Sisterhood

8th March, 2009 - My mom gave birth to 4 girls and 2 boys. In a family of 4 girls, me being the youngest, we certainly had our share of fights, laughter, togetherness and most of all, love for each other. Janet, our big sister, Beatrice, the prettiest one, Bea the quiet one and me, Odelia, the notorious one ^_^





When we were young, mom made sure we girls know how to behave like girls. No swearing, no sitting on table tops, no sharing of pants with the boys .... We had to share our duty rosters. The way I remember us as kids, we girls took turns hand-washing our clothes. From brushing vigorously at all the sweat-stained places like the collars, sleeves and not to mention the fishy smell of dad's working shirts ... to wriggling the heavily wet clothing in an effort to drain the water off from one bucket of water to the next, all in the one toilet we shared ! ... to hanging the washed clothes onto hand-made wire-hangers ... to bringing the clothes in when dry... to applying a mist of water over those clothes before ironing them the next day just so that the fabric has become soft enough to be pressed on ... those were the dreaded days !! Oh yes, our wardrobe was made up of a wooden box from the fish wet market where dad worked, mom's ingenuity... We were poor financially back then. Life was quite a struggle but simple.





Of all the house chores, I particularly like to sweep and mop the floor. I became quite good at it, learned how to hold the broom and dust-pan in a manner which is relaxing and yet efficient in collecting all the dust, hair and all ^_^ Those days, we had to mop the floor on our knees, using a piece of cloth. That was the most effective way to clean the cement floor we had back in the little 3 room flat. 1 master bedroom for mom and dad, 1 office cum bedroom for dad's workers and 1 bedroom for all 6 siblings with a double-decker for the boys and I had to sleep in the collapsible lazy chair. Every night, I was responsible for lighting the mosquitoe coil in an effort to keep our bedroom free from mosquitoes. Putting the mosquitoe coil into the milo tin day in day out, it became a habit.


The next best chore was helping out mom in the kitchen. I would stand by the wok and help mom with cutting vegetables and chop chop chop till I got quite good at peeling skins and stuff. That's where I learned about the secret ingredients such as Eno to make crispy fried bananas, rock sugar for curry chicken, the exact amount of water for a pack of jelly and the way to stir. Sambal ikan bilis was a favourite among my family members, its special taste when spread on sandwiches simply made those who tasted it yearn for more ! Ahem ... sought after by Johorians too ! Stumbled upon the recipe when my school had Canteen Day where each class has to come up with food for sale for a day, the money raised would go to the School Fund for various activities. My class sold nasi lemak and it was one of the many food that went out of stock within the shortest time! Not to forget the deep fried prawns in chili &tomato sauce. One of my brothers' favourite I would say ^_^



Of my many sisters, Beatrice was the best cook. She is the only one who managed to master mom's home made fish ball ! Bouncing fish balls like ping pong, very crispy and tasty. A lot of hard work preparing the fish balls, from scrapping the fish meat to mixing and battering into paste, to squeezing the meat from between the thumb and first finger and scooping the balls using spoons one by one into a bowl of clear icy water. If it floats half way, we would have great tasty bouncy fish balls after a few hours ... yummy !!!
Beatrice also took up beauty and make up skills. So, we, the other sisters were many a times made guinea pigs ! Ha ha ... love those days when we get free facials and make up from her. Learned how to apply foundation, eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, how to shadow our nose to make it look higher and how to make our lips look thinner (that was the trend back then) ... how I hated my full lips (of course, now I am thankful for my full lips ... still remember how Beatrice would tell me : sis, you know your full lips resonate a warm personality and it's very sexy leh ... ha ha ... back then everybody wanted thinner lips and I told myself : oh ya, sis, you only said that to make me feel better :-( Thanks Beatrice, now I know better ^_^


Being the prettiest of all, sure Beatrice had many suitors and she was a wild party-goer too. That was back then. I had my share of parties too. Sometimes she would bring me. Mom and dad used to throw birthday parties for her and Janet too. Those days, parties were made up of lots of games and food. Innocent days of partying with disco lights and all. Hmm ... looking back at some of the old photos brings back great childhood sibling memories.


Beatrice also became my chauffeur when I was in secondary school, especially those days after my swimming classes, I would join my friends for a bowl of curry laksa and then I would call home. She would dutifully come and fetch me from the playground outside the Sentul Golf Club... he he he ... sometimes she would swear her annoyance with me for making her come and fetch me when she'd rather do something else ! Ha ha ... that is what sisters are for right? Love you, dear sister ^_^


Today, Beatrice had tried her hands on many things and she is one hell of a woman, very entrepreneur, works tirelessly, sometimes could not understand where she gets the level of energy she seem to possess. She looked so pretty with her soft long hair, not to mention being very sexy the other day with her low cut empire waist black dress during a cousin's wedding dinner ... alas it was Valentine's Day and even we girls went ... WOW !!!






Some of the togetherness that is still lingering with sweet memories were the times when Janet bought this "learn how to type" book to practice typing skill with the old-fashioned typewriter (no computer back then mah). I would steal practices whenever my sisters are not at it ! Such was the joy of honing the much anticipated joy where I could vent my speed and challenging myself to get all the correct words within the shortest possible time. That was how I learned my ASDF JKL; etc. Till today, my nephew, Egan is still in awe at how I could be such a fast typist and he did on a few occasion challenged me to compete with him ^_^ Guess what, he himself has grown to be a champion typist at school :-)





Next, the many board games we shared : especially Monopoly ! Yup, that was one hell of a many great times we shared, playing till the wee hours especially during the long school holidays. It was pure simple fun. Hated going to jail though ^_^




Another favourite past time : playing cards, be it a game of tortoise, black jack, poker, cho dai di, etc. We became quite addicted and well, if not for mom's strict rule about gambling, we might have ended up being money gamblers ! Anyway, the only times we were allowed to gamble was during Chinese New Year. He he ... at least we know how to ... wouldn't you agree, dear sisters?
Janet, our big sister, has always been on the lookout for her younger sisters. Sometimes, it's like ... no worries, big sis is always there for us, no matter what. As long as she is able to, she will extend a helping hand. That's how great our big sis is. Thank you dear sis. You are a great example to all and I just want to extend my heartfelt gratitude for all that you have done for us. The only one with size 4 shoe, I used to wonder how you manage to walk with those pointy high heels during your working days ! Funny, isn't it that we girls all had different shoe sizes including mom's. Sigh ! If only we all had the same size, how much more fun we would have, wearing different shoes at different ocassions ! In a way, I am glad too ... ha ha ... don't have to wear hand-me-downs since I am the youngest ^_^


Now, with 5 kids, yup, 4 boys and at last a girl, she is ever so busy, sacrificing so much for her kids and family. Having to attend to all their needs and at the same time running a restaurant is no small joke ! The kind of energy she possess sometimes make me cringe ... if ever I am in her shoe? Waking up at odd hours, oooohhhh, not me, I need my regular beauty sleep ^_^ Unconditional love for your family, it's something I admire about you, dear sister. One whom I can always depend on for last minute arrangements to pick up my kids, for buying fresh fruits and well, your generosity is something which I could emulate ! It's been great having you as my BIG sister ya :-)




Now, Bea ... hmm ... the one closest to me in terms of age, is a Masters holder. Looks like the famous Taiwan actress, Bridgette Lin ... a very pretty lass, slim and curvy bottom. Can never grow fat type ! So envious leh ... he he ... I suppose, she is the most rationale of all. Could analyse any given situation very brilliantly. She was the one I turned to for a shoulder to cry on during my turbulent times and well, she need not say much, just shed tears along with me ... ha ha ... been a great companion during our participation in self-development seminars especially during these 2 years. From a timid, quiet person, she now radiates warmth and enthusiasm, a great motivator and an encouragingly positive person to be around ^_^ During the recent Master Your Mind workshop in Singapore, we were talking about our dream lifestyle, exclaiming excitedly about the kind of lifestyle we would have and all. I could still remember a remark given by a fellow colleague : Wow ! I really admire the way you sisters communicate. So envy here !!


Thank you Bea, for taking on the ironing jobs during our younger days. You could actually stand there for hours pressing those clothes, if I were you, I would have fainted ya :-) Ever the most thrifty among us sisters, you keep rooted to the ground, sometimes, I do feel ashamed of my spending habit. As well as your initiative in spending time with mom, well, that's something I must emulate. He he ... Hey, know what? I look forward to more quality time with you.


And now, I just wanna thank our greatest mom and dad again ... for making our sisterhood such a close-knitted one and for the many wonderful journeys we had. Without you two, mama and papa, we would not be what we are today. You are our inspiration. Love you dearly, mama and papa ... may you both live long and strong !!!


And to my sisters, we will always be the best of sisters ever !!!! Thank you for being my sisters. Love you all .... Huggggggggsssss ^_^