Tales of the Twins

Back with tales of the duo, who are now big enough to be even more adorable with their childish and innocent antics and speeches. And to show how they have grown, just two days ago Iman, who now importantly calls himself "Abang", said something that pierced right through Nenek's heart: "Abang nak besar." And I wanted to just hug him and tell him oh no, please, not so fast! That I still want to carry him on one hip and his brother on another and I still want to swing them and hear them giggle and laugh with that sheer joy and innocence. Imran is one-minute behind with speech, but nevertheless is also composing his words, and he calls his brother "Umar Iman", for instance, last weekend they slept over and one of them spilled his morning milk and he lisped out: "Umar Iman buat, nenek..". and Nenek wanted to say, go, spill all the milk you want. If the cat does not lick it all, Nenek will just mop it clean. (Oops. Nenek does not have a cat.) One evening they came over for dinner, and upon hearing Adam's car, I hid behind a chair. The twins burst in and as usual, screamed for me but when they saw me lying prostrate on the floor, asked: "Eh, pe nenek meow?" (Translate: "Eh, kenapa Nenek jadi kucing?") and they jumped on this "meow" and dinner? what dinner? Physically, they are still rather smallish in frame, but have taken on very definite features, looking more and more identical each time I see them. Eyebrows are darker now, and their parents allow their hair to grow a little bit longer so that the lightness is more obvious. Their noses are little button replica of their Atuk's...but I love most of all, their bright, intelligent eyes that are perpetually inquisitive and wanting to know and to learn. A little chip of my wooden chair broke and Iman saw it and at once knew where it came from. And Imran is the vain one: he once changed his shoes FOUR times before going to Nursery! and it was not like choosing from a row of shoes; he went in and out of the car four times before deciding that the pair of yellow Adidas was just right to go with his orange Tigger pyjamas. Ah. The joys of Nenekhood. Recommended to all ladies who wish to be rejuvenated, at least in spirit.

Go Green...

How difficult is it to change the ways of one community's life?

I'm writing about one extremely simple issue: the green bag. And in Johor it is a very big deal, to make people bring their own shopping bags. I watched with much amusement on Saturdays when shoppers have to pay for plastic carriers if they don't bring their own..oh, the grumbles, the complaints, the sarcasm, the annoyance..makes you think it is not a bag they are asked to bring, but their own shopping trolleys.

I have experienced instances when the Pakcik Guard (the uniformed bodies they put at the entrance of shopping malls) stopped me and with that much arrogance, told me I could not bring my own bag in. And my bags from Tesco are those big, strong ones which I absolutely love. Why? I asked. "Mana boleh? Cik tak boleh bawak masuk beg ni. Tinggal kat luar." I had to call the supervisor in. That was at a smaller but popular shopping place. Then at a bigger, more international outlet, I did the same, but this time the Pakcik Guard actually followed me from a distance and made sure I saw him talking on his walkie-talkie, his vigilant eyes on me all the time, like a snake about to swallow a frog. If, IF, he had done more than that, I would have retaliated and God knows I would embarrass the whole International Outlet for their blatant ignorance.
At another time, I was queueing to pay at the check-out counter and the customer in front saw me pulling out my bags from my trolley and as she paid, in a voice loud enough for half the mall to hear her, asked the cashier: "Kalau saya bawak saya punya beg sendiri, awak ada kasi saya duit ka?" I have that feeling that she avoids shopping for her groceries on Saturdays now.

My children, from their stint in the UK when we were there back in the 90's, have learnt long ago about going green.
They saw the OAPs (Old Age Pensioners), hunched and frail, pull out used plastic bags from their coat pockets to fill in their stuffs.
They helped their father look for cartons or boxes to put in our stuffs. Or, if none available, we would just push the trolley out and dump everything into the boot of the car and drove off, cans and bottles happily rolling about and intimately knocking against each other in there.

The same goes for recycling bottles and glass and paper and cans. People look down their noses here if they are asked to separate these things. Oh no, that's the job for garbage collectors.
At home, I have four rubbish bins in different colours, and it's not damaging my reputation to just throw the disposables in their respective bins. The twins are learning this now as they inspect the contents everytime they come to Nenek's house, and dutifully tell me, should one bin be filled, "Nenek, dah tak muat."

And to date, because it was only yesterday that I shopped for groceries, this go green campaign does not seem to catch on yet. I was still the only one who brought my own bags. And the sweet young thing at the counter smiled and said, "Thank you, kak, sebab bawak beg."