[xiaosiong]

A bit on my mom. She is the only child. She were born during the era when our govt says 1 is enough. At the sweet age of 20, she became a mother. She were pregnant me in her last semester, and gave birth to me 6 month later. While most of her friends were moving on to local uni or enrolling into private uni, those were not an option for her. She tried to look for a job, but no employer wants to hire a pregnant poly fresh grad. They do not want to waste money paying for 1 month maternity leave as well. Married, jobless, baby to care for, me crying at night, without money in bank as parenthood is expensive, they quarreled every few day. Whenever my dad need money to buy stuff for me, his parent will give those "i told you remarks". Resentment grow, he wants his old life back, they divorced. No amount of conselling helps. He wants me and my mom out of his life. I not sure why i am even describing him as dad here (should just call him fucker). I do hope he is childless now, and karma bites him hard.

At 21, divorced, with a kid, without money, my mom went back home, and my grandparent love me nothing lesser than a perfect family would. She manage to find a job at a local company as an admin, earning a meagre 1.8K a month. That is barely keeping her alive. And she has to save on everything. No foodcourt, no mcdonalds, no kfc. Only home cooked food by my grannies. Occassionaly, my grand dad will indulge me with some goodies, but working as a general worker, he didnt have much either.

My mom strong headness, plus the situation she is in, left her crying many nights. But there is no single seconds she wanted me out of her life. That is how beautiful motherhood is. With such circumstances she is in, it builds a very strong character.

At 25 years old, financial crisis hits, and her company folded. She decided that she no longer wants her fate to be in controlled, she enrolled into CEA and become a property agent with a renowed agency. She cant find a job in the middle of a crisis, and without income + her studies, her saving is dwindling down fast.

Thankfully, she saved hard, and we are able to survive that few months. She passed her CEA test, and maybe due to fate, we entered into a period of property boom. Her agency were awarded to sell a few new property launch, and she literally has people walking up to her at showroom saying they are there to buy. While that few years of hardship makes her character strong, her bubbly personality didnt change, and she instantly connects with her client. She has a hands on approach, followed up closely for her client, fights for the best, and ensure all paper work are thorough. Many of her client's wife loved her for whom she is. One after one, referral after refferral, she established a sizeable base of clients now. Some of them are already into their 3rd property with her now, and remain close friends. While many male buyer establish a buyer/agent relationship with her to get into her pants, she is professional, and never crossed that line. There are genuine suitors, none proceeded after knowing she is a single mother. Well, to my mom, i am her everything. Even the wealthiest man wants to take her without me, she will say no.

My grand parent passed away one after another due to illness. They slog their whole life, having to bring up my mom and myself. I cried every night at the wake as i have no idea what i am without them. My mom cried badly on the last day as she felt she did not gave them a good retirement, and they had to tire themselve to care for me. But they never complained a single day. We are their sunshine, and they are happy we all grown up to be independant.

After inherting the old HDB, my mom, a property agent, decided to sell it and we upgrade to a private condo penthouse. She has already amassed a fortune by then, and know the low property market, it is the best time to acquire one. On the day we moved in, she placed my grand parent altar in the house, and said they can now enjoy the life she owes them.