“All that I am, or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” -16th US President, Abraham Lincoln
HAPPY Mother’s Day today to all mothers and to the special women in our lives who have nurtured, supported, and loved us.
My friends, today, some of you will be busy bringing your mother out for a special meal. Never mind if it’s breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner. Some children and husbands will also be giving their mothers/wives gifts like flowers, jewellery, or handcrafted items.
As for me, today, I have no mother to bring out for a special meal or to give presents to. I am sad to inform you that my dear mother passed on a few years ago.
Still, today is a good day to think of not only my mother but also all the special women who had/have nurtured, supported, and loved me like my maternal grandmother, who departed this life decades ago, and Aunt Catherine, who passed away a few years ago.
Today, it is appropriate for me to also think of some female teachers who had taught me well when I was studying at St Elizabeth’s Convent School, an all-girl school in Sibu. I am happy to report all these teachers are still alive and kicking today.
My mother had two younger sisters – Rita and Catherine. Aunt Catherine, the younger of the two sisters, has died while Aunt Rita is alive but lives far away in Kanowit in Sibu Division.
It is fitting for me to think of Aunt Rita today because she loved my siblings and I and never scolded us. Long ago, she moved to Sibu and rented a small room at Tiong Hua Road. When we walked home from our school at Oya Road to our house at Moi Hung Road, sometimes we would pass by her place. If she saw us, Aunt Rita would always invite us into her humble abode and feed us with delicious food. We would then go home satiated and happy.
Sometimes we did not meet Aunt Rita because we used a different route home. As kids, my siblings and I were extremely adventurous; we liked to use different routes home, especially the long and winding jungle roads.
I had a very strict mother who did not like her opinion or decision to be contested. She also expected her orders to be carried out promptly. Those who disobeyed her would be severely punished. I was a very obedient girl because I found caning very painful.
When I was in secondary school, my mother told me to study hard and to forget about boyfriends. “Education is more important,” she told me. Although my mother did not have the chance to go to school, she was very smart and could write her own name. She could also sew simple dresses for my elder sister and I.
My mother mellowed out as she aged and became a grandmother. She loved travelling and often visited Johor Bahru, where my younger sister lived, with her grandchildren as well as Singapore. She lived with me in Kuching until the day she died.
My mother was very close to my niece, Ah Hong; she looked after the girl ever since she was four months old. She used to send Ah Hong to school by bus and would wait for her in the school until the classes were over.
My mother’s cremated remains now lie in St Peter’s Columbarium, Jalan Padungan, Kuching. Ah Hong and my younger sister, Ah Lan, never fail to visit my mother there whenever they return to Kuching for holidays.
Although the old lady is gone, I see her everywhere, especially in the pictures we took during special festivals and occasions. Sometimes, I think I see her in my own face.
My maternal grandmother died a few years after I began working in Kuching. She was a hardworking lady who was good with her hands. She could make lovely baskets from rotan and other jungle plants as well as delicious cakes and dishes. Whenever my siblings and I visited her during the school holidays, especially at the end of the year, she would serve us sugar canes and freshly boiled sweet corns that she harvested from the farms. She knew how much we loved them.
I wished I had taken the trouble to learn some of the handicrafts and cakes from my grandmother. But then, when we are young, we never think that one day, the people around us will be gone forever.
Like my mother, my grandmother believed in the power of education and used to encourage me to study hard. Instead of bringing me to her farm, she insisted I stay home and read my books. Grandma died less than three months after grandpa died. Although they argued a lot, my maternal grandparents loved one another very much. I think grandma died of a broken heart after grandpa died. She was buried next to grandpa in Kanowit.
Aunt Catherine died a few years before my mother. She worked as a domestic servant in Kuching. Like my grandmother, she was a good cook. Whenever she came a-calling with her husband, she would bring us food as gifts.
She loved me very much and, like my mother and grandmother, used to encourage me to study hard and work hard. One afternoon, she took a nap after complaining of a terrible headache. But she never woke up from her nap. She is buried at a Catholic cemetery at Mile 13 in Kuching.
Usually, I am not sentimental, but Mother’s Day also makes me think of some of the female teachers who had nurtured, supported and loved me in their own way during my secondary school days.
One was Madam Teo, who was pint-sized but blessed with a loud and strong voice. She taught my classmates and I English in Form Two. She gave us pages of grammar exercises. Very often, I had to burn the midnight oil and crack my head to fill in the blanks and complete the sentences. Today, I thank Madam Teo from the bottom of my heart for giving me a strong foundation in grammar.
There was another English teacher known as Imelda Wong. Educated overseas, she was a modern thinking teacher and encouraged my classmates and I to write essays on any topics we liked. That was when I was in Form Three.
Another teacher, Maria Dris, taught my classmates and I English in Form Four. The night before her class, we had to read and comprehend all the words in a given chapter in our English textbook. Those who gave the wrong answers had to stand up the next day in class. All were allowed to sit down when someone came up with the right answer.
Although I had no inkling I was going to be a journalist then, at that young age, I was already expanding my vocabulary and deepening my understanding of the English language, thanks to Cikgu Maria.
The years have flown but I will never forget my mother, my grandmother, Aunt Catherine and the special women in my life who had/have nurtured, supported, and loved me. To all of them, I say, “Thank you for your love from the bottom of my heart. Happy Mother’s Day!”
The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of Sarawak Tribune. The writer can be reached at adelinel888@gmail.com.
