My Dad & Mum - random thoughts

My Mum is working in a kindergarten teaching cute little kiddies. I never knew my Mum was so great with kids. On Saturday mornings she gives small group private tuition to three of the kids in her class. Can you believe that kindergarten aged kids in Malaysia need tuition? That's how early Asians instill the "workaholic" mindset into their children. And by kindergarten I mean 2 to 4 year olds!

According to my Dad, within weeks of my Mum tutoring these three girls, their performance in school improved dramatically. So much so that there are other kindergarten parents who want my Mum to tutor their kids! However she wants to maintain a high level of service to her students so she refuses to take more than the three she currently has. My Mum, in high demand! Wow - I'm so proud of her.

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Every time we go back to Malaysia there is always that inevitable list of items we are requested to bring over from Australia. Things that either cannot be purchased in Malaysia or are of a much better quality in Australia. Without fail, on that list is a 500g bag of jelly beans - the kind that can only be found at your local Amcal pharmacy. My Mum uses these to "bribe" some of her children to behave. I shudder to think that one day my children's grandmother could be bribing them with jelly beans... or that they would prefer to stay at my parents' house because they get access to junk food there that their Mum wouldn't allow them to have at home. Haha. Perhaps that will be a funny story for a day in the future.

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For the last 4 years or so, my Dad has put his heart and soul into working to turn around the family business in Malaysia. Just like any other type of change, it has involved a lot of negotiating, conflict, and heartache. All this time, I thought my Dad was doing it mainly as a service to my grandmother. As a part-owner, it forms a large part of her livelihood and therefore essential to a comfortable living particularly as she gets older.

It never occurred to me that the business also employs dozens of locals, therefore in turning the business around my Dad is not only trying to do what he considers his duty as the oldest son to look after my grandma, he also recognizes that if the business closes down, literally hundreds - all the employees plus their families - could be left with nowhere to turn. Some of the employees have worked for the business for 25-30 years, ever since their teenage hood. They would definitely have nowhere else to go for employment! This has given me an even more profound respect for my Dad.

My Dad hopes that when the employees realize how much he cares for them and how willing he is to be loyal to them, this will generate loyalty amongst them. He's the sort of person, however, who will never tell them that a large part of the reason he's making some of the changes is to keep the business going and therefore to benefit them in proving them jobs. I hope, for his sake, and for theirs, that they do find out one day. If I could speak the language, I'd tell them myself.

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No one is perfect. Sure, I have my disagreements with my parents. But my love, admiration and respect for them reaches far beyond any irks I might have with them. Compared to how much they have given and sacrificed for me, my brother and my sister, compared to how much they clearly love me, compared to what a wonderful example they have set for me with their lives... the rest is most definitely inconsequential. I hope one days my kids will say the same things about James and me.