A Most Precious Antique

Sandra, my outgoing next-door neighbour, has packed her things and had the movers send them to her parents house in Ipoh. Sigh...no more sweet sounds of her piano recitals, and no more cheery face Sandra to 'bump' into every now and then. Kind of sad, but life must go on.

I was out for most of the day. When I returned around 6pm, the movers were about done and just waiting to shove off. I took the opportunity to talk to Sandra and her mum. It was whilst that I noticed a laptop bag on top of a pile of garbage. Took a close look and found it to be in excellent condition except for a broken handle; nothing which cannot be fixed by a diy person (don't look at me!) or even the roadside cobbler. I remarked this to her and she said she has a whole load of them already, some, presumably, qualify as antiques. She was, off course, trying to make a light humour. But, it reminded me of an episode a week or two earlier.

The kitchen pipe sprang a leak for several days already. Emak and I, well, not being plumbers, could not detect the leak aproper. But a puddle keep growing leak on the kitchen floor. It was then we decided to call a plumber, a malay chap who quite recently married Leeza, the girl emak was eyeing as my wife. This guy - Nasha, by the name - is more than just a plumber. He's also a good diy guy and we make fast friends.

Anyway, soon he discovered the leak. It was just within the walls and behind the faucet. He brought a helper along and between them, they completed the job within a total of several hours. And a pretty good job it was! Really! I was quite impressed.

At the end of it all, we were all happily chatting with sips of coffee in between. It was then he remarked about the many items in the house and that many were antiques which could fetch a good price in the market. It was then too I realised why emak had been so adamant to bring all her stuff when ever we shift.

There's the old wooden sattee set which is what, 50 years old, with the wood still as strong. There's the black cupboard which is 80! A set of crockery which dates back to emak's teen-age days, with all the intricate handpainting still beautifully preserved - emak is 75 this year; so the set must be at least 55 years old! A complete set of malay brasswares, meant for wedding or engagement functions. Then there's that Malaysian Parliament painted on carpet like material, (or was it weaved?), that's a year or 2 younger than the Parliament building! Wow! All these stuff here in this house and I never really give them much thought, I must be bonkers!

But honestly no, I would prefer a spartan living - only the necessitie one need to carry on with one's life - and this pc is one of them, mind you.

Anyway, back to Nasha and those antiques; it was at the end of my narrating some of the items to Nasha that I suddenly realise another antique. And my gap, which was never as gifted as many I know, and that it sometimes blurt out some embarassing statements at times, while another something rather profound, which I have to admit surprises me too, chose to mention, rather luckily, a statement which had every one looking at emak with tender loving thoughts: "She is, by far, the most precious antique, not only in this house, but in my life".

More than once several friends have mentioned that I should have been either a lawyer or a politician. A politician? Never! Not if I can help it! But then, my daily actions revolves around politics...sigh. The thing I would like to say is this: "For once, I am truly glad for my gap which I have been trying to control for many a years". Only precious few really know about this.

As soon as I finished the statement about emak being a most precious antique, I kissed her cheeks. And if ever one were to recognise a face, beaming with happiness, radiant with love, then it must have been the look on emak's face. If ever a son would like to see the look of his mother, it was that day. Words, just fail to convey the meaning, though the meaning should be well understood.