PIG's life

Welcome to my circle

There are a lot of things going on my mind. I don't know where and who should I share them with. That is why I start to use blog. I think it would be good to share them with you, guys.

Have you ever get into dilemma? I get it so often even if I ask someone about it, no one can answer them.

Over here, I am going to share my life stories to you. I hope I can inspire you in certain ways.

By the way, I am piggy (my nickname). I am from Indonesia. I have 3 brothers: 2 elders & 1 younger, a total of 4 siblings. I am the only daughter. Well, I am not a princess in the family. My parents always treated my brothers and I equally. They believe in gender equality. I used to live in a big house where my precious memories are hold. The house can hold 10 family members: my parents, granny, handicap aunt, my 2 maids, my 3 brothers and I. OH! I forgot about my dog, named nosy. She has a black fur and 2 brown spots at her forehead. She has short legs but long body. Why would we name her that? Simply because she never stop barking at strangers. She would be the noise maker in the house. My house has a big garden, a small backyard and a 2 metre-deep pond with full of Koi fishes. My garden are full of herbs. We do have bamboos planted at the back of the house as well as gingers, aloe vera, jasmine and roses. I still remembered how my brothers and I used to play at the garden. We would excitedly make a kite with plastic bags and a thin bamboo sticks from my garden. My handicapped aunt would sit at a corner and watch us running around across the green grass. She was  there to monitor the 4 of us. My maids would endlessly do the house chores: sweeping, washing laundry, cooking meals for the family etc. My dad would be busy working at their tiny little shop which sells women and men accessories. Everyday, my mum would pack food for my father and take "angkot" (taxi in bahasa) to send his lunch. At the same time, my mum would help him in the shop. They would only be at home till evening. Sometimes, I saw them hitting their own shoulders or necks with their fists. I saw my older brother (I called him "da ge" in Chinese), using his small hands, massaging my mum's shoulders and smiled. My dad, he was a tough man. He always wanted to be a strong man who can support his family. He wouldn't want anyone to see his weakness. 

My granny would be the leader of the household. She cares about how the maids are doing their tasks. She would watch every single movement. She wouldn't let a single mistake slight. Honestly, she's pretty scary. What surprise me was... Even though she is a strict lady, she would spoilt her grandchildren. She would cook personally for my brothers and I if we request our favourite food. In my opinion, she cook the best in the family. I would like to say she is a head chef in our kitchen. 

My mum and my dad have a total of 7 siblings each. I don't know my father's family well. What I know about him is very vague. He would not reveal about his past. So, the only resource I had was from my mum. 

I am aware that my father is the 5th child. My dad is not educated at all. In 1960s when he was a boy, he could only depend on himself because he hold the most responsibility in his family. Therefore, he is not very close with his siblings. When he was young, at 11 years old, his parents passed away due to a "mysterious" illness. This made the 7 of them forced to stay with their aunt. Although he has an older brother and sisters, they still depended on him for making a living. Before the sun rise up, he would wake up and get ready to pull a wooden cart which was 2 times bigger than him. He sold bubble gums and packets of cigarettes. Those profits he made would save and gave to his siblings. After saving for 10 over years, he invested his savings to a business he dedicated to- the accessories shop. I am proud to say that the shop had made him a successful businessman. His effort had paid off. However, his siblings are envious of his success.

My mum, she is the 6th child. My maternal uncles would tell me that she was a strong and ambitious lady. She was one of the top students in her school. Many boys would chase after her because of her beauty and unique personality: a tomboy. My granny everyday had to sew and tailor clients's clothes or dresses to earn money for a living. My grandpa was a gambler. He had a gamble addiction. He would used the revenue which my grandma earned and spent it for his entertainment. None of the children in the family likes to see him gambled away all the precious money on the fruitless deals. My mum's elder sister had to stop schooling and sacrificed herself to help my granny to earn those gems for a living too. The reason was so that the family would not fall into dept. Eventually, her 2nd eldest brother's fate turned out to be the same as my mum's elder sister. This time was because my granny couldn't afford all the children to go to school. My mum has a strong desire of becoming an independent lady. She would help my granny in house chores and burned midnight oil to study her subjects. Her dream is to get accepted by an overseas university. Again, her effort paid off just like my dad. She had given an invitation letter to attend a university in U.S. Unfortunately, she had to halt her education and only earned a high school certificate. Why? Same reason as her 2nd brother, leaving only 2 sons in the family to be fully educated. I know how exactly my mum felt then. She felt the unfairness due to the Chinese tradition, believing the sons are better than daughters. Sons should be given more opportunities. My mum absolutely hate that.

Both of my parents were 116km apart then. That means my parents lived in a separated town. How did my parents meet? Long story cut short, my mum went to Samarinda (a small town) for a short vacation with some of her friends. They had to take a 30 minute to travel there by boat. It was because there was no bridge connecting between the 2 towns. The only transportation is to take a boat to cross the "Sungai Mahakam", means Mahakam river. It was well known for having wild crocodiles till today. So they met at Samarinda, and shared their personal information. You can say it was love at first sight? Since then, they kept on seeing each other often. Soon they got married. My dad was 36 years old and my mum was 21 years old. Their age gap is 15 years! She decided to stay over with my dad at the beautiful small town and gave birth to 4 kids. 

Facts about my family:

My first brother name "M" and my second brother name "Y", their age difference is 11 months. It's not even a year. All of my siblings had gathered and asked my Mum if she was "shoot gun" by my dad. Shot gun means going through pregnancy before marriage. In Asia, many people believes that a couple should married first before having sexual intercourse. My mum went silent. She did not answer at all but she gave a sharp glared at 4 of us. We got intimidated and never to ask that question again till now.