Chapter 1 Reminiscence Of Her Childhood IN Parit Buntar

Schizophrenia? What is it? It is a disease that has plaque many,but can be controlled
by heavy sedation of drugs.Thus began my story rather a memoir of an innocent young girl struck by it.

In reality, she inherited it,an illness she never had expected and that partially destroyed her life.Despite her handicapped,almost left alone most of the time, she found the strength to survive through it in life.Her achievements ought to be applauded and be made known.The truth of the her story is astounding and beyond the doubtful minds of many.Shocking maybe yet it was the truth,

Her parents was caught in surprised, dumped founded by her sickness .They were were devastated by her illness.Both tried their level best as parents to provide her the tender and loving care so that she might lead a normal life as most child would.They have two other children,an elder daughter and a younger son.





Parit Buntar is the main town of the Krian district,on the north western tip of Perak and is bordered by the towns Bandar Bahru,Kedah and Nibong Tebal,Penang.Land mark of the town is the clock tower which was built in 1961 and officiating the opening was the late Prime Minister Tengku Abdul Rahman..

In 28th.April '67 a little girl was born.Her father was a teacher in an English medium school.She the second child in a family of three consisting of an elder sister who is four years older than her.After her two years younger was a brother.The family of five lived in Parit Buntar until she was going to school in Standard one.

Their house was a wooden hut constructed by the sides of "padi" fields,a serene and secluded environment.Life have been peaceful and happy for them.Sometimes the peaceful and safe atmosphere can be broken by occasional mishap.There was one incident which was embedded deep in her mind.According to her she,while a child about three, accidentally slipped into the irrigation canal - while trying to retrieve a lovely flower in it.It was a flower of the water lilies.

The water level was well over whelming over her when she felt in.Eminently she would had been drown had it not been for a "Pak Chik" living a stone's throw away saw her predicament as she fell.His kind gesture and good presence of mind, drove him fast sufficiently to run to the spot where she felt.She was immediately pulled out off the water by the leg that instantly.

Thus saving her timely from a watery grave.She thanked her lucky stars and the quick thinking of a fine old Malay man living in the nearby "kampong" for and this she treasured for life.The same old house is still in that "kampong"and she harbored plans of visiting it some day in the near future.

The good environment provided her family to breed quite a lot of domestic animals for own consumption.Her mother a housewife apparently did a fantastic job in the maintaining all these domesticated animals which provided them the source of proteins..She kept not chicken and ducks,she also bred some rabbits.As a child Ming would play with these domestic animals.

On one occasion she and her brother after viewing "western cowboys films" pretending as through they "cowboys: rode on two of her mother's bigger pet rabbit suffocating them as they dragged the rabbits by the ears.The angered mother on her returned gave both a good scolding as well sprankling.So that was her cowboy tales.

Bordering the house were a number of fruit trees which gave the family local fruits to consume.It was definitely beautiful when all food commodities were that easy to come by.The family had had not much to depend on the market for much of their food as vegetables were also planted by the mother as well.It was a wonderful kampong life style for them.The father's main income were only for the purchasing of important food such rice,sugar and others not grown in their garden.

They had a pet dog,given to them by a father's friend.A black color mongrel a very fierce dog which could easily keep all strangers away from that house.This was also their playmate most of the time as the neighbors were siding sparsely apart around.Small town the air was very good those days.

When she was about four to five years old she and her brother attended Kinder garden school there and transporting them to school was a rickshaw pedaled by an elderly Malay man.It was great fun then with five to six kids crammed within a single rickshaw.When it rained did Hell broke loose among them?Oh,no,never they were well covered and fortified by a thick canvas over them,so they wee never wet.

On a hot day the rickshaw would stopped by an ice water stall for the thirsty kids to purchase ice-balls.Yes,ice balls- strewed ice cut out by a plainer, rolled compactly into a ball the size of bigger than a tennis ball.Sprinkled over the ice ball were red dyed sugar plus also further decorated with some brown sugar or "gula Malacca".Brown sugar was actually coconut sugar extracted from "Todi".

The attractive ice ball were their favorites delicacy among children those days and it does not cost much,only five to ten cents each.That cheap- just imagined.these days the ice balls had lost its significance among kids. Modern materials like ice creams have over ruled them into oblivion and not one of our kids today had any idea what it were even if they were still around. Kids today will surely shunned them for better sweeter things to consumed than a chunk of sugared ice ball..

She was attending the Kinder garden when she was old sufficiently to do so.It was an English medium Kinder garden and the teacher she remembered was an Indian lady.It was easy for her then to pick up English.Her father taught English and spoke to them very often in it.Her mother although Chinese educated also spoke to them in English.

The rickshaw was the main source of cheap and easy transportation.Motor cars and lorries were also few and the roads never congested with traffic.Accidents therefore rare. Normal ly then people cycled about to and fro work and were the main transport around town.Her father owed a bicycle which he used it to cycle to school.

She also remembered an event in the days of 13th May '69 where as a child about three or so where she always like to sit with legs dangling out off the verandah when her her mother perceiving this shouted to her,You better come in fast or else some intruders on seeing you might sieged and slaughtered you".Well out of fear for the threat she quickly withdrew her legs and ran into the house.A small event she treasured of her young days.

Ever since her tender age as far as she could remember she had always celebrated her birthday every year without fail, with the mother preparing a nice bowl of "Mee Suah" a soft type of hand made noodles immersed in soup,coupled with two chicken eggs dyed red, specially for her only on that auspicious day,Her mother never forget that until her dying days.

Well.presently with her gone,she still carried on the practice by cooking them herself.Now that is something she long remembered within her.Certain happenings are hard to forget and able to remember and react those in remembrance of her wonderful mother is really admirable.May her mother be forever in her soul and mind.


The writing is incomplete,will be continued with more stories.