I don’t know how many of you would be surprised by the fact that I didn’t come from an affluent family, but I certainly recalled some of the bemused faces from the many people that I told. I don’t think I have ever shared this on the internet, it’s not that I am ashamed of my family background, it’s just that sometimes I don’t know where to start. But today the topic came into my head and I thought it might be interesting to some of you what shaped me into who I am today.
My mom is Thai and she graduated high school in Thailand. She doesn’t read any Chinese characters and she speaks a minimal amount of English. My dad swam to Hong Kong from China a few decades ago (yea, SWAM, he was on a boat and then when he was about to hit the shore, he had to jump boat and SWAM), he didn’t like school that much and therefore he barely graduated primary school in China. As he put it, he would rather be hanging around somewhere other than school, school wasn’t his thing. With this bit of background, I can fairly sum up that both of my parents don’t read and write Chinese and English.
When I was in kindergarten, my parents used to tell me that they couldn’t help me with my homework and I had to figure them out myself. I guess from a very young age, I was asked to be independent and self-reliant. I also had to help out housework and prepare for dinner when I was 6. My mom used to say to me, “you need to know how to survive because mom won’t be here forever.” I went along without fully understanding what she meant at that time. But now I know where she was coming from and I couldn’t thank her enough.
My dad used to really encourage me regarding my studies. He would be so proud when I scored high from tests/ exams. I was never discouraged no matter how bad I was at some of the subjects, he would simply say, “oh, because your school is top-notched, you are still doing better than so many other kids outside of your school.” Honestly, this might sound absolutely ridiculous, but seeing him being proud of me is priceless and that alone motivates me to push myself to do better each day. He gave me the confidence that I needed in life. He believed in me, therefore, I believed in myself.
Both of my parents are now retired, but they did work very hard all their lives. My mom worked as a cleaner in some malls and my dad worked in a home phone manufacturing plant. As you could imagine, what they earned was barely enough for basic survival. I remember when I was a kid, I would know whenever month-end came, because dinner was always only rice, hard boiled egg and soya sauce. Though they weren’t earning much, they didn’t give up. They both had very good work ethic in the sense that they were never late for work and they worked their socks off when they were there. They were both proud of their own quality of work. My dad was so responsible to the point whereby he would go to work just to check if all the windows were closed when there was Typhoon No. 8. Now I understand why his boss really appreciated him.
I think my parents played different roles when I was growing up without them even realising it. My mom taught me survival skills and common sense, while my dad motivated me to do the best I could and gave me constant validation that I could do it. Both of them couldn’t teach me academically and both of them couldn’t afford everything that my school buddies’ parents could, but I wasn’t short of love and care. They have taught me not just to be academically bright, they have taught me well to survive the real world. Now when I looked back, I started to understand the whole picture and I deeply appreciated them in my heart.
Fast forward to today, it gives me great joy and sense of achievement whenever I accomplish something in life because I know that it’s my own hard work that pays off. It makes me proud to be able to afford certain things because I know I earn every penny of it. It makes me incredibly ecstatic that I am able to do whatever tasks which I put my heart and soul into. I didn’t come from money and now I am even proud to say that I didn’t come from money. The fact that I have a humble background, it helps me to stay rooted and see the world in a much more realistic way.
