Change of plans: From hospital visit to house visit…

I had wanted to visit Zainab’s daughter, Kakak, at the hospital this morning but simply couldn’t get a parking space. Even my usual parking area where others don’t usually want to park (because it’s quite far to walk to the hospital), were full this morning.

I called Zainab, this time she answered. Although earlier she mentioned that Kakak may need to be operated for suspected appendix, this time Zainab told me that the girl need not go through any operation after all. I guess it wasn’t her appendix that gave her problems. But she still needed to stay in the ward for further tests, especially since the girl does have kidney problems.

Since I couldn’t get a proper parking space, I decided to cancel my plan to visit Kakak and change to plan B to visit Lin instead. Somebody had given some cash through me to be given to Lin, for her to spend for Ramadhan/Syawal, so I thought I might as well visit her today. There were some photos (of our recent Family Day) that I needed to pass to her as well. So I called Lin, just to be sure she’s home. I wouldn’t want to go all the way to her house only to find out that she was in Ipoh for her hospital appointment!!

Lin said she was at home and was not planning to go anywhere, so I told her I’d be coming. Within half an hour, I was at her house. Lin was concentrating on her sewing and didn’t realise my presence until I got to right in front of the door. Her 14 year old daughter was ironing her school uniform.

Education-wise, Lin’s daughters seemed to be doing quite well. Her 1st & 3rd daughter are already working, while her second daughter has to study a little bit longer since she’s taking up medicine overseas. Lin’s 4th, her son, had never done well in school, and even after SPM he was doing one thing after another. One moment he’d say he wanted to work, next moment he’d say he wanted to take up whatever courses with some friends. Latest, he had gone up north to take up a short course, and according to him, right after the 3 months course, he’d be offered a job. His mother or sisters couldn’t ask much, he wouldn’t say much, but it’s something to do with shipping, or so he said.

Lin’s 5th child, a 16 year old boy, isn’t doing too well in school either. Joining a vocational class, his last exam results slip showed a number of subjects which he got G’s (for gagal). The only subject he scored an A was “kimpalan” (welding), the one and only subject that he’s interested in. For other subjects which he’d need to sit down and study, he failed miserably. Last year, for his PMR, I offered Lin to pay for his tuition (he is under our Sponsorship Program), but he himself refused. No point paying for his tuition if he wasn’t going to attend. He doesn’t seem interested to study. He is even contemplating to do part time jobs during school holidays so he’d have some money to get a motorcycle license.

Lin’s youngest daughter is an average student in school. Last year she turned out one of the tops in her class, and so this year she was transferred to what Lin calls “kelas budak pandai”. This year since she’s sharing a class with better students, she got to the lower bottom of the class.

Right now, financially I’m not too worried about Lin’s family. With her 2 girls already working (although “baru nak hidup” as people say), and I know that the girls are the responsible type, at least there is always something in the kitchen for them to eat. My main concern now is her sons, especially her 16 year old who doesn’t seem to be bothered about his studies. He already likes to join his friends go fishing etc instead of studying or doing his homework at home.

I just hope the 2 boys will not end up like their father.

Which reminds me… what’s the latest news about their father, Mr Darling? What about the case reported by his wife (now ex-wife) for molesting his step-daughter? Well, since her 14 year old daughter was there, I didn’t want to ask Lin about Mr D. Didn’t want to be discussing Mr D’s molest case in front of any of their children, especially the younger ones. Although the eldest daughter despises the father, Lin always reminded them that good or bad, he’s still their father.

So no, no updates on Mr Darling today, ok?