Meeting a family member after a long time can be exciting. Some feel terrified and there are times when people are reluctant to do so, no matter how long they haven't met their family member. At first I myself was a little nervous in seeing Lt. Col (or uncle) Ed after many years and his wife (my aunty); the chills ran through me, what am I going to say when I see them, can I offer my hospitality and not hostility to them as guests at my home? Petty worries, in the end it all turned out to be a joyous time together with my mom's elder brother.
You see, being a Eurasian has its own unique way of life, we have always the fusion of the Western and Eastern culture in our everyday lives. Some of our homes are a typical arrangement of an English man's house and the other room is just as messy as any kindergarten. In addition, some of us are too one-cultured favoured till we lose the opposite culture's way of life. The combination of the multi-culture in our bloods make us proud to be called Malaysians.
Anyway, having the uncle and aunt around excites the nature of my home. Having them (or having any extended family members) creates the atmosphere of story-telling, hobby tips, old-to-young advises and of course a pinch of gossip. We sit in the living room for hours and share stories that sometimes have no relation to one another, example: the Chinese boy in the neighbourhood used to be cycling around selling 'roti', and remember Aunty X who married that man from UK who's cat your grand-uncle looks after. Talking about your granduncle, how is your sister-in-law who converted last year. I just love this, takes some time getting used to though. Furthermore, when we get together, the elder will always give wise advice to the young ones, and the men of course will give their advices: treat a girl well, then she'll cook for you, even if she can't don't bother or else you'll never get to eat again.
When guests come over, we chiak (Hokkien word meaning 'to eat'), no matter what, food and drinks becomes the axis of interaction in a gathering. We take them out for an Indian lunch, a Chinese dinner and Eurasian-Malay-Indian lunch the next day. See, we're a fusion of culture. A few drinks maybe at night, and goes again the sharing of time with each other.
The family is always being the centre of concern for us and God being the foundation of everyday life. Also, there is the learning curve in which we the young ones learn from the old and the old learn a little from the young. We never bore of each other, and another thing is, we quarrel occasionally but which family do not? The witty jokes always brighten a solemn mood where a solemn mood always calms the overjoyed moments. Call us mix, we enjoy life as hard as we can, and we strive hard to make it in a country where our race was born.
Forgive me for the unorganized flow of the essay and the minor grammar mistakes here and there. This is just a mere insight on how this minority race in Malaysia go about our lives.
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