My Mother’s 81st Birthday.

My Mother just celebrated her 81st birthday …. wow! Imagine that!

My Mother, Hajah Aishah Hashim, was one of the very few Malay ladies of her generation (pre-Independence) to go to Form 6. During those times very few girls studied to that level ….. especially those who did not come from a priveledged background …. my grandfather was a technician with Robinsons and my grandmother a housewife with 9 children!!

But my Mother wanted to study and go to university, wow!

My mother went to Victoria Institution, in Kuala Lumpur, where she met my father, Dr Yunus. They were school mates and with their parents blessings, both traveled by boat to Melbourne, Australia after they completed their Form 6.

My Mother studied Occupational Therapy and Dad studied Dentistry in Melbourne University. This was in the 1950’s.

My mother and father worked many odd jobs to supplement their scholarship. They soldered pins on badges for the first Olympic Games in Melbourne, worked in a packing factory seeding peaches and as laboratory assistants in the Metrological Department … it was a hard life but they have many happy memories.

Mum came back as one of the first Occupational Therapists in the country and later was given life membership to the Occupational Therapists Association and AMN by the King for her many achievements. She was instrumental in setting up the first Occupational Therapy school in this region.

Now, at 81, though frail, my mother still is a force to be reckoned with…. just ask my brother!

She was surrounded by her many grandsons during her 81st birthday … only two grandchildren were not at the party as my sister’s children are in England … all 6 grandsons ranging from 20 to 8 years old were gathered around her!

Congratulations, Mum!

We celebrate your amazing life together and as Alwi (my brother) said, “81 today! Here’s to 81 more years!!”

I love you.