Words of wisdom

Occasionally I would reflect back on some of the meaningful words of wisdom by my parents. Some are funny, some are pedas but most of them have deeper meanings. Perhaps it didn’t render me much during that time but merely a conversation we had during tea, late nite talk on their bed or once in a while when we were driving together; at times there were reflections of their thoughts when we were talking about nothing & everything.

· One of the famous “advice” given by ayah…”To be an average person, anyone can be that, but to be the best; you need to take your breakfast!” – hahhahhahaa…we would laughed if off cos’ ayah being a discipline person in his food consumption he constantly reminded us to never skip our meal especially our breakfast. “It’s the most important meal of the day.” He would add. Ah! Why does it take 30 years for me to truly understand & appreciate this!!!

· “Got money why not…No money cannottttt!!”….ibu’s famous quote every time we talked about money & stuff that you would like to do. I freely share her words of wisdom to my office mate every time we mentioned about shopping and stuff that we would like to buy…

· Ibu will always feel ayah is the smartest man she knows. Taking into credit that he has Masters and had evidently proven to everyone that he was no kutu tembok!! But anytime of the day if she felt cornered by stupidity she would go “I may not be educated, no ijazah bergulung-gulung but I am no fool; not a bloody fool to you!!” - Take out from this: You don’t have to have formal education with high achievement to survive, AND I AM NOT AN IDIOT!!

· “Don’t let other people made a sucker out of you!!!” Ayah warned me when I learn the hard way that not all people are nice.

· There was one occasion that I was picked pocket while shopping at the mall (this was 25 years ago)…”Tulah, pegi masuk kedai macam orang jakun, mulut dok nganga jeee…mana tak kena!” ayah said, so much for comfort words eh?

· Ayah’s advice on parenthood: “It’s important to raise the children not only to be smart in the head (book smart), but they also need to be street smart; survivor & emotionally smart – kena ada self control, kena pandai kawal their emotions.”

· Ibu’s advice on parenthood: “Bila dah tua-tua nie, baru kita sedar jaga anak-anak nie susah. Tak semua yang kita buat masa tu hasilnya berkesan (turn out to be as good as you expected). Ada benda-benda yang ibu wish ibu buat differently. Apa-apa kena banyak berdoa, anak jadi lembut hati dan ingat mana yang penting dalam hidup.”

· When I failed to get good grades, ayah would snapped”You are not stupid, it’s just you didn’t get your priority straight!!” 1st lesson on Project Management: Prioritize your responsibilities & deliverables :P

· “I have selective memories, I don’t choose to remember things that are too petty” ayah would say when ibu & I start talking about long ago stories.

· “You guys are lucky to have ibu ayah to remind you all. I am telling you the things that I regretted not doing then so that you don’t make the same mistakes I made…”ibu reminiscing when ever she start her I TOLD YOU SO story.

· One evening when ibu was warded at IJN “You see, ibu dapat penyakit jantung ni because 30 years of stress and sakit hati dengan ayah”…then ayah responded “ayah pun jadi pekak sebelah telinga pasal asyik dok dengar ibu membebel for the past 30 years!!!” – the actual fact I would define these words are: We had the best 30 years of our life, for goodness & badness; in sickness and in health…

I love my ayah and I love my ibu!! They are the pillar of my strength, my source of wisdom and my life savior (when I am on my business trips! Cos they would jump to the rescue every time I need the extra help with my kids!!)