I was a sickly child and visited the family clinic too often. So frequent were the visits that the nurses became friends with Mom and sometimes when I got really sick, I even got to cut queue just by saying it’s an “emergency”.

I was very susceptible to flu, running high fevers and mild bronchitis complications. On top of that, I was also a “windy” kid whose stomach bloated, causing a great deal of difficulty in my breathing. We tried many ways to get the excessive wind out of me – taking western medication, drinking awfully bitter Chinese herbal soups, rubbing warm oils and Vicks on the tummy and placing lightly heated leaves on my abdomen to encourage “air disposal” (farting). I don’t know what kind of leaves those were, Mom bought them from an Indian shop.

Once, I was having the full works of a fever and coughs. I coughed so badly that sometimes it made me throw up. One such time that I vomited, there was blood. Needless to say it worried my parents sick. I was taken yet again to the clinic and this time the doctor advised that I should be brought to the hospital for a thorough check. I don’t remember much of what happened at the hospital except that tests were done to check if I had contracted the dengue fever. While laying weak on the hospital bed with my parents standing beside me, I meekly told Mom I wanted a colour TV in the hospital room if I had to stay. What a terrible TV addict!

Whenever I got sick, I had to be fed porridge, bread or mee suah. With not much appetite for food, I just swallowed them obediently and quickly went back to bed. Since I got sick so often, I had to eat quite a bit of such “sick food”. Till now, these foods remain to be “sick food” on my list and you won’t find me eating them willingly.

Grandma was worried that I was always sick and so one day she consulted a medium to seek some answers. Apparently, the medium said our deceased ancestors loved me very much and often stroked my forehead. And I got sick because of that. So Grandma prayed to our ancestors and told them if they loved me, they should stop touching me!

Anyway, when I started being more active in sports at the age of 9, my illnesses were lessened and I got much fitter. It came to a point where I was hardly ever sick, despite going through physically gruelling training regimes on a daily basis. I certainly think that it has helped me be a much healthier person from the little sick duckling that I was. Or was it that the ancestors took Grandma’s pleading to heart and stopped touching me?