A Tribute to Parents

Hi Everyone,

Introduction
 
Mothers' Day and Fathers' Day are approaching again. Have we ever wondered how our lives would be, without the nurturing and disciplining of our parents? 

How about the values that we have inculcated through our parents?

• Integrity
• Honesty
• Diligence
• Perseverance / never give up attitude
• Street smart
• Unconditional and sacrificial love
• Law abiding citizen
• Importance of education
• Importance of health / sports
• Importance of creative arts such as music
  
• Lifelong learning

Content

There are times we take our parents for granted. We take for granted that they are always there for us. Recently and in the past few years, we are saddened to hear the passing away of people who are fathers and mothers in church as well as close to home. One of these were not due to old age or serious illnesses but we were shocked by sudden death of quite healthy people.

Respecting our parents and the elderly are good values that are present in our society. Filial piety is important, especially for Chinese communities. Honoring our parents is mentioned several times in the Bible. Firstly, it is the 5th commandment in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5). Besides that, there is an entire section that describes the wife of noble character in Proverbs 31:10-31. Honoring our parents is mentioned to Ephesians 6:1-3 as well as the gospels.

Our parents are there when we need them especially when we were babies and when we were much younger. They were very worried when we were not feeling well or when we got hurt while playing outside or at home (fell down, concussions, injuries), and responded immediately by bringing us for treatment at the doctors during our childhood days. They brought us to have vaccinations. I had a surgery once after I hurt my chin after falling down from the sofa at an awkward position.

We should cherish our parents everyday. Parents are present in our lives but they will not be always there for us. We will reach a time when they are not around. There will be a point in time when we will make decisions on own.

Before I had my car, my parents were my chauffeur as they fetched me around to piano classes, Juliet McCully's speech and drama classes in Bangsar, swimming lessons, school, tuition, haircuts, friends' gathering, college, LRT stations and work. I still remembered calling and waited for my parents (either one or both of them) to come and pick me up after work. After I bought my car, my parents would come and pick me up using my car and I drove home until they are confident enough for me to drive on my own. I now offer to drive them during weekends or when I am around. It is the same for my sisters as well.

They are with us through happy, sad and difficult times. They are there to help us when we need help. I am sure some of you have parents who guided you in your studies during your SPM exams. Our parents can be more stressed than us when it comes to their children's studies. They worked hard to ensure their family live a comfortable life, have enough food to eat and have the necessities in life. They sacrificed their time and money to ensure that we had good education regardless of whether it is local or overseas. Overseas education is not cheap but some of them who have a better earning power will still send send us for overseas education to have a different experience. Regardless, we must appreciate our parents. They are there for our important milestone events of our lives such as our graduation, our marriage and the birth of their grandchildren Our parents are willing to take care of their grandchildren when we get married and have children of our own.

I may not be interested in playing the piano but I was glad to learn it and did not regret learning piano until Grade 6 and Grade 5 theory. I am still able to read the notes and play the piano if I want to. Please note that my piano skills is average only. My mom would like me to learn the piano and I appreciated and thanked her for that.

Do you remember when you had access to the Internet for the first time? Who decided to subscribe for an internet account? My mum was the one who decided to subscribe to Jaring. She was also the first in our family to use online banking. She could see that the Internet benefits our family, back when I was in primary school.

One of the Petronas Chinese New Year stories and the past Digi advertisements depicts the importance of spending time with the family. For the Petronas CNY commercial back in 2006, a group of 4 ladies at an old folks home were eating lunch. While eating lunch, 3 ladies in an old folks home were bragging on how successful their children are, some of them earning very well as a lawyer, a successful salesman selling Chinese herbs, a partner in an accounting firm and a cardiologist. When it came to the 4th lady called Eng, she told them that her son is coming. The scene ended with Eng's son arriving at the home to bring her to Cameron Highlands, together with his family. The other ladies' looked at Eng going to the car, feeling lonely, for their sons / daughters did not bother to come back to visit them. The commercial ended with this message "Love of a family is life's greatest blessing".



The Digi advertisement meanwhile talks about a dad who works hard for the family that he has no time for his daughter. His daughter was angry with him until his colleague asked him to go back. Family time is precious.

I understand why my parents are still concerned for us. We are precious to them.

Response / Conclusion

In a nutshell, everyday is Parents' Day. As we grow older, we are more independent but we should also be there for our parents. Therefore, we should spend more time with our parents and families when we can, whether we are single or married. We can spend time with our friends and colleagues but we must always remember our parents regardless of where we are.

This should be our response to our parents after they have brought us up from when we were babies to adults. 

Simple gestures can make a difference. We must always be there for them. We give them monthly allowances or pay bills after we started working. It is not an obligation but a response to their love for us. We can pray for them. We can send them messages to ask them how they are going on more frequently. We can have more meals together. We can be at home for important family events more often. If our parents or grandparents are at a nursing home / elderly home, we can visit them more often. We can bring them out more often. I help my parents with the computer / technology at home. We just need to show that we care. The presence of us being there with our families is important, especially to our parents, just as we need to them when we were growing up.

Also for Christians, our parents demonstrated their unconditional and sacrificial love for us just as God demonstrated His unconditional and sacrificial love for us. God is faithful and so do our parents. We heard of children rebelling against their parents but their parents, as well as our parents, if we did rebel against them, would journey together with all of us. Our parents still love us no matter what we did. They will not abandon us.

Here are some songs as a tribute to them:



 

Note: We should also cherish our siblings, relatives and our friends too but more so our parents for they brought us up.

Cheers,

Roger Koo