My Soldier Story

Sun rise

Suddenly, I’m back into my old house in 62, jalan limau manis. I’m still a kid. It was getting dark, I think its about 7.30 pm. I’m at the back of the house, closing the back gate as if I’m going out to mummy’s shop no 11. there I saw a man, I’m sure it was yeye my grandfather. I didn’t look at him in the face, it was dark and I cant see clearly, but I know that was him. He was there observing my movement. Felt like being watch by him. He was there behind near the back street. But he didn’t talk or speak.

            Then suddenly my handphone rang and woke me up. It was a dream. I look into my ringing hand phone screen, it was mummy calling me. I answer the call. And mummy told me “Ah Loong, Yeye gam jiu zhoi gor hoi shen .”(yeye had past away this moring) and I said  “huh?”. Then mummy repeat it again. Then I ask again and she said it for the third time and “papa is coming to UPM to fetch me home” she added.

            On my bed, I saw the ray of the sun shine into my room, sun rise. It was 6.40am. With the shocking news and the rising sun, suddenly a song played in my  mind “Hong hong de thai yang wang shang pa, ya wang shang pa, Yeye ai wo, Wo ai tha ya-a-a” a song that Yeye tought me how to sing when I’m just a small kid. Meaning: the red-red sun climbing up, climbing up, yeye loves me,I love him too.

Immediately I started tearing.

            Then I put on my

PO

(with shirt with black tie and pants) and went on my way to the collage guard house to wait till my dad came to fetch me. On the way walking there, I sang that song aloud, I cried out.

            Yeye  taught me a lot of things. I’m the eldest son of his eldest son. He rise me up since a child. Bring me to many places. He is the one who taught me how to draw animals such as crabs,prawns, sotong, elephant, rhino and many more. But mummy was the one who taught me how to draw fish. he taught me caligrafy,He also taught me how to make origami aeroplane, a type that looks like a dragonfly. And I believe no other friends of mine know how to make that unique plain and it does can fly .

            Yeye also taught me how to use the sowing machine. The “ta been gay” and “jump che” I can still remember that I cause him injury while teaching me. He was a active and creative person, he help me in my school science projects in building a crane. And a snake stuff with cotton for art class. During standard 1 in SRJK(c)  la Salle, I drew a turtle climbing a mountain that enable me to get the first place in drawing competition. That was my first gold medal award, and he was there on the day I receive my award. And on that day as we’re going back, on the road we pick up a turtule! And brought it home too. Since then, we start to have turtles in our home as pets. He made a cement aquarium for the turtles too.

            But yeye had a hard time while he was small, as a teenager he went through the Japanese occupation hiding in the jungle. They all were hardcore survivors. My grandmother’s sister was being tied up and burnt alive in their house. During that time, my great grand father was a Shaman performs black magic and voodoo. There was a taboo that prevent them to be rich or possessing inheritance. Even if they bought new cloths, they had to make hole in them with “colok”. If got any money, they’ll spend it.

So all these cause them to live in hardship and poor. To me all these bears a curse into the family.

             But during the Zaman Kegemilangan of my grandpa, yeye was actually became a rich and powerful person. And he was involved in some kind of gang. As a ketua he own a lot of respect from people from his “territory” during that time he always wear white coat and white pants, a very smart and handsome man. But he also gamble hell a lot of money, “boros” and “berfoya-foya” in the end all wealth and money was gone just by big time gambling “Mah Jong”

            When the money was use up and debts were all around the waist. Things got worst. He was a brutal man. He beats grandma not with stick but with “tiub tayar motor” which leads to bloody scars, so badly wounded worst than a dog. My grand father’s mum was also a big bully to my grandma. And sadly my father and his siblings grew up in that kind of environment, with no parental love, care and also money but beatings. As brutal as he can be, he hate dogs or animals being inside of the hosue. If he saw Bobby in the house he would just grab anything that he can and flung it at the dog. And don’t you think about having hamsters, he’ll treat it like a rat and once he grab it , he’ll slam it to the marble floor. “Piack!” die.

            Beside animals, we’re also his “mangsa” when we did some thing wrong and he wanted to Rotan us. Matche only kena once of his rotan session-the first and also the last. Her strategy of “Mogok Lapar” works! Since then, I never see her being rotan by him anymore. But for Yokeyoke and me some time once in a while will kena from him from time to time. Due to “pilih kasih” and I’m the son, she kena from him more than I do. She sangat mahir in climbing the door-frame to get the rotan and hide it somewhere or throw away or just simply break it into two then putting it back. But this strategy does not apply to yeye because he was able to take his parang and just cut a branch from the pagar cherry plant, pull off the leaves and shoots and “Tada!.. a new rotan buatan khas” and that special rotan is rough and spiky. Once I kena for speaking foul language and I really kena from him. That night I knew that he’s gonna rotan me, just after he finished watching the Chinese news on 2. that time I hide at the corner the right which there a little hidden space of the balcony out side Matche’s room. He found me. Cane me till I cried out for mercy also he did not stop. Bloody legs.

            After some years, we grew up to be well behaved teenager. And there are no more rotan or scolding. Time past by so fast.

             Yeye was still strong and hardworking for his age, he likes farming, planting sugar cane. When we’re all grown up, he’s old and he doesn’t like garang anymore, he became a peaceful and calm. Even he was sick, he do not want us to worry, tahan sakit by himself. At one point he doesn’t care much of me being a Christian anymore, he does not ask questions or object.

             I still love him, each time a see him, I’ll give him a hug. And he longs to see me while he was in

Ipoh

.

yeye ..good bye.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 26th, 2007 at 7:25 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.