A Father

We, my brother and me were waiting our dear mother undergoing, mitral valve replacement surgery in IJN. While browsing through the newspaper he asked, 'akak bila father's day,' ( sis when is father's day ). That question reminded me of a drama I watched on tv.............A son wanted to participate in a badminton tournament. He wanted to win and become champion. He wanted a new racket as he believed it will enable him to win. The father is a labourer with a company in his village. To fulfil his son's wish, he took a partime job carrying fish baskets from the fishing boats to land. His effort held him late into the nights which worries his wife as he already has a cough. The son broke his piggy bank but the savings is not enough. He whines for the new racket. A couple of days later the father handed him the money for the racket. One night the son while admiring his new racket overheard the mother saying, ' abang, kita orang miskin, kita tak mampu sakit. Bila sakit berlarutan payah sembuh.' ( my dear husband, we are poor we cannot afford to get sick ). The father's cough has worsened. He looked and stroked the new racket. After dinner the next day the son stood in front his coughing father opened the father's palm and placed the money from which he sold his new racket. The son said,' Bapak saya tidak perlu raket baru untuk jadi juara.' ( father I do not need a new racket to win. ). The father said the money is yours son and yours to keep. The father looked lovingly at the son and said,' kau simpan duit ini, ini duit kamu, bapak seronok bila kau seronok, bapak suka sekali bila keluarga seronok.' ( I am happy when my family is happy ).........I remembered a friend once mentioned the same phrase.