My first hobby

I had quite a handful of hobbies which I gave up over the years. It is not because of I am no more interested in those hobbies anymore, it is mostly because in life sometimes we made practical choices instead of doing things according to our own liking. Or we are simply more preoccupied with something else that are driven by this materialistic world! Sometimes think of it, how pitiful humans could be when come to making choices even on hobbies!

When I was a kid, my first hobby was gardening and I remember how I planted roses, which my father brought back from the Malay Kampung. He was then selling fishes to those Malay villages in Tapah road, Air Kuning and probably Langkap areas. I had stolen two more other floral species from someone else's garden. But foolishly planted one specie on the path near my home where the original owner passed by that way everyday!

It was the feel of my first touch from nature, how bud-grafted branch sprouted young leaves, the wonder of life embedded even in seemingly dry and lifeless twigs, how small buds grew into full blossom of flowers, and the fragrance of it filled the air and attracted bees and butterflies. The real wonder of God's creation!

My parents home is always full of flowers because it happened that my mum and me shared the same interest in flowers and gardening. The oldest vegetation that was planted in the family was the cactus, that is still standing tall at the back of the house. We treasure it so much and it symbolises the common interest and the love of nature for my mum and myself. We had move the cactus twice, one time because it was planted too close to the building site when we built our new house and the second time was, it stood on the way when the town council authority wanted to broaden the road.

My mum had a big quarrel with my dad when he trimmed off a big portion of the branches of a yellow flower plant near the fence just next to the external toilet of the house. From that incident, one would be able to tell the kind of passion of my mum on her plants!

My wife also likes gardening very much. So much so that we filled the compound of our semi-detached house in Kulim with plants that looks like a jungle. That seems to be quite an appropriate discription of it, other than we had planted the vegetation in a more orderly manner.

Now my family stays in a condominium in Kuala Lumpur, and my wife only has a limited space in our home to practise this hobby!