CREATIVE WRITING - LOVED ONES

 Creative Writing 

Tutorial Assignment 2 / Loved Ones

Both of average height, wears glasses with wrinkles a little here and there, my parents look like just about any other parents you will see on the streets of Malaysia. Over the years, memories of their laughter and bickering permanently plastered onto their faces, making them look somewhat similar in some angles to others. 

Despite most people saying how alike my parents are, I beg to differ. 

Artistic, kind and funny, my dad brought colour into my mom’s routine working life when they met nearly 22 years ago through a mutual friend. Both fresh out of Perak, their home states, came to KL to work but found love instead.

Like two opposite poles of a magnet, my parents are each other’s yin and yang. My dad’s constant patience and understanding balance out my mom’s fiery temper. My mom has her way of doing things, like a routine. Over the years, my dad got used to it whereas I tend to challenge her. Fun fact: According to the Chinese zodiac, my mom was born under the year of the Dragon whereas my dad was born under the year Dog. 

Extremely fitting of their personalities, no? 

Many Fengshui masters have said how incompatible these animals are, but my parents are never ones to believe too much in superstition.

When I look at them, I see love. Love from when they pick me up from kindergarten all the way up to high school on time. Love from when they made sure food was never a scarcity issue in our household. Love when they sat with me as I cried out my first heartbreak of a boy who I now know was not worth my tears. 

Most people would often assume that as an only child I would be pampered and blessed to the brim. 

Wrong. 

For as long as I could remember, my parents never once fed me using a silver spoon but rather tells me to go to the kitchen, get the spoon, and feed myself. In other words, you want it? Go get it yourself. 

Underneath their tough exterior, there is still unconditional love.

I remember during our first short weekend trip to Penang back in 2016, I was quite disappointed that I could not share the same experiences as my classmates who have been on amazing trips out of Malaysia. Then there was my dad who did his best amidst the tight financial situation we were in that I only came to find out later. 

“Look girl, Penang island is up ahead!”, announced my dad as he drove across the Penang bridge. 

“I guess you could say you’ve been overseas now”, he chuckled at his joke to lighten my long-awaited displeasure of not being able to travel lavishly like my then classmates. 

My mom, who is the only one in my quaint family of three who speaks Hokkien, took us around to eat delicious meals. Due to her proficiency in the language, we were able to get “Penang prices” unlike our other KL friends. 

In the end, we had a great time and even stopped by for lunch in Ipoh! That was when I started to realise the importance of family and their efforts to be with you. Although it was not some big trip involving multiple suitcases and currency exchanges, it was still filled with laughter and love (and so much food!). 

However, there are moments when I see dislike (hate is too much of a strong word). Especially on days when they call me out on my mistakes or at times when some days are too heavy to bear and arguments were unnecessarily against me. There are days where our four walls offer better comfort than each other’s company. It happens and it is normal, but it never lasts more than a day or two. 

They have always remained these sturdy pillars of strength and, understandbly that at times even the strongest pillars can crack and chip, but they never waver. Be it the darkest of storms or the scorches of the sun, they stood and shielded me. During these times, I would try to remember my parents’ advice, repeating them over and over again like a mantra:

“Always look on the brighter side of things”. - my Dad. 

“Have faith”. - my Mom.

These simple words have brought so much positivity and ambition into my life. My parents are my rock and I would not trade them for the world. 

(742 words)