Childhood for me..is not as luxurious as it seems to people. There are many people I've met who thinks that my family and I are loaded but we're not. Just because my siblings and I studied in an International School doesn't mean we're from a wealthy family. My parents had no other choice. The stupid Malaysian Government won't give my sister and I, a citizenship( although we're born here) just because both of our parents are not Malaysian. So my parents had to struggle a lot just to be where we are now. My parents did apply for a PR here in Malaysia but it was not approved. After 18 years of living in this hell hole, the PR was then approved. 18 years of suffering...for everyone.. One hell of a government huh?..
The BeginningI've heard a hundred times, the story being told by my mother about the life she had with dad and how we came to be where we are.. It's not a big dramatic story like those in the movies. It's just a simple life.. A challenge everyone has and have gone through once in a while.
Before mum and dad came to Malaysia, they were living in Korea(dad's birth and hometown..my roots). Mum learned a lot of stuff in Korea. Their culture, language, lifestyle. She learned most of the cooking from dad's mum. She told to me, it was hard living there, especially for a Muslim(dad converted to be with mum). That's when they decided to move to Malaysia(since it was close to Singapore). I'm not sure why my dad agreed to move far from Korea though..never tried asking.
Mum told me that when they first came here, all they had was their luggage and their new born son, my brother(he was born in Korea). They didn't had much to buy a house..and dad was jobless.. Mum tried asking relatives living in Malaysia for help..but not a single soul answered. Lucky for them, they found a small, single story terrace house for rent. They just had a flat mattress to sleep on, bench for cooking and placing baby milk poweder and other spices, and a cemented floor with no tiles. Other then that, there's nothing. No bed, tv, sofa, carpet, curtains, desk or anything. Just the 3 of them in a small story house.
Communication between mum and dad was not easy. Dad barely knows English and Malay, and mum barely knows Korean. Life was tough. Dad went to repair neighboring houses to houses just to support his wife and his son until he can find a proper job. None of mums relative are willing to help them..they were all on their own. Life was very stressful for both mum and dad. At times, its a wonder if they will make it in life. A year later..I came along. Slowly things started getting better, although they were still struggling, at least, its much better than before. Dad had a job and they had a wonderful Chinese neighbor who helped them a lot. Day by day, week to week, month to month, slowly, mum and dad was able to build a home for my brother and I. After a year and a half later, we had a new family member, my baby sister. Life seemed complete and handful for mum. She had to take care all 3 of us, my siblings and I, all by herself. Soon after, we all moved a little bit nearer to the city center. The house was more bigger than before and mum and dad was able to fully furnish every corner of the house. It wasn't easy..but that's life. Nothing is easy.
After couple of years passed, my siblings and I were going to start school. Mum and dad had a lot of thought on where to send us for our junior years. Bro had finished his kindergarten first. Mum and dad couldn't send him to a public school since we're not Malaysians, so they had no choice but to send
all of us to International school. My brother went to Sri Garden for his Junior 1 and Junior 2 and I went there for my Junior 1 only. We had to move to a different school. It was too expensive for my parents to support for the 3 of us, so we end up moving to Fairview Int. School. Back then, Fairview was the cheapest International School there was. My brother and I had to move to the same year in Fairview. There wasn't enough space for my bro to continue his Junior 2 so he was retained back to Junior 1 with me while my sister started her Intermediate level. There's nothing much to say about the school. Honestly for me, I hate it. The teachers there are racist and money minded. If you're a foreigner, you are considered a favorite to teachers with connections but if you're a rich Malaysian local, you're considered a nobody. The school mistook us for Malaysians because my mum is a dark skinned woman who, to them, looks like a Malay(mum's originality is an Indian-Chinese Dutch mix). We were practically coloured by the Asst. Principal and other local teachers who was at that time teaching there. Its disgusting to even recall about it. Locals colouring other locals because of money and status.
Years and years passed. There are countless times where my siblings and I had to stop schooling for a few months since our school fees wasn't settled. It wasn't easy. It was hard for all of us especially on our education. We missed a lot of important subjects and none of the teachers were going to help us. I was only 8-11 years old. The school fees slowly got more expensive year by year untill we had no choice again but to move to
another cheaper school. Sayfol Int. School. It was quite impressive actually. It's slightly cheaper than Fairview but the school compound was quite big. Fairview back then, was practically teaching us in a cabin with lots of broken down aircond. School went sky rocket ever since the school moved to a building. Sayfol was similar to Fairview but a lil bit rundown. At least, they had a few caring teachers. My siblings and I only spent 3 years in Sayfol until one day, our parents told us the worst news ever. They told us we had to stop schooling and I mean really stop schooling. We had a lot of debts to settle. Like before, multiple times dad had to cover our school fees. It was hell for him. In the end, after my form 3 second term was over, we stopped schooling. I was pretty upset..I didn't want to quit school. I wanna go to school and hangout with my friends. It wasn't fair. Furthermore, we can't tell anyone that we stopped schooling so I had to stop contacting with all of my friends..At times I was happy. Heck, I don't have to go to school! I can sleep late hours at anytime, wake up at anytime too and do what ever I want as long as I'm at home.
