My wife

My wife married me when I was still a poor young engineer. Though I was a graduate with a steady income but did not have a lot of money to afford things. We used to envy other families who could drive bigger cars and stay in better houses. We had gone through the thick and thin of life, hardship, making ends meet and tough time without a job etc. We built a family based on trust, staying together in whatever circumstances, going to church and pray for our children and family members etc. That was how we have gone through life together for so many years.

My wife and I are of totally different characters and even have different sleeping times. She sleeps very few hours but can be very active the next day without any problem; I for one need to sleep 8 full hours in order to energize myself to take on the activities of the day. When our young children were sick, my wife was always half asleep or stayed awake most of the time and took good care of them, monitored their body temperatures, administered to them cooling gel and medicine at the right intervals. I would always try to sleep a bit early so as to take on my turn of vigilance on the children at the later part of the night so that she could catch some sleep. It was such a wonderful combination despite our differences!

She is well versed in Malay language because she was from Sri Kampar Kebangsaan school after her primary English education in ACS. We were from different school background and have totally different hobbies and likings. Sometimes we wonder how we could ever get married in this way! Sometimes it is God's will that we become husband and wife, she tutored my children most of the Malay language lessons while I tackled mainly their Chinese or mathematical unresolved questions in the school. Again it is such a good combination!

My wife is very good in his handwork and hand made crafts such as flowers crochet etc, and she did such crafts so well that I believe she could even open a shop to sell them. Only thing is if she does too much of those handwork, her eyes would be too strained that she could fall sick or even have vertigo. Even better is her cooking and she is always willing to learn from TV programs or even from my mum on all the skill of cooking. She inherited most of the secret recipes of my favorite dishes from my mum. She used to cook every meal for us in earlier days, but later part I found that it is too strenuous for her and we decided to eat out most of the time when I am home. Nowadays it is even more economical to eat outside than to cook on your own although sometimes outside food with excessive Ajinomoto is our main concern. She washes our clothings shoes and cleans the sofas, and the whole house spotless so that we could have a very comfortable environment to live in. I am very much influenced by her near to fanatic cleanliness, and because of that now I become very sensitive to cleanliness and tidiness compared to before when I was still a bachelor.

Because of my job nature and I have to be always away from home especially at the later part of my career, if not for her constant presence and help in the house, I would not be able even to earn a living. She stopped work and stays a full time house wife while our first son was born. She likes to nag a lot especially to the children, and most of the time is out of concern for them. Sometimes it is understandable of her nagging behaviour because she is confined within this narrow circle of life with the children and the husband as her only friends. And of course sometimes our behavior is also too unbearable for her and she needs to vent out her anger. Children and we adults are not perfect beings and this has become part and parcel of life.

In my heart, I appreciate all the hard work, love and care she renders for the family and also the sacrifice that she made for being a wife and mother 24 hours a day staying at home taking care of all of us. I have unspoken words, love and appreciation for her though I do not always express that to her. Through this blog, I want to say love and a big thank you to her!