My Maternal Grandparents ( part 1 )

Unlike my father, my mother came from a very large family. My maternal grandparents had a total of 10 children 2 of which died during infancy, leaving my mother and 7 siblings. My mother was the eldest of the children followed by 2 uncles, 2 aunts, 2 more uncles and another youngest aunt who was about 3 months older than me. Grandfather was the sole bread winner of the family. My grandmother stayed home bringing up the children and dealing with all family matters.

My mother came from an extremely poor family. With so many mouths to feed my grandfather had to work extremely hard to provide the basic necessities of day to day needs. The older of the children including my mother never had the opportunity to attend school. Schooling was considered a luxury which few could afford. Only the younger uncles and aunts were allowed to attend schools.

My grandfather was a very quiet and patient person. He was hard working and always did his best to provide for the family. His source of income was from selling Chinese medicinal tea from a little stall. Grandmother would boil the tea in 2 large urns each night and grandfather would carry them to his stall each morning. My grandfather’s stall would open each morning at around 9.00 and he would close-up at around 10.00 each night. He would charge 10 cents for each cup of medicinal tea. In those days Segamat was a very small town and I cannot imagine grandfather would sell many cups of his brew in a day. Grandfather would work every day of the week. There were no rest days for him. With so many mouths to feed he had to work extremely hard. I cannot remember grandfather having any days off work, except on Chinese New Year when it is considered inauspicious to work. Poor as he was, grandfather was always generous. I remember sneaking to his stall on some nights to ask grandfather for extra pocket money. My mother if she found out would scold me for been selfish as my grandfather needed every cent to support his family. Grandfather would always give whenever I asked.

Because the family was poor, my grandparents and all their children, except my mother, lived in a very small house on the outskirt of town. I remember the house well and to this day I can still picture vividly the layout of the house. Although the house was small, dark and congested, I remember it with fond memories. Although my maternal grandparents had very little, they were always generous with love. The happiest time of my younger days were spent at my grandparent home.

To supplement the meager income from my grandfather’s tea stall, my grandmother would keep chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys in an enclosure in front of the house. The animals would be let out to wander around the neighbourhood during the day and each night they would be coaxed back into the enclosure with food. Occasionally one of the animals would fail to turn up at night and we would all organize ourselves into search parties to locate the missing animal. It was fun.

Outside at the front of the house were some fruit trees. We claimed ownership of these as they were closest to our front door. I remember climbing these trees for the fruits. We also claimed possession of the single durian tree in the vicinity of the house. Whenever grandmother came into possession of a fruit from the durian tree she would squirrel it away and save it for me when I come to visit. I visit my grandparents’ home almost everyday after school. It was there that I found most happiness.

To be continued………