In the early-mid 1990s I was sufficiently unchallenged in my 9-5 office job to take up the lease on an eatery at a pub in Erskineville. I ran it after work and on weekends, and my then-husband Nick took care of the weekday lunch trade. I got the fully-equipped bistro on the cheap on the condition that as well as whatever kind of menu I wanted to » Read More
Tang Sifu
March 17, 2016 by
This post was written 3 years ago and published on Father's Day. My dad has since passed away. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I’ve never been hugged by my dad. Growing up, I was under no illusion that I was anywhere near the favourite of his 9 » Read More
The Hard Sell
March 17, 2016 by
‘Hello, sir/ma’am – come try Malaysian food – we have noodles, curry, satay, roti’ – called out my newest staff member to the passing crowds. We were trading at a market and he was obviously trying hard to show initiative and had been at it all day. I finally couldn’t stand it anymore and told him to stop. I don’t grovel for business; it’s just » Read More
Starting School – Seremban
March 16, 2016 by
I attended ACS (Anglo-Chinese School) in Kindergarten. I’d been raised speaking Hakka within the family, and Cantonese among the neighbourhood kids. The teacher spoke Cantonese to me. I remember a boy, Bernard Wong, taking a liking to me and bringing me candy every day. We hung out. Then one day, he started getting obnoxious. I think he’d » Read More
The TV
March 16, 2016 by
We lived on the 11th floor of the 14-storey high Templer Flats – Seremban’s Twin Towers – a welfare project for low-income families. 11 of us (9 kids plus our parents) crammed into a tiny 2-bedroom apartment. Each night the mattresses would be on the bedroom and living room floors to accommodate everyone. There was one toilet, which doubled as » Read More
Bob is Sexy
March 15, 2016 by
‘Oi, tukar, tukar!’ (Oi, change! Change!) yelled the Odeon cinema usher as he banged on the counter at my Dad’s canteen. He needed some change for whatever reason, and forgot to say please. I was furious; I’d had enough of his BS. At 15, I’d had a personality transplant; from a mild, soft-spoken and obedient kid, I’d turned into a » Read More
Yin Chee
March 14, 2016 by
This is our ‘san goong yan’ (new maid) – I whispered to the neighbourhood kids – as we sneaked our heads over the doorway to our flat. We wanted to stealthily check out the lady who was washing our clothes in the bathroom but she spotted us immediately. Yin ‘Chee’ (‘sister’ Yin) was only about 17 when she started working for us; she still » Read More
The Odeon
March 14, 2016 by
Throughout my time working at the Odeon, I had at best a love-hate relationship with it. It wasn’t always that way. When I was younger, I stayed at home whilst all my older brothers and sisters were out all day and night working. I wanted to join them, but thanks to my position in the family – 8th in a family of 9 kids – they didn’t really need » Read More
Choong Fee
March 11, 2016 by
It would seem in hindsight that he never stood a chance, even from the moment he was named as a baby. All the girls in our family have the middle name ‘Min’ and all the boys, ‘Choong’. His name was Choong Fee. Shortly thereafter, my mom saw a fortune teller. He told her it was a bad choice for a name. The Chinese are superstitious about » Read More
The Car
March 11, 2016 by
This is my mom in our first car. In the early years, my parents used to get around on a scooter. Road safety laws have come a long way since those days when several of us would pile on top of each other on the scooter to get around town. Anyway, one day, my mom rode the scooter to the butcher’s to buy some meat for dinner. She saw his prices » Read More