My early years of growing up in UPM Serdang

Beautiful memories of this old cottage where I spend my first 10 years of life 1974 - 1984

I revisited my old home in UPM Serdang 2015

This was my home. The home I was brought back to after I was delivered into the world. It was my home for the first 10 years of my life. I felt completely nostalgic when I had the opportunity to visit it after 30 years. I couldn’t fight back the tears. Seeing this beautiful little cottage brought back so much happy memories for me. It was the home where my mom used to sing every morning as she prepared breakfast. The home where my grandmother used to wake up very early to pray her extra prayers and stay right up until Fajr time. I would then hear the sound of her sweeping the outside porch, removing all the dead leaves that had fallen overnight. It was the home where me and my siblings would run around and play together. It was the home surrounded by beautiful greenery, wildness, sounds of crickets, toads croaking after it rains, the smell of freshness and settled dew in the morning. 

My father was a lecturer in the Environmental science faculty. He was a professor in ecology. He was a very strict man, the no-nonsense type. He barely ever smiled but sometimes when he does, he has a very sweet face but I owe it to him to instill my passion for knowledge. He made sure that we studied hard and that we emphasized on education. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have been a doctor. Don’t get me wrong, he never forced me into medicine. I have always enjoyed Biology as my favourite subject in school but I never saw myself as a doctor. I thought doctors were super smart people and a bit too serious for me. However, my passion for knowledge made me agree to study medicine because the prospect of being in University for 5 years instead of 4 years was appealing. I wanted more time to study.

My father’s strict parenting approach made me tough, determined and strong-willed. This was of course coupled with my mom’s soft, loving and kind approach, to give me a well balanced emotional support. I was a very hard-headed, strong willed child and if I wanted something, I would say, “no matter how, why, what, where and when, I would get it.”

I was also very efficient and organized child. My mom used to tell me that her father would say, “Don’t wait until tomorrow what can be done today.” At the age of 7 years old, I answered her back with these words, “Don’t wait until later, what can be done now.”

When my brother was sent off to boarding school in Malay College Kuala Kangsar; I was left with my sister for a year until she too left for Sekolah Seri Puteri and I was alone. For a while, I was an only child. I missed them both terribly, but my mom filled my loneliness. We would visit her every week and once a month, we would make that long trip to visit my brother in Kuala Kangsar, along those winding old roads because the PLUS highway was not yet built. The journey would take us at least 7 hours but I was happy. We would leave early in the morning sometimes praying subuh at a masjid along the way and when we reached the old MCKK building, my brother would be waiting for us with a smiling face regardless of when we arrived. There was never a time that he was not there waiting for us. He is the most wonderful brother, always smiling, always happy and always loving towards us. 

My sister is my best friend. We used to fight like cats and dogs but we could never be apart. Every morning, if she was at home I would wake up very early and I would wait until she wakes up because she was a late-riser. As soon as she woke up, I felt like my day had begun.

I had a wonderful happy childhood and my days in UPM was very nurturing. 

I left home and the country when I was 17 years old. The moment my foot step into the aeroplane, I was a full fledged adult. I was completely on my own. I no longer had my parents to turn to, to run into my mom’s arms for emotional support. There was no internet, handphone or watsapp. I wrote to my mom once a month and called only when necessary. I had no one to complain to if I was being told off or messed up. I had to deal with whatever issues all on my own, financial, social and emotional.

Yet, I was ready. I was ready to manage myself, my finances, my time, my studies and all my needs. I hate it when people say things like students studying overseas have an easy life. How can it be easy when you are thrown into the deep end, to adapt to a completely new environment, to manage everything yourself, to compete with students who have been brought up to think rationally, to be bold, to ask questions, to have opinions. The Malaysian education system never encouraged students to speak out, to think for themselves, to come up with challenging questions, to figure out the answers. As a result, Malaysian students are often labelled as ‘timid’, ‘quiet’ or ‘polite’ because we barely speak in class, barely ask questions. 

Anyway, I have wonderful memories of being brought up in the green lushes surrounding of UPM Serdang. That was the place I learned to ride the bicycle and used to cycle all around the campus, my favourite spot was to stop at the back of the veterinary faculty and look at rabbits and monkeys. I have memories of waiting for the UPM school bus that took us to our school in Kajang. 

I must say I had a very happy childhood and seeing my old home in UPM, Serdang reminded me of how fortunate I was to have all my experiences in life, the good and the bad.