I remember a
lot of things from my childhood
like how I
would keep all the 10 cents just to buy gula gula hantu from the makcik in
sekolah agama
how I would visit the library every recess just to borrow
another of the Enid Blyton series
how I would purposely switch off the shower
lights just to hear my brother scream in fear for the momok that would come out
from the mirror or the way my parents would bring us kids for heavenly tomyam
just by the petrol station opposite to my school
those are my
happy memories, the ones that I would cherish forever
but I also
remember how I was told that the shirt I am wearing is too grey for me
or I
should sweep the floor more cause I have baby fats around my waist, how I never
get full score in my maths cause my brain does not work properly
how I am just
careless when it was not even my fault that the window broke
and this I
remember
aishah ni
bodoh kan?
I could not
exactly recall on what occasion does that happen but it was a remark made to
the fact that I am just another clumsy kid who has extra inches on her waist
and has never get the top 5 in class up to standard 5
a simple
comment that are nailed harshly to my brain forcing me to believe that indeed I
was bodoh
bodoh bodoh
bodoh ( sing song )
eh tahu tak,
aishah ni bodoh tak macam….. ( mocking )
him. a
supposedly blood related human being whom gets compared to this unfortunate
self all of our lives
him, the
idea of a perfect child with excellent grades and mountain high ego to match
with
him, the
idea of perfection that I am supposed to follow close behind although I can
never be one step ahead
him, the one
who called me bodoh
my childhood
were always about me being compared to him. the emotional trauma of an eight
year old girl has cause he to lose the ability to have a decent conversation
with another human beings, that she cant even look the teacher in her eyes for
the fear of being called up, that she avoid being in any societies or clubs
because she is scared of achieving anything, that she could not order a simple
vanilla sundae without rehearsing her order a million times ahead
my childhood
was not all fairytales and princess cause the evil sorcerer and scary looking
witch with ever annoying voice will always haunts me with their story of how
this sorcerer are achieving so many things that they have lost count. No matter
how much my King and Queen console me their words are still etched in my
childhood memories leaving trails of consciousness and low esteem
eh tahu tak
aishah ni memang bodoh sebab….. ( mocking )
do you have
any slightest idea how that one day during Science class when I was called by
the school counselor because a friend reported that I am being suicidal
do you have
any slightest idea how I looked up on google of the five steps how to have a
conversation with friends
do you have
any idea that I had always deny any relation to you because I have never felt
like I am worth enough to be a family
do you have
any memory of how in every gatherings that I would spent making myself busy
with the adults back in the kitchen secretly longing to be out there with the
others laughing at some silly youtube videos
do you have any memory of how you boast about
taking over this empire that our dads have built together and never once allow
me the chance to take up what is mine
because life
revolve around you and you alone
and yes,
talking about you left this bitter taste on my tongue, how my bile rises with
disgust that I have once allow myself to be weak in your eyes.
True, aishah
ni memang bodoh
that it took
me half of my life to actually realize that it is not of my obligation to be
shadowed by you
that my
potential are limitless although it may take me a million tries to get the
right order in
McDonalds
that I can
be anyone I want to a journalist a writer a traveler
that I can
be ME