“儿子，你可以带我一起去 Bersih 3.0 吗？”

"Son, can you bring me along with you to Bersih 3.0?"
That's what my 71 years old mother asked after I told her of my wife and I and a group of friends will be attending Bersih 3.0 sit in protest at Dataran Merdeka, this coming Saturday, 28th April, 2012.

I am of course more than happy to bring her along, after all if Auntie Bersih can do it, I think my mother should do fine. My wife is against the idea, she argued that this is not a carnival, what if there are crackdowns again? Tear gas, water cannon etc. We can barely take care of ourself, even more so with my elderly mother coming along.

I text-ed a number of Bersih going friends about bringing my mother along, only one share my wife's opposing view out of concerned, the rest are overwhelmingly supportive, and offer to help taking care of my mother. Thank you, Friends.

But there's still doubts lingering in my mind. Is she doing this because she understand what is Bersih all about, or she merely want to be an onlooker there. Am I naively forsaking her safety just because my ego want her to emulate what Auntie Anne did in Bersih 2.0?

Not leaving it to chance, I went over to my mother's place and asked if she know what is Bersih 3.0 all about. All she knew was it was something to do with electoral fraud, phantom voters, double voting etc, barely scratching on the surface, so I spent some time explaining to her what are the problems with our electoral system, Bersih's demands on cleaning the electoral rolls, postal votes reforms, fair access to media etc before the next general election, answering some of her questions to making sure she has a good understanding why Bersih 3.0 is important to the country.

Now come the Q & A with my mother:
Q: So, do you still want to come to Bersih 3.0?
A: Yes of course!

Q: Are you not afraid of the crackdowns? Tear gas, water cannon?
A: Sure I'm afraid, but I still want to go.

Q: Why are you so adamant about going to Bersih 3.0?
A: At my age, if I still do not do something now, I do not think I'll be able to do it when the next call come.

So you have it, rain or shine, tear gas or not, my 71 years old mother is coming to Bersih 3.0 with me for sure.

And for those who has not decided to come along, be it, young, not so young, old, not so old, as long as you are able and willing, I hope my mother's story can inspire you to come out and join us in something that will bring about electoral reforms and making our beloved country a much better place for everyone.

For those friends who understand and support the Bersih struggles, I salute you, spread your understandings and believes to as many as you can, for you never know, there are many like minded people around us.

A proud son.

人生过程

昨晚家里没煮，决定到外面打包。在车里等待的时候，看到一位妇女抱着一个年约1岁半至2岁的小女孩，非常可爱。我突然想起豆豆在那个年龄的时候，就感叹地说：“豆豆，妈咪很想念小时候的你耶！” 那个时候她还不太懂得害羞，不会顶嘴，不太会耍性子。 她听了马上给我一个大拥抱并回答说：“我以后要回到小时候。” 我告诉她回不去了，如果可以回到过去，妈咪都想要回到年轻的时候。然后又补充了一句：“所以我们应该要好好珍惜现在 。。”   好像在讲人生大道理，不管她懂不懂。她停顿了一下，突然问： “妈咪，太婆呢？”  我心里愣了一下，婆婆去年已经往生了，她隐隐约约似懂非懂死亡这回事。我就告诉她太婆已经到天堂去了，所以以后在学校有祷告，记得叫上帝保佑太婆和大家。虽然我们不是基督徒，但是仁爱幼儿园是基督团契主办的，在用餐前也有教他们祷告。我觉得没有什么问题，主要教导他们要感恩身边的事物。


之前婆婆去世的时候，她都没有什么问起，不过我曾告诉她太婆去了天堂。甚至每次我们到墓园，她都知道太婆在那里。看来不可小看四岁小孩，他们大约已经知道生老病死的人生过程了。

Learning Phonics

这个视频是记录豆豆在仁爱幼儿园所学到的 Phonics。我的那个年代没有所谓的 Phonics 英语发音，所以对妈妈来说也是一个新的知识。 豆豆很快就跟上口诀了，有些我还在跟她学习呢！放上 Youtube 后，叫学习的助理老师看，因为我不太明白豆豆所说的 “Y” as "Year", 和她的手势不同。我说应该不是Year，她偏偏说是（还发脾气觉得我不认同）。结果老师看了后解了我的困惑： “Y as Yarn"。 用网络和老师沟通真好！

Dou Dou Phonics Demo

在学校的第三天

在妈妈母校上课的第一天

今天妈咪带我到新的学校上学。妈咪说这是她小时候的启蒙学校，叫仁爱幼儿园。这个幼儿园才刚重建，所以我们是新学校的第一批学生。仁爱幼儿园今年开始采用Fungates 的学前教育系统，和我煜诚表哥在八打零的 Sri Noble 是一样的。

这间学校比起之前的大，还有科学室，电脑室。而且上课和放学时有很好听的钟声呢！今天我很乖，因为我答应妈妈我不会哭。可是有很多小朋友一看到妈妈爸爸不在就哭了！（嘘，我偷偷告诉你，很多都是男生在哭哟！）

老师在课室的四张桌子上放了不同的玩具给我们玩。我的是恐龙，可是我还是比较喜欢洋娃娃。老师说玩具会轮流的玩，希望明天可以玩到洋娃娃！妈咪陪了我一会儿，就回去了。我给妈咪一个拥抱和kiss, 跟她说拜拜就继续的和新朋友玩及和老师一起唱“twinkle twinkle little star" 。

好多恐龙哟！

隔壁的男生好像很不开心，我可没有抢他的恐龙呢！

接送的日子终于到了！

早在去年就一直盘算等豆豆大点该送她到哪间比较正式的幼儿园。原本的虽然采用Ｍｏｎｔｅｓｏｒｒｉ　系统，但是没有什么强调华语，老师全都用英语教学，但是对于３岁的她来说很合适，因为都是以玩乐为主。可是如果要衔接华文小学就得加强华语了。我心目中有几间幼儿园，但是地点太远了。

后来知道仁爱幼儿园将重回旧校址并采用Ｆｕｎｇａｔｅｓ系统，就想说等年中才换吧。可是在开学前两天，才知道原来仁爱今年有两班４岁，两班５岁，１班６岁，等到明年４岁升上５岁，他们就不招收新的学生了。老师也建议豆豆和其他小朋友一起根据系统学习，而不是半途插班。幸好学校还有剩余一套教材，所以可以安排她加入。

我担心豆豆没有心理准备，就带她到新学习看看，并问她是否喜欢。她看来相当喜欢因为有很多室内设施。只是这里欠缺翠绿草地，没有滑梯跷跷板沙池等户外设施。还有和之前的不同的地方是这里在教室上课，可能会相当的拘束。豆豆之前常在整个厅堂跑来跑去，非常自由。所以很挣扎是否要那么早让她接受传统式的纪律。

问了几次豆豆是否会怀念旧学校的老师和同学，她回答说不会。可是几个小时后又说要和旧同学玩！搞到我要第二天还继续确认她是否要去新学校。

其实最让我犹豫不决是较早前的学习和家里的距离很近，豆豆每天早上由kakak 带去上课，非常方便！而仁爱却得开车接送，除此之外上课的时间竟提早整整一个小时！（哀嚎。。。） 可是当我和家人谈起，老妈子说：早点睡啦，想当年我还不是每天载你们？老公说：是酱的啦，为人父母是得牺牲的咯！搞到自己即内疚又挣扎！

就这样，在开学的前一天下午，匆匆忙忙到学校办手续，拿课本校服。回来又赶紧把书本包好。而我的接送豆豆的日子终于在2012年1月4日正式开始了。。。