Mother was an only child, as was Papa. Both sets of grandparents could only manufacture one child each, and my parents had gravitated to each other, like lost puppies. I too was an only child, my parents capable of copulating only so much. Or perhaps Mother never wanted any more children, or even me to begin with.

They met when Mother was acting in a theatre production of a local play where she played a prostitute, and she looked luminous, like Natalie Wood. Papa fell for her at first sight. Every time he told this story, he would grasp her hand and Mother would throw her head back, and they would kiss quickly on the lips, as if to seal their love again.

Mother came from Ipoh, Perak, the tin-rich town of limestone caves, kway teow noodles with chicken slivers, chubby bean sprouts and beautiful women, where Chinese millionaires made and lost their fortunes and whose children went to English boarding schools and came back with thick accents and pasty spouses. Born to working-class parents, she went to the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus on Brewster Road and became a rebel. At 14 she became part of an all-girls gang called The Heartbreakers, and was once almost suspended from school after being caught smoking with a group of boys from Sam Tet—in the graveyard beside St Michael’s Church during school hours. It was scandalous. The nuns were horrified and she became the undisputed “rebel chick” of the school.

Mother was a restless soul from the very beginning; she couldn’t wait to get out of Ipoh; and when she did, she couldn’t wait to get out of KL. Papa was her ticket to a better life and she stayed with him, only because he loved her. Perhaps that was a little harsh. I am sure she loved him too, but I know he loved her more.

She was never happy, even when she said she was. Even when he gave a new necklace, or a new watch.

Oh darling, how beautiful. You’ve made me the happiest woman in the world.

Darling, darling. My darling husband. How I love you.

She said it all the time, perhaps to convince herself that she was lucky, that she was happy.