My Biggest Angpow Yet: A History Lesson

I received my biggest angpow just now when visiting a couple from church who are parents of Mr. Mole. Unfortunately for him, Mole was not there; he missed a lot!!

His parents were talking about their experiences with one of their children who was a gangster in school but was completely transformed when he accepted Christ. That in itself is a whole other story to tell. But the big angpow that my sister and I got was the history lesson from my parents and our hosts about the time when communists were at large; all the suffering, hardship and worry that they went through during the confrontation. They talked about how some of their loved ones were captured because they were suspected of cooperating with the communists, and how they survived through the fighting and bombings. Then they talked about their school [my dad and Mole's parents were schoolmates in SMK Serian before!!] and how they went to school everyday and their experiences in post-Malaysia time.

Then my sister and I began to realize, how privileged we actually are because we live in such a peaceful and prosperous time as this! We may not have everything we want, but at least we have the basic things we need. I also realized the importance of History [Sejarah] and how much we can actually learn from it. Oh, how many times have I complained about studying Sejarah and how many times have I grumbled about what I do not have! How valuable History can be, because it is His Story after all. I have also come to realize that we must appreciate our country because countless lives have been lost to defend our nation and we must do our very best as citizens to preserve that peace in our country.

To sum it all up, it is truly priceless to hear the older generation speak about their lives and experiences firsthand instead of reading from books, because there is so much detail and real-life drama that cannot be captured in our History text books. So I urge you, whenever you visit the elderly, listen to their stories because there is so much to be learnt. My sister and I got more than we expected: A lesson in life [for 2 whole hours!] that no amount of angpow can ever match!