Mum and Dad's wedding anniversary.

Photo of Mum and Dad with cousin James Chan Chok Chung, and Deborah and I visiting Australia from New Zealand.

It is March, and I remember in March, it is Mum and Dad's wedding anniversary. I didn't always know that, In fact, I was very jealous that on sister Margaret's birthday, she always had a big party and Mum cooked up a storm. Grandma Kong, Aunties from the Kong side and Chan side came to celebrate, and Margaret got lots of cash gifts/hung baos.

Was I jealous? Why just Margaret? when there were six of us kids. I can't remember, did I get so upset? I must have and I went to complain.

It was only then, they revealed, that Margaret was born on Mum and Dad's wedding anniversary. As it wasn't the done thing to celebrate wedding anniversaries then, they celebrated on the pretext of Margaret's birthday. Oh! I understood.

My Facebook friend Francis Phang said it was all FATE. when I told him how mum and dad wedded. It's all in my book, but not this part.

Rewind back to 1945:

It was the second world war, the Japanese soldiers were taking girls to be their comfort women and men to be their solider. Great Grand Ma, Ah Tai was desperate for a husband for Mum.

Ah Tai wanted the son of this Town family P.

This Town family P. didn't want a country bumpkin girl to be a daughter in law.

It was not meant to be that he should be my dad.

Instead the next best was country bumpkin Dad. 

So Ah Tai chose Dad.

This country Bumpkin was the best choice after all.

He was the first in the region to get a scholarship to study in England, and became a senior government officer.

All of us were college educated. None of the children of that Townie man went abroad. Whew!!!!