11th
May 2013
940, Leg Sore and I visited Madam Ho. Upon reaching her house, she was busy fixing her old table fan (20+ years old?), which was clanking and squeaking noisily as the blades spun. And so, we went into her house and helped her out. I gave the fan a few sharp raps, and the fan became quiet. Leg Sore was so mesmerized that she cried “哇！厉害咯！” Very 洋洋得意之际，the fan gave a few snorts, and groaned even louder. And for the next 10+ minutes, we were busy rapping and unscrewing and doing whatever we could to shut the fan up, but in vain. Then, Madam Ho said, “来来来”; slowly, she approached the fan, 碰碰这边一下，转转那边一下，and ---- the fan quietened. “风扇只听我的话，不听你们的话啦。” said Madam Ho in Hokkien.
“风扇只听我的话，不听你们的话啦。”
Later, as
usual, we helped her clean the house and chit chatted with her while we did our
work. Then, Madam Ho asked me “没有早点回 Penang跟妈妈庆祝母亲节啊？” Suddenly, I 晴天霹雳：I TOTALLY
FORGOT THAT IT WAS MOTHER’S DAY. Secretly cursing myself, I full of shame地answered her “嗯嗯嗯”。
Then came Lu Ting and Jie Min. Lu Ting is one hyper and cheerful girl; she made her way into the house and greeted Madam Ho loudly and happily. Don’t know why, her loud greetings reminded me of 财神爷 shouting “恭喜发财！万事如意！”, or Santa chanting “HO HO HO MERRY X’MAS!” And so, the atmosphere of the house became a lot more 热闹, like that of the festive seasons. On the other hand, as it was Jie Min’s 1st visit to Madam Ho’s place, Jie Min introduced herself to Madam Ho, and got this in return: “你是中国人啊？”
It’s time to leave. Having Madam Ho’s reminder in mind, I approached her and wished her “Auntie, 母亲节快乐！” she looked taken aback, and was at a loss for words for a few seconds, until ---- she 默默地凑上她的脸 to me, and I gave her a peck on the cheek, and 摸摸她的头。And then, everyone came over to kiss and hug her.
The scene of Madam Ho’s touched expression, and everyone kissing, hugging and wishing her “母亲节快乐” 深深地烙在我心底。An Auntie who is not our 亲生母亲 can be so touched by our Mother’s Day greetings; try imagining how happy our own mothers would be, if we greet them that. I headed back home, with a plan to do what I have not been doing for the past 10+ years: to greet my mama ---face-to-face--- Happy Mother’s Day; however, with an 遗憾 that it had to be done through skype..
母亲节快乐，Madam Ho!
18th
May 2013
This Saturday, the volunteers who came 只有小猫两三只：Shawn, Hui Jia, Lu Ting, Jie Min, Yi Hui, Chun Hai and I. Shawn and Hui Jia accompanied Mr Tay to a temple in Ang Mo Kio, while the rest of us visited Madam Khadijah.
This was the 1st visit to Madam Khadijah’s for all of us. As she is the only Malay elderly in the T.H.E Seniors list, we were all curious and eager to meet her. As we reached her house, the answer revealed: Madam Khadijah is a plum lady with a broad cheerful smile and a booming voice. She was not wearing her tudung, and so we can see her short, clean-cut hair. However, of all her characteristics, the most significant is: SHE CAN TALK. ALOT. KNOWLEDGEABLY.
We offered to do house chores for her, but she waved us off, and asked us to just sit down and chit chat with her. Her reason was that, she is worried if we will fall out of her windows while cleaning them, and she needs to be held responsible for such cases. Moreover, she admitted that, every time after some other people mopped her floor ---- she will mop it again.
And so, it was just a chit chat session with Madam Khadijah this Saturday. She 一口气 told us a long list of dates, of which she needs to go to the hospital ward for checkups and operations --- I really 佩服 her memory 到五体投地；she let us know of her worries regarding her upcoming operation and of her missing his son and grandchildren, to the extent that she could not sleep for the whole night before our visit；she also told us about her few love stories. As she told us her stories, I was more and more impressed by her fluent English, great grammar, 清晰的思路 and 渊博的知识；until she told us: “I was a staff nurse” ---- 原来如此…
Then, Madam Khadijah’s bestie, another Malay lady came over. Both of them were really nice people, as they kept apologizing to us when they conversed in Malay; finally, they resorted to chit chatting with us in English, while putting their matter aside for the time being, in which they find talking about it using Malay is more comfortable, but rude as to speak Malay infront of a group of people who do not understand the language.
Before we left, we introduced ourselves to Madam Khadijah. It was Jie Min’s turn to introduce herself, and. She got this. Again. “Are you from China?”
All in all, it was a nice visit at Madam Khadijah’s. Through interacting with Madam Khadijah, I can see that she is an independent woman who is positive and strong, 凡事靠自己，有想法又有强的分析能力，大方豁达，kind and tender, 疼爱家人之余又懂得爱惜自己。她套着旧时代女性的躯壳，却拥有现代女性的灵魂；A great role model for us 现代女性indeed. Ladies, 向 Madam Khadijah 看齐 yo!
Madam Khatijah: take 1.
Madam Khatijah: take 2.
Xueting :)
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