Footprints to My Past: A Giant Jigsaw Puzzle

27 July 2010, Tuesday

As part of my quest to write a book to trace my family's roots and to glean into my past, I've visited several  places and interviewed a couple of key people, looking for missing pieces and trying my level best to piece the giant jigsaw puzzle.

To-date, I've left my footprints at the following places:
1. Singapore (met my only surviving aunt, Mak Minah from 7 to 9 July 2010)
2. Tanah Liat, Bukit Mertajam, Penang (met Kak Yam, Abang Ad, Pak Long Bakar and later Abang Ismail) on 17 July 2010
3. Alor Setar, Kedah (met Kak Rombi, my maternal cousin and Mami Sarah, my maternal aunt) from 18 to 19 July 2010

And tomorrow my journey continues. Enroute to Sungkai, Perak (for a 27th honeymoon sojourn), my husband and I will be heading to Sungai Siput (about 17km from Kuala Kangsar) to meet Yati Rabuan (a former neighbour in Singapore). Hopefully, I can glean further stories from our stay in Singapore in the 60's and 70's.

I'm all excited and can't wait for the day I can start penning down all the historical bits and pieces about my family. I am quite sure, I will unearth a skeleton or two in the process....

Footprints to Temasek, the Lion City

6 July 2010, Tuesday

My research into my roots and my dream of writing a book to trace my family's history will take me to Temasek, the Lion City over the next couple of days. Tomorrow, my exciting journey to unravel my past will unfold. Tomorrow, I'll begin my Footprints to the Lion City....

Today my exciting voyage begins...

30 June 2010, Wednesday

For ages, I've been dreaming and meaning to... Unfortunately, time was not on my side.

But....

Today, more than ever, I'm determined to start penning down my family's delightful, heart-rending, poignant, moving, and inspirational stories, stories which keep leaping out of my mind, stories which have enthralled my kids, particularly, my daughter, Khairina Izzati.

Time and again, I have shared with my kids stories about my parents, how hard a life they had gone through, how deprived and impoverished they were. And Khairina had repeatedly cajoled me into writing a memoir, a journal that could chronicle my family's inspirational and stirring journey through an arduous, challenging and testing time in their lives.

The period where 5 cents meant the world to my eldest sister and 3 brothers, where every cent counted, and where 10 cents was all the pocket money I received daily when I was in secondary school, right up to Secondary 4. Today, RM10 pocket money is the norm in some families.

The period where my sister and brothers had to sell kueh (Malay cakes) from door-to-door just to buy their school necessities, where watching movies at the cinema was a REAL LUXURY, and where eating broth (bubur) with salted fish was almost a daily occurrence in their lives.

I have also repeatedly told my English students the same story to inspire them. What my parents lacked financially, they made it up with their foresight and their grit and determination. They persevered.

They raised eight kids with barely enough to sustain everyone. They schooled us and made sure we had good education, that was the only property they bequethed to us.

And, with Allah's blessings, all the 8 kids have gone on to be very successful in their lives, all 8 of us. All with their own success stories. To Mak, Ayah, we, your 8 kids would be eternally grateful.

Today, I will embark on a literary journey. Today, I will unfold the lives behind the curtains of Allahyarham Wan Mahmood and Allahyarhamah Norhasimah, the truly special and proud parents of Allahyarham Wan Yusoff, Allahyarham Wan Mohammed Fisol, Wan Arfah, Wan Mohammed Fusil, Wan Ishak, Wan Mohammed Elias, Wan Mohamed Saleh, Wan Sallehah, Wan Sofiah, Allahyarham Wan Mohammed Zakery and Wan NorZakirah.

Today my exciting voyage begins.