The Cantonese Clan

It was a weekend of reunion after many years of not meeting each other. I have to say I'm really glad that I made the decision to go and I believe it's a very right one. I am just as curious as everyone to see how and what we have been doing after all these years.

I started off my Saturday morning by meeting my godsister and my 5th Aunt at KL sentral station where we later travelled down to Alor Star together with my godsis as the driver. My godsis is one crazy driver and we reached Alor Star in just 4 hours..lol. We placed our stuff at our room first before proceeding to change into formal clothing for the wedding dinner. Anyways, it's been way way long time since I've seen my cousin. I've grown up together with him and his brother in Penang and it feels a bit weird seeing him getting married. It feels like yesteryears when I last saw him going to school in the trishaw. Oh man, I'm starting to feel old already. Haha..we were joking that I may be an uncle soon if they have a baby. The wedding dinner went fine and most of the relatives there at the tables were mostly from the bride's side. At night, we went for supper and a chat under the Alor Star tower to catch up on old times..lol.

We travelled to Penang on Sunday but before we headed over there, we stopped by at Sungai Petani for a short while to visit my maternal grandmother. Lunch on Sunday was with my 2nd Uncle at Gurney Drive. Haha..his temperament now is different from when I was a small kid. He used to have a stern outlook but now as he aged, he turned somewhat to be more light-hearted and cracks jokes. Anyways, we also took the opportunity to pay a visit to my Ah Ngen and Ah Yeh (paternal grandparents) at the crematorium. We left Penang at around evening and I reached back Nilai on late Sunday night. Haha..had to return back early because Monday is nasi kandar day :)

It was a nostalgic moment as we recounted the old days at Penang Phee Choon Road and Subang Jaya. I certainly feel more "cantonese" after meeting with my father's side relatives because it's being some time since I spend a good deal extended time of speaking Cantonese and chatting about the good old Canton dishes and cuisines. Home cooked dishes and boiled soup are of high importance to the Lee family. The good old homely feeling comes back again...haha. Recounting back the old days makes me miss my Ah Ngen and Ah Yeh (paternal grandparents).

The other issue I want to point out is that I was darn right in saying that he won't turn up at the wedding. I would say the other side's fears are unfounded and this excessive distrust and no-risk-no-show thing is starting to turn malignant. What happened is due to that one person and it's not appropriate to shun the rest of the family because of him. Well, I heard of updates about him and as usual, he has not changed. In fact, I think he's gotten worst and some of the things I heard of him is so astonishing that I wonder whether there is any redemption or atonement for him.

After observing things on the families of both sides, I came to several conclusions.

1) Daughters and mother-in-laws will always have some sort of thing against each other. Lesson of the day: Always have a girlfriend that can go along with the mother. You can say bye bye to House of Harmony if both are on opposite ends.
2) If you can't stay loyal, don't get married. If you can't stay committed, don't date and break the girl's heart. And stop spreading your genes around.
3) Bad blood among brothers should not spill to the next generation. Whatever disputes that the siblings have stays at that generation. The next generation does not want to inherit any of those business.
4) The oldest in the family is often one class apart from the rest of his siblings. It applies to his children too. For some reason or so, the children of sibling no.2,3,4 can mix together well but all of them can't seem to connect to the ones by no.1.
5) The elders in the family don't neccessarily know that much as they claim to and that could even be about their own situation. Sometimes, the younger ones turn out to be the people that see the whole situation in a much better analytical light and reasoning.

Oh well, that was an eventful weekend coupled with the fact that there was no class on the whole of Monday. I really hope that time could heal all the distrust between the two divides and bring back the good old days.