Food as bond of familial love and cultural heritage

As a foodie ,i enjoy good food.Growing.up with grandparents and extended family who were involved in provision stores in Petaling street selling rice and groceries from waxed duck to chinese sausages or uncle who had a grocery store selling biscuits,dried noodles,sauces and potatoes,we were nurtured on fresh,good delicious food.Living opposite the pasar besar in New Town,we saw at the crack of dawn,lorry transporting live poultry,fish and vegetables to the stalls and behind our home was the food court Medan Selera where the hawkers buy the fresh produce to boil soup,cook asam and curry laksa or wantan mee. On moms side,my grandma po po was a single widow raising 5 children after grandpa died during the Japanese occupation.Being illiterate,she worked as a coolie in tin mines as a dulang washer until some kind soul taught her to make and sell kuih like red bean kuih and peanut butter kuih.She ground the beans with a manual stone mill that ive kept to honour her cooking skills.My first,third and fourth aunts worked as poultry sellers,cooked noodles and dumplings to sell as street food. Food held an important place in our family tradition.Today i watched the Hong Kong movie Dumpling Queen and it reminded me of good Chinese food ,a heartwarming tale of how a single mother made a global business out of her skill in cooking dumplings.The advice given when she fell into despair after an accident at her workplace and broke her back making her unable to work 3 jobs as a nurse,a cleaner and a dishwasher to support her daughters .These same inspiring advice my late mom said to me when i worried on how to bring up my son alone without the help of my mother in law or my filipino domestic helper whom i couldnt afford.Mom.said she would help to take care of my boy while i went to work.Those Cantonese words rang in my ears and show the pragmatism and indomitable spirit of the Hong Kong people who bend but do not break. "Dream with no fears Love with no limits" "If the horse you are riding drops dead,you just get down to the ground and keep on walking," Ma sie lok dai hung. The movie showcases the resilience of street peddlers who face threats from law enforcement clamping down on their business or gangsters seeking protection money.But Madame Chong took the feedback of her customers seriously and improved on her recipes until it became a famous frozen food business worldwide.i remembered my fourth aunt who sold breakfast noodles and fried sweet potato balls.She recalled a young man who greeted her in a bus and told her he missed the sweet potato balls she fried which he ate every week after school.He said do you recognise me.You called me the sweet potato ball kid.fan shu dan chai chai.how sweet that the young man still recalled her delicious cooking.so the way to a mans heart is through the stomach.Music and songs are another storehouse of memories.In this movie Dumpling Queen listening to music of the 70s was nostalgic .i recalled David Gates song the goodbye girl,Jim Croce time in a bottle and i have to say I love you in a song.