The Rice-stealing Mouse
November 8th, 2009
while walking through campus today, i saw a little kid pummeling down the walkway on his plastic tricycle, tilted forward like a colorful torpedo!, as his dad strolled alongside. i wanted to quickly bend and take a picture, yet it felt disrespectful of the moment, so i just walked and watched. when we all shored upon the stone steps outside the library — me, the dad, the kid and his tricycle — the boy got off his vehicle so that his dad could carry it down the steps. but he also held on to one handlebar as he tottered down the steps, while his dad held on to the other handle, and they both lifted the proud tricycle down the steps ceremoniously and carefully.
i really liked that. for 11 years, i went to a school where little kindergarten children were driven up to the gates in big, glossy cars driven either by uniformed chauffeurs or curly haired, clackety-heeled young mothers who would gather around in a perfumed gossipy gaggle after they’d walked their children to the classrooms. these same children had their bags carried up to the classroom for them either by accompanying maids, or said pin-neat perfection mothers. during recess, their maids would bring them lunch in tiffin carriers, and often feed them, as they grumpily ate, fidgety and itching to join their friends at the quad. of course, not many students at our school were like this — i think the tendency falls more towards the younger generations of our institution — but nevertheless there were some older kids that displayed teenage versions of such behavior too. mostly they came in the form of self-entitled kids who would say things like, “you think my parents never pay school fees ah?”
money is a good thing to have, but it’s a better thing to have when you can bring up your children to still be kind and gracious in the midst of such abundant blessings and opportunities. i recently discovered that the grandson of singapore and hong kong’s largest property developers goes to school here, but he’s one of the humblest and nicest people i’ve ever met. my boss from a previous internship came from a very affluent family, but the heritage was never apparent; quite the opposite in fact. i used to find it so amusing when i went with him for meetings at clients’ offices, and he’d get very excited when he saw that there was free parking in the building. omg su ann! free parking! YES! likewise, there were the little kids in my school who quickly learned to be embarrassed of their wealth, and would hurriedly grab their schoolbags and run into the school building after saying thanks to their drivers.
i’ve been missing my grandmother a lot lately. i had a truly awful night last night and all i wanted to do was curl up in bed and talk to my grandmother in (broken) cantonese. when i was younger and did that all the time (i was a crybaby… actually i still am), she would make me marmite soup and pat me to sleep. when i woke up, there would be barley boiling on the stove in that little pot that always looked like it was going to fall apart. when you make barley, you need to use ping tong (rock sugar), she would say. so there was always a packet of rock sugar in the pantry, which i liked to steal from. the little tablets of sugar were like sweets! and i used to do the same with the rice from the rice cooker — open the steamy thing and steal bits of rice with my fingers. once, my grandmother was having dinner with my aunts, and she loudly exclaimed, “hah! i think we have a mouse in the kitchen that’s been stealing food (”tau yeh sik”), because there are always little holes in my freshly cooked rice! one day i’m going to catch this mouse and punish it!” i remember feeling very indignant -_____- catch me! you will never!
i wonder what my grandmother is doing now. it’s about 7 A.M back at home which must mean she’s just about to get up.
my grandmother has never been the kind of grandmother to bring me food at school, or walk me up to my school gates, mostly because my parents never encouraged that sort of behavior. i remember once i had an issue at school over something fairly bureaucratic, and i wanted my mother to do something about it. at my school, Parents Complaining is a big event, always spoken of in somber tones, and it’s the trump card of any student’s affair with the administration. but my mom would have no such thing. if i recall correctly, she told me to grow up and handle things on my own if i really wanted the problem solved. tough love. but the right kind.
family’s such a strange thing sometimes, but it’s always just there, orbiting around everything else that happens. my roommate has consistent screeching fights with her mother over the phone, and each time she does, i’m always glad that my parents and i dont have a stretched relationship. we barely fight, and my parents are reaching that mango-ey stage where they’re trying to act cute all the time. despite the excessive freedom that they’ve given us, and it’s excessive enough to let any child go wayward, i think all three of us turned out pretty okay. pretty darn good, in fact, if you disregard the occasional lack of concern for authority :) we each know what we want and how to get it, but we dont forget what’s important.
we’re moving in December! i only have two weeks off during winter break, because we only get three weeks this year and i’m spending one of those in Honduras (very excited about this). i’m debating if i should go home for the house-warming. what’s a house-warming without me there!!! but i’m afraid going home for two weeks isn’t worth the airfare, and that i should probably spend the two weeks somewhere closer to NYC. like, New Jersey or something. WTF. but i miss home :( and my family.
here are some pictures of children, fun and fall leaves. i’ve been through many so months of fall leaves but i still get so thrilled by the colors, the crunch, and their carefree flitting.
Entry Filed under: College Life, Musings
27 Comments Add your own
1. KY | November 8th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
when I was young, I went to this kindergarten where kids come from family with lotsa time, so they can afford to be late. They carry big clocks and awesome watches, but all I had was a little sand glass.
some of these kids grew up to be girls who will always be late! hmph
2. shadow | November 8th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
things are always lovely and beautiful when they are described by you. You always manage to paint a beautiful pictures of everything you saw or felt and bring me into all the details. =)
3. kiasu andrew | November 8th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
guess which paragraphs i liked most!
4. may | November 8th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
I like u… a lot! :)
5. grace | November 8th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
argh su annn i miss this kinda blog post from you the much! AUGHHHH
made my day!
6. Swee Ping | November 8th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
how do you go to school? hehe, curious about it. “you think my parents never pay the school fees” – i, myself uttered such sentence before during my uni days but it is acceptable because the entire administration of the uni really shucks. i wasn’t the only one who uttered such a thing. but this might be a bit irrelevant to your post. personally, i don’t like kids to be spoil this way, hmm, but i do carry my nephews bags though when i have the opportunity to send them home…
i fondly remember my kindergarten days where grandma send and pick me up, there’s no else but i enjoyed those time sitting at the bicycle and the little snacks she will buy me or ‘bribe’ me sometimes. haha. she only accompany me on my 1st day at primary school though but everyday there’s packed lunch prepared by her. even now, sometimes, for me to bring to work.
7. LennyTheLion | November 9th, 2009 at 12:07 am
missed those rock sugars!
8. Ee Vonn | November 9th, 2009 at 12:21 am
Beautiful words and thoughts. :) Besides, the pictures are amazingly beautiful. The children playing with the fall leaves and the buildings surrounded… lovely! I heart this post! :) Su Ann, do you mind to tell me which camera model are you using? Did you edit your pictures? :)
9. maysnow | November 9th, 2009 at 2:12 am
little mousey, you didn’t ask for our opinion on this, but do go home~ I miss my po po so much too, but i can never see her again.. Christmas is always bittersweet for me as I choose to remain in KL with my bf and didn’t go back to Ipoh to celebrate her last Christmas in life… and the ironic part is that the bf is now my ex… but my popo would’ve always been my popo T-T
Btw, I love the pictures! The little children are so cute and happy~ and the leaves look sweet-smelling and crisp enough to munch on! :D Tell me, did you secretly jump unto a stack of freshly-racked leaves? ;p
10. jiayoong | November 9th, 2009 at 4:20 am
your post makes me really miss my ssg memories. not all are good but of the good ones, its really something to hold on to. have you noticed how the first day of school experience changes every year but yet they’re essentially the same?
anyway, i dont always leave a comment at every post but i do read. hope you’re doing well over there! :)
11. Patricia | November 9th, 2009 at 5:05 am
very touching. i’ve too realized that there’s nothing like family. wherever you go, you’d always leave a small part of yourself at home <3
12. melissa | November 9th, 2009 at 10:36 am
I miss my grandma too – my parents tried to teach her to skype with me a while back and she went in Hokkien “I speak into here is it. Where is Melissa? Melissa are you there!” I miss how I had Sunday brunch at her place and steaming bowls of mee sua and how she stuffed me like no mother’s business in the weeks before I left for Oxford.
Of autumn – Oxford no longer looks it. :( I miss the bouts of sunshine and the very pretty leaves on the tree that I can see from my window. It is oh so cold and wet! Especially to wake up obscenely early to go rowing.
I’m going home for Christmas. :D because I have nothing for summer here – not that it’ll be summer any time soon anyhow. xD
13. Artificially Tamtim | November 9th, 2009 at 11:13 am
come back to kl lah.
14. sheon | November 9th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
i miss my grandparents too. they spoke only in hakka. and i spoke only in mandarin, not even cantonese. imagine the frustration.
2 weeks not worth flying back, stay back and do something special instead, and then post it up.
i think my parents brought me up good too. and i hope to bring up my kids like how they did, with some adjustments here and there of coz, gotta be parenting 2.0 mah…. :)
rich kids that are nice, and without an attitude you dun see everyday. but, most of my rich-kid-frens are nice and humble.
15. Artie | November 9th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
I’m THAT kid who was given so much freedom that I lost my way and became the man I am today….I do believe however its one way to learn – the hard way.
Eh come home la! We can hang out more since ur moving closer by. Cheras is ghetto as crap yo!
16. michelle | November 9th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
My sister and I had very different relationships with our parents.
It’s strange how two very different people with blood ties can actually perceive them different.
17. xiao Yu Lim | November 9th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
I came from that kind of school tooooo!
I wish I could make my sister carry her own bag now. but she is not a receiver of tough love :( everytime i say something she reduces to tears wtf.
“embarrassed of their wealth”! is the perfect expression :)
18. miss beaver | November 9th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
you’re one of my favourite Malaysia bloggers!! i think the way you use your words are really beautiful :)
19. pinkpau | November 10th, 2009 at 7:31 am
KY : dont hate :P
shadow : aww thank u so much :’)
kiasu andrew : i dont know! which?
may : really? but why *_*
grace : haha glad to have helped!
swee ping : how i went to school was a big problem with each new day :P my brothers and i had a driver too but like KY said, i have big problem with punctuality, so they always leave without me. so, often, i dont go to school, or my dad sends me when he goes to work at 10am, or i take a cab when my dad cant send me. my mom used to flip out cos i was spending money on cab when she was already spending money on the driver, haha. i know what u mean about the college. i definitely feel that customers should get their money’s worth, otherwise it would be cheating — but u should see some of these kids. they say “u think my parents dont pay fees is it?” if they get in trouble and are on the verge of suspension. oh actually i have a better anecdote. when certain kids get scolded by teachers, they’ll say to the teachers, “eh my parents pay your salary u know”.
lenny the lion : hello lenny! how is your paw
ee vonn : i use the canon ixus 75i . it’s quite old.. about.. hmm 3 yrs old i think? or maybe 2 yrs old. and i bump contrast sometimes!
maysnow : i think it’s likely that i’m going home too :) haha i dont secretly jump.. i just jump! lots of leaves on my campus
jiayoong : remember how bureaucratic it was during our time? it’s worse now apparently :P i’m doing good… :) hope u are too. what have u been up to?
patricia : or a big part :(
melissa : i dont understand! what do you mean you have nothing for summer here? sigh, grandmothers are the best thing on earth.
artificially : likely! for a week. you in KL or not?
sheon : parenting 2.0 hahaha! ya i think spoilt rich kids are a dime a dozen, but so are the well brought up ones. good la got balance :)
artie : haha i was reading an article about home schooling (the current head of secondary of my high school said something like home schooling doesnt give a child structure.. etc) and thought of u :P eh u think taman desa very glam is it
michelle : that’s the way it is sometimes, no? esp if there’s an age gap
xiao : ahh she will get there one day :)
miss beaver : thank u so much :))))
20. melissa | November 10th, 2009 at 10:08 am
i didn’t bring anything to wear for summer to the UK. :( I just brought things that’re supposed to keep me warm and protect me from the evil of British weather.
21. Mar | November 10th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Dainty. I’ll echo a comment I read earlier, do go home. I wouldn’t put a price tag for any family reunions, so I’d encourage to get that ticket back and treasure the moments with your family — after all you’re where you are because of them., and I think you’re one of the fortunate millions to still have them around.
Btw, nice bright pics. It’d be lovely to see some zoomed in/close-up expression of those kids’ joyous faces.
22. i.r.muse « my blues&hellip | November 10th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
[...] i think i know why and today’s good read would fall to pinky’s anecdote the rice stealing mouse … wonder what my own grandma is doing….i miss her food..everyday surely got different [...]
23. Phillip | November 12th, 2009 at 3:28 am
Cute kids!! >..<
24. Jin rui | November 12th, 2009 at 4:22 am
Haha! If people behaved like that at my school they’d be made fun of. But then again, I’m from a typical smk school, so people don’t usually flaunt their riches.
New York seems beautiful when I read about it on your blog. Awesome pictures =D
25. Swee Ping | November 12th, 2009 at 5:47 am
ahahahahahaha! you ah, will need a walking alarm that runs away like the link you put in plurk :-P.
although technically that is right to say “my parents pay your salary” but it is awfully rude, even if the teacher shucks, but in the case of the students at fault and uttering such sentence to the teacher, if i’m the kids parents, i’m ashamed of myself.
26. llydia | November 12th, 2009 at 11:53 am
GO HOME! :)
27. Kay | February 20th, 2010 at 9:19 am
you know… now that i think about it, our parents really do know what’s best for us. growing up, i always resented my mother but now that i’m older i understand that everything that she did for me was for my own good and benefit :)
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