Friday, November 17, 2006

My LifeStory-My Childhood Pt 2

Finally got the time to continue w my blog. When I was born, I was the one and only baby girl in d kampong (as majority of the kids are already in their early teens) hence making me one of the most sort after babies in the sense that many of our neighbours actually queued up to wait patiently at our house every morning for my mum to finish feeding and bathing me. After my bath, one of them will immediately carry me away and dash home. Especially this particular Liow family. The entire family loves me so much that they muz bring me back to their house everyday to play with. That actually relieves my mum of having to look after me so that she can have all the time to do her household chores and tailoring. My mum is such a good tailor that she has many customers coming to our house to get her to tailor clothes for them. Even with her busy work schedule and datelines to meet, she still manages to tailor at least 1 set of new clothes for me everyday. That's why they always say a mother's love is so great. I not only have a new set of clothes to wear everyday, some of them were even embroided with very nice beads and sequins in Goldfish, Dragon and other designs. I still keep a couple of them w me somewhere as
I can't bear to give them away. Besides having new clothes to wear, I was also treated to nightly outings. My neighbours and mum will bring me out to some restaurants and coffee houses to eat ice-cream every night, a luxury which not many children get to enjoy in those days. And I've been to many places of interest like the Zoo, Botanic gardens, etc.... and have many photos taken too. Too bad I can't have all of them posted here for you guys to see.

As I grow up and more and more members (my uncles and aunts getting married and some of my cousins were born,) were added to the family, life in the kampong gets more and more interesting. When I reached school-going age, my parents enrolle me into the PAP kindergarten which my elder uncles's wife is teaching in and I got a trishaw rider to ferry me to and from school everyday. Again, that was a luxury which most kids don't get to enjoy. All the happy and good memories aside, i do have a fair bit of bad memories too. My third uncle (Unlce Charlie) is a very stern and strict man. He dislikes us, his nephews and nieces to misbehave or wander about in the kampong although in those days, it was very safe to do so. Sometimes during the night, some of us (including some neighbours) even left our doors open when we sleep. If he comes home and finds us missing or in our neighbours houses, he would take the cane and cane us badly. Sometimes, our legs will have cane marks of between 20-30 strokes. Especially my cousin Chai and myself as we r the 2 older kids in d family. And if my cousin Chai wakes up and started crying loudly after he couldn't find my uncle or aunt, my uncle Charlie would slap his cheeks a few times until it turns red and swollen. Despite his doing so, when he punishes us, even our mums r not to interfere. Our mums can only look on helplessly and feel the pain in their heart.

Sori, getting tired as I'm stll nursing my cold and the medication which i juz took is making me really drowsy. Guess I'll have to continue another time. Happy reading guys ;p...........

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

My LifeStory-My Childhood Pt 1-Intro

Born to a young (24yr old), handsome & hardworking lad and a very young (18yr old) & beautiful lass in Sept 1967. I muz say tat I have a very wonderful childhood. As a child, I lived and grow up in a kampong. The first 10 yrs of my life were spent there. Growing up in the kampong not only makes my childhood very interesting, it has also carved and left a lasting impression in my life.
My grandpa is one of the wealthiest man in our kampong. He not only owns a few houses which he rents out to several families, he also owns a transportation company w a fleet of lorries which my dad helps to run and he's also a very popular Sugar-cane juice stall owner of the then Lorong 25 market in Geylang. I come frm a very big family. Besides my parents, I hv 3 uncles and 2 aunts and many cousins. Oh, n not forgetting 1 more uncle who still lives in China. And that's only my extended paternal family.
My mum's family is not small either. I hv my maternal grandma who dotes on my alot, 2 more unlces and 3 more aunts and also 1 more uncle who also has his own family in China. Hmmm....getting more and more confusing rite. And at this point in time, I also hv relatives in Taiwan and the United States. I think if I were to list them all down here, those of you who are reading my blog now will fall asleep soon. Not to worry, you'll definitely get to read about them in the days to come.
As for my immediate family, besides my parents and myself, I have a one and only younger brother and an elder sister (juz 1 yr older then me) who passed away even before i was born (this, I only knew about when I was still a kid from a few of my neighbours). My parents have never mentioned about it at all fearing that it'll bring back bad memories and hurting either party. Cause of death of my beloved sister = unknown. Although I've never got the chance to meet my sister, I do miss her quite abit especially when I see some of my friends who has a sister to share their secrets with.
So much for tday, I'll share more w u the next time I update my blog. Thanks for taking time to read. C u soon.