eyes, leaving this earthly world for Nirvana, the Land of Everlasting Bliss.

From then on, the Chinese lunar calendar, consisting of a cycle of twelve years, was named after these animals. The rat was always the first while the pig was the last, just like it was on that fateful day when they made their legendary journey to see the Buddha for the final time.

Yes, this is another story Dad told me as we made preparations for the Chinese New Year. Hope you will like this one as well.

Good for laughs only!

I very rarely read mainstream newspapers these days. But that does not mean they are totally absent from my home. Oh yes, I always have some in hand. I found them quite useful at times.

They are good for wrapping some junks like empty glass bottles, sanitary pads, chicken skins and fish bones after a meal. By wrapping these items using newspapers, the rubbish will be a lot easier to handle when you throw them into the bin.

With the festive season coming, I foresee I will need more newspapers as we will be eating more chickens and fish in the coming days. Also, I will be using a lot more tomato and oyster sauce for my cooking, so more glass bottles to be thrown away.

For the past few days, I took some free newspapers from the LRT station behind my house for this purpose. Today’s the SUN got me laughing all the way back home. Just look at the headline – WATCH what you eat – Health Ministry launches calorie guide for Chinese New Year treats.

Yesterday, our Health Minister, Liow Tiong Lai, launched a guide to healthy eating for the festive season with a booklet titled “Healthy Eating for Chinese New Year.” It contains nightmarish details of the calorie contents in our favorite festive goodies.

According to him, 5 pieces of peanut puffs is equivalent to 500 calories which in turn is equivalent to 45 minutes of hard jogging. He said by consuming 500 calories every day, a person can gain 1 kg in just one week.

He went on to say non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, heart diseases and obesity is on the rise in the country. In fact Malaysians are getting heftier and bigger by the year. Adult obesity had increased by more than 250% in the ten years since 1996. A particular glamorous lady comes to mind. No prize for guessing who she is. LOL

Our Health Minister urged us to “talk more and eat less” during this coming New Year. He said we should cut down on portions, taking plain water instead of sweet or fizzy drinks and think twice before having just those extra little treats.

Oh yeah Mr. Lai, try telling this to me, a mom who had spent the last eight years walking to her children’s school twice a day, every day, just to deliver home-made breakfast and home-cooked lunch because the foods sold at the school canteen border on junk food.

How do you rate the calories for foods such as fried instant noodles, nasi lemak, roti canai, nuggets, sausages, hamburgers, fish balls, kuihs and carbonated drinks sold in the school canteen?

What will happen to the school children should they consumed these stuffs day in day out, years after years? Just tell me how much calories these food carries and how long will it take to burn them away.

I am dying to know because I have two teenagers who are sometimes tempted to buy such foods to keep up with their school-mates. They got teased at for eating home-cooked food. They were considered ‘not cool’ or ‘not in’ for eating mommy’s food every day.

You did not do anything about this, did you? Or are you not aware of this problem? If you did not do anything or are not aware, it speaks very badly of you as the Health Minister of this country. Either you are plain ignorant or you just sweep the problem under the carpet; pretending everything is fine when it is not.

So, Mr. Lai, can you help us solve the problem in the school canteen before you even talk about festive goodies? I don’t think you will because most probably your own kids are not in these local government schools. I almost forget, kids of rich people or ministers usually goes to elite private schools overseas and therefore, they are not affected.

If we do not indulge during festivals which only happens once a year, when are we going to indulge, pray tell me. The obesity problem which you are trying to emphasize so painfully does not come after eating some festive goodies for two weeks. It came after years and years of eating junk foods at the school canteen. Did you notice that beside the adults, there are many children who were obese too? So stop acting like you are the crusader for our health and well-being, because you are not qualified to be one.

That said, my nerves got better now although I was quite upset, frustrated even, when I first read the article.

Perhaps tonight, after dinner, I might hop over to Carrefour to do some last-minute shopping. Top of the list is yee sang (one plate = 900 calories), two boxes of mandarin oranges (100 kg =50 calories) and a few crates of carbonated drinks (325 ml = 130 calories).

But for now, bring the cashew nuts (40 g = 230 calories) and pineapple tarts (4 pieces = 140 calories) on, they are my festive favorites and I can’t wait to sink my teeth on them!

Oh no, on second thoughts, I think I will save the pineapple tarts for next week. My children will scream if I finish them.

As I was ranting on this piece, my mouth is full of cashew nuts……… and New Year is four days away!

Long long ago in ancient China……

“Run over here and sit on my lap,” Dad gestured to me one evening after a simple dinner.

I was in the kitchen, observing Grandma and Mom making “Far Sang Kok” or peanut puffs with coarse sugar. Grandma was gently rolling a piece of dough with a glass bottle on the table while Mom was sitting on a small wooden stool, diligently grinding some roasted peanuts in a stone mortar with a pestle.

Chinese New Year is just around the corner and we had already cleaned up Dad’s coffee shop the night before. It was time to prepare some delicacies such as “Far Sang Kok” and “Har Bang” or prawn crackers. These snacks go down very well with “Sarsi” or “F & N” and for kids, this is heavenly!

“Come, let me tell you the story why we celebrate Chinese New Year, why we wear red clothes and light up firecrackers,” Dad offered as I sat myself comfortably on his lap. I think he wanted to lure me away from the wok which was filled with hot boiling oil, readied to fry the puffs and crackers.

“It all started with one word – fear,” he said, before going into the story behind the annual spring festival.

“Long ago, in some remote mountains in ancient China,” he began, “lived a ferocious beast called Nian (simplified Chinese: 年兽; traditional Chinese: 年獸; pinyin: nián shòu). It has the look of a lion. Nian loved to hibernate during the long winter months. It slept and slept the days away. When spring finally come, the snow melts and the sun’s rays came shining through. It’s time Nian wakes up and goes searching for food to fill its hungry belly,” my father recounted, tickling my stomach to emphasize how hungry the beast must be and I burst into childish giggles.

“Now, Nian was a carnivorous beast. It loves to devour every little animal in sight. Unsatisfied with this, it would make its way to the nearby villages to prey on the peasants and their families. One by one, children were eaten up and this got the people terrified. The villagers were at a lost as to how to get rid of this dreadful beast. Life became a misery for them,” he sighed.

“One day, a wise old man paid a visit to the villagers. He was actually a benevolent fairy in disguise. He heard that the beast was afraid of red colors and loud noises.”

“Hang some red lanterns and banners outside your homes. Put on red clothes. Bring out your drums, gongs and cymbals. Create as much noises as you can with these instruments. Better still, light up some firecrackers. Red colors and loud noises will frighten the beast away. Give it a try to see whether this method works or not, the old man suggested to the worried people.”

“Left without much choices and living in constant fear of losing more young lives, the people got together and did as were told by the stranger when they sensed that the beast was in their vicinity. They hung red paper lanterns and red cloth banners at their doorsteps. Strings and strings of firecrackers were lit up to the thunderous sounds of drums and gongs,” Dad went on.

“Sure enough, the sight of a sea of red colors and the pulsating noises in the villages sent Nian fleeing as far as its legs could carry it. Seeing the beast had run away, the people were jubilant. They rejoiced by singing, dancing, feasting and congratulating each other for being able to drive the terrible beast away,” he said, locking his fists together to demonstrate how it was done in the Chinese way.

“From then onwards, when winter was over and spring approaches, the people would hang red lanterns and banners outside their doorsteps. They would beat their drums and gongs while letting off firecrackers. All these were done to prevent Nian from coming back. They feared the beast will return to take revenge on them. Of course Nian dare not come back anymore to create havoc when spring arrives,” my father said smilingly.

“Some auspicious terms were coined to describe this annual observation. ‘Nian’ is now used to describe the period of one spring to another, roughly about twelve months or one year. So when you hear somebody says ‘Xin Nian Dao 新年到’ it means a new year has arrived. ‘Guo Xin Nian 过新年’ means moving from the old year into the new one. To congratulate each other for surviving Nian Shou’s cruel onslaughts, we say ‘Gong Xi, Gong Xi 恭喜，恭喜’ when we meet up with friends and relatives. It is a way to express our happiness for being safe from the beast’s path,” Dad explained to me.

“The practice of hanging red items on the doorsteps, beating on the drums and gongs as well as letting off firecrackers soon spread to other villages throughout the empire. Later, lion and dragon dances were incorporated into the celebration too, to create more vibrancy and noises. This practice persisted on to all corners of the globe wherever the people goes,” my father concluded.

So this is what Dad told me and it remained with me all these years. I always think of this story which I heard as a little girl when Chinese New Year is drawing near. My children and I  simply loved it;  hope you do too!

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Lost and found, after thirty years!

 

I really have this whiz kid called Mark Zuckerberg to thank for. Hugs and kisses for you, Mark. With your wonderful invention, I found many of my childhood friends again.

When we left Methodist Girl’s Secondary School Ipoh in 1981 after Form Five, a handful of us continued our Form Six education at Anglo Chinese School Ipoh, for another two years while the rest were scattered elsewhere.

Some went to work; others went to colleges and universities to take up courses. Over the years, we slowly lost contact with each other. We were all busy pursuing our chosen paths – building our careers and bringing up our children.

Once in a while, something like, “Where are Anna Toh Gaik Hong and Yeap Yoke Liang now?” did cross my mind. I knew many are still around in other towns while scores had left for overseas but exactly where they are and what they are doing, I really have no idea.

Then along came Facebook. Slowly I began to discover them again in this social networking media. One by one, familiar names and faces began to appear before my eyes. Thelagavathy Muthiah, Ng Geok Bee, Choong May Leng, Wong Fon Ying, Ummi Kalsom, Alexandra Chooi, Wong Chooi Leng, Koit Hooi Nooi, Tan Kim Gaik and Sin Hui Hsein,  just to name a few.

Of course there were many who do not recognize my face nor remember my name but luckily there are a few who did. It doesn’t really matter whether they recognize or remember me. What matters is that we found each other again, as a bunch of adults now, connected by one common bond – that we once used to study and play together as children and later,  as young girls,  some three or four decades ago.

It awed me to see their photos again. Their faces did not changed much. Just got a bit matured only. They were still the noisy, playful and mischievous girls I knew from the classrooms and along the corridors of MGS; only many were mothers now, just like I was too. We were now out to reconnect with each other again and have some fun too.

Only two days ago I came across this photo of three former classmates. Peh Suan Hee, the lady sitting on the left, used to be a lanky girl everyone called “panjang” which means “long.” She was not only tall but she wore glasses too and that made her rather awkward. Not many students wore glasses at that time compared to now and out of curiosity, I often took her glasses to put them on. By the time I reached Standard Five, I found I needed a pair of glasses too!

Then there was Tiong Wai Quean, sitting on the right. She and I were in the same class in Standard 1C way back in 1971. She went to kindergarten before while I did not. So on the first day of school when I wanted to go out to pee, I was at a lost as to how to tell the class teacher, Mrs. Victor Doss. Being a Eurasian lady, she does not understand a word of Cantonese, which was all I knew at that time. Since Wai Quean was sitting nearby, I asked her how I should tell the teacher that I needed to go to the loo.

“Teacher, may I go out, please?” Wai Quean whispered softly to my ears. I nodded and repeated that a few times.

When I could not hold my bladders anymore, I got up and marched to the teacher’s desk. She was busy filling our records and taking our measurements for school uniforms.

“Teacher, please go out,” I said apprehensively to her.

Taken aback at first, Mrs. Doss smiled at me and said, “It is ‘Teacher, may I go out please, and not teacher please go out’ understand?” she was trying to correct my mistake.

Bewildered, I just nodded. I was more concerned of relieving myself, and the last thing I ever care for was English. It was after all, like Greek to a seven years old girl on her first day at school.

“Yes, you may go out now!” she said kindly and I was off in a jiffy.

That was in January 1971, exactly forty one years ago. Today, when I saw the picture of Wai Quean again, I could still recall this embarrassing moment with my class teacher and broke into laughter.

As for Anna and Yoke Liang, no, I had yet to see their names or faces on Facebook. Where are you both, Anna and Yoke Liang?

http://188hughlowstreet.wordpress.com/happy-new-year-2012-and-gong-xi-fa-cai/

 

 

Back to school

Today is the last day of the seven weeks school holidays. Tomorrow, a new academic year will begin for all school going children in the country. Time really flies!

I think by now most parents have got the basic things ready – uniforms, shoes, stockings, bags and stationery. It is not cheap to prepare a child to school. It is worst if you have a few school going children!

One very important lesson I had learnt over the years is – never ever buy cheap stuffs for your kids. Cheap stuffs don’t last long and if your kids need to use them every day, it is advisable to buy good quality stuffs so that they can be more durable.

Take for instance, the school shoes.

Years ago, I bought two pairs of school shoes from the night market for my son. They looked so flawless and came cheap. But the thing is – they do not have a brand’s name. And guess what? They could not survive a month after school started! The shoes looked like baby crocodiles with mouths wide opened. In the end, I have to buy again. This time I got him two pairs of branded ones. They saw him through the year.

“Cheap things don’t come good and good things don’t come cheap” is true in this case. In other words, a pair of branded shoes is better than two pairs of cheap ones from the night market.

I had just spent several hundreds of dollars on two kids alone. It is roughly a month’s salary of a kindergarten teacher or half a month’s of an office clerk. Yes, it costs that much because secondary school’s uniforms are more expensive than primary’s. This excludes the school fees. So, when you add the school fees into the bill, it will be more than a thousand dollars.

  

It is easier now since many parents have access to credit cards. Just imagine how tough it is for the parents of yesteryear when they do not earn much and have a big brood of children to educate.

I remembered watching my Mom breaking the clay piggy bank in the shape of a rooster and also going to the pawn shop with a few rings or necklaces for some money so that we could start school like the rest. While “First to Bata, then to school” was a popular slogan for many families, it was “First to Weng Fook, then to school” for us. Weng Fook was a pawn shop two blocks from our shop on Hugh Low Street.

  

With five school going children and Dad struggling to make ends meet after our coffee shop had closed down, it was a miracle that we could still go to school and have a decent education. Dad and Mom were both uneducated but they knew the importance of sending their children to school. They were determined to keep us in schools at all costs. The thoughts of taking us out from schools never cross their minds.

We used hand-me-downs uniforms, shoes, bags and books. Since I was the youngest, I was the perfect recipient of worn out uniforms and shoes as well as torn books. But Dad still needs to buy replacements for the elder ones as well as pay monthly school fees. In those days, you have to buy books as government loan books were not available yet.

After getting us started for schools, our parents found that they have no more money left to celebrate the Chinese New Year which normally falls in the same month or a month after school started. So in the end, we did not celebrate New Year for many years.

Those were indeed very tough times for my family although they are firmly behind us now but I can’t help recalling them at times like this when school reopen tomorrow and New Year is just another three weeks away.

Tough being parents but education is so very precious to the kids.

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

http://188hughlowstreet.wordpress.com/happy-new-year-2012-and-gong-xi-fa-cai/

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 35,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 13 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

 

Adieu 2011 and Hello 2012!

I woke up early on the last day of the year, had a light breakfast and then sat down to write the last chapter of the book I was working on. Two hours later, I had finished the last paragraph. I had met my own dateline. Eureka, I made it!

Although it was just a draft copy, I felt much relieved. I hope it will get to see the light of day eventually but if it won’t, it is still okay for me. I wrote for the love of it and nothing else.

To celebrate, my family and I went to that famous “yong tau foo” stall on Peel Road for lunch. It was a dilapidated wooden hut that had seen better days but it serves the best “yong tau foo” in Kuala Lumpur. Their food came fresh and tasty, free from monosodium glutamate and the best part is they came in generous portion.

For my readers from overseas who have no notion what is “yong tau foo”, it is actually pieces of food stuffed with mackerel fish paste, fried to perfection and then served with hot white rice. They normally use bitter gourds, eggplants, lady’s fingers, white bean curds or even mushrooms.  You can dip them in chili or sweet sauce for the extra oomph. This is one of my favorite foods.

I spent the afternoon writing down my New Year’s resolutions. You know what, if you just noted them in your head, you won’t get things done. A few months down the road, those resolutions are gone, either forgotten or got procrastinated. I knew many of us are not good at sticking to our resolutions, agree?

So what I did was to write them down in bold on a piece of manila cardboard and got it stuck to the wall, next to the wall clock. Hopefully that way, I can achieve something by the end of the year.

I spend the rest of the evening cooking dinner with my children. We had grilled dory fish with black pepper sauce, spaghetti, mushroom soup, salad and mashed potatoes for dinner.

While many city folks jammed the discos for the countdown, we joined a sea of humanities on the streets near Dataran Merdeka or Independent Square to watch fireworks. Thousands and thousands of fellow Malaysians were out there, young and old, from different ethnicities and faiths, all hoping to have a good time sending the old year out and ushering the new one in. It was like a huge street carnival –noises, colors and lights everywhere.

The police and Federal Reserved Unit were there too, casting suspicious eyes on the revelers but why are they there in the first place? For goodness sake, we don’t need them there! We were having some fun, not committing some crime! Talk of having the wrong people at the wrong place….such spoilsports and eyesores!

A group of youngsters caught my eyes. They were wearing Guy Fawkes masks from the movie “V for Vendetta” and shouting slogans “Justice is coming”. They were disillusioned with the powers that be. They were demanding justice and changes for the country. Good move, be brave, be courageous, be young. Stand up and demand what is right. The streets are the places to voice our discontents. Don’t be timid and accept blindly or else we are all doomed.

When we got home, I pulled down the calendar and torn the last page of the year into smithereens before dumping them into the dustbin. Good riddance, 2011!

After putting up the new calendar, we went to bed with new hopes in our hearts.

Happy 2012 everyone!

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Dad came home…for some crackers

Feeling exhausted after spending the whole day sprucing up Dad’s house in Ipoh for the coming Chinese New Year, I took a warm bath and slept soundly on the night of December 22nd. It rained the whole day, so it was cold and wet outside.

Hours later,  a loud cough from downstairs woke me up from my sleep. For a few seconds, I thought I was dreaming but I could easily recognise that voice. It was my Dad’s. He often cough loudly to rid himself of phlegm. And when he cough, the sound was so loud it would fill the whole house.

Then it came again. Soon another one followed; altogether, there were five coughs; each louder than the previous one. 

My heart beats faster. I nervously reached out for the little alarm clock on the side table. It was 4:12 a.m. on the morning of December 23^rd.

As I sank my head onto the pillow again and pull the blanket over my head, I heard another sound. This time it came from the tin box where we used to keep biscuits. Someone was opening the lid of the tin box and then closed it back firmly. Dad always used to do that. He loved to eat cream crackers after taking his medication. This was to reduce the bitter taste on his tongue.

I think Dad was back in the house that morning. He was doing the things he would normally do – coughing and eating biscuits, while everyone was still asleep upstairs.

Moments later, I heard footsteps mounting the staircase that led to the bedrooms. I could hear the clinking sound of keys.

My palms began to sweat. The sound paused at the doorstep. Then it was total silence. Nothing happened anymore after this.

After what seemed like an eternity, the sky finally brighten up a bit. I got up since I could not sleep again. As I looked out from the window, I could see a smiling moon in the eastern sky. It’s crescent resembled a smiling lip. I stood there to watch it until it disappeared into the horizon.

“Mommy, I heard Grandpa’s coughing early this morning. He coughed loudly a few times, just like when he was still around,” Nicholas disclosed to me excitedly as he came down from his bedroom.

I was downstairs, brushing my teeth. ”Yes, I heard it too. I thought I do not want to frighten you by not saying anything but it seemed that you were also awoken by his coughing,” I replied calmly.

“I also heard someone opened and closed the tin box where Grandpa kept his biscuits,” Nicholas continued. “Then I woke up Alexandra. We could hear the sound of keys, like he was closing the door before he goes to sleep each night, ” he said. 

The thing is, Dad was no longer in this world; yet that morning both my children and I heard those sounds again and very clearly too. They were familiar sounds to us.

The next day, which was Christmas eve, we went to Paradise Memorial Park in nearby Tanjung Rambutan. We went straight to my parent’s niche.

Opening the metal door that revealed their urns, I said jokingly, “Dad, did you come back last night? We heard you coughing several times, then someone opened the tin box and the clinking of keys, it was you, wasn’t it?”

Hardly had I finished speaking, a little brownish moth flew from nowhere and adhered itself to the glass panel. It stayed there for about half an hour. When we told Dad and Mom that we are leaving, the little moth smacked Nicholas’s head before taking off swiftly into the air.

I could feel his presence; it was so overwhelming that I broke down and sobbed. I still missed my Dad a lot.

That night I paid a visit to my third aunt. She was Dad’s youngest sister and his only surviving sibling from the same mother. She looked like Dad, her features, her voice and her mannerism. When I saw her, it was like seeing my Dad again. Just like her elder brother, third aunt loved me and we were closed.

I told her what we heard the night before and the little moth we saw at his niche the next morning.

“That must be your Dad coming home! Do you know that departed souls appeared to us as insects like moths, butterflies and grasshoppers?” she said.

Yes, Grandma and Mom used to tell me about this too.

“Well, at least the older generation like me still believed in this,  maybe he knew you are back, so he dropped by to see you and the children,” she laughed.

I loved to think he came back to see us that morning, and have some crackers too….

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