Mingalaba

Mingalaba or May you be blessed They say its a blessing to be born into this human realm. So do I consider myself having a blessed life.My father worked hard planting rice,vegetables and rearing chickens and ducks on our small farm.I dont remember him much as when I was seven years old,he went to the forest to clear the bushes,stepped on a landmine that took his life. My mother Aye worked on his farm to support me and my elder sister. I followed She plowed the soil with the spade,raked it and sprinkled dried chicken dung on the loosened soil.She went to the stream beside the farm and dug a shallow canal to let the water flow across the farm.Sometimes she put both hands on my shoulders and said"Tin Win,youre a big boy .now papa is gone,you will be the man of the house." "Dont worry Mama, i can take care of you and San Kyi. i followed Mama to the farm when the sun was just coming up over the misty hills.There in between the rows of vegetables,i helped Mama to pluck off the snails,stomped on the shell till it went splat and cracked,the green n black entrails oozing out.When i spied the fat,juicy caterpillar munching on the leaves,i pinched them so hard that they burst into green globs sticking to the leaves Before 10 am,Mama put the vegetables in two big straw baskets and took the trishaw to town.Sometimes she killed a few chickens or sold the eggs. Mama made sure we had good meals when we were growing up. Mama told me "Its very dangerous for you to stay on here.I was now a tall 19 year old teenager and my sister was 23 years old. Ive saved up some money.Take it and follow our neighbour who is going to Bangkok next month.If the soldiers dont get you,the bombs will kill you one day. Mama is too old to run. So thats how we landed in Bangkok.My sis San Kyi got a job clipping the fingernails and toenails of customers while i worked as a waiter in a Thai cafe.We made sure we send back a few hundred baht each month to Mama so that she neednt work so hard . I liked chatting with the Thai chef and could pick out what he was saying.He liked me and sometimes asked me to pluck the vegetables or slice the meat.After a year or two,he taught me how to cook Thai dishes. With that skill,i got a job working as the chef of Rak Thai restaurant in Kuala Lumpur. Thats how i met Su Mon.Her dad was a lay pastor and his family had applied for refugee status with the UNHCR.They were waiting for asylum status in the US.Su Mon could read and speak in English and taught the kids at the refugee school during the weekends.There was a vacancy for a waitress in Rak Thai and i introduced her to work in the evening shift. She was a caring girl and would help me remit money back to my mama.She had an oval face and her eyes were very large with long lashes that curled upward.i could tell her everything including my dream of opening my own restaurant one day. After a year,we got married without her fathers blessing for he expected her as the eldest child to follow him to the US to help take care of her younger brothers. Working long hours in the hot kitchen is really tiring.I hardly had any energy left to take Su Mon shopping or catch a movie.I just felt like resting at home on my off days. Su Mon said one day "Dear,ive found a part time job at a handphone repair shop in the Skyla Mall.The pay is ok and can cover our food and utlity bills so you can send more money back home to your Mama and your sister who has to take care of your sick Mama and pay the hospital bills. I hugged her briefly and said" im the luckiest man here as my wife is so understanding." After three months,i noticed she had changed to an expensive I phone."Oh its nothing,my boss repaired an old phone that his friend didnt want and he gave it to me. i wanted her to quit her job but she was stubborn.I began following my fellow waiters to drink after work.The more I drank,the more cold Su mon became.Su Mon" im so sorry,I will stop drinking,i promise," I kept my word to save my marriage and she quitted her job to work in Rak Thai as a cashier.Pooling our savings,and together with four friends ,we rented a stall in a food court and sold Thai food.Business was brisk. After a year,our business got a small profit.I invested the money and pooled savings from our friends and we rented a shoplot,machinery for a central kitchen and supplied curry paste,tom yam and chilled desserts to the restaurants in the Klang valley. After nine years,We bought a condo and asked my mother and sister to come to stay with us.i believe that with hard work,its possible to start a new life.Whatever has happened is in the past.We only can move on to a new day,a new future.Despite the ups and downs in my life and the battles that never end ,my love for my family will never grow old.