Recently my mum was spring-cleaning the cupboard where she keeps all our old treasures — things from my pre-teen days right up to items that belonged to my three girls when they were babies. She has always been such a careful keeper of memories. Among the things she found was a stack of flash cards…
Some things in life are more than just objects. They carry stories, memories, and the quiet strength of generations before us. This humble mortar and pestle sitting in our kitchen is one of them. It has been with my family for over 70 years. I only discovered its true age last week. I was mopping…
Life in Ipoh moves slowly for me — softly, almost quietly. Most days are spent with my parents and my soul cat, in a rhythm that feels calm but often solitary. I don’t have many friends here anymore. Most of my close friends from high school have long scattered to other parts of Malaysia and…
Whenever I listen to Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now by Starship, my mind instantly races back to the year 1987 — one of the best years of my life. I was in Form 2, carefree, full of dreams, and surrounded by wonderful friends. It was a time when the smallest things brought the biggest joy,…
This morning, as I scrolled through Facebook, a photo of Cass eating her lunch as a 5-year-old popped up on my timeline. It was a heartwarming memory that took me back to the days when life revolved around the kitchen, school runs, and little giggles echoing through the house. In the photo, Cass had just…
When I was growing up, the world felt like a much safer and more carefree place. I have fond memories of riding my bike around the neighborhood and beyond, often venturing out alone or with Roy, my younger brother. I was around 9 or 10, and he was four years younger, yet our parents and…
At 16, my three girls are living out their passions in ways that are so different from what I did at their age. Cass, for example, is completely devoted to figure skating. She skates three times a week and tells me with confidence that she’ll continue skating for as long as she can. It’s inspiring…
Alycia has been assigned by her high school Drama Club teacher-in-charge to organize an end-of- year school trip for Drama Club members. The destination of choice is Ipoh but she’s open to other places as long as the trip is within the budget of RM200 per student. So Alycia called my parents to ask them…
When my brothers and I were small, our favorite past time activities were playing badminton, climbing guava trees, catching tadpoles in rain water filled drains, cycling for miles everyday, playing card games with our neighborhood kids, flying kites, playing marbles, ‘congkak’ and much, much more. I remember plucking flowers grown at the compound of some random houses…
During the girls’ school holiday spent in Ipoh in June 2014, while my mum was digging out my old ‘treasure’ from her antique ‘treasure chest’ for the girls consisting of my three-decade old collection of Sanrio stationery items, the girls stumbled upon some old post cards in a chocolate box where I put all my…
When Sherilyn saw this creature gliding up our oven door one morning a few days ago, she went “mummy, what’s that?” When I took a look, I saw a baby snail slithering up the oven. The snail had actually come from a bunch of vegetables that we had bought and left leaning against the oven…
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