Spoilt youngsters
Monday December 3, 2007 : STORIES FOR MY MOTHER By CHONG SHEAU CHING
Blessed with a good life, the younger generation tend to take things for granted.
CHICKEN again? Oh, yuk!” Big R, my daughter, moaned when she saw what she was going to have for dinner. “We just had it last night! Is there anything else to eat?” She pouted her lips in discontent.
“Hey, you’ve food to eat and you complain?” I gave her a sharp sideways glance.
She showed her dissatisfaction by pushing the chicken pieces around with her chopsticks. Teenage defiance in full force.
I put down my chopstick and said: “If you continue to complain, you won’t have any more gatherings with your friends in our house!”
Ah Ba (my father) ate his rice slowly as he watched Big R. He stopped eating and got into his story-telling mode.
“When I was young, we ate chicken only seven times a year,” he said in a quiet voice.
“During World War II, we children were very grateful if we had food to eat.”
“Seven times a year? Let me see ... Chinese New Year Eve, Qing Ming (Chinese All Souls Day) Festival, Winter Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival,” I started to name the main festivals I remembered from the old days when the extended family gathered for feasts.
I couldn’t think of any more festivals.
“We got chicken from our Hokkien neighbours during the Hokkien New Year on the ninth day of Chinese New Year, the dumpling festival, and my birthday!” Ah Ba added.
“So every one in the family also got to eat chicken on your birthday?” I asked.
“No, only me. Your Ah Poh (grandmother) would give me a boiled egg in the morning for breakfast, and made me a ginger chicken dish for lunch. All my brothers and sisters ate eggs and chicken on their birthdays.
“In those days, meat was expensive. Chicken and fish were the most affordable. Chicken was eaten during special festivals. On regular days, we ate tofu, vegetables, ikan bilis and small fishes. So when we got to eat chicken, we children would suck the bones after we'd finished the flesh. If the bones were soft because the chicken had been braised for hours, we chewed them and swallowed everything!”
“Eating bones? Yuk!” Big R finally got into the dinner conversation.
“Why not? Bones are very good for the body. At that time, we didn’t have vitamin pills, fortified milk with calcium, so chewing bones was good for our teeth and bones! And chicken bones are especially delicious! You should try some!”
“No way!” the teen retorted. “I don’t have to eat things like that. I don’t want to live as if it was still World War II. From listening to all your stories, the old days had nothing good. All you got was a little food, broken bicycles, and you didn’t even have shoes to wear!”
“Life was very simple then. We were contented,” Ah Ba reminisced. “We lived in attap houses with dirt floors. At night, we used kerosene lamps to light up the house. We had no TV, no fast food, no cars.
“We also didn’t have watches, we didn’t have things to put around your head, inside your ears or hang around your waist,” Ah Ba said. “But we were grateful for everything, especially food. We didn’t complain even if we had vegetables every day. We were happy to have things to eat so we didn’t have to go to bed hungry. Now it is so sad to see young people complaining about everything.”
Memories of people I know complaining about food came back to me.
“You’re right, Ah Ba. We young people do complain a lot, especially some very young ones who have everything they need and have never experienced hunger before.”
Big R grudgingly picked up a piece of chicken.
“See, I am eating my dinner now. So don’t complain!”
Ah Ba put some vegetables on her plate. “You must have some veggie for good nutrition.”
“Thank you, Ah Kung,” said Big R.
sourced primarily for your reading pleasure by Mr Kelvin Liew Peng Chuan 2011/12
CHICKEN again? Oh, yuk!” Big R, my daughter, moaned when she saw what she was going to have for dinner. “We just had it last night! Is there anything else to eat?” She pouted her lips in discontent.
“Hey, you’ve food to eat and you complain?” I gave her a sharp sideways glance.
She showed her dissatisfaction by pushing the chicken pieces around with her chopsticks. Teenage defiance in full force.
I put down my chopstick and said: “If you continue to complain, you won’t have any more gatherings with your friends in our house!”
Ah Ba (my father) ate his rice slowly as he watched Big R. He stopped eating and got into his story-telling mode.
“When I was young, we ate chicken only seven times a year,” he said in a quiet voice.
“During World War II, we children were very grateful if we had food to eat.”
“Seven times a year? Let me see ... Chinese New Year Eve, Qing Ming (Chinese All Souls Day) Festival, Winter Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival,” I started to name the main festivals I remembered from the old days when the extended family gathered for feasts.
I couldn’t think of any more festivals.
“We got chicken from our Hokkien neighbours during the Hokkien New Year on the ninth day of Chinese New Year, the dumpling festival, and my birthday!” Ah Ba added.
“So every one in the family also got to eat chicken on your birthday?” I asked.
“No, only me. Your Ah Poh (grandmother) would give me a boiled egg in the morning for breakfast, and made me a ginger chicken dish for lunch. All my brothers and sisters ate eggs and chicken on their birthdays.
“In those days, meat was expensive. Chicken and fish were the most affordable. Chicken was eaten during special festivals. On regular days, we ate tofu, vegetables, ikan bilis and small fishes. So when we got to eat chicken, we children would suck the bones after we'd finished the flesh. If the bones were soft because the chicken had been braised for hours, we chewed them and swallowed everything!”
“Eating bones? Yuk!” Big R finally got into the dinner conversation.
“Why not? Bones are very good for the body. At that time, we didn’t have vitamin pills, fortified milk with calcium, so chewing bones was good for our teeth and bones! And chicken bones are especially delicious! You should try some!”
“No way!” the teen retorted. “I don’t have to eat things like that. I don’t want to live as if it was still World War II. From listening to all your stories, the old days had nothing good. All you got was a little food, broken bicycles, and you didn’t even have shoes to wear!”
“Life was very simple then. We were contented,” Ah Ba reminisced. “We lived in attap houses with dirt floors. At night, we used kerosene lamps to light up the house. We had no TV, no fast food, no cars.
“We also didn’t have watches, we didn’t have things to put around your head, inside your ears or hang around your waist,” Ah Ba said. “But we were grateful for everything, especially food. We didn’t complain even if we had vegetables every day. We were happy to have things to eat so we didn’t have to go to bed hungry. Now it is so sad to see young people complaining about everything.”
Memories of people I know complaining about food came back to me.
“You’re right, Ah Ba. We young people do complain a lot, especially some very young ones who have everything they need and have never experienced hunger before.”
Big R grudgingly picked up a piece of chicken.
“See, I am eating my dinner now. So don’t complain!”
Ah Ba put some vegetables on her plate. “You must have some veggie for good nutrition.”
“Thank you, Ah Kung,” said Big R.
sourced primarily for your reading pleasure by Mr Kelvin Liew Peng Chuan 2011/12
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