The clock strikes 12 times during this midnight. Tonight is the last night for her to be in Malaysia, the lovely country where she was born in. I see her double checking her three huge luggage bags very carefully to ensure everything that she needs is in her bag. She is smiling, cheerfully. Yet dad and mum are lying on their master bed, trying to fall into one peaceful slumber. I can see , they are toyed by the wave of emotion and eventually they woke up, sitting there, watching my sister who is busying with her belongings.
The sense of nostalgic emerges from my deepest heart...
She is 3 years old elder than me. She is my mum’s favourite child for her obedience and my mum needs not to worry about her. Being the eldest child in the family, she feels that she has the obligation to take care of her brothers and shows them a good example. My mum told me that. She is just a normal student when she was in Standard 2. While teacher distributed the test paper she saw people smiling for getting excellent result. This caused her started pondering , WHY CANT SHE be one of them? She told her aunty (my mum’s siblings) about her hope of being the top 5 students in the class but got teased in return. Never giving up hope, she started to strive hard and lastly she turned out to be the best student in class when she was in Standard 4.
“Jika kau ingat kau boleh, kau tentu boleh lakukan. ” This was part of the song she used to hum in her tender age.
She entered secondary school later and everything ahead of her was so new. This was her first time seeing so many Malays in the school. I wonder if she felt alienated as she was the only Chinese girl in her class. Surrounded by the Malay community, she still made friends from other races and religions. Due to her Chinese speaking background, she couldn’t speak English fluently and she described her presentation time as the time for her class to have fun. Her classmates would surely burst into laughter for her weird pronunciation of English. Poor sis would be left standing in front of the class, smiling sheepishly.
She told me , she pronounced the word DISGUST as ‘disgus’ (should be ‘disgast’) even when she was in Form 4. Yet in such a predicament, with sheer determination, she worked very hard on her broken-english and finally she was able to impress the teachers and friends.
Her wealthy friends needed not to be anxious about their future as they could study abroad once they finish their high school education. Too bad, my parents are not rich and cannot afford to send her there. She admired them , envied them so much until she was so determined to go for the scholarship. So she buried her head into the world of books.
After the hardship and toil, she was rewarded with a superb result in SPM. 10 A1, and 2 A2. Unexpectedly, she wept silently, thinking that her dream to pursue her study in oversea has gone, for good.
Still she appealed the JPA scholarship and went for the interview. After few months, the good news arrived.
“Pa , Ma! I got JPA” she banged the room of my parents’ door using all her might, despite the serenity and peacefulness during midnight. It was 3 am I could still remember. Never in my wildest dream expect such miracle would happen , as STUDY ABROAD is always a mission impossible to me . Miracle, perhaps it was something expected ?
Studying in INTI college located in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, she bravely took the TOEFL Test - Test of English as a Foreign Language then she took the result to apply for university in USA. Out of the blues again, she was accepted by University of Washington.
Toil and Hardship got paid off eventually.
The story of one 19 years old girl ended here. Comes a new challenge ahead of her...
Last day in Malaysia.
She smiled cheerfully as though she can’t wait to breathe the fresh air in Seattle. We are awakened at 4 o’ clock in the morning , heading to the KLIA airport.
Even Lucky also comes to 'bark' GOODBYE
It is a family photo. Including my daddy as photographer.
Arrive at KLIA after the time consuming ride. Meet up Prof. Lim there.
There are 15 JPA scholar altogether , pursuing their dreams to be successful people in the future.
It really impress me to study hard , follow their footsteps.
With my sister’s so- called godfather, Prof. Lim Hock Beng - the lecturer in college who comes all the way down from PJ.
A family photo.
My sister's Adventure Club FRIENDS. A bunch of friends who willing to wake up very early in the morning to send her . Envy that so much. Good friends are to be valued, aren't they?
Time flies rapidly. After all the briefing and malay praying, it's time for them to go.
People start crying, weeping , shedding tears and create a saddening atmosphere though going to study abroad is a thing that should be proud of. People are happy, yet feel so reluctant to go. Sounds contradictory? That's what we call the reality.
''Sudah sampai masa untuk masuk" the worker urges them to go in. Tears flow down my dad's cheek when my sister embraces him. Mum is a worse case.Only 3 strong and tough brothers there watching the touching scenario.
It doesn't occur to my mind. My sister does not cry! Not even a single drop of tear . Strong. Stay tough.
I am sentimental. I know, my tears gonna flow too. Tears welled my eyes. Somehow I manage to hold my tears, stop it from flowing out. Doing very hard to calm myself down, Iturn on the phone, listen to the song -Hot and Cold , humming the song but once I reminisce the past, the wonderful memories, I have to hold my tears again and turn my back to them, shed the tears.
Hug... Hug... Hug...
It's time for us to bid adieu. Gesture each other by waving hand, signifying - bye.
My dad waved continuously, non-stop until she vanishes in sight. When are we gonna meet again?
Bye , my dear sister. May God bless you in Seattle, a new enviroment that no longer customary to you. Stay tough!
P/S : By the way, your lovely room is now occupied by me! Wakaka.... Come and get it back after four years. Keep in touch! ><
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