Talking to Mother

It has been a while since I last spoke to Mother. A few months, I think?

It is not something I enjoyed doing. I regarded this as something of a unnecessary chore. But I just cannot deny the fact that she is my mother and the woman who gave birth to me.

I dun know why but this morning I just had the urge to call her and talk to her. Of course a major contributing factor is that my pager service ends on 9 Jul 2008. And since she only had that number of mine, she has no other way of contacting me otherwise.

And then of course, I have to let her know about Gin. Gin was her dog. She bought Gin many years back and was her caretaker for years until I took over.

So I called. With fearful anticipation. She answered.

I told her about the pager and gave her my handphone number. She could not find a pen. So she tried to memorise the number. My number was quite easy to remember. I hope she dun forget. I probably have to call her again in a few weeks time to remind her of my new number.

Then I told her about the death of Gin. She was muted for a short while and then she asked how she died. I told her quite peacefully. We chatted about Gin. Several times I was close to tears but I managed to hold back the tears. The pain was still too raw. I couldn't quite talk about Gin without choking on my tears.

She said she bought Gin from a family in HG after reading an ad in the papers. She said Gin was a silk terrier plus. She forgot plus what.... Anyway, she said Gin was about 4-6 weeks old then. And the family who bought her had a baby or small child so they sold her. And Gin being a puppy was snapping at heels and fingers as she was teething. My mother bought her for $300 only.

Mother shared some of her memories of Gin. Like how she used to snap and bit her heels. How she swallowed all the buttons on her dresses. And how once when my mother was moping the floor, Gin tiptoed on 2 legs around the wet area.

We gossiped about my father, her ex husband. My sister was running a business. And he used to help her. But after some personal arguments, he left.

My sister called father on his birthday in late may and after that, he came back to help her.

But Mother and sister felt he had ulterior motives in doing so.

And then mother told me that her estate area is undergoing repainting. And that the workers one day knocked on her windows, asking for water. She gave them 2 cans of drinks! The worker asked for 3 cos he said there were 3 workers. And then he asked for Kopi!

She at first thought that they wanted coffee. But it turned out they were asking for MONEY! She gave them $4 cos it was partially out of sympathy and partially out of feeling threatened.



And recently, they have opened her windows and asked for more drinks and MONEY! She ignored them and gave them the black face.

I was outraged! I told her to complain to the town council but she was afraid of retaliation. She dared not tell my sister cos she knows my sister would bray for blood. My sister was a lawyer! She feeds constantly on fear and blood.

Anyway, I was simply pissed off. She felt threatened. They could just climbed in and rob her or rape and kill her.

My estate had a similar repaining exercise some months back. The workers made no contact. If they asked for drinks, yeah...I would give them....but asking for money is like extortion! And I dun think it only happens to my mother. Maybe a few households in the block are also being extorted!

So I surfed online and wrote an complaint email to the Town council, without her knowledge.

Below is my email:

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Hi,

I do not know if this block is under your jurisdiction.

My mother is a resident of XXXXX, Blk XXX. The block is presently undergoing repainting.
My mother has told me that the workers painting the blocks are disturbing her.

A few days ago, they asked for drinks. So she gave them some water. And then they asked for kopi. At first she thought they were asking for coffee. But it turned out they were asking for MONEY! She gave them some small change!

And few days later, they opened her windows, knocked on it loudly and asked for drinks again! And they also asked for money AGAIN!

Frankly, I am really appalled at this! They are painting the block and yet they are boldly asking for drinks and money.

I am afraid for my mother's safety. I am afraid they would climb inside the flat and steal money or worse rape her.

I hope that you would do a proper investigation.

I am sorry I am unable to provide the details of her flat unit, cos I am afraid once they know the exact location, they would look her up.

I also hope that when you check with the workers, please do not mention blk XXX.

Thanks.