Little Women of Penang

Chu and Pak Busu have 3 lovely daughters - my 3 gals i addressed them as Little Women of Penang whenever i sent them letters. How we love exchanging letters, as they would come up with all sorts of karya seni for me and i, cards and bookmarks.

A week ago, Leena, the eldest of the Little Women, started her solo adulthood journey in Melbourne in pursuing her BA.Commerce before embarking on challenging path to become an actuarist. When Chu and Pak Busu went for Haj, Leena, who was only 10 back then, and I stayed up till the wee hours of the morning trading our life curiosities and wonderment. She is truly a deep thinker. Time really flies and now Leena has blossomed into a fine young lady with impeccable IQ and EQ to match. Chu and Pak Busu are surely proud of her. I know she will be fine down there as she can really cook great meals. I'm glad she sees that women must know how to cook no matter how successful she is.

Her younger sister, Nadhirah, is now doing her A-Level at Taylor's College while waiting for her SPM results. Her school magazine called Kak Yah, as she is fondly known to us, the most popular girl in Convent Greenlane. A head prefect like Leena, she's active in volleyball. Despite her looking the most athletic amongst the Little Women, Nadhirah is an asthmatic that she has to take various medications on daily basis, her housemates called her druggist hehhehe. A highly compassionate person, Nadhirah loves animals and when she was a little girl, she said she wanted to be the Vet. Now, Nadhirah is positioning herself to be a medical doctor. She has all the quality to be a great, humane doctor (for this breed of doctors is facing extinction in Malaysia). We will fetch Nadhirah from her college for a weekend at our abode - so called the sterile room by Chu and Nadhirah. Having her around, i can't help making myself busy preparing what she loves eating, packing foods for her and make sure she has sufficient fibre sources aka fruits and her beloved cucumber strips before sending her off on sunday. And I'm like a big sister 'ordering' her to change her towel and bedsheet every weekend and her telekung every fortnightly. I know Chu would want me to do that for Kak Yah but of course she doesn't have to say it.

Lisa, the youngest of the 3, was born when Chu was 6-month pregnant. It was pure magical to watch this young lady grows up, from when she was barely weighing half a kilo, spending her early months in the incubator at HUSM. Due to prolonged exposure to drugs to keep her alive in the incubator, Lisa was diagnosed with severe hepatitis. We had difficulties explaining why she couldn't share her utensils, food and drinks with others. At one point of time, the doctor told Chu and Pak Busu she won't survive to adulthood - that was heartbreaking moment. Alhamdullilah, after Chu and Pak Busu came back from Haj, Lisa was found to be free from that illness - makbul doa Chu and Pak Busu. Having super-achievers as her sisters give her pressure to achieve as great as them. So far, she lives up to that standard and will be attending Kursus Ketua Tingkatan this weekend. Mak always say that Lisa will do better than her sisters in PMR this year. Amin 44x.

I'm glad i could see how they grow up to be who they are now. To see sibling rivalry when they were small to being the best of sisters each of them could have - I'm glad i was part of that process in their life. Above all, i am proud that they become such sensible human beings.

Kak Yah never failed to sms me after we sent her back to college, thanking us for our super hospitality. I told her it is in our big family (so no way we faked that :P) and i wanted her to know that Allah always take great care of good people, regardless whether you are related or not by blood. As human beings, being kind to others is required for, not an option for you to choose - you must do good.

Wishing all the very best to my darling Little Women from Penang...Love you all, much!