Tomorrow would be a Better Day!
（明天会更好！）
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEDZyIUbSd0
My mum and my eldest brother came from China sometime in the year
1948. As my father was a vendor at the main bus station of Sungai Petani, he
rented a room at a shop house at the Main Road of Sungai Petani, Kedah.
The landlady was a distant relative of ours who was a devout Christian. She was
very helpful to her tenants. She told my mum that she could order her twin
daughters, Ah Zuo(阿左,Ah Left
) and Ah You(阿右,Ah Right) to run any
errand anytime she wished. If my mum could not recognize who was who,
she just had to utter loudly, "Ah Zuo,Ah You!", then
one of the twin sisters would appear to assist. That was really a blessing for
my mum who was a 'Xing Kak'(新客), a new
immigrant to this country experiencing a cultural shock in an entirely new
environment, which was very different from that of the rural China. My mum was
very grateful to the landlady and her family members for all the aid they had
rendered her.
Many a time the landlady brought my mum to attend services at the
local chapel and she was subsequently persuaded by the landlady to be ordained
as a full-fledged Christian. My mother, after much contemplation and careful
articulation, skilfully turned down the persuasion of the landlady by relating
to her that she was very thankful for her good intention of inviting her to
embrace Christianity for spiritual cultivation and uplifting. But then she
could not part with her existing belief of the worshipping of deities as she
was very grateful to a deity named Tai Gi Aoi Aoi (大姐娘娘, the eldest of the seven
deities）who had
all along motivated and encouraged her through numerous sessions of trance
during times of despair and frustration back at the village of in southern
China.
Moreover, my mum could not forsake the century-old tradition of
ancestor worship as a sign of homage and remembrance of one's
ancestors which forms an integral and important virtue in the teachings
of Confucius.
The deity had given her much hope and faith
that "tomorrow would be a better day!" （明天会更好！）My mum had related to me that
during the Second World War, due to communication breakdown, my mum had not
receive any news from my father for a couple of years. She was very worried
about the safety of my father in Malaya. At that time she had no way of
updating news of my father. She had to find comfort through numerous sessions
of trance conducted in the late evening by consulting the deity, Tai Gi Aoi Aoi. My mum was
reassured by the deity time and again that my father was still safe and sound
in Malaya. The deity had further reaffirmed my mum that she would get a few
more children in future. However, my mum was sceptical at what she had heard
from the deity. Nevertheless, it was a much anticipated hope. After the
War was over, my mum received a letter from my father together with a
remittance of money. And not long after that, my father made an arrangement for
my mum and my eldest brother to set sail for Malaya.
Knowing that my mum was persistent in her original belief, the
landlady did not try to persuade her any further to become a Christian.
Otherwise, I could have been a Christian by birth and I could have been
nicknamed by my primary schoolmates as “Ya Shou Kia！"(耶稣仔！ Son of Jesus! ）
