I am not a strong advocate of Mother's Day, because we should cherish our mother everyday. Nevertheless, the day is welcome by all of us to pay tribute to the one person who has bore us and nurtured us through childhood and adulthood.
A mother's love and dedication can never be measured or tested in a crucible.
I grew up in the 60s with four other siblings. Both my parents were illiterate but my mum was already a survivor in her own right. My father was a kind and generous man, but was not totally responsible for his family. My mum had to find ways of earning money to put food on the table. I used to tag along with her to the Chinese households where my mum did the laundry and ironing. I used to stand outside the small toilets in one room HDD flats where she labored without any complaints even though it was really a backbreaking job. She will wash the clothes, wring them dry and put it out on the bamboo poles to dry. The money she gets out of this is enough to get us food for a few days. My dad used to gamble his money away and she had to make ends meet by doing what she had to do.
She managed to get a job as a cleaner, pushing a big trolley of rubbish bins and carrying them to dispose rubbish in the main refuse centre. Such was the hard life she endured for us.
She worked the night shift where she had to walk from Jalan Bukit Ho Swee, where we lived to Outram Park, where she worked. Gang fights were rife during the 60s and 70s and the place we lived in was notorious for those. We constantly worried about her safety and waited up for her until she reached home. When she got home, the first thing she always asks us is whether we had our food and did we study etc. During that age of innocence, we did not really feel much but as normal teenagers, we just carried on with our lives and were satisfied with what we had. I also remembered my first job in a government sector - my mum was anxious that I should dress reasonably well and took what she saved in her piggy bank and bought me a couple of office clothes - a gesture I will never forget even today.
Today, all my siblings are reasonably well placed at work and all of us owe our successes to her and the sacrifices she made for us.
Her children came first before anything else and she showed her love in many ways which cannot be written in a line or two. My dad passed away last year, and we know that she feels emptiness, something that we cannot fill in but as children, we try and connect with her regularly and meet up through simple family get-togethers, a movie, outings etc. I can probably go on and on but the reason to write this is not so much to gain something out of a contest but one way of acknowledging her willpower, effort and most of all her unconditional love in bringing us up as good children.
From Kong Sau Lai :
The greatest thing my Mum has done for my brother and I is to bring us up after my father fell sick. In addition to looking after him, we are her priority & she will provide us with everything as long as she can afford to after taking care of my father's medical bills.
She is selfless!
From Aravin Jonathan :
My mum is my world to me..
Cos' she's always there for me
My mum is my tutor..
She has taught me ABCD and now my chemistry & literature
She has read 100s of stories during my bed time
Now we swim, travel and play badminton together as our past time
hmm..we also play prank on each other sometimes
My mum is a great cook and a dancer
And she has such good humour
My mum is in her early forties
But it's a wonder that she only looks thirty
My friends envy me..
For my mum cares so much about me
There's never been a day without her in my life
She's the most beautiful person in my life
Thanks mum dearest for being part of my life!
From Maureen Kwok Yee Mei :
Mum, a word that brings me nothing but smile,
Her hands guiding me through many thousand miles.
Never falter when the sky is dark,
Why is mum always so strong I used to ask.
'When you take matters too much to heart,
all things will naturally fall apart.'
Her advise never fails to make me strong,
In sorrows, her arms I always belong.
Giving her best of smiles everyday,
Watching her children grow up day by day.
Dear to her heart they are her pride and joy,
Their well-being is all she asked for in life.
Keeping the family well together at all times,
That is the biggest reward for mum each day when the sun shines.
Being a mother now in mum's shoes I stand,
feeling those little fingers in my hands.
A little life so pure and small,
Wanting to give her my everything and all.
We can never tell mum how much we love her,
Someone who will always be in out hearts so precious and dear.
Thank you for everything in life you gave and examples you set,
The love you showered on us, we will not forget.
