Mom and dad are back from china. Both are looking healthy and happy. Heard that they have been climbing hills and swimming for exercise. After a rather stressful week with the car, i am very glad my dad is back to help me with it now. Somehow dad is always the one to... what i call "shou1 shi4 can2 ju2" (i.e. clear up the wreakage) most of the time. Actually, throughout the year without them, i am slowly learning all the skills to do such things on my own. For example, knowing what is wrong with the house and getting people to fix the aircon, door, house alarm system and the various things that will break down etc. Or even knowing what is wrong with the car from the radiator to the fan belt to the engine fuel tank. The latest new knowledge i have picked up about "what can go wrong with a car" is something called a regulator. Most of the time i fare pretty okie on my own with what little i know and by trying to solve the various little problems, i am accumlating useful knowledge that will come in handy when i have a family of my own. But still, there are days when i cannot help but wish that my dad will be around to tell me what to do.

Somehow, it always feel like there is nothing too great to tackle when dad is around. I think i will probably continue to feel that when i am 37 or 47 because dad will be indefinitely wiser and more experienced than i am. And i appreciate whatever that he has imparted to us throughout my life. When i was young, i used to think that my dad is the smartest man on earth. Even though i don't quite think the same now, i still feel that he is wiser than alot of people i know. He has a wealth of experience and knowledge, while not necessary of the "academic" kind but is exactly the kind that will distinguish you in everyday life. In other words, my dad is particularly shrew and street-savvy. Sure, he didn't exactly do very well in school (he always maintained that it was due to him working and studying part time), but he always said jokingly that he would have scored a distinction if he was tested in "she4 hui4 da xue2" (i.e. "society's university" - real world) and i agree wholeheartedly.

From the day that i was born till now, my dad has lived through many trials and tribulations to reach where he is now, a successful businessman and husband and father. He left his hometown in Muar to Singapore when he was very young and work to support himself through A-levels. He was a clerk in an antique import/export company and later on became a successful interior furnishing businessman. In fact so successful that he even refurnished the sultan's palace in JB. He knew plenty of big shots and made his mark in his early 30s. As he was proud and successful, he too suffered from the bane or temptation of most businessmen, women. But ultimately love for the children and family prevailed and from that experience, he became a better husband. He has always been a good and loving father, and it was from that experience i realized that we, his children, has always come first in his heart.

In the recession of '85, he went bankrupted and lost his business and money. At that time, we had just moved to singapore and for 3 years, we were constantly in debt and was literally living from hand to mouth. To skip a long and tedious story of my childhood, it took my parents almost 5 years to finally reach a stage where we can be comfortable and stop worrying about money altogether. That is not to say that as kids, my brothers and I had a difficult time. Sure, at times we didn't have any pocket money for a long time or any toys or even material comforts that we used to take for granted while living it up as little princess and princes. But we had enough to eat and had lots of fun playing with friends around the neighbourhood. We lived through a period of initial embarrassment of knocking on strangers' doors to advertise my mom's home-catering services and became deliveryboys for a while. My brothers and I had been involved in one way of the other in "illicit smuggling operations" across the causeway while our family were trying to make ends meet. It was a fun-filled and exciting childhood all in all and one thing we had learnt was how my parents never gave up. My dad, though depressed for a while about losing everything, picked himself up and with the help of my mom provided for us whatever they could. Whether rich or poor, up or down, our family had always moved on and my dad has been the captain and my mom, his first mate. It never fail to amaze me how capable my dad is each step of the way and how supportive my mom is (no matter how i joke about her being "childish').

And as i grow older, i value his insights and advice even more once i had to tackle some of life's issues. He taught me about looking into my finances (which i still fare poorly), how to sort out all the little administrative procedures which plagued our daily lives (e.g. CPF, citizenship stuff, passport, lawyers), how to maintain and upkeep a household and car(ranging from maid employment to household appliances and "what exactly is wrong with the car" 101). My dad is a neat and meticulous man who keeps files of all the necessary documents. By the time we reached 18, he has photocopied all my siblings and mine various personal documents (e.g. IC, passports of family, birth cert, reports from school, piano certs) put into each personal folders to be maintained by us. I could only wished that i am half as organize as him but i know he is what i aspire to be in terms of managing my life. Though there are some life values which sometimes we differ in (e.g. i am too "idealistic" and he is too "pragmatic") but he has always given me the choice to do what i want and supported me mentally and financially.

I didn't realize that i have typed so much about my dad. But then there are so much more i could have written about him. He is kind and helpful though some people will find him too pragmatic or materialistic to a certain extend. But he is a good father and role model to me and my brothers, and sometimes the only thing i worry about is not making him proud. Everytime he comes home, he would lament half-smilingly that the pay i take home will never be enough to support myself and try to persuade me to work for him in china. Each time he knows i would declined but that certainly did not stop him from trying. Yet, it was he who gave me money to further my studies when i told him i wanted to be a psychologist and he who still reassure me that money will not be an issue if i wanted to do my phd. Though i know he wanted me to join him in china, he has never asked me to quit my job and always tell his friends that he is glad that his child can go out and do charity work without worrying about money. At times he would be the one to persuade my mom to stop worrying about me and let me do the work that i want to do. And he is the person i will turn to help keep mom off my back as she is the worrywart (i.e. nagging one) in the family.

My dad is 55 this year. He is not looking forward to retirement because he prefers to keep working and keep his mind active. He also said that it is because he doesn't want my mom and him to be a burden for us kids when he is old, when it is actually the other way around because even if he is to stop working now, he could still be capable enough to take care of the rest of the family. He had planned it that way.

Such a long post but really, nothing can be said enough about how much i love or appreciate my dad and my mom. I am really really really lucky to have them and though i know i irritate my mom periodically, i never stopped thanking my lucky star that they are my parents. I only hope they would never ever regret having me as their daughter and that i hope i will never fail them in anyway.