Page 153 - Stories from our Grandparents

Mdm Luah Geok T een Born 1953

By Eu Xin Yi
Temasek Polytechnic
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
y grandmother lives with us. And I would often hear her say, grandfather passed on.
“Back in my days…” Often I would reflect upon how life during
her generation and mine are quite different. I started by asking “Of course there were challenges. “After marriage, I
Mhow life was like when she was younger. “Back in those days my was a housewife. I had to raise my 3 sons alone while
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 my husband was the sole breadwinner, working in our
unforgettable happened to my grandmother when she was about 6 years business as a pork butcher in a market. I continued being
old. My grandmother was afraid of dogs. As she ran away, she failed to a housewife until my husband got diagnosed with cancer
check for oncoming car from across the road. “All I heard was in 1979. It was tough.

死了，死了when I was under the car.” She laughed. When they We continued our business and his treatment for
pulled her out from under the car, she was miraculously alive and unharmed. the next 20 years. I had to take care of housework,
“I am considered very heng (lucky) to be able to not only be alive but raising my kids and helping out my husband in the
totally unharmed. Even though a few days later I threw up, it was nothing market. During his final days, he was hospitalised and
much, I was still fine. Both my family and the driver was so relieved”. a few days later, he passed away, and we stopped

My uncle told me, “When Ahma was our business in the same year in 2000.”
your age, she got married and had her After listening to her story, I feel lucky and blessed that I am spared
first child at 17.” My grandmother did from those hardships. Regardless, my grandmother’s perseverance
not attend school and earned money by and her story are things which I will always hang on to.
sewing. In 1969, she was introduced to my
grandfather and shortly after, she had an
arranged marriage with him at 16.

94 Grandma Stories Grandma Stories 95