LilMtnCbn
08-24-2004, 06:22 AM
http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2004/8/24/features/8560751
&sec=features
A story of adoption
By LINDA LIM
A PROGRAMME that I never fail to watch is the Adoption series aired on Astro.
This series tells of childless couples who go to great lengths to adopt a baby,
sometimes as far as Cambodia, China or Africa. They wait in anticipation for
the paper work to be processed and when they get the baby, there is so much joy
on their faces. It is truly a blessed sight.
And what of adoption in Malaysia?
Fifty-five years ago a teacher in his forties and his wife decided that they
would adopt a baby girl. Not that they did not have any children. They had six
boys but rather than face the risk of getting another boy they decided it would
be better to adopt a girl. And so they did. Five and a half decades ago
adoption was an easy process. When word was out that they were looking for a
baby girl, it was not long before they found the baby.
A poor farmer was only too willing to give up the extra mouth that he had to
feed. It would have been a different story had the baby been a boy but he had
no second thoughts about giving away a girl.
And so the little girl came to the teacher’s family and she was much
welcomed. Her elder brothers whose ages ranged from 18 years to the youngest,
six years old, all doted on her. They never told her that she was adopted and
when she was five years old the teacher and his wife adopted another little
girl to keep the elder one company. Now the teacher had six sons and two
daughters.
Years passed, the children grew. But the girls never knew that they were
adopted, nor for reasons best known to the teacher and his wife were they ever
going to divulge that information. There was so much love bestowed on them in
the family and the girls never realised that they were adopted.
Until one day in school, the elder girl’s classmate dropped the bombshell and
told her straight into her face that she was adopted. The elder girl was
shocked and when she reached home, with tears streaming down her face she
confronted her parents.
The teacher never said a word but took out her birth certificate and on it were
the teacher and his wife’s names. The little girl’s sadness turned to joy
when she saw this and she never broached the subject again. But there was never
a need to do that because although the two girls never resembled the boys or
the teacher and his wife, there was so much love for them and the treatment for
the boys and the girls never differed. In fact, the boys were more punished
when they were naughty but not a hair on the girls’ head was ever touched.
The girls had a comfortable childhood. The teacher and his wife not only
treated them as if they were their own but tended to pamper them because they
were their daughters. Every month end when the teacher got his salary, he and
his wife would bring the girls for a film show (the boys by then felt they were
too old to follow their parents out) and after the show they would have supper
– a bowl of noodles and a soya bean drink. Simple as it may seem, it was a
treat!
The girls also never had want of anything. They were well provided for. There
were many fond memories. When the girls had fever, there was no use of a
thermometer. The teacher would always kiss their forehead to see how high the
fever was. The teacher’s wife sewed dresses for the girls and they were
always dressed identically on festive occasions.
The elder girl remembered that when she was in Form Six she had excruciating
stomach pains. The school summoned her father who happened to be a teacher in
the school. To this day she remembered how her father carried her to the car
and brought her to the hospital where an emergency appendectomy took place.
The girls also remembered that when they went on dates it was the teacher who
waited at the porch to see that they were safely back. When it came to
education all the six boys were given a chance at tertiary education. The girls
were treated no different. By that time the teacher was already a pensioner but
he pursued his hobby of rearing pedigree dogs and the elder girl remembered
that her second year in the university was sponsored by a Dobermann who had a
litter of six puppies.
When the elder girl left home to get married and moved to another state, she
remembered that she cried when she saw tears welling in her father’s eyes
when he bade her farewell. She remembered that for a long time whenever she
rang home she would feel homesick when she spoke to her parents. When she rang
back to tell her mother that she was pregnant, her mother told her that she had
dreamt about it a few nights ago.
Today the elder girl is now in her fifties and both her adoptive parents have
passed away. Till today she does not know who her biological parents are.
And so ends a story of a successful adoption in Malaysia. The elder girl
encourages childless couples to adopt for there are many hapless orphans just
waiting to be loved. And in case you are curious to know the identity of the
elder girl, well it is yours truly the writer!
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
&sec=features
A story of adoption
By LINDA LIM
A PROGRAMME that I never fail to watch is the Adoption series aired on Astro.
This series tells of childless couples who go to great lengths to adopt a baby,
sometimes as far as Cambodia, China or Africa. They wait in anticipation for
the paper work to be processed and when they get the baby, there is so much joy
on their faces. It is truly a blessed sight.
And what of adoption in Malaysia?
Fifty-five years ago a teacher in his forties and his wife decided that they
would adopt a baby girl. Not that they did not have any children. They had six
boys but rather than face the risk of getting another boy they decided it would
be better to adopt a girl. And so they did. Five and a half decades ago
adoption was an easy process. When word was out that they were looking for a
baby girl, it was not long before they found the baby.
A poor farmer was only too willing to give up the extra mouth that he had to
feed. It would have been a different story had the baby been a boy but he had
no second thoughts about giving away a girl.
And so the little girl came to the teacher’s family and she was much
welcomed. Her elder brothers whose ages ranged from 18 years to the youngest,
six years old, all doted on her. They never told her that she was adopted and
when she was five years old the teacher and his wife adopted another little
girl to keep the elder one company. Now the teacher had six sons and two
daughters.
Years passed, the children grew. But the girls never knew that they were
adopted, nor for reasons best known to the teacher and his wife were they ever
going to divulge that information. There was so much love bestowed on them in
the family and the girls never realised that they were adopted.
Until one day in school, the elder girl’s classmate dropped the bombshell and
told her straight into her face that she was adopted. The elder girl was
shocked and when she reached home, with tears streaming down her face she
confronted her parents.
The teacher never said a word but took out her birth certificate and on it were
the teacher and his wife’s names. The little girl’s sadness turned to joy
when she saw this and she never broached the subject again. But there was never
a need to do that because although the two girls never resembled the boys or
the teacher and his wife, there was so much love for them and the treatment for
the boys and the girls never differed. In fact, the boys were more punished
when they were naughty but not a hair on the girls’ head was ever touched.
The girls had a comfortable childhood. The teacher and his wife not only
treated them as if they were their own but tended to pamper them because they
were their daughters. Every month end when the teacher got his salary, he and
his wife would bring the girls for a film show (the boys by then felt they were
too old to follow their parents out) and after the show they would have supper
– a bowl of noodles and a soya bean drink. Simple as it may seem, it was a
treat!
The girls also never had want of anything. They were well provided for. There
were many fond memories. When the girls had fever, there was no use of a
thermometer. The teacher would always kiss their forehead to see how high the
fever was. The teacher’s wife sewed dresses for the girls and they were
always dressed identically on festive occasions.
The elder girl remembered that when she was in Form Six she had excruciating
stomach pains. The school summoned her father who happened to be a teacher in
the school. To this day she remembered how her father carried her to the car
and brought her to the hospital where an emergency appendectomy took place.
The girls also remembered that when they went on dates it was the teacher who
waited at the porch to see that they were safely back. When it came to
education all the six boys were given a chance at tertiary education. The girls
were treated no different. By that time the teacher was already a pensioner but
he pursued his hobby of rearing pedigree dogs and the elder girl remembered
that her second year in the university was sponsored by a Dobermann who had a
litter of six puppies.
When the elder girl left home to get married and moved to another state, she
remembered that she cried when she saw tears welling in her father’s eyes
when he bade her farewell. She remembered that for a long time whenever she
rang home she would feel homesick when she spoke to her parents. When she rang
back to tell her mother that she was pregnant, her mother told her that she had
dreamt about it a few nights ago.
Today the elder girl is now in her fifties and both her adoptive parents have
passed away. Till today she does not know who her biological parents are.
And so ends a story of a successful adoption in Malaysia. The elder girl
encourages childless couples to adopt for there are many hapless orphans just
waiting to be loved. And in case you are curious to know the identity of the
elder girl, well it is yours truly the writer!
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
