DAD’S THE ONE

WITH Hari Raya already in full swing and most of us already in the thick of Raya revelries, there’s another reason to celebrate today. It’s Father’s Day; a day to celebrate the first man in a daughter’s life and her most protective bodyguard.

My father and I enjoy the kind of relationship that I liken to a heady roller-coaster ride. As a child, I feared his disciplinarian stance. As a young woman, I abhorred his over-protectiveness (especially when he could sniff out male interest in his daughter). As an adult, I have nothing but admiration for him. For everything that he is, I embody today.

At times it feels like looking into a mirror — at my own self. He’s stubborn, passionate, driven, fiery... and he has a BIG heart.

His innate love of adventure and sense of curiosity are traits I share. He’s 71 now; at an age when most men are already winding down to a life of golf and lepak sessions at the local mamak with similar-aged buddies.

But no. Not dad. If you want to find a contented man, find him at his kebun, diminutive under his towering fruit trees, complete with his raggedy straw hat and washed-out shirt that has seen better days, baking under the hot sun, a cangkul (hoe) in his hand. It’s an image that I’ll always cherish, captured and stored like a treasured photograph in the deepest recesses of my mind.

And on Father’s Day, I just want to say, “Thank you Dad, for the roller-coaster ride. I would not want it any other way!”

elena@nst.com.my