MY IDOL

My mom is my idol besides the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

There are many reasons why I chose her as my idol. My mother is just an
everyday woman with an everyday life. If you do not know her, you will think
that there's nothing special about her. But the truth is, my mom has a strong
heart. She is a fighter…

She was a great hockey player who represented Perak back in the mid
80’s. She was one of the best students when she was in her secondary school.
She scored straight As for her SPM and continued her studies in Australia. She
got her degree in Electrical Engineering Major in Computing at Monash
University, Melbourne. Unfortunately during her final year in Australia, she was
diagnosed with brain tumor. She came back to Malaysia and went through a
few treatments. She managed to finish her studies despite all the hard times
and pain she had to go through.

My mom became a teacher even though she has a degree in Engineering

after being persuaded by my late grandmother. She wanted my mom to be a
teacher because to her, teaching is a noble profession and that my mom would
definitely is going to love teaching. Well she was right; my mom is really in love
with her profession. She really loves and cares for her students, and they love
her too. Every now and then some of her ex-students will call her or come over
to the house to pay her a visit.

In 1997, my mom met my father and they fell in love. They got married in
1998 and ever since they were announced husband and wife, my mom was
down with a mysterious sickness. She went for to see many doctors and went
through many treatments. However, she managed to get pregnant a few
months after the wedding. The doctors found out that she was carrying twins,
but they also detected cancerous cells in her blood. They could not diagnose
what type of cancer and so they just named it as ‘query trophoblastic disease’.
It was dangerous to her and also to her pregnancy and so the doctors decided
to abort her pregnancy in order to save her life. My father agreed to the
doctors’ decision even though my mom was against it.

After the abortion, my mom had to go through a few cycles of

chemotherapy. It was a hell of experience for her. She became so weak, lost
her memories, her antibody became very low. My father was so down to see
her conditions. She was balding and pale with no appetite to eat. But my mom
was a fighter. She fought so hard to stand strong again. Finally after 6 months
of battling cancer, she was fully recovered from her sickness.

Four years after the chemotherapy she got pregnant again and this time
she carried me in her womb. The doctor told her that her pregnancy this time
had some complications. She was aware of it but she managed to go through
everything with the support from my father and my late grandmother. She
finally brought me into this world with her strength, courage, love and affection.
This lady also gave birth to my brother and sister.

I love my mom just the way she is. To me she is a strong woman, a very
intelligent one, a fighter, somebody who does not have the phrase ‘give up’ in
her diary of life. She can still smile even though she’s in pain, she can still
stand up and walk even though she’s too tired and weak and the most
important thing is that she still can motivate, cheer me up and offer me a hug
even though she herself is lost in emotion. After the birth of my younger
brother, my mom got a scholarship to do her second degree in France. She
excelled her studies there and came back with Masters in International Affairs.
She can speak French fluently. Not only that, my mom, if it’s not too much to
say is the best cook in town. She cooks good food and her fish curry is the best
of the best. And one thing for sure, it was not easy to beat her in table tennis.

I just hope, one day I will be able to repay her by giving her more
happiness in life. I also hope that I am as strong as her to handle challenges in
life. The one thing that I remember about her is that, she always reminds me of
how much she loves me, she will say this, “Adam, wherever you go, just think
of Allah, your father and me. Just look up in the sky at night, you will see 3
stars in a row, it’s a sign saying that I love you, and just remember son,
chasing after the impossible, you will lose what is possible”. I will remember
these words from my mom for the rest of my life.