I received a package from Ms Winking Doll from Canada last week. I was quite reluctant to give out my postal address for these reasons. Once I start to receive presents from the others, I will feel obligated (like anyone else) to send something back in return. Then it'll be 没完没了. I couldn't stop Winkingdoll's passion that time. She was on the roll, high on being a new mother and just genuinely happy for our pregnancy and wanted to send something over. To save her from busting, I eventually relented and allowed her to do so.
Do not be fooled by the card (above). Winkingdoll did not go through the trouble of chasing a goose in Stanley Park just to pluck a feather and send it over. She actually gave us a mini goodie bag with useful items for the new born and mother. And I tell you, this is better than any SG50 shit I'll have to register and beg for to get it. Lest anyone feel like asking, my answer is "No, I am not going apply for any SG50 Golden Jubilee Baby whatever or baby bonus." After what I had to go through for Albany, I will not even register my second child as a Singaporean citizen. Period.
Other than obviously the goose feather from Canada, we could actually buy whatever items that Winkingdoll sent us. Still, it felt really exciting to receive this package from someone so far away. Judging by that great feeling I experienced, if the Overseas Singaporeans Unit (OSU) is worth their salt and send me a card (since they go around collecting overseas Singaporeans' NRICs and overseas addresses all the time) after my newborn arrives, saying, "Dear asingaporeanson, no $ to offer but congratulations to your newborn. We actually give a fuck," I would actually consider relocating back to Singapore.
Fortunately, Winkingdoll chose an auspicious date to send me her goodie bag. It is going to buy me some time to accumulate my return package to the far North. I have a good few months to procrastinate before Australia Day. Meanwhile, friends will find me fixing a pervy glare on the pelicans lurking around the jetty during our next crabbing trip in the coming Summer. Else, a dried out, well pressed sample of a Huntsman spider should do the trick.
Meanwhile I have been noticing pictures of Winkingdoll's baby floating all around her FB wall lately. Baby is pink and healthy, delighting her parents and all. If you followed her blog, you are likely to be happy for her like me, that her migration to Canada allowed her to let go of a past she wouldn't wish to remember and to find peace and (unlikely at some stage) love in a foreign land.
Thank you and enjoy your motherhood WD. What a difference of a few years can make in our lives. May your journey continues to be fulfilling and meaningful. Wait for my spider.
Send her a beer holder with an Aussie flag on it. Very Australian.
ReplyDeleteHi ASingaporeanSon,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you received our little Canadian Family Care Package. :) You're welcome and the pleasure is ours -- to share in another family's joy of our mutually expanding families. [Must be sore eyes for the Singapore Fertility Task Force]
> Judging by that great feeling I experienced, if the Overseas Singaporeans Unit (OSU) is worth their salt and send me a card ... after my newborn arrives, saying, "Dear asingaporeanson, no $ to offer but congratulations to your newborn. We actually give a fuck," I would actually consider relocating back to Singapore.
Sssssshhh! You're giving them good advice here! Must charge them international consultancy rates lah! How about $2 million? Just like the "Marina Bay" renaming project. :d
> What a difference of a few years can make in our lives.
Yes, I'm glad that I took the step out. That said, migration is a risk. [Conversely, not migrating is also a risk, lah.] We are the lucky ones who enjoy our ups-and-downs in our new-found homelands.
Thank you for your well-wishes. Looking forward to reading about your new family addition! And noted, spider akan datang... it will make a great show-and-tell for kiddo when she goes to school :o Hahaha!
Cheers, WD.