Friday 28 April 2006

Pillow talk and (im)possible dreams in a house divided

“Ya, it would be good for T to play for a team in Malaysia,” I announced, as if to myself. It was nearly 12 midnight. My pillowmate, quite accustomed to my out of topic and out of context ramblings, especially at this time of the night, just managed a ‘huh’without even looking up from his book.

“Ya, it’d be really good to be able to fix him up with some team – a kind of Malaysia – home and abroad thing,”

“Hmm”, another flick of a page and still no register of interest.

“He should play for Kedah, they’ve got a good....,”

“What? No, he should play for Terengganu! They are better”.

“Better? What if he doesn’t understand them? What would he make of, “Ha, mung pah pah bola tu molek-molek!”?

That made him sit up. When he put the book down, I knew he was ready for this interstate war of the Wans.

“And what made you think he can understand Kedahspeak – “Hang main baik baik, jangan lok lak, jangan dok tertomoih!”

And it went on and on and on....all because T came back with another trophy from the three aside tournament recently. He scored most of the goals and was quite proud of it too. Recently he played with a team of Malaysians in Regents Park and the captain of the other team had already spoken to me about the possibility of T joining him. Aaaah, I can now retire while my T shoots in the goals and rakes in the money! Sven, or is it Scolari, we are waiting for you!

The atmostphere in the Wan household in this part of west London has lately been one that is tense and full of suspense. At this moment, it is not only a house divided -Kedah vs Terengganu- but also Arsenal vs Barcelona. We are heading for a big bloody bust up when these two teams play in Paris on May 17 in the Champions League. We will be ready with mop and bucket, plaster and bandage as T and his older brother H fight it out in our front room.

When Barcelona won recently, confirming their place with Arsenal, H was already gleefully wringing his hands and salivating at the thoughts of the Gunners making a meal out of Barcelona.

T, a Barcelona fan has been quietly dreading this moment. He watched Arsenal sail through to the finals and is now preparing for the worse.

“But they scored rubbish goals, Mama,” he said to me when his brother wasn’t around. I suspect, he said this to reinforce his confidence in the team he has been supporting since he turned his back on Arsenal at the tender age of seven.

H, on the other hand has been a die hard Arsenal fan since he was five. As parents who know nought about football, we learn to cope with the stress, joy and tears everytime Arsenal wins or loses. We sigh with relief when Arsenal wins cos it means H bounding in through the front door and leaping with joy. But, you wouldn’t want to know when Arsenal loses. It is not a pretty sight when a grown-up man cries.

But what do we as parents do? Parents who know nought about football? My husband once tried to console his eldest when Arsenal lost by asking him to change his team. “Daddy, I’ve been supporting Arsenal since I was five!” he said, the hurt obvious in his voice, the pain so plain on his face at the very thought of shifting loyalty. He has every Arsenal jersey that comes on the market and that must have cost us a fortune. He has even queued up in the rain to meet Ian Wright. He was even featured in the sports page of The Independant when Arsenal hailed Arsene Wenger as their manager, and Daddy wants him to change teams????

Personally, I dread the seventeenth of May. Somehow it has a familiar ring to thirteenth of May. Bloodshed no matter what happens. I worry not just for the two brothers on opposite sides but also for us non-football fans parents caught right in the middle.

In the meantime, I am making my move, navigating my way to achieve my goal in the Kedah vs Terengganu game.....

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(In the meantime too, we are not sharing pillows!)

34 comments:

Queen Of The House said...

Heh heh, Kak Teh, sharing pillows with the'enemy' sounds like some spy story. GO KEDAH !!!! (tertomoih .. I like that word!!)

aNIe said...

hehehe...gelak baca cerita kak Teh pasal interstate war...seb baik lady ni sama2 dari Melaka tapi Melaka ni bab bola...hampeh...

Tapi at least Kak Teh berjaya menarik perhatian dia dari buku tu...hehhehe...

Anak lady tu die hard fan Manchester United...

Ewok said...

I'm all for Kedah! Hijau kuning tanahku, Darulaman negeri Ku.. hehe

Kak Teh said...

Queen - memang kak teh pun suka the word tertomoih! orang terengganu tak faham tu! - ya - and i like thattoo - sleeping with the enemy!
Kak lady, - we are ready for warrrrrrrrrr!

Kak Teh said...

Ewok, u can be the cheerleader and recruit Raftah!!!

Mama Rock said...

hahaha...my johor team dah tak shining lagi - dah tertomoih dah :)

Ordinary Superhero said...

Go Barca, Go Barca, Go Barca. But next week there'll another mouth watering encounter - ManU v. Chelsea. Go ManU!

Anonymous said...

dehehee.. adeih.. cant help with the WIDE smile. heheee..

i would be as torn in between too. i have godmothers from both tganu n perlis. (timur vs utara) Raya pun jadi isu.. heh.

ubisetela said...

sorry kak Teh, tumpang lalu

Go Ganu GO!!! pettehhh! :D

Jane Sunshine said...

Huh? Sorry, clueless about football.

Anonymous said...

kak teh, your london time clock is showing winter time. Bukan dah lama ke kita change to summer time? it's 1 hour behind :-) Happy long weekend break...

ROYAL JESTER said...

I'm all for kedah and Kelantan..Divided betui.Guana demo ni? Guana betui la.hehehe
(mum org kelantan, late father, kedahan!)

Idham said...

hehehe Kak Teh.
u made me laugh...thanks for that!
simple, true, and funny...
like it.

idham.

Uja said...

kakteh, this is hilarious ! I say no need to manipulate the boy, just offer him mama's service of goreng pisang, ur famous sardine rolls and hot epok-epok after every training and he will run to Kedah , I tell ya! Tumbling and all!! And oh! Abang Teh will come running too ! ;)

simah said...

go kedah!!

Kak Teh said...

mama rock, macam mana boleh tertomoih???
OSH - Man U is a dirty word in this household. Tak boleh sebut.
Fatihah---wah, tengganu lawan perlis? Kak teh sokong peroleh lah kalau gitu.
Ubisetela -ha, ni orang teganu kita dah sampai!

Kak Teh said...

jane matahari, me too - but had to learn from the boys. Dont really understand by all these men run after one ball. And when they failed, they cry!
anon..ish kak teh tak tukark lagi ka?
putri, lagi satu east west divide!
idham, i wish i'd be laughing on the 17th too...er, can i link you at sentraal station?

Kak Teh said...

uja, I wish it is that easy. He might lure the boy away with keropok lekor!
simah. trima kasihhhhhhhhhhhh!

Anonymous said...

even dari belakang T looks good

-Mak Cik Tenah

AuntyN said...

Kak Teh tak nak share pillow, baik-baik jangan "offside" sudah. :-)

Lama tak berjemaah ni no? PC Ok dah ka? Kawan kita sorang tu balik Johrr pulak dah.

Anonymous said...

"...I knew he was ready for this interstate war of the Wans."

This is a great sentence.

Of course-lah, support Kedah!

Idham said...

yes, kak teh .. kechik tapak tangan ... nyiru saya tadah kan...bagus jugak tu kalau kak teh link di central station tu...am honoured, honestly.

Enjoy the weekend!

idham.

MA said...

Kak Teh :

Me no football comprehendo.

I once thought MU was just a team from Univ MALAYA and wondering wht is the big deal abt them !

:-)

Kak Teh said...

mak cik tenah, tengok dari depan, lagi mengamcam hehehe - (sayangmama, kan?)
auntyN - takut kena tackle masa tak sedar!! hahahaha!
aneeta, could it be title of a movie??like war of the roses?
idham, i will - but i will have to give a caution to underaged readers - hehehe! Didnt realised it is THAT hot!

Kak Teh said...

MA - samalah kita...! buat-buat tau tapi sebenarnya taktau!

Blabarella said...

Kedah and Terengganu - for sure Kedah lah!! I miss the days when KL used to be such a force in Malaysian football.
Arsenal and Barca - The answer is well, I'm a true blue MU fan who's terribly sore with the 3-0 thrashing at Stamford Bridge last night, and so whoever wins the Champions League, it doesn't matter, coz it ain't MU. But!! Will either team be able to win it in the dramatic fashion MU won it in 1999? I doubt iiiiiiiiit!!! Hehehe

For what it's worth, I'd like to see King Henry do his "magic".

Ely said...

the last time i heard of kedah soccer team was when singapore was in the malaysian league. now? i know nothing....but still surely know Ian Wright and Ryan Giggs of MU!

Kak Teh said...

Blabs, Man U is dirty word in this household!
Noni, hehe, yes he can indeed understand Malay, my Malay!
Ely, the last time I saw Kedah played Perlis, *whisper* they scored the goal for Perlis and lost!

Ordinary Superhero said...

Blabs, hail Man U - even though Kak Teh said its dirty twice already. I bought the MU treble limited edition wrist watches to celebrate that.

Atok said...

I'm all for Barca! :))
In Tanah Serendah Sekebun Bunga, the Kedah word 'tertomoih' is 'ttumuh'.

Anonymous said...

Wuhooo baju hijau kuning tu!

kaezrin said...

i go for tganu..kekeke

btw hubby cuti semata2 sbb nak tgk champions league tuh nyer match..sabo jela...

Alinlai said...

kakteh,
saya dengan my husband tak sokong mana2 pasukan bola kat M'sia... kalau tidak haru juga la :)lately kami sokong MyTeam...

Honeytar said...

Hahahahahahaa... of course! The joy of seeing Gunners through to the CL Finals!

Kak Teh, I am very happy to know that H is a die hard Arsenal fan! I am a fan since I first set foot on Highbury ground back in 1988! And NO WAY am I going to change team, through thick and thin!

btw, in earlier days, I have more interest in footballER than in football. As time goes by, the interest is equalised. Hiihihihiii...

If H is here now in Msia, I'll bring him to watch the CL Finals at our local Arsenal Fan Club in Bangsar! Don't worry, I'm old enough to be his mom. Heheheee..