I took a taxi to Tan Tock Seng
Hospital, where a doctor saw me and prescribed me medication.
When I got home, I did not take the
medicine at once, but waited until dinner time. My Aunt, who was a nurse,
scolded me when she found out, as she said that the sooner I took the medicine,
the better it would be for me.
She was, of course, correct. The
spots had appeared all over my face as well as on other parts of my body and
were only arrested when I started taking the medication.
Fortunately for me, it was the
University holidays, so I had plenty of time to mope around the house while
convalescing.
Someone told Mama that she had to
boil a certain vegetable and make me drink the water so that my skin would not
be permanently stained by the spots. Mama very diligently saw to this and made
sure that I drank this drink regularly. I still remember her continually making
the effort to boil large quantities of the drink so that I could drink it
whenever I felt thirsty and even when I did not.
I really must have looked awful
during this time, as one of my older cousins dropped by to pass something to
Mama and he had the fright of his life when I stood up to face him. He let out
a loud yelp of fright before Mama explained to him what I had contracted.
Mama's efforts paid off and
eventually I recovered from the chickenpox without any scarring whatsoever. To
this day, I remember with great gratitude the tremendous amount of care she
took of me.
Mama's warmth was perhaps best
expressed, for me, through the food that she cooked. The best instance of this,
to me, was when she cooked "satay cherlop".
This is the Peranakan version of
satay, which is quite different from the Malay version. As with the Malay
version, the meat is skewered on sticks. However, unlike the Malay version, the
meat is stewed in a golden gravy which has been thickened with ground peanuts
and which also contains chunks of pineapple and slices of tomato.
Our version of satay can be eaten
with ketupat (or pressed rice cakes), but we also eat it with bread (and
normally prefer to). Chunks of cucumber and slices of onion can be added as
side dishes, just as with Malay satay.
Satay cherlop, unlike some of our
other dishes, is not so spicy. Its gravy is mild, rich and soothing. This,
together with the happy sensation of eating slightly more meat than usual,
always contributes to giving me a warm sense of well-being and of being
well-cared for. To me, it epitomises the warmth of Mama's love for us and the
good care that she took of us.
Once, when I was in school, our
teacher asked us to write about a legacy that had been left to us. I wrote
about my grandmother, about how she had given up her gold tree and belt when my
grandfather lost his fortune after the war. Those were the sacrifices that she
made for her family. However, looking back now over the years, I realise that
her true legacy was the unswerving care with which she tended to us always.
She was always up early in the
mornings, bustling around to make breakfast for us. When any of us had to wake
early, we would tell her the night before and she would make it her business to
wake us on time. Now I realise that we did place a tremendous burden on her,
because she used to tell us how she would sometimes wake up at night and shine
a torch at her alarm clock. She was probably even afraid to fall asleep again
lest she should oversleep.
She continued in this way, also
overseeing household chores and the preparation of almost every meal until she
was eighty-six years old. By this time, she was really worn out. Sadly, her
mind and body have progressively degenerated such that she is now incapable of
moving on her own, or even of saying very much.
We love her for all that she's done
for us, all that she was and is. She was our Rock, stoic and unassuming, silent
and strong.
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