It was a very lively day. My sisters and their families came over to my mother’s house for lunch. We are always happy to see my nieces. Too bad my nephew couldn’t make it. Not wanting them to lose out financially simply because Kenric and I are not married, we decided to break with tradition and gave them ang pau. They were pleasantly surprised. The Chicken Cacciatore Kenric and I made wasn’t well received ?, but my nieces sure liked saying “Cacciatore”. During lunch, my cousin sisters, their children, and grandchildren came to visit. All the little kids I used to know are all grown up and unrecognizable. It’s a little weird to be asking them about their careers instead of whether or not they wanted some candies or chocolates.

Later, Kenric watched the nieces play card games, and must have wondered why they were always laughing. I’m so happy to see the cousins get along so well.

In the evening, we went to a cousin sister’s new house for a family gathering. Her husband made Nasi Lemak (Malaysia’s national dish) with five different kinds of sambal. They were really delicious. The view from the balcony was magnificent, but I can’t say the same about everyone’s singing during the hours-long Karaoke session!

My Tutor

Lots of good food with family. It’s been a good day. Oh, the best part was I finally got to say “Thank you” in person (at my cousin’s new house) to my Aunt’s brother who taught me tuition. “Tuition” is what we call private supplemental lessons on subjects that we don’t do well in school. Some kids go to tuition because they have lousy teachers at school, and sometimes because they just couldn’t follow the class lessons.

When I was in Form Four and Five (the last two years of my secondary education). I was a very lousy and disinterested student; my attendance was horrible. You could say I had given up. Just a few months before a standardized exam, I decided (I’ve always known) education was my only way out. My aunt’s brother taught a tuition class and I wanted to join, but got turned down because he had enough students for his living-room Math and Physics tuition operation. I am pretty sure it was his Mom (my Aunt’s mom) and my Aunt that convinced him to take me on.

I barely passed, but I did achieve my Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM). Achieving my Malaysian Certificate of Education qualified me to continue to Form 6 (pre-University level). Even though I dropped out within days and went to sell T-shirts at Super Kinta Department Store, that certification allowed me to resume my education later on, and the rest is history. Actually, I studied business. Seeing him tonight after 26 years, and being able to express my gratitude in person was quite emotional. Thank you for being a good son, brother, and teacher because that changed my life for a whole lot better.