Page 152 - Stories from our Grandparents

Mdm Luah Geok T een Born 1953
By Eu Xin Yi
Temasek Polytechnic
y grandmother lives with us. And I would often hear her say,
“Back in my days…” Often I would reflect upon how life during
her generation and mine are quite different. I started by asking
Mhow life was like when she was younger. “Back in those days my
family was very poor”. Her mother had to raise my grandmother and her
siblings by washing laundry for people in order to earn money. Something
unforgettable happened to my grandmother when she was about 6 years
old. My grandmother was afraid of dogs. As she ran away, she failed to
check for oncoming car from across the road. “All I heard was
死了，死了when I was under the car.” She laughed. When they
pulled her out from under the car, she was miraculously alive and unharmed.
“I am considered very heng (lucky) to be able to not only be alive but
totally unharmed. Even though a few days later I threw up, it was nothing
much, I was still fine. Both my family and the driver was so relieved”.
My uncle told me, “When Ahma was
your age, she got married and had her
first child at 17.” My grandmother did
not attend school and earned money by
sewing. In 1969, she was introduced to my
grandfather and shortly after, she had an
arranged marriage with him at 16.
94 Grandma Stories
吵不散、骂不走，才是真爱！
To my surprise, they never really fought and happily
spent their days together for 31 years until my
grandfather passed on.
“Of course there were challenges. “After marriage, I
was a housewife. I had to raise my 3 sons alone while
my husband was the sole breadwinner, working in our
business as a pork butcher in a market. I continued being
a housewife until my husband got diagnosed with cancer
in 1979. It was tough.
We continued our business and his treatment for
the next 20 years. I had to take care of housework,
raising my kids and helping out my husband in the
market. During his final days, he was hospitalised and
a few days later, he passed away, and we stopped
our business in the same year in 2000.”
After listening to her story, I feel lucky and blessed that I am spared
from those hardships. Regardless, my grandmother’s perseverance
and her story are things which I will always hang on to.
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