Rest In Peace
I came to London some time in September. It's been 5 months. And throughout this 5 months, I lost 3 relatives.
I was pretty close to my grandaunty when I was younger. The last time I saw her was 4 years ago and I'll never get to see her again. Grandaunty had a small pair of eyes. Very very mata sepet. She had curly hair and was always in the a-ma clothes. For some reason, I remember her wearing shiny, purple/bluish colour clothes. She spoke Heng-hua to me while I spoke Hokkien to her and whenever I could, I used some Heng-Hua words, hoping she could understand me. This happened some time ago but I can still remember. It was in October many years ago, while I was still in secondary school. It was during the festival of the 9 Gods (Kao-ong-yah). I went to the temple for the vegetarian dinner with my mom and siblings one night. On the way, we bumped into Grandaunty. She was old and could barely walk without the aid of a walking stick but I remember her walking without the stick. She was struggling. Mom told me to walk Grandaunty to where her daugher was so I obliged. Grandaunty held my hand and we walked. She talked to me but I could only understand half of it. But I remember her telling me this in Heng-Hua- So many children calling me mm-ma (grandaunty) and a-ma (grandma). I'm so happy. I didn't know how to respond so I smiled. 4 years ago, Grandaunty fell down in the toilet and was bed ridden. She was very fierce to her children and her daughter/son in laws but some how, when she saw us, she was very, very kind. Mommy massaged for her and I spoke to her. As I was due to leave for Bangor, she told me not to marry a white guy but to marry a chinese. I joked : if I marry a white guy, mm-ma can go overseas to attend my wedding. Mommy said: hmph! if you marry a white guy, mm-ma won't go at all! and we laughed. Grandaunty wanted to die so badly then. She told Mommy that she saw her relatives, whom were in the other world (read:dead) came to bring her away. Of course, Mommy told her not to think about it. I'm sad I lost a grandaunty. I'll never get to see her anymore. And all I have is memories of her.
Then some time in December, I lost my granduncle. My grandma's brother. I never go to see him too. Some how, the older generation (i.e. my mom and her uncles) are not very close. My mom used to tell me how inconsiderate my granduncle's wife is. But I believe, that's between the older generation and there is no need for us to hate them. I still respected my granduncle and I'm close to my aunt. I don't remember when was the last time I saw my granduncle. I didn't even see him when he was down with stroke. I sort of expected his death because he was stubborn- he refused medication and the doctors- but I never expected him to leave us so soon.
And on the 12th day of Chinese New Year, I lost my Uncle- my second aunty's husband. I'm never close to this Uncle because we couldn't communicate. He's Thai and I can only speak broken Thai. I hardly saw him because he was always out of the town, doing business. I was shocked to hear this piece of news. After all, no one told me Uncle had any illness. When I called my Mom, she was in Thailand but refused to tell me what happened. A week later, I found out Uncle had passed on. Mom said she didn't want to tell me because I had an interview and she didn't want me to be in shock. She wanted to email but hadn't got time to do so.
Mm-Ma, Ku-Kong and Yi-Tiu, may your souls rest in peace.
I was pretty close to my grandaunty when I was younger. The last time I saw her was 4 years ago and I'll never get to see her again. Grandaunty had a small pair of eyes. Very very mata sepet. She had curly hair and was always in the a-ma clothes. For some reason, I remember her wearing shiny, purple/bluish colour clothes. She spoke Heng-hua to me while I spoke Hokkien to her and whenever I could, I used some Heng-Hua words, hoping she could understand me. This happened some time ago but I can still remember. It was in October many years ago, while I was still in secondary school. It was during the festival of the 9 Gods (Kao-ong-yah). I went to the temple for the vegetarian dinner with my mom and siblings one night. On the way, we bumped into Grandaunty. She was old and could barely walk without the aid of a walking stick but I remember her walking without the stick. She was struggling. Mom told me to walk Grandaunty to where her daugher was so I obliged. Grandaunty held my hand and we walked. She talked to me but I could only understand half of it. But I remember her telling me this in Heng-Hua- So many children calling me mm-ma (grandaunty) and a-ma (grandma). I'm so happy. I didn't know how to respond so I smiled. 4 years ago, Grandaunty fell down in the toilet and was bed ridden. She was very fierce to her children and her daughter/son in laws but some how, when she saw us, she was very, very kind. Mommy massaged for her and I spoke to her. As I was due to leave for Bangor, she told me not to marry a white guy but to marry a chinese. I joked : if I marry a white guy, mm-ma can go overseas to attend my wedding. Mommy said: hmph! if you marry a white guy, mm-ma won't go at all! and we laughed. Grandaunty wanted to die so badly then. She told Mommy that she saw her relatives, whom were in the other world (read:dead) came to bring her away. Of course, Mommy told her not to think about it. I'm sad I lost a grandaunty. I'll never get to see her anymore. And all I have is memories of her.
Then some time in December, I lost my granduncle. My grandma's brother. I never go to see him too. Some how, the older generation (i.e. my mom and her uncles) are not very close. My mom used to tell me how inconsiderate my granduncle's wife is. But I believe, that's between the older generation and there is no need for us to hate them. I still respected my granduncle and I'm close to my aunt. I don't remember when was the last time I saw my granduncle. I didn't even see him when he was down with stroke. I sort of expected his death because he was stubborn- he refused medication and the doctors- but I never expected him to leave us so soon.
And on the 12th day of Chinese New Year, I lost my Uncle- my second aunty's husband. I'm never close to this Uncle because we couldn't communicate. He's Thai and I can only speak broken Thai. I hardly saw him because he was always out of the town, doing business. I was shocked to hear this piece of news. After all, no one told me Uncle had any illness. When I called my Mom, she was in Thailand but refused to tell me what happened. A week later, I found out Uncle had passed on. Mom said she didn't want to tell me because I had an interview and she didn't want me to be in shock. She wanted to email but hadn't got time to do so.
Mm-Ma, Ku-Kong and Yi-Tiu, may your souls rest in peace.
