The Dog Ain't Man's Best Friend Anymore!
Friday, June 24, 2005
Welcome to The Evil Empire
What the heck is my clothes' peg doing here?
Ma used to nag at me for studying too much! "You want to be a Zhuang Yen (scholar)?" Ma used to complain when she sees me with my books almost all the time--be it midnight or early morning at 3A.M. I was a good student but Ma was afraid I might go mad studying too hard.
I used to suffer from headaches. Later, I found out that it was due to my myopia (very slight and I never wore glasses). Ma cooked Pig's Brain soup to try to cure me of my headaches.
"It's good for your brains!" she said convincingly.
Pig's Brain tastes just like Tofu Fa. Ma steamed it with rock sugar and red dates for hours till the brain acquired a fine silky texture and the soup became aromatic and honeyed. I braced myself to swallow ma's concoction, but I did it more to please her than being convinced of the fact that it will improve my brainpower. After that, it was Pig's Brain every weekend... I bet none of you had ever eaten as much Pig's Brain as I did in 1974--the year I took my O-Levels.
Today, as a mother, I wish I could will my children to study--even with half the zest I used to display. But it was not to be. The computer has taken over. Welcome to the Evil Empire!
Now being the school holidays, my kids will be at their computers almost every minute of their waking life--whenever they are not eating, bathing or forced to read their books. At any one time, they have at least 5 applications open--Neopets, MSN chat, Itunes, Yahoo Mail and a game--Sims or Pirates of the Caribbean. Sometimes, my son plays two computers at the same time.
And what do you think my clothes' peg was doing on my keyboard? Kean Wah (hidden in the picture) was playing Neopets and in part of this game, he had to press the spacebar to keep his pet soldiers marching. After doing that for a couple of minutes, it dawned on him that he could get some tools to assist him.
"Mum, I need a clothes peg!" he yelled from his computer.
"What?" I shouted from my workstation.
"Clothes' peg--the big one... I need the BIG one!" he pleaded.
And you know what? It worked beautifully. Relieved from having to press the spacebar, he could now use his hands to control some other programs.
According to Garner, people have multiple intelligences. Do not worry if your child is not good at Maths--Numeracy is just not his game. So, I consoled myself. At least he is good at problem solving. A very important skill indeed!
Thursday, June 16, 2005
What's in a name?
The four girls in our family were named: Fun (Fen), Fung (Fang, that's me), Mee (Mei), Moi(Lee Kwoi's twin who died as an infant) and Kwoi (Gui). Put our names together, it sounds like: fragrant and beautiful roses! How ingenious of Pa!
When my girls were borned, Pa chose their names for me. As I do not write Chinese, he would write the name on a piece of paper for me to take with me when I register the births of my girls.
Registering Yi Wen (a.k.a Pleasant Scholar--it was my wish for her to be an academic genius...) was not a problem. I had tucked the piece of paper safely in my bag and produced it when prompted to enter her chosen name in the birth certificate.
Naming Yi-Wei was another matter. In my hurry, I left the piece of paper at home. I dared not ask my husband to turn back as I did not wish to be rebuked. It would not make a difference anyway--he would never take the trouble.
So it was with much apprehension that I approached the registrar's counter.
"What is the child's given name?" a middle-aged lady asked in a standoffish manner.
" Yi-Wei, but I can't write it," I said timidly.
"Can't write?" she glared at me-- almost with contempt.
"Here, choose one!" said Cold Fish, tossing me a Chinese dictionary.
"Come back when you're ready with the name," she seemed to censure.
"Next!" she continued.
I almost dropped dead on the spot. "Yi" was easy--I just had to tell her that it's the same character as the Yi in "Yi Bao" (Ipoh, that is). "Wei" was a nightmare! I went through four pages of entries: Wei as in "hello"; "surrounded","curtain"...
I was sweating though the room was chilly; not forgetting it was just a week after I had given birth and I had not fully recovered from the trauma of childbirth.
I regretted for not learning Chinese when I was young. In my despair, I chose an entry that appeared to be non-offensive and not silly in its description. I still can't write it today but thank God, I was told it's a nice name for a girl.
When my son was borned, pa had already passed away. I turned to my husband's brother-in-law, George, to help us choose a name. He was named Kean Wah (Jian Hua). Jian as in "strong" and Wah was the given name following the family tree.
And this time, I made 100% sure I brought the precious little piece of paper with me to the registrar of births!
When my girls were borned, Pa chose their names for me. As I do not write Chinese, he would write the name on a piece of paper for me to take with me when I register the births of my girls.
Registering Yi Wen (a.k.a Pleasant Scholar--it was my wish for her to be an academic genius...) was not a problem. I had tucked the piece of paper safely in my bag and produced it when prompted to enter her chosen name in the birth certificate.
Naming Yi-Wei was another matter. In my hurry, I left the piece of paper at home. I dared not ask my husband to turn back as I did not wish to be rebuked. It would not make a difference anyway--he would never take the trouble.
So it was with much apprehension that I approached the registrar's counter.
"What is the child's given name?" a middle-aged lady asked in a standoffish manner.
" Yi-Wei, but I can't write it," I said timidly.
"Can't write?" she glared at me-- almost with contempt.
"Here, choose one!" said Cold Fish, tossing me a Chinese dictionary.
"Come back when you're ready with the name," she seemed to censure.
"Next!" she continued.
I almost dropped dead on the spot. "Yi" was easy--I just had to tell her that it's the same character as the Yi in "Yi Bao" (Ipoh, that is). "Wei" was a nightmare! I went through four pages of entries: Wei as in "hello"; "surrounded","curtain"...
I was sweating though the room was chilly; not forgetting it was just a week after I had given birth and I had not fully recovered from the trauma of childbirth.
I regretted for not learning Chinese when I was young. In my despair, I chose an entry that appeared to be non-offensive and not silly in its description. I still can't write it today but thank God, I was told it's a nice name for a girl.
When my son was borned, pa had already passed away. I turned to my husband's brother-in-law, George, to help us choose a name. He was named Kean Wah (Jian Hua). Jian as in "strong" and Wah was the given name following the family tree.
And this time, I made 100% sure I brought the precious little piece of paper with me to the registrar of births!
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Precious Moments
It was evening and I was taking a lovely walk with Pa. This was one evening when I went alone with Pa to pick firewood for ma. Pa made me wear my school shoes and socks to prevent sand from getting into my shoes and pricking my feet. We had to walk over vast stretches of soft sandy land to get to the shrubs. Pa called the sandy stretch of land "Sa Si Pah" (sandy forest).
I was in Primary 2 at the time and studying at the Convent school in Batu Gajah. At school, I learnt to sing English songs, and one of my favourite was "KILLARNEY". I had no idea what the song meant or that Killarney was a place in Ireland with beautiful lakes. The lyrics of the song goes like this:
By Killarney's lakes and fells ;
Emerald isles and winding bay's Mountain paths and woodland dells, Memory ever fondly strays,
Bounteous nature loves all lands
Beauty wanders every where;
....
For some reason, I remembered this enchanted evening very clearly. I could still feel the soft breeze caressing my face as I ran in the sand and sang "Killarney" as loudly as I could. Pa and I were walking by the old disused mining pond near our home.
Perhaps, I had imagined the pond to be Killarney's lake and the surrounding shrubland as woodland dells. As I looked up , I wondered at the vastness of the boundless skies. A flock of birds was flying gracefully above and it made me feel free and un-restrained. I continued singing and Pa was smiling.
I at once knew that I would come to cherish this precious moment for a long time to come...
I was in Primary 2 at the time and studying at the Convent school in Batu Gajah. At school, I learnt to sing English songs, and one of my favourite was "KILLARNEY". I had no idea what the song meant or that Killarney was a place in Ireland with beautiful lakes. The lyrics of the song goes like this:
By Killarney's lakes and fells ;
Emerald isles and winding bay's Mountain paths and woodland dells, Memory ever fondly strays,
Bounteous nature loves all lands
Beauty wanders every where;
....
For some reason, I remembered this enchanted evening very clearly. I could still feel the soft breeze caressing my face as I ran in the sand and sang "Killarney" as loudly as I could. Pa and I were walking by the old disused mining pond near our home.
Perhaps, I had imagined the pond to be Killarney's lake and the surrounding shrubland as woodland dells. As I looked up , I wondered at the vastness of the boundless skies. A flock of birds was flying gracefully above and it made me feel free and un-restrained. I continued singing and Pa was smiling.
I at once knew that I would come to cherish this precious moment for a long time to come...
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