My daddy asked me to share a banana with him after supper. He insisted that he couldn't finish the whole of it.
The first word that I learnt to speak in Hakka was
gong jiao, which means banana. And it was my late uncle who taught me that. I was probably 7 at that time and for some reason, that particular scene is still very vivid in my memory. It's been almost 13 years and I am remorseful to admit that I haven't progressed much since then.
The other word was
swai mok, which means sleep. And yes I lived by for another 12 years before learning a third word. What took me so long?
Time flies. It's been almost a year since his death. And I couldn't even pay respect to him when the construction of his grave was completed because of the SARS outbreak.
What have I been doing all the time? Why am I always so busy?