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