It's A Pale-Green Home by YantiMahamud

Chapter 1 – The Love

When I was a child, I don’t really know what were my ‘likes’ or ‘dislikes’ ….
Clothing – not like kids nowadays whom are so good in choosing what to wear… I just wore what my grandmother told me so. After taking bath…. It was always “Mok, pakai baju mana?” … and she would usually replied with a teasing tone, half shouting… “Pakailah kain songket pun!” But still, it was her picked then that I had to follow.

Food – never have any favorite restaurant. There was hardly an eat-out those days. It was already considered a big event if my aunties brought me to buy fried mee-hoon at nearby restaurants within the vicinity of where we lived. The few were, Sarina Reastaurant … Mirana Restaurant… even so, it was ‘tapau’ and eat it home.
Once in a blue moon I dined at a steam-boat restaurant called Sun-Too in town and that was really a HUGE-EXTRA-ORDINARY thing. There was a time Busu brought me to accompany her for dinner with her soon to be husband at Seri Restaurant. I needed to behave and of cause was trying hard to do so. Busu ordered for me float drink and I was so excited about it. Instead of slurping the drink, I blew it through the straw! It was a disaster….. the float spilled all over the big glass!

Books? – no way… Kampong girl like me…. I’d rather play “bola kaki-tiga” or follow my brother to climb trees rather than reading books. Somehow, I had a good discipline though, never go out playing unless I finished my home works.

Cartoon character – there were only RTM 1 & 2 back then. TV3 only reached my home town, I guess when I was in Std 4 or 5, or may be later. Don’t really remember. So, leaving for KL during school holidays was a big thing… that I could watch TV3 programs and boasted to my kampong friends. With limited tv programs, what cartoon character can be a favorite or a like?

Toys – Dream on! I don’t have favorite toy because I don’t have many toys. The toy that I remember playing if it can even be considered as a toy, was the lady figure print paper doll with outfits also out of printed paper-cutting that may be changed by hanging on it’s shoulder. Walllaweh… those were like Barbie dolls by current measure.
Should I want to play with toys… I’d hang-out at my Ayah Long’s (Allahyarham) house. Hmmmm… my cousin, Safrul had the most toys compared to any of us. He had this white ‘Transformer’ robot that amused us all….. Lego which he regarded as one new toy each day….. his Papa also bought him boxing gloves!.. but I think, he hardly used the gloves. He was an ever first-rate umi’s boy.

Not really having the likes, loves or certainties…. BY SOME MEANS…. there were 4 things that I was so certain about even as a child.
One – My ambition, I never change…. I wanted to be a teacher as I ever can remember. Should there be anyone that asked me… What I were gonna be when I grew up or needed me to fill in the ambition column in school particulars card, I had no hesitation. TEACHER… that was what I wanted to be. Somehow I ended up now being an Architect. (Thank God!…. can’t imagine myself teaching.)
A cousin of mine, she used to have this hesitation either wanted to be an air stewardess or a farmer! … Alamak!
Two – Once I started schooling in standard One (whoops! Never go to kindergarten….) I knew exactly I wanted to go to boarding school for secondary. The school, must be Tunku Kurshiah College because I heard it is a good school and only best students are permitted.
Three – I like the color green…. And still love it until today. All tones and hues of green. That was why I chose green color for my wedding color theme.

Four – I love my House. I love it so much that I always tried to draw for primary school art classes.

And This… This is a story of one of my four early LIKES / LOVES / CERTAINTIES.
A place where I grew up and spent the best ever first 19 years of my life right from an infant to a teenager. 5 years out of that 19, was complemented with another wonderful place .......... Tunku Kurshiah College.

It was a place that is very close to my heart that I call HOME. And a story of this place will never be a story if it is without the main spine……. My grandmother, ESHAH BT ABD. RAHMAN whom her 9 children call her ‘Ming’ (short of umi), her 32 grandchildren call her ‘Mok’ and her 11 (+ another 2 on the way) great-grandchildren call her ‘Tok’…………………………..