Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Endearing old folks .....


These are my parents. The woman on the left is my 5th aunt, the youngest sister of my Dad. We used to live under the same roof, in Club Street.

We paid her a visit on the last day of CNY. My Dad and his siblings hardly meet, unless it's festive seasons like the CNY. One thing I've observed is that whenever the older folks gather, their conversations would invariably lead to topics of yesteryears. They would reminisce about our living years at Club Street where life was hard but simple. They would talk about the old neighbours with whom they've lost contact. My aunt wondered out loud if some of the older neighbours had kicked the buckets. My Dad would relate stories about WW2 and how he was robbed of an education. He was about to enter schools when the Japanese invaded Singapore. And I juz sat there, enthralled, listening to their lively conversation.

But I juz learned something about my mum that kinda shocked me. Well, I learned that mum had aborted the last of her two kids after the arrival of my kid brother. This is something that my mum has never told us kids. All we knew was that there was a boy (my kor kor) before me, who was still-born. And all this while, we thought there were only four of us kids - my kid sister and brother, my elder sister and myself. So, in fact, there would have been seven kids! We could had been one rowdy bunch!

We can understand why my parents did what they did. Life then was already hard with four kids to feed. To have more kids would make our lives even harder. I know, some folks gave their babies away back then. But I guss my parents juz decided to do what they thought was the best for the family under the circumstances.

This is a chapter of my mum's life that she's never told us. Can you imagine it takes 42 years for me to know this? It juz shows how little I know of my mum .......

Category: Yesteryear

12 comments:

Victor said...

Wah, your sob story is even sadder than some. Got two innocent lives got snuffed out leh! I am so glad you got to live. Otherwise I wouldn't have you as a friend.

And I am still waiting for you to upload a photo of your wife, not your other aunties hor.

Chris Sim said...

Yeah... happy to be alive (and kicking somebody's arse). I'm glad to have found a friend in you, too. 有缘份,才可当朋友嘛!

You leave the Slim Lady alone!

Lam Chun See said...

Victor; dare not even put up your own photo yet want to ask other people put up their wife's photo.

Lam Chun See said...

Good that your parents are still around. Why not share some of their stories; their struggles, how they came together that sort of stuff that present generation no longer get to her.

Anonymous said...

Oh, sometimes you only get to know these "secrets" during CNY, ya? Plus, the elders can remember well (very well) things in the past, but not the present.

Chris Sim said...

Tigerfish
You're spot on! We seem to remember things that happened long ago; but have problem recalling what happened yesterday! I'm sure 51-year-old Victor would agree .....

Chris Sim said...

Chun See
My Dad is already 78 years old. My mum is 10 years younger. Yeah, I juz might put up some stories about my parents sometime later....

Chris Sim said...

Victor,

One of the 10 COMMANDMENTS:

"Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's wife....." (Deuteronomy 5:21)

Drum this into your THICK SKULL.

Unknown said...

what made your mum suddenly bring up that topic?

Victor said...

For some things that happened long ago, I can forgive but I can't forget. Hence I remember them. On the other hand, for some things that happened yesterday, they are forgettable. Hence I don't remember them. ;)

Chris Sim said...

Keropok man
Thanks for dropping by. My aunt was juz relating how poor most of the people were back then in the 60s/70s in our old home in Club Street where some of our neighbours had not enough to eat. She cited a child of a neigbhour who was so hungry and that he would juz pick up strands of noodles on the groudn and stuff it into his mouth. Sometimes, he found insects and little mice and ate them! That was when my mum revealed the thing she did, saying that our family was poor and could ill-afford additional food. That piece of news hit me from out of the blue!

eastcoastlife said...

My Mom 'killed' two of my siblings too. It was tough bringing up 3 kids on meagre earnings. I remembered my grandma came over to give Mom a good scolding when she heard that she went for an abortion.

I can now understand how tough it was for her to make the decisions at that time.

Mom does still blame herself for aborting my siblings. She cries whenever she thinks of it.