it was the late 60's. she spent the third term school holidays with her parents, brother and little sister in seremban. actually she asked permission from the headmistress to have her holidays two weeks earlier.
the living quarters they stayed in was at the slope of a gentle hill. there was a big grassy open field not far away where children play. she made new friends each day. a specially close playmate was ah siah or asiah who spoke Malay like her own mother tongue.
asiah lived next door but spent most of the time at her house. they had so much to talk about. sometimes they lay down on the floor and pondered at the shapes the stains on the ceiling made. there were maps of the world, houses, hills, people, animals and everything else under the sun. asiah only went home for meals and at bedtime. sometimes asiah' s mum would send her elder sister to bring asiah home. especially when asiah wanted to sleep at her house.
then there was Along, a teenager next door to the right who took her under her wings. Along took her shopping or visiting friends. once Along took her to an ex-boyfriend's house during aidilfitri.
she loved visits to the lake gardens. seremban , with hills and dales, green and lovely.
as she was an avid reader, she asked her father to buy some books for her. he bought 5 comic books which she finished in a single day.
she had a smattering of french, german (from books) and was quite good in hokkien by this time. her friendship with asiah made her hokkien impeccable.
when the school holidays were over, she returned to the turtle-shaped island. she was pleasantly surprised by a present of a big disney story book for getting second place in her final exams.
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