PASSING OF A COUSIN

When mum causally mentioned that my cousin, Ah Meng passed away last week (Jan 6), I was totally shocked. I was aware that he had been suffering from lung problems (due to his chain-smoking habit) but was not aware that he was that ill. This marks the first death of those from my generation : .. (

Cousin Ah Meng came from a broken home. His father was somewhat a narcissist and epicurean. Certainly a country playboy. (I could chronicle his dad's escapades, but that would take pages). His mum was a hardworking, long-suffering woman - and certainly the one who kept the family together. As both parents worked in the estate, where there was no school available, Ah Meng was sent to live with us.

He went to school with my brothers and sisters but he loved playing more than school. Every afternoon, after school, he would hang out with a bunch of older boys and they would play tag, rubber band throwing, gasing, marbles, cards, etc....Often I would tag along with him on such outings. He was generous with his winnings and would give me bunches of rubber bands and some marbles from his winnings. We would go spider hunting and he was adept at finding the fiercest spider (for spider fights). I was his partner-in-crime when we sneaked in our neighbour's orchard and raided the orchard for 'jambu air'.

  

Ah Meng wanted to be a great runner. He had taken part in the school sports and won in the running event (and he was proud of it). So he sought to improve his speed. When we were in Kampung Sungai Rayaat (where his parents worked), he asked me to time him when he practised running in the estate open field. Someone told him that by hitting his legs with 'ikan keli' (catfish), he could improve his speed. So we went fishing for 'ikan keli'.

    

We caught some and he proceed to slap his legs with the fish!! Then he tried again. By this time, I was tired and wanted to go home. So I told him his speed seemed to have improved !

Poor Ah Meng, after primary school, he left us to stay with his parents and went to secondary school. If he had stayed with us, he probably would have done better in school as my parents were very strict about education. He failed to get through Form 3. He went to work as a apprentice mechanic and I guess he mixed with the wrong crowd.

My memories of him is of a gutsy boy, who never complained (have you ever heard him complaining?), who is full of fun and smiles. Plus he likes shirt with colourful prints. Perhaps my brothers and sisters may have other memories of him.