meekia

olde olded old

she spoke to me.
she has no teeth. she asked if I was hokkien.
i smiled and said yes. I told her I spoke to both my grandmothers in Hokkien too.

she is very old.
she stays in the living couch all day. lying down. curled up.
when the maid wakes her up, she eats a bit of porridge.

i work in the home-office her daughter has set-up. Her daughter is a grandmother, so that gives you an idea of how old she is. Her daughter is very busy with work. Her grand children are also very busy with work. The maids that tend to her are also very busy with work. Nobody talks to her. Sometimes, when I have to walk through the house to get some documents from the storage area in the front porch, I will see her there.

There. curled up. in the couch.

When I see her, I give her the warmest, brightest smile I can conjure. I greet her with a clear, but gentle "Po Po, ni hao."

She looks at me, silent. curled up. on the couch.

Occassionally, at around 2 or 3am at night, she will take a very slow walk from her couch, to the home office where I'm watching footage or writing scripts. The home office is separated from the dining area by a sliding glass door with curtains.
She will move the curtains aside, and glance at me. Sometimes, I get engrossed with the PC or TV monitor and I do not notice her. When I do, I usually get a bit of a fright...because that's what hunched-back great-grannies will do to you at 2 or 3am when they are looking at you in silence, without you noticing.

But I always hide that quick, pointless moment of fear. I smile and wave to her. The sort of polite smile and waving gesture you reserve for an acquaintance.

Then she lowers the curtain, and walks away.

I can't really decipher her expression.
-----------------------------------------

Tonight, she spoke to me with the sort of dialect you expect from a typical Singaporean granny. Actually, she started with some broken English.

Her
"Later..lu..CLose door" (Remember to lock the gates before you leave ok?)

Me
"Ho :) Ho :) (Hokkien > OK, OK)

[u see, i've overheard my boss talkin in hokkien to her before. My boss' home office is afterall, adjacent to her dining room]

"Lu...hokkien lang?" (you are Hokkien?)

"Wa si hokkien lang. ka wa eh neng eh po po gong way ay si zhun, boon si gong hokkien" (i'm hokkien. I speak to my two grannies in hokkien =)

"Wa.lu..dsun..dsakdum...

[She started mumbling. I couldn't understand what she was trying to say. Then my boss came, and politely, firmly told her not to disturb me from my work process.]
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Perhaps... all she wants is to make a friendly connection.
Perhaps my big round face and my big round smile reminds her of someone.
Perhaps she just wants to chat.

posted by audaciousjoy @ 11:05 PM