....and where do you live?

Kasut Manek . . . . . .

1960.

Quaint ol' Penang....laid back, easy going.

It was leisurely paced at home.

Well, there was no reason for me to rush anything as a pre-schooler. I was cool and neat about the peace and tranquility at home. There were no kindergarten classes for me. ...and the house became more and more void-looking by the hour after sunrise. Just me, my youngest sister - siewpoh, mum and tua-kor. The rest, including dad, are either working or still in school. It's a good time to sing. Mum's in the kitchen, siewpoh's asleep, tua kor's having a nap after her breakfast.

I gazed at the classic cabinet radio that hung above tua-kor's favourite dining spot, right after an open door that leads to "ji-luk", the second hall. I liked that radio of tua-kor, it's got nice treble. In no time, I was already tip-toeing on her 4" by 4" cengal dining stool to turn the volume dial....click!... and off I go!...to the main hall.

Dean Martin came on with "voh....larr reh...,wo..oh,oh,ohhhhh"... I was mesmerised with his vocals! Such a cool cat! I was thrilled! I took a foetal sitting position beside an antiquated side-board in the main hall, ready to sing.

Then came that bouncy but haunting "Mr. Sandman,....I'm so alone"....the Andrew Sisters' duet about their neighbour was so exhilarating!

I was spurred to sing.... and soon I was lalala..ing to the tune of Paul Anka's Diana......and singing togather with Neil Sedaka on his "Oh Carol, arm a bloody fool"......... and it continued.

Before I could finish my off-pitched "Run, Samson, run!, Delilah's on her way"...... and hiding by the side of the now antiqated side-board in the main hall doing it, a voice hollered,"Hey, bloody fool! ......come out and sing, don't hide!"

It was tua-kor, teasing me in with the smattering of English she knows.

She's not into the grand matriarch's stuff of binding her feet. In fact she is flat-footed, so to speak. She wears glass beaded slippers called "kasut manek" often with colourful european floral designs, and intricate "keronsangs" on her hand-embroided "baju panjang" or in fujian lingo, "phua th'ng teh" - a misnomer of sorts, since it meant "half-long, half-short"!....

Having been socially inducted into Baba-Nyonya way of life, she's into neat and netted hair buns, topped with golden or silver hair-pins. The "sarong batik" is the standard, no pants please.

At times, and more casually, she'd just pull up the sarong to her armpits and knot it in such a way boy scouts will envy. And topping that style with an unbuttoned collar-less blouse is the normal "in-house" wear. That was the outfit that she wore when she caught me fiddling with her radio.

I did a quick diversion. A very quick one, "Tua-kor, what's the name of the street we are staying in?......that's a sure question when I start my first year in school."

Very innocent.

"Aiyoh!!!!...still don't know, mehhhh?....", she heaved a deep sigh.

"Is it Tua-kor Lane?" In fujian lingo, "Tua" means big, and "kor" means auntie. That was meant to please.

She looked at me with a grin.

" ...or is it Tua Khar Lane?" In fujian lingo, "Tua" means big, and "Khar" means feet. That was meant to tease, her feet literally. Big foot, and she's not grinning anymore.

...and I was like rolling on the floor from my foetal position beside the side-board, and laughing all out....wahahaha!

"How come your feet isn't like those of grandma's?"..............laughing out all over again.

"You blooooody fool!, ....it's Toh Aka Lane! ...go hit your comics, and stop messing around with my radio again!"

That was fun, at a young age I already know how to please, and tease. And I started to develop a very strong interest in all kinds of music. The Beatles included, as they emerged a world-wide phenomenon three years later in 1963, to become a very big part of my life even till this day.

*footnote:

I'll fix pics of my childhood home later, those frames are from the Peranakan Museum. Go discover it.