Lessons along the way......

With the coming of the customary Ching Ming or tomb sweeping festival, I travelled by coach from Bintulu to Selangau last Friday. Although the actual festival falls on the 5th of April, I decided to return to Sibu earlier due to family and work commitments. My brother John, who was travelling from Mukah, stopped to pick me up at Selangau before continuing our journey to Sibu.

Mum was pleased to see us and as usual, she fussed around preparing her favorite herbal chicken soup and sweet-sour fish. She even boiled some awful smelling and equally awful tasting herbal concoctions, which she claimed as very nutritous and good for health. Much as John and I detest the herbal preparations, we drank them to please her. Although she could be quite fussy and overbearing at times, but we understood that she really cared for us. Sometimes, I feel guilty for not spending enough time with her but just visiting or dropping by for a night or two. Strange as it seems, I feel more appreciative of mum as of now compared to that of my younger days. I must say that during my teenage and young adults years, I found my parents "do's and don'ts", curfews, "rules" and "regulations" rather stifling and uncompromising.. I yearned for the "freedom" to make my own decisions, friends, peers and rebelled when they were too strict. Looking back now, as an adult and parent, I realised that those rules and regulations were not meant to intimidate or curb my freedom but to teach and inculcate in me the virtues and values of honesty, scarifice, long-suffering, hardwork, chastity and filial piety. I guess that as we age and approach those "golden years" our outlook and perspective of life do change.