R.I.P.

I was in college when Michael Jackson came to Singapore to perform. My brother was a long-time fan. Michael Jackson's Thriller album was the first cassette tape he owned. We had planned to go to the concert separately with our friends. Then I jokingly asked my mum if she wanted to come along. I never expected her to say yes - after all she is a conservative and traditional woman who does not even speak English. But this was Michael Jackson - whose music we had played frequently in our home and whose music videos kept my siblings and I mesmerized in front of the television. So in the end, my brother and I decided to take both my mother and our younger teenage sister to the concert. In her traditional Malay garb, she sat back and enjoyed the music while her children were dancing and screaming crazily. It was the only time she ever attended a pop concert - she had to - it was Michael Jackson. And she loved telling her friends all about it.