i believe that a family is the most important unit you should belong to on earth. there must be a reason why God made people have a closer relationship with their families.
God could have made people such that they leave their family immediately after birth. Like how a colt (baby horse) after being born, learns to stand on her own four legs, and start running about.
families are crumbling all around us - bitterness, hate, envy, anger.
my family has gone through its bout of quarrels and disagreements. but when you're all under one roof, like housemates in college, you learn to accept and give and take accordingly.
let me introduce the Goh Family to you:
Daddy
The ship-guy. Commander Goh.
An affable person with a ready smile on his face. His wierd sense of taste once had him buy me a blouse which had a pattern so different that I didn't know how to wear it. He also used to buy me a leather (pure leather) bag for school. I was in secondary school where fashion and trend was a MUST. I used the heavy-leather-smelling bag for a few days before switching back to my blue-white UMBRO backpack.
Mummy
Aunty Betty. Tau Keh Nio.
An air of elegance that belies her age and job. Loyal and caring. A person so friendly that she would be able to make friends with the stanger on the street in 10 minutes, or less. Going on an organised tour overseas with her is never dull. By the end of the tour, the whole tour group is her friend. Going to pasar malam with her is like going for a reunion, where she meets people she know every ten steps.
Popo
Wu Mama.
Even for her age, she's quick-witted and sharp. She loves to sing and it amazes me how much time she spends to learn the word of God. After having raised 4 kids and being on the move when grandpa changes job, she's quick and a person who never forgets to let her grandchildren know that Jesus loves us.
Kongkong
Wu Papa.
After a scare of stroke last year, he has receovered pretty well. He can't exactly walk much now, but he's still healthy and I love how he sometimes joke about and grin his funny grin. As all grandpas do, his main mission when we were kids was to bring us to playgrounds and buy me my first bicycle at the age of 7.
Koko
Charles. Koko. Brother.
A patient man, like Dad. A bassist. A jazz-man. His interests range from computers to music to sleeping and eating. Used to be my arch enemy when young, where he will always take the blame for my mistakes. The typical big brother who will wonder "why do I have to have such an irritating sistser!". My one pleasant memory of him is how when i fell helter skelter from my bicycle onto the tar road, tearing my knee apart, causing lots of blood, with bits of bitumen in my knee. He plucked some grass to chew in his mouth, and placed it over my knee. (eewwww...) I don't know if he knew what he was doing, but it stopped my crying long enough for me to limp back home. :)
Meimei
Nette. Lyn. Ngiao Kia.
A waif of a girl. Tall and thin and shy. A dancer with back problems. A musician on the keyboard. A dreamer with worries. Future phsycho. She's got more guts than she wants to admit. She used to be nice and plump and fair. I don't know why puberty had her shot up like taugeh (bean sprout) and ended up taller than me. She used to not like to read books at all. She used to write her essays exactly as how she would speak. "Then..." "Then...". Until she was forced to read books. It's always the first books you read that makes an impact - hers was Anne of Green Gables. Now, she's a book-person. Hooked.
Me
Salad. Gu ta lang. Charred.
The book that made a difference for me was Enid Blyton's Naughtiest Girl in School. First introduced to me by Aunty LC. That made me read all (almost) of Enid Blyton's books throughout my life.
I don't have my sis-in-law's pic at the moment. I'll have it up soon.
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