Old Habits Die Hard (Be Passionate)

One of the favorite past times bagi ibu saya dulu adalah menanam orkid. Macam2 jenis orkid mak tanam; dalam pasu atau atas tanah.

This is must be taken in the late 60s (we were tiny! And I love old photos like this). Kat belakang tu was mum's rumah orkid. Over the years we have many rumah sebegini. Bila dah tua rumah tu, my arwah dad would build a new one. Perdu2 pokok orkid pun jangan cakaplah. All my life I remember those.

And whenever we visit arwah ayah's family in Bukit Mertajam or go on day trips to Balik Pulau atau Pantai Merdeka (you dont know this place, do you?), we would stop at a place called Sungai Bakap. Kat situ ada satu ladang orkid dulu, where mum got her orchids from. Dan to save, mum would buy the smallest pokok orkid in the tiniest pasu for her to take home and grow (sedih pulak bercerita).

Anyway. These days rumah orkid mak di kampung dah lama pun terbiar. Tak terdaya mak nak membela orkid dah pun.

Namun. A couple of weeks back my sisters brought back some flowering pretty orchids for mum. Diletaknya dalam flower stand di tepi meja yang mak selalu membaca dan minum teh petang.

Punya la mak puji. Kakak2 saya pun kembang. Some other orkid mak dibawa masuk dan diletak di situ.

Kata mak, pergi ambil gunting pokok mak. Mak nak pebetul sikit pokok ni.

And then a bit later she said pergi cari pasu lain yang boleh mak letak kat sini. Then. Pergi cari arang. Pergi ambik pokok lagi mak nak pilih. And the best part is, pergi ambik stand yang panjang tu letak kat sini. Boleh mak letak banyak sikit pokok.

This is what she got in the end. And satisfied, she said pergi ambik penyapu, mak nak sapu. And my sister did.

Later. Kata kakak saya, umur aku 60 tahun. Bukan 16. Berpeluh2 aku pergi-balik2 ambik macam2 (haha. Kesian).

But we all agreed, anything for mum. If this can cheer up her days then so be it.


Ya Allah, rahmatkanlah bonda saya yang lanjut usia ini. Ampunkanlah dia (sila ameenkan. Jazakallah). And to all your parents too.





~ xoxo