The Switch
It was probably Rauf’s second month in school when I saw it with my own eyes. It was after school. He wanted to stay back a little longer to play at the playground. I stood to the side, watching him. Then, out of nowhere, a boy appeared behind him. He picked Rauf up and shoved…
Finding Thomas Mason
When we left KL, I could already see my parents’ brains working overtime plotting a trip to visit us. True enough, two months after we arrived. It wasn’t exactly a surprise — we’d agreed to meet in London first and then head to NL together. I knew living in Europe would make travelling within the…
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Of Locksmiths, the ER and Ikea
My ears were still ringing when we arrived in the Netherlands. Rauf’s scream at KL airport was still echoing prominently in my eardrum—like an uninvited post encore performance. The moment we left the airport and drove 2.5 hours to Maastricht it occurred to me that this was going to be our home for the next 3 years. At that time, I struggled to put my feelings into words. I felt sick. Moving abroad wasn’t a foreign thing to me, having…
I don’t like this idea!
That was what Rauf screamed into my ear as I carried him through the Immigration gate. 18 hours later, my ear was still ringing when we arrived at our new country of residence. Six months prior, life felt settled. Joe was working in Singapore, Rauf was happy at school and I was thriving. For the first time in my career, I felt like I had found the missing puzzle piece—the one that makes sense of everything else. Then Joe was…
The Flip: Swiss
For as long as I can remember, Farah and I always had our annual bestie trip. When I was a student, she’d dragged her ass to visit me wherever I was – England, Italy and Ireland. When I started working, it was Japan and Thailand. When I was 7 months pregnant, she was my guardian angel and accompanied me to Krabi – she didn’t have too, she did it cause I was basically a walking watermelon and I knew deep…
The Graduate
‘Rauf, we will all be there for your last day of school, you’re going to have yummy snacks with your friends and give away goodbye presents’ ‘Okay, mummy’ When Joe received notice for a job secondment in the Netherlands, we knew the best decision to make as a family was to move together. He was in Singapore for almost 2 years and it wasn’t easy for Rauf. The entire time he was in Singapore, I was swamped with work. Rauf…
The Holiday
Back in 2019, my dad was hinting here and there that he wanted a holiday with the family…’somewhere cold if possible’ he said. So after some research we decided to go to Melbourne. Joe couldn’t make it in the very last minute (thinking about the burnt ticket still makes me sad till this day!) but there was nothing much we could do. So in August 2019, off we went! The journey to Melbourne didn’t go as smoothly as I had…
The Gold Slippers
When I was in early Primary, my relatives performed their Hajj. When they returned there was a huge gathering at another relative’s house for their welcome. It was the best time because I had like 10,000 cousins and this was the time everyone got together. Ah, pre covid days. While everyone was busy catching up, I realised the relative who came back was arranging all the souveniers on a table. I saw her arranging a line of beautiful gold slippers…
The one about Margaret Thatcher
I remember growing up, when my sister and I shared a room and we would ask my dad to tell us a story (sometimes more than 1). He would never say no and for that I am grateful. Sometimes his stories would be fictional. Sometimes his stories were about his childhood and sometimes his stories were about biographies on his favourites singers, authors etc. Stories – the special ones will always make room in your heart and mind, even after…
Who Moved my Cheese
With my 31st birthday nearing, I’ve been thinking a lot about my grandfather. About how almost this time last year we still had him around. I had a Beyonce theme birthday dinner at home with family and friends and I still remember vividly how he came out from the dining room holding a picture of himself and a baby me. He approached me and showed it to me and I could see it in his face that he was proud…
The 18th Jar
When Rauf turned 1 year old I decided to collect all birthday notes he would receive from our friends and relatives, to keep them in jars labeled by the year and will pass it over to him when he turns 18. It wasn’t until my Grandfather passed away recently that I realised how cherished and priceless these time capsule messages are. I found the note that my Papa wrote for him in 2019 and I could not stop crying for…
The man who gave us wings
I once knew a Man who gave us wings, Throughout his life he taught us many things, An extraordinary man, no, not a stranger, This man was my beloved grandfather. Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman was his name, A hardworking man who played a few games, Born in Kelantan in 1933, A quiet kampung boy who enjoyed climbing trees. Married Wan Zakiah, 4 children they had, Each grew up strong through happy and sad, Aziah, Azlan, Anita, Adina are…
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