Tulip bt Che Lah (4) Interview

Interview of Tulip Che Lah

This is a questionnaire that my eldest daughter used to interview her grandmother/my mother at my home in Kg Chicha, Kelantan on 1 June 2004, i.e., 4 days before my mother died.

You are ...

Tulip Che Lah

Today will go down in history. Mark it.

1.6.04    

What is the event that made you do this 'paperwork'?

Dropping by at Chica for a visit.  


1. Describe yourself first thing in the morning.

I'm alive for another day. Shukor Alhamdulillah.


2. What do you never leave home without?

my purse

3. What do irresistible men/women have that the rest don't?

Men their physic


4. What do you do when you see someone you really, really fancy?

Go up to meet the person.


5. Any example of a pantun? Sajak? Syair? Poem?

I saw a ship a-sailing
A-sailing on the sea
And Oh! it was all laden
With pretty things for me.


6. What drives you crazy?

Noise


7. When the world seems to turn its back on me, this is where I run and hide.

My bedroom.


8. Name your most irritating habit.

Answering people with "Is it?"


9. Complete this sentence: When I'm old and 80, I'll be ...

sad and lonely


10. What would you like more of: brains or looks?

brains


11. What do you do to keep your feet on the ground?

being sane


12. What motto do you live by?

Help others if you want to live happily.


13. Name your most interesting asset.

my good nature


14. The most adventurous thing you've done ...

climbed Ben Nevis in England


15. Complete this sentence: When nobody's looking, I ...

I steal a look in the mirror


16. If you could be any person for a day, who would you be and why?

my grandmother. She's a foreigner and pretty.


17. Name one thing you can't say no to?

chocolates


18. Complete this sentence: Parents make the ...

best of loving us


19. Draw a marking that means 'you'.

The world around me.

20. Is there an ayat in the Quran that you would like me to take note?

Ayat Kursy ayat 255 Surah Al-Bakarah.

This is the meaning of Surah Al-Baqarah Ayat 255, which is also referred to as Ayat Kursi. It is the second Surah in the Quran. Reproduced from Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement:
http://www.cmje.org/religious-texts/quran/verses/002-qmt.php

002.255

YUSUF ALI: Allah! There is no god but He,-the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permitteth? He knoweth what (appeareth to His creatures as) before or after or behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge except as He willeth. His Throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth, and He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for He is the Most High, the Supreme (in glory). 

PICKTHAL: Allah! There is no deity save Him, the Alive, the Eternal. Neither slumber nor sleep overtaketh Him. Unto Him belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. Who is he that intercedeth with Him save by His leave? He knoweth that which is in front of them and that which is behind them, while they encompass nothing of His knowledge save what He will. His throne includeth the heavens and the earth, and He is never weary of preserving them. He is the Sublime, the Tremendous. 

SHAKIR: Allah is He besides Whom there is no god, the Everliving, the Self-subsisting by Whom all subsist; slumber does not overtake Him nor sleep; whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is His; who is he that can intercede with Him but by His permission? He knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they cannot comprehend anything out of His knowledge except what He pleases, His knowledge extends over the heavens and the earth, and the preservation of them both tires Him not, and He is the Most High, the Great.

21. What's your line?

Apa khabar? Mmm ... nenek sayang!


22. What languages are you interested in?

Chinese


23. Chinese chess or conventional chess?

conventional chess


24. Name any place in our galaxy that you would like to go to.

The moon.


25. Is there anything you would like me to know?

That I love you.


26. Draw yourself doing something that makes you happy.

knitting

Terima Kasih

Share:

Read More

Tulip bt Che Lah (5) My mother

My mother was a big source of inspiration for everything, including problems related to babies, young girls and working mothers. 

She was named after a flower, and the Dutch love this flower. She did not say very much, but led by example. 

She was a dedicated mother who had to divide her time between family and work. She managed her kids well except when she was ill and I had to take over her chores. 

She was loved by her students at all the schools she had taught. She related to me that the Sultan Ismail College (SIC) boys even hosted a dinner in Putrajaya in her honour, which she attended with sheer delight. 

Her students treasured her for her friendliness and the warmth she brought them. 

I remember her as my English coach at home. Sometimes she would tutor me on Mathematics. I knew it was so frustrating for her to teach me Mathematics as I could not comprehend the English text in my Mathematics book! My father took over from her and I had to buck up or I would hear the thunder roar over by shoulder! 

My mother taught me the piano when I was 11, and we continued to play as duet till I was 15 - when I left for Tunku Kurshiah College. 

She was a really good pianist. She told me she was a Grade 5 when she went to England and completed Grade 8 there. 

She also taught me how to cook and sew. By age 9, I was already a wide-eyed seamstress and a pint-sized soux chef! 

She was a good historian. She knew very well about the Second World War (WWII), Winston Churchill, the fates of the Jews, the Holocaust, Ann Frank's diary, and the formation of Israel. 

But she was first and foremost, a Geography and English teacher. Having studied in England in 1952-53, History, Music and Medicine interested her immensely. She knew these topics better than me.

Even though I was already fixed on becoming a biochemist, she brought me in the late 1980 to see her tutor, Mr Roger Raymond Sellman. 

Mr Sellman was a renowned senior British historian who was retired and lived with his wife Mia Sellman, and their dog (Twiggy) at their single-storey bungalow in Pound-Down Corner, Exeter in England. 

Mr Sellman talked me into changing my interest and future profession. He said it would be desirous to accept History (as he had done) and desert Biochemistry altogether. I told him it was impossible and too late for me to switch fields but I thanked him for his encouragement. 

My eyes were fixed on Twiggy and my favourite bread-and-butter pudding which Mia had specially prepared for me! 

I continued to correspond with the Sellmans till I got married at 24 in 1983, and left home to work in Kelantan where I work presently. 

Terima kasih, Mak!

Share:

Read More