Fidelia's Friday - Route to Kuantan

I am a small woman born in a city called Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak. Sarawak is situated on Borneo and it is a multiracial state. So, I am so used to being around a lot of races. I come from an Iban family, which is the biggest race in Sarawak. To learn more of the Iban people click here.

I grew up with four of my other siblings. We are all girls. I am the second one and the one who always gave my dad a big headache when I was a teenager. I was a tomboy for a good couple of years during my teenage years. I played football with my neighbours (not that I was good at it) and most of my friends were boys. I never missed watching live football when my state team called the "Bujang Senang" (otherwise known as Sarawak) played at the stadium. Back then they were good with a few  foreigners playing but now they are quite rubbish. Sorry to say! I am more interested in Manchester United now after I got married. My husband got me into English football and taught me everything he knows about his favourite team. To my surprise, I was a fast learner! So, I have been supporting Manchester United for more than 5 years now!

Anyway, after I finished high school at the age of 17, I continued my studies to pre-university. There I was learning foundation in Science. I spent a year on an island called Labuan. This beautiful but small island is not far from a state called Sabah, which is also on Borneo island. I loved my time there! The only memory that I don't want to conjure up is the frequent shortage of water! I had to get up at 5am to fill up a bucket of water from another hostel. We had to walk down our stairs and up the stairs of another hostel. One good exercise after we filled up our buckets! 

After I finished my pre-university, we were given 8 choices of universities we wanted to apply for. So, one of my choices was University Malaysia Pahang which is here in Kuantan. I got that offer and I studied here for 2 years before I met Duncan in Kuching during my semester break. We got married during my 3rd year of university and he came to Kuantan to be here with me! After 6 years of hard work and ups and downs with my studies, I finally graduated. 

After graduation, I don't feel like being a chemical engineer because it is a very demanding job. It has tight schedules as well. I chose that career before I was married because I didn't think I was going to get married at the age of 21. Things changed along the way. I have other commitments now. My highest priority is being with my children and taking care of them. I want them to have the memories of me being with them when they were young. Something they can tell their friends when they are older and say "my mother was always there for me whenever I needed her!"

So, here we have been living in Kuantan for more than 5 years already. I thought we would be moving out after I completed my studies but no, we didn't. Kuantan is our home now. The home to both our children because they were born here.

So, have you ever thought about moving out of your hometown to settle somewhere else? I never thought about it but here I am! Born in Kuching, settled in Kuantan!