Something rather surprising happened in my family this week. My niece, Ah Hong, suddenly bought a plane ticket for my elder sister, Ah Moi, to go to Johor Bahru.
Ah Moi is there not for a holiday but to do some hard labour. The request for help came unexpectedly. For at least three days now, Ah Hong and her mother, Ah Lan, have been busy cleaning up the rooms, one by one, in preparation for the long overdue renovation of the house by the landlady.
Ah Lan has been renting the house ever since Ah Hong was a baby because it was near to her former workplace and also near to a shopping complex and food stalls.
The house, which she is renting for RM1000 a month, has many rooms but has never been renovated before. Now most of the ceilings in the rooms are leaking and falling apart and one of the toilets is not even functioning.
For the past few days, Ah Lan has been on leave from her restaurant while Ah Hong had taken the bus from Singapore, where she’s working, to help her mother clean up the house. Cleaning a big old house is no joke.
“I want to vomit,” confessed Ah Lan when I checked up on her one evening.
‘How many bags of trash and unused items have you thrown away?,” I asked her.
“About ten. And these are from just one room,” replied Ah Hong on her mother’s behalf.
Ah Lan then proceeded to tell me how some cats had entered one of the unused rooms through the windows and dirtied the floor and things there with their poop.
Just listening to the unpleasant details was enough to make me sick.
“Now I am aching all over because I had to scrub the floor again and again. Later on, I am going to buy more bottles of cleaning detergent,” added Ah Lan.
She went on to inform me she had to return to work yesterday evening because some of the restaurant staff were still on Gawai Dayak leave. Likewise, my niece also had to return soon to Singapore to work.
My friends, how often do you clean your house? Once in a few years, like my sister, Ah Lan?
When she received the call for help from Ah Hong, Ah Moi was not so eager to fly to Johor Bahru at such a short notice.
But Ah Hong is good in persuading people. “I will take care of your expenses,” she told Ah Moi.
Anyway, neither Ah Hong or her mother had ever asked Ah Moi for such assistance and at such a short notice.
Many of us who are older know the song by The Hollies called “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.”
Ah Moi was probably thinking of “She Ain’t Heavy, She’s My Sister ” when she agreed to fly hundreds of miles to help Ah Lan clean up her dwelling place.
Ah Hong immediately went on to buy Ah Moi her air ticket from Bintulu to Johor Bahru with a long stopover in Kuching.
In Kuching, I took Ah Moi out for lunch at Kota Sentosa, which was quite near to the airport. She passed me some jungle ferns and bamboo shoots she bought in Bintulu. After lunch, I left her at the airport where she waited until late evening for the plane to Johor Bahru.
Yesterday, after breakfast, Ah Moi began helping Ah Lan and Ah Hong to clean up the rooms.
By 2 pm, I received this heartening WhatsApp message from Ah Hong. “Tua Yi (Big Auntie) is so efficient. Worth it to fly her over.”
“Expert cleaner,” I replied.
Do you know why I call my elder sister that? Well, when I was in Primary Five, Ah Moi cleaned my family’s one-room living quarters so thoroughly that she even threw away my Geography notes.
To make matters worse, my school exam was just a week away. I had to walk for miles to a friend’s house to borrow her notes and copy them. That’s why I will never forget how thorough my elder sister can be when it comes to spring cleaning.
Ah Moi’s next cleaning date is with Ah Lan at my house later this year. Ah Lan wants to help me clean my rooms and she has decided to rope in Ah Moi, the expert super cleaner, again.
My rooms are actually not that dirty, just a bit messy. You see, I hate cleaning the house alone and always believe many hands make light work. I think it will be good to spruce up the house just before next year’s Chinese New Year. I’m also looking forward to recycling clothes that are still wearable and in good condition to the people who need them.
My best friend has already described the next cleaning date in Kuching as the “sisters’ gathering.”
Of course, after the house is clean, my sisters and I as well as Ah Hong and other members of the Liong family will sit down for a big hearty meal cooked by Ah Moi. Yes, my elder sister is not only an expert cleaner but also superb cook.
Already, I can see the big smiles on the faces of my family members, especially the younger ones, as they savour her delicious grilled lamb chops.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
