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When picking up Ikram from tuition yesterday, he insisted that we made a pit stop at the Burger King drive-through counter.
mama: wasn't it only 2 days ago that we were there and you ordered practically everything edible shown on the bill board at the drive through counter?
Ikram: yes, but I have a crave for the black pepper beef whooper now!
mama: ...(suddenly switching into cantonese slang)... wah..like dis arr, 'towkey babi' osso can go bengklap oh!!!
Ikram: why must you be a 'towkey babi'? tak boleh jadi towkey ayam ke, towkey lembu ke??....
mama: babi punya halege mahal oh! and everything on the carcass can be sold and eaten, mah...
Ikram: but if you are a towkey lembu or towkey ayam, you have a wider range of consumers and you will be able to make more money out of the sheer volume sold..
mama: ~~daa~~~(macam aku tak tau!!!!)
Children nowadays are not like when we were young. They can think subjectively and above all they have a clear line of communication with us parents.
When I was small, my mother appeared to always be angry at me. On bad days she would call me names, and she particularly damaged my entire self-esteem by repeatedly saying that my face looked like 'pu** naik tangga', (translated as 'the ladies private part while she walks up the stairs')....imagine......imagine.....
I was annoyed and of course completely unhappy, but remained silent. Being the innocent kids at that age, I accepted my appearance, but I was more frightened for her. My ustazah in the religious school of the sekolah agama Parit Jawa told us that whoever swear (as per 'mencarut'), in the life after death, her mouth will be split wide open until it tears right up to the ears, and red hot glowing embers will be shoved down the throat. I did not wish that to happen to my mother no matter what a nuisance she thought of me.
I wonder what would my children's reaction be if I were to requote that idiom infront of them!...
Not that I have the slightest intention of ever doing so!
For the record: my level of confidence and self-esteem were re-instated the moment I met papa, who thought that I looked more glamorous than the Miss Universe of 1978 after all.
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8 comments:
it might be a vicious cycle eg yr mother is being a mother the only way she knows ie she learnt it from her earlier experience. and it is good isnt it that you have broken the cycle, u r not the type of mother yr Mak was.
hmm MI, we are back to the mother/daughter r/ship kan, theres some stories in my head abt my Mak. but will blog abt them after i can breathe dgn lega sikit
Mama... you are one lucky lady! Papa seems to know what he is in for..and I must congratulate the both of you.
Your mom must have heard and seen enough of such graphic and colourful language that in her stressed up life, she just did what she thought was natural. Forgive her. I am doing just that.
Nice episode with the tokey babi. Great expression of confidence. You have now managed to break the cycle for your kids, that colourful lang breeds equally colourful one, leading to loss of confidence..
Well done Mama
(Count was initiated by AuntyN, thanks AN)
Huh?.... same comment as ATN's ?.. almost word for word..
mmm.. call it dejavu if you like
atn & count byron, thanks....hey great minds think alike!
MamaIrma,
What a great entry. I never heard muka macam pu** naik tangga before. That was enough to cause a major damage to a young mind. My mother was raised with constantly derogatory words, humilation, cussing and put down by her adopted mother. But we are fortunate, she broke the cycle. She was nothing like grandmother at all even all my mother's life she never, I meant NEVER heard one kind word from grandmother except when grandmother was on her deathbed.
Your kids are fortunate to have a loving and wise mother like you.
Anasalwa, you are lucky for never having heard of the idiom,he,he,he..I've heard many many more yang seumpama dengannya!
owhh... i'm glad u recovered your self-esteem..
who says parents are always rite huh?
hmmm. semsetinya lebih dari miss universe ni. kids sekarang ni pandai nak justify what they think is right, well from our teachings too - supposedly to be for survival skills. tapi kengkadang tu letih nak reason ngan diaorang ni kan, and sometimes i wish from 12, they straight turn to 18!..kengkadang la :)
ps - oops tumpang lalu ya, selalu rajin baca je, today menebeng sikit.
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