Sunday, January 27, 2008

Story of my Family

Too lazy to update this blog last night. Well I don't really spent much time infront of my beloved PC since I've been out and about yesterday.

Spent the whole evening visiting Wak Mie, my 2nd aunt at Putra Height with my mom, Pidah and Wak Siti (Pidah's mom-my 5th aunt). So here I'd like to tell ya'll a little bit about my family on my mom's side.

My mom is the youngest of 6 sibling sisters and being refered to as Bibik Jar. Wak Bariah, the eldest sister who lived in Tanjung Malim, Perak passed away 2 years ago. Two of my aunts (Wak Nong and Wak Nah) live in my mom's hometown, Kuala Selangor while my mother, Wak Siti and Wak Mie live in the outskirt of KL. That is why I am closer to my KL aunts' families compared to to those in kampung. All 3 families used to live nearby (Cheras Baru and Bandar Tun Razak) . In 2002, Wak Siti's family moved slightly further down of Cheras to Taman Kota Cheras. Last year Wak Mie's family moved to Putra Height, somewhere between PJ-Puchong area I think.

I'm from Javanese decendance. My great grandmother came from a village named Banyu Mas, Java Island in 1800. That's why we are using the title of Wak, Paman and Bibik in the family as a way to show respects and seniority. Wak is the title to the elder aunts or uncle while bibik is for the younger aunts and Paman for the younger uncle.

My grandma (Hjh Halimah) is now 83. Not as strong as she used to be but still a tough old woman. She's like an iron lady...a survivor of 2 different cancers, cervic/uterus and tonsil (need to double check with my mom later). Of all the family, my family went back to Kuala Selangor the least. My mom left Kampung in 1973 and since then she seldom came back especially after she got married. We only paid visits once or twice a year during raya celebrations. However we managed to pay my grandma more frequent visits these past few years now I'm big enough to drive. Nowadays I try to visit Nenek as often as I could and bring my mom back to kampung with me. Its time to move on from everything that hold us back...

During my mom's younger years, she was very close to her grandmother (My Great Grandmother/moyang) compared to her mother. Most of her elder sisters got married early and left home to started their own family. My moyang was her best friend after Wak Siti (Pidah's mom) went to study in boarding school. My mom's heart was broken when my moyang died of old age in 1973 just few months before she started working in KL. She had promised her to buy a present using her first month of salary. Ahhh...suddenly I'm in tears...sob sob sob...I felt sad for her coz she still regret it til today. She never failed to mentioned this everytime we talked about her younger life. Some memories are hard to swallow and they keep coming back to us. Guess that is why my mom didn't fancy going back to kampung before.

By the way, lets move on to my grandfather (Hj Ahmad Chakri) . He passed away in 1985 of kidney failure (need to double check too). I didn't get the chance to really get to know him better. My mom often told me stories about how great he was in everything that he did. He was a handyman, an engineer, a carpenter and a mechanic all in one. Guess that's where my mom got the skills to do stuffs. She used to followed him around watching and learning by his side from fixing bikes to repairing electrical items to carpentry to cooking...everything!!! Including his bad temper and impatience to do everything so quickly(oops....ampun mak!)

So there goes a story of my family. I wanted to write more but my fingers doesn't seem to colaborate well with the speed of my brain at the moment. I'd like to try and write serious article about my mom's family. Perhaps I can try to get it published someday hehehehe my dream....well as my beloved cousin said " Tak salah mimpi...Mimpi tu tak kena bayar" (softly translated to : "We are free to dream coz dream don't cost a thing") .

To all my family, friends and you...whoever you are...

"DREAMS ALL YOU WANT...ITS FREE!!! WITHOUT A DREAM...LIFE IS MEANINGLESS...DREAM AND TRY MAKING YOUR DREAM COMES TRUE...IF IT DOES, YOU GET TO ENJOY THIS LIFE BETTER...BUT IF IT DOES NOT, YOU STILL GET THE CHANCE TO ENJOY YOUR IMAGINATION BETTER." - Honey AJ

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