“Abang! Ina dapat sepuluh!”
Alhamdulilah.
Hearing her voice so joyful makes me feel happy
as well. Not the first time I’ve listen to the excitement in her voice. The
first time I heard that tone was when she was about five or six, I think. She
just lost her favourite blanket or in Malay terms “bantal busuk”. I still remember that old stinky plush with gut so.
It was purple with some patterns complementing the stench it gives. Sort of
like animals or aliens or something. I couldn’t really recall the details.
But it lived up to its name. You know how bantal busuk are right? Well in case if
you didn’t have one, let me give you a sneak peek. It’s horribly smelly, full
of saliva leftovers from who-knows-when and the moment it comes in contact with
your skin, the smell stays for a good couple of days before it actually fades
away!
My granny could not tahan the
smell already. Now imagine that. Even an elder, provided that her incline in
age means a decline in her perusal human senses, could not contain the stench
it gave away, imagine what I, her bother who cannot resist the cuteness for
the-then cute little sister, have to endured to get close to her. So what my
granny did was she took the bantal busuk in the wee hours of the morning before
my sister wakes up. She sental the
germs & saliva & what other incumbents which have made habitat on that
pillow till it was squeaky clean.
As expected the moment she wakes up, a loud cry can be heard from my
parents’ bedroom, waking up the whole house in the process to comfort her from
crying. Luckily the bantal busuk was
dry enough for granny to be wiggling it to my sister. She stopped crying
altogether. We were expecting her to cry again when she hugged her bantal busuk, noticing that all of the
usual stench, smell even frozen saliva, has completely vanish. But to our
surprise, she giggled and smiles excitedly while hugging her now very clean
companion, oblivious to her family members who had just been dumbstruck by her
reaction. She giggled quite long though, long enough for it to get stuck in my
head. She was clearly very happy indeed; despite the conditions of that bantal busuk no longer have the
‘integrity’ to be called one.
So here we are, eleven years into the present, hearing the same ol’ giggle
she gave the time she got her bantal
busuk back. The frequency of the giggle coincide with how genuinely happy
she was at that time. And I’m pretty sure she’s as happy now as she was the day
she found her old companion back.
But as I constantly remind her, as I constantly remind myself back then,
getting great results in your SPM does not necessarily mean that you would have
a perfect future. Clearly that your results shows you’ve worked hard for thing
you want to accomplished but later in the future, you need more than just
academic excellence to help you along the way. Never lose that momentum that
you’ve gained all the while during your SPM preparation. Never underestimate
your time in your Matriculation or Foundation as a walk in the park. Just
because you’ve aced your SPM does not guarantee you even 1% that you would aced
your Matriculation/Foundation as well.
I’ve known this little sis, because I have done that mistake. I have
underestimated my time during matriculation. I have underestimated my time
during my first semester in my varsity. I am lucky enough to be where I am now.
However, luck may not always be a good companion for those who want to achieve
more. Therefore, I urged you never to underestimate even your weakest enemy.
Always be prepared for even the simplest of task.
Always am proud of you, in whatever you do. Always.
