My son, Elijah, turned 7 on 30 March 2011! I had planned to go back to Singapore to celebrate his birthday with him but was unable to at the last minute because I had to finish replanting my chillis :(.
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| My all grown up and too old for Daddy to kiss me son |
My wife called me on March 1st and told me that when she asked Jaja (that's what we call him) what he had wanted for his birthday, he said all he wanted was a birthday card and my wife told me to send him one. I must admit that since he was a baby, my wife and I (especially me) have been pampering him with expensive toys! I know it's bad but he's our only son, what can you do? :P
I remember one early morning when my wife was bathing him, he was like 2.5 year old then, I sneaked out of our home and went to Compass Point, a shopping mall near where we lived. I waited for Kiddy Palace to open and then the minute they did, I made my way to where they displayed their battery powered motorized kid size cars and bought one for about SGD400/-.
When I got back home, they were still in the bathroom and my wife was oblivious that I went out! I quietly opened the grille door and place the car in the living room. When they came out from the bathroom and when Jaja saw the car, he had the happiest and prettiest smile on his face and I could see the question in his eyes! I told him it was his! The following month, I bought him a motorized toy motorcycle. Best spending spree I ever had!
Video of Jaja riding his motorcycle
Anyway, despite my pampering him, I'm glad that my son is turning into a sensible and considerate boy. He's aware of our financial situation these days, me being a full time and fledgling farmer now. He doesn't ask us to buy him toys anymore and he saves his school pocket money! Of course it pains me that he's not enjoying his childhood. I suppose it was because he didn't want to burden us that he didn't ask for any birthday presents and instead asked for just a birthday card this year.
When I heard his birthday wish, my heart ached! If I were with him then, I would have given him a hug and told him that money problem is for us to worry, not him :(.
Well, that evening, I decided that Jaja wouldn't just get one card, he'd get plenty of birthday cards! I posted on my Facebook status and appealed to my friends for help. My cousin Sheila saw my post and offered to help me via her network. I thought she was talking about spreading the word via word of mouth to her circle of friends but she had a different idea. She blogged my appeal and made it her cause! :D
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| My happy and cheeky baby |
After that, I thought nothing more of it and to be honest, I didn't think that people would take it seriously.
Yesterday afternoon, I received an email from my wife that someone actually sent a Monopoly set to Jaja. It totally brightened up his day! Sender was Khadijah and my wife said to give her a BIG THANK YOU! So Khadijah, our heartfelt thank you to you for being such a beautiful human being. Your gift to our Jaja was totally unexpected and the strangest thing is, Jaja had been pining for a Monopoly set for a very long time! But between paying for his school fees, bus fee, swimming lessons and other expenses, his mother and I had not been able to buy one for him.
So getting a gift from a stranger is pleasant enough but getting the very thing that he wished for? That's totally MAGICAL! What are the chances that some stranger out there, on a random act of kindness, chose a Monopoly set as a gift, the very thing that the boy had been pining for.
His mom said he has been playing the Monopoly set the whole day yesterday.
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| Elijah, "Thank you auntie Khadijah!!!" |
But Khadijah is not the only kind stranger that has made this a wonderful birthday for Jaja. In total, he received 18 birthday cards from kind souls including relatives which prompted him to ask his mother, since when he has so many overseas friends LOL.
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The following list of names is provided by my wife. If I have left out anyone, it is not intentional but know that I appreciate your gesture.
So big thank yous to:
1. Magdalene C
2. Auntie Tina Kisil - Malaysia
3. Catherine J
4. Desmond - Singapore
5. Rachelle Fung
6. Isaac and Isabelle Tai (Rachelle Fung's children) - Thank you for reaching out kids
7. Jane Esther
8. HoneyBuzzin
9. Christopher and Rina - Perth Australia
10. My Little Sprouts
11. Uncle Lee - Toronto Canada
12. Alexander Boyou & Amanda
13. Sandy Soh - Singapore. A good and steadfast friend of my wife and I
13. Sandy Soh - Singapore. A good and steadfast friend of my wife and I
The other 6 cards were from my sister Angela and her son, my cousin Sheila, my Aunt Maggie, my mom and her lazy cat Mawi LOL.
3 comments:
Bro <--- wah ganas ni....hahahaha
ko punya posting ni kan bikin hati gua cair la.... menggembirakan hati budak2 membuatkan hati gua jugak gembira. Cuma 1, kalau la Jaja datang sini KK, bila2 masa, misti kasih jumpa dia sama gua ah....
pls take care n send my big hugs to Jaja ok.....
no worries sis...bisa diatur itu...hahahaha~
Hello Puan Saiman,
Khadijah pun nama ko kah? Ui! Trima kasih lah present ko tu. Aku pun sikit nangis bila nampak dia happy dgn hadiah dia tu. emo jugak.
Bah nanti aku sampaikan pesan ko. Dtg melawat KK tu, ya, sya tengah pancing2 dia utk balik Sabah bila cuti skolah nanti. Dia ni mmg begitu. Susah mau suruh dia balik Sabah tapi bila sampai sini, tidak pulak mau pulang Sg pulak. Tiap2 kali pun menangis di KKIA. Nanti bila dia disini, sya bawa dia pi lawat ko lah.
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