My Grandmother

My grandmother is nearing the age of 90 has lost almost all her hair. Her hair was so long once upon a time. It was silver and white and was always pulled in a bun. She had a slim figured body and still her back was straight during her 80s but just recently her back is all hunched. She deals her realty related business all by herself and to reach her rumah sewa mostly by public transport if not by feet, she walks everywhere, here and there. She still does it but would have to lie down instantly right after arriving. She loves to buy empty lands and build houses. That was one of her hobbies. She's my inspiration for being an independent woman.

She had 14 siblings and she was the 13th. Her father was a wealthy man that came from Brunei through a ship from Sarawak to KK once upon a time. He settled in KK and met my great grand mother and so from there he was a Malaysian... a Sabahan till the day he died.

Kita sebagai hamba Allah kena selalu beringat that wealth and power is from God Almighty. No matter how many houses you have, no matter how big your land is across the earth you can have it like that dengan sekelip mata and can be gone in a sekelip mata also. Trying to relate this to what happened after my moyang passed away and was left with 14 kids all to themselves.

The man who was trusted to take care of them after both of their parents died( I still don't know how both of my great grandparents died) had a gambling problem. They used to have stable with horses, acres of lands and mansions with many servants. They lived in luxury. My grandmother told me they where so happy when her parents where still alive. They where fed and treated right. Semua mau pun boleh dapat.

The time when they where amidst becoming poor, my grandmother was still a small kid somewhere 10 years old. There was a knock one day at their home and someone told them that their horses/stables and everything else where being reposes because her guardian(the unworthy uncle) could not pay up and lost all his money on gambling. I don't know what happened after that. Where they lived. All I know is that, that's when my grandmother's nightmare began.

Out of no where they started to work to find money. Having older sisters to make them work, she always told me stories that even if she rested for a while or did something wrong her sister(naming one sister particularly) would hit her... kira pukul kaw kaw punya lah. So she worked and worked until she met my late grandfather the policeman.

Being a housewife to a policeman, she didn't have much money. So she did odd jobs like ironing clothes, doing other cleaning jobs and her favorite of all making kuihs to feed her 5 kids. My eldest uncle and sometimes my mom would go around the barik police(police barrack) selling Malay pastries. She had 2 other children but one died at the age 3 due to high fever and the other one died during childbirth. She was alone and my late grandfather was out stationed leaving her alone during labour. She managed to get on a police truck to bring her on a nearby hospital or clinic?(can't remember) and in the end the baby died due to complications... I think she told me something about the baby's chord. Till this day she still dreams of them. When she does, she'll tell us what she dreamt about.

When I was around 4 or 5 my grandfather decided to get married again. I was living with my grandmother at that time because my mother was still in Maktab Kent Tuaran and my dad was in Illinois. One day there was a commotion in the house. I guess that was the day my grandfather told my grandmother that he wants to "madu" her. Lepas tu apa lagi... she took out the cleaver(parang) and wanted to tetak my grandfather. Oh my God!!!! Thank goodness nothing happened. My grandmother is hot tempered... a very hot tempered lady. I remember standing on the sofa shouting at my grandfather Apaini, tua tua pun mau kawin lagi!!! I shouted as loud as I can. Probably traumatized by all that. I was 4 okay! Then my grandfather yelled back at me Ko jangan masuk campur!!! That's the only thing that I remembered on that day.

After my grandfather got married, he didn't support her. Although my grandmother is illiterate, after being left just like that although telah dipoligamikan, she managed to go into the realty business on her own. It started with only one house in Taman Sempelang and then from there she managed to build a couple of rumah sewa. She told us, who needs a husband to survive. I can do it on my own. I make more money than him and now he begs me for money. "Nah padan muka dia. Taik lah aku mau kasih dia. Ada dia mau kasih aku masa aku susah?" Pretty much they where like enemies until my grandfather died two years ago.

Even now when my grandmother starts to have sakit tua, she's still building another house for herself on a land which she managed to buy near our house. Belum siap lagi tu. She just finished building another house which she gave to my uncle and refused to live there. She just finished dividing another land (15 acres) to my mom's siblings, gave all of her rented houses to her kids and settled down in that small 2 room house that's not finished. She even refused to stay with my mom to be taken care of. It broke my mom's heart. Kesian listening my mom's sad story.

At least it's less than 5 minutes to go to her house by car. My mom has been dropping off food for her daily and my uncle's living next door to her. Now both of her legs are swollen, she body's itching endlessly and has fever now and then. She's lost weight so much. Dengan berat hatinya I'm leaving KK. I feel like going back this December to check on her... kalau murah rezeki lah, InsyaAllah.