Dead Man's Tales Chapter 13 My Dearest Sister Cheah Wan Lai

My dearest sister.Ah!!! there are only three of us,sister and brothers.Like my brother I knew pretty well about our sister,too.She is two years older than me.Being a girl she never played much with us.

As a child she would tagged around my young auntie or our grandmother .Most of the time,while we were out and about running here and there.Our favorite  play ground was near to the back of our house along Anson Road where an old Austin laid rotting and wasting away.It was placed to rest just beneath a guava tree.

I,as usual and our kid brother would always climbed up to it to pluck its fruits,ripe or otherwise.I remembered those hard fruits with plenty of seeds.Yet as kids we devoured them no matter what.That tree also served as a safe sanctuary for me whenever grandma came out shouting banishing a cane.This normally happened when either siblings complained to her about my misbehavior much to the delight and cheering of my siblings.

I remembered that as an elder girl she had to carry water back to our house from the Government stand pipe directly in front of our house.Our cousin would assist her where ever possible.Mostly for their own bathing.We as boys could take our bath on the spot at the stand pipe.Those days we had no water connected to our house. 

Poor thing at times either one of them would be hurt by the sharp angled edge of the old kerosene tin they used to carry the water.The cuts on the heel sometimes quite deep and that really hurts.Then there for days they need not carry water.and the job would be done by others.When the Cantonese Operas were in town she would be the first to tagged along with our grandmother.All sited comfortably at the very front seats.

However, as a girl in our family she never enjoyed certain privileges we boys had.For example she was seldom taken out to have breakfast with us in a Chinese restaurant.Another was our father had only a bicycle which could cater for two boys only.No more space for another.So unless our mother went along only then she can joined us. 

But as a girl she need not joined us boys sleeping any where on the floor or under the bed when times were bad.She had the comfort of sleeping with our mother on the bed..That happened after our house was sold and we were forced to live a small office room and thereafter under the bed in the one room estate quarter. 

As a young teenager she was trained in the art of self defence, Tai Chi.In that she had demonstrated her skills to many beginners then.But unfortunately to-date apparently what she learned had disappeared or forgotten for good.Had she continued practicing that art she ought to be the grandmaster by now.

As a kid she knew how to sing the Operas.Many a times practiced with our mother.Right or wrong version God alone knows.From young she attended the Convent Girls School.She was only an average student in the lower forms but thereafter from form three onwards she began to show her mental by excelling in her studies.

Topping the forms through out.In the final  Cambridge School Certificate Examination  while studying under adverse conditions i.e.like studying under only kerosene lamp lighting in the rubber estate. She obtained the best overall results for the District of Lower Perak.Quite an achievement.With the completion of that examinations she was given a temporarily teaching position in that school even  before the results were announced.

She was the best any mother like to have.Yes,the first salary she received she gave all to our mother and followed similarly all the months that she was employed.That was why our mother always commented that her daughter was the best she had - unlike we boys especially myself.

The Reverend Mother had high regards of her and highly recommended her when she applied for teachers training at Brinsford Lodge,U.K.She got that and subsequently went for the training in U.K..Being educated at the Convent made her  fully committed to Catholicism .A regular church attending member then  which nearly drew her in to be baptized but the teacher training college drew her away to Britain.

It was a  course of two years and before long she returned home.Her first posting was the same school where she came,the Convent.Later she was transferred to some other school and then to St Anthony School.She opted for earlier retirement after so many years of teaching.He was just forty- five and what a waste?.

Our family's living condition took a drastic improvement as soon as she returned home.In stead of residing with our uncle we shifted to a small rented wooden bungalow along Changkat Jong Road.Our younger brother was then a temporarily teacher as well.It certainly was a new beginning for all of us.Well,as for me I was also beginning my career  in a rubber plantation in Taiping,Perak.

Mid-way through her career she married a DID technician,later a consultant, Mr.Yap Thong.Together they begot three children.A girl and two boys.The girl  is married with another accountant.They have two kids both boys.The other two are boys.The elder boy is also married and similarly have two children,a girl and a boy. The third child is still single.

 She did not continued with any other work after her retirement except some tuitions.There were times that she wanted to do painting or pottery but so far only big talk,nothing more.I think she held at least an art exhibition with friends after College.

Her religious commitments took a drastic changed after her marriage in that she believed in the Chinese ways of worshiping.She and her husband mostly prayed to the Chinese deity "Kuan Yee"or "Kuan Ti" as most called him.He was the red faced General who fought for the righteous till death with his two adopted brothers.That was in Teluk Intan,Perk.

However those were in the past as soon as she shifted to Kuala Lumpur with her entire family.She became what she assumed to be a Christian.In that she was baptized into the Dove Assembly.For good or for bad hope the good Lord will guide in all her future undertakings.






To be continued.








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