Her family shifted down to Taiping,Perak when she was about to attend standard one.Ming was then seven years old.She was enrolled into the Convent school there.Her father a teacher himself was transferred to Government fully aided school in Taiping.Prior to this he taught at the private Methodist School in Parit Buntar,
Taiping is actually the second largest town in Perak after Ipoh with a population of 191,104 (2007 census).It is known to be the wettest town in Peninsular Malaysia having an average rainfall of 4000 mm. while the rest of the Peninsular annual rainfall average between 2000 to 2500 mm.Its unusual heavy rainfall helped it to generate fertile collection of flora and century old rain trees in the Lake Garden.
In Taiping they lived in a rented bungalow in Kamunting.It was a house with a huge compound where the children could play in.Around that house were a couple of fruits trees such as rambutan,chiku,mangoes and papayas.Their father by then had brought themselves a car.A Japanese model,the first of the Toyotas-700 series.A very fragile car but can run economically well around town.It was outright the pride of the whole family.
Their father send them to school in the morning and for afternoon classes or lessons they had to go to school on their own or by bus.Everything went on smoothly during her primary education.She was a bright student throughout this period.The same was repeated while she through her first three years of secondary education.In fact she scored very good results for her form three examinations gaining a number of distinctions.
The wide compound offered much space for the mother to establish a large variety of vegetables for the family.There were little doubt that the mother was very green fingers in this field.On top of this she continued to breed a host of domesticated birds like chicken and ducks for the family's consumption.Rabbits were also bred around the house.
Ming thus grew up in a very condusive environment ,a bungalow with a large compound offered a lot of space to run about.The number of fruit trees surrounding the house also provided them much fruits the year round.Rambutan,sour sap,chikus and mangoes came with the house rented.Later some papayas were planted by her mother.Yes,those huge and juicy papayas,fruiting almost at ground level where the kids could even touched them as they played around them.
Ming was quite an active girl and always on the move around the house.While school she joined the Girl Guides movement and on numerous occasion joined them in camping normally around the scenic spots of the Lake Garden and oat least on Maxwell Hill.She claimed to have hiked up that hill resort for at least once and she had been there twice.With the Girl Guides she even had camped there once.
In school while as a teenager she had made an impact as a cook by cooking "Boo boo cha cha"for a school funfair at least once.By her cooking she made a hefty profit for the school fund fair,but to her dismay a teacher claimed that she was charging exobitantly.Was it that unfair?She was earning for the school fund and for a very good cause.Well,the teacher mistook her her kind gesture.
As a school girl she never kept close rapport among any friends and often moved around as a loner.In the evening she enjoyed jogging solo around the Lake Garden.Apparently her father would send her there and left her to jog on her own.He,however would be back to pick her up again sometime later normally after she had completed her round of jogging.
Later her brother with his "Ang Pow" savings brought a racing bicycle for himself but soon got tired of it and left it lying around the house.With that thing lying around she took the liberty to ride away with in the evening omitting the jogging and went joyfully cycling away in the Lake Garden.Well.she never was made to be a champion cyclist but she enjoyed every minute of her cycling while it lasted.
At home actually she was more closer to her brother who is two years younger than her where else the elder sister of his was four years older than her.Whatever it was blood is thicker than water so the sisters and brother were quite attached to each other.Coming to any problems she had it would be most likely with her younger sister and the elder sister beyond her reach,any way.
The family on the whole was a closely netted family with family members only five not a huge family but not too small to be called small.Of course there are relatives to reckon with.They are father's brothers and sisters and mothers 's siblings.They were all in close contact with the family.
Her late father was a keen fisherman often went fishing with his fishing buddies,fishing in either fresh water or in the sea.They were never dependent on the market for them.There were times when the fishing by the old man was excellent and fished in a good catch,more than they can consumed ,their mother skillfully turned them into salted fish with the assistance of our bright sunshine,of course.Their mother was a very resourceful woman,full of wits.
In school she was wholly fully committed in her studies and never had Any problems with her school studies.She mixed well with her class mates all through her studies but in reality she had no very buddy ones that was all.Not that she do not mixed well with others she made friends easily with her friendly attitude but never kept a closed rapport with any that was all.
She joined the school varies activities and was an active member of the Girl Guides Movement.Together with them she had attended all their camping, etc.including hiking up Maxwell Hill the hill resort of Taiping.While she was at that school she attended regularly their Church services and that was where her began to accept Christ as her Savior,however she was never baptized a Christian then.
There were no short comings until she passed her Lower Certificate Examination of which she scored extremely well with seven distinctions and was rewarded by the father heavily with money rewards of $ 50/= per distinction.Well she got a total of ringgit three hundred and fifty and the father happily paid her in full,making her very happy.
However her joy was short lived for as soon as she was promoted to form four the following year she unfortunately succumb to a dreadful disease.That disease sapped her future and took away her right to live a beautiful life which she ought to be entitled.Oh Lord,how can you be so cruel to such a nice little girl at such a tender a age.
In frustration her parents rushed through a series of medical checkup in both private and Government Hospitals only to confirm that she was struck by the dreadful disease namely Schizophrenia,a mental disease.With this confirmed she was thus forced to leave schooling at the prime of her years in schooling.
How could she attend school as she was emotionally having a split personality. She was talking to herself and exhibiting childlike behavior..Many a times talking and laughing or even cried out of the blue.That berserk behavior surely frightened her school mates and teachers alike.She had illusions of things and creaming about them.Worst of all having paying attentions in class,perhaps she was having hallucinations and seeing non existing things.
In sadness the family reluctantly withdrew her from school and pulled themselves together to kept her intact.This they did and extremely successful too.Neither did they kept her at the hospital where she be treated in isolation which could have adverse effects on so sick a child.They prefer to take of her at home where she could feel the warm of home.
Well accordingly they did comfortably well in caring for her,for within months she slowly and surely recovered.It was sheer determination of both parents where pain staking and duration of time with plenty of patient that she recovered slowly.But then she had lost plenty of time in schooling.That was why she only studied up to form four that also she did not complete.
to be continued.This is only a draft
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