I think my atuk knew he was going to go to a better place. The week before his death (May 1 2010) he wanted to have a tour of the house, and I woke up seeing him at the door of my room in his wheelchair and I think flabbergasted at how I sleep in so late. He went to the living room to use the new Osim massage chair we bought and fall asleep with the Berita Harian on his chair. The cutest thing was how he wanted to be out , even if there was a thunderstorm, and be pushed around in his wheelchair to take in the elements as they come.
My grandfather was a hard worker and an extremely intelligent man. His father wanted to give him his cleaning company to continue, but he wanted to pursue his studies. And he pressed on and became a teacher. And to me, I think he is the reason why there is so much emphasis on getting a good proper education in the family. He put my mum and aunt in a mission school at a time where the Malay community shunned the idea, to ensure they got a decent English education. He was a soccer coach with many certificates to prove, and he was a gymnast when he was younger. That's why my grandmother watches sports everytime. And my mum would follow my atuk to his soccer trainings..because he actually coached my dad. And he's the only one in the family who could actually do Math. And I think that gene decided not to be passed down looking at all of us in the family now. He spoke in proper English to me all the time, hence my very weak grasp of Malay. I remeber, he tried to tutor me in A Math in secondary school but gave up on me when I kept dozing off but I managed to get a B3 atuk!
He was a generous and selfless man. In his retirement, he gave tuition for free to the less well-to-do children. He spent his time giving lessons for free at a mosque nearby.
My grandfather believed in constant upgrading and learning. He went for IT classes and right before he died, he actually asked for a laptop but he never got to use it.. He was the one that converted all our home videos into home dvds (how does one do that!) and he chronologically compiled albums. He tediously seived through all our pictures and he compiled an album of me growing up, arranging the photos by my age. Whilst he was silent and strict, his obssession with documenting our lives shows very much how he truly loved us. Well his knack for organisation hasn't rubbed off on me, but I'll start.
When my grandfather heard of my results, he couldn't stop crying. When my grandmother asked why he was crying, he said he was overjoyed.. another one in a university! Because of what he was suffering from, he couldn't control his emotions so they come as they come. To make a man as great as him happy feels..awesome.
Atuk you're in a better place now. Where you can walk again! And run and do backflips and cartwheels like you did when you were younger. I love you
