Ian Dory, rock climber and ninja veteran, starts his daughter young on a climbing wall.
Some parents plop their kids on a piano stool pre-preschool; others are taught to serve shuttlecocks before their first solid meal. Where I’m from? My parents shove literary material into our tiny hands during potty time.
If there is one word synonym to the Lee Family name, it’s books.
Below are several points that epitomise the Lees’ relationship with wordy tomes:
ONE
In my early years, money was tight. A family has got to eat, but we spent the bare minimum on food. 50 cents curry puffs? No. An extra t-shirt? Absolutely not.
Books? Splash away!
“Never stinge on books” was my father’s motto.
TWO
Most of us have longer relationships with some books than we do any romantic partner. Off my head, I name the Christy Miller series my bible and greatest influencer.
THREE
If the Vulcan greeting is “live long and prosper”, the Lee greeting is “what’cya reading?”
FOUR
Books take precedence over human beings. If there is one remaining empty seat in the car, the books ride. Human being, take the bus. True story.
FIVE
It’s your birthday! Now, predict your birthday gift. Is it a book? Or is it, gasp, two books?!
SIX
A looming school exam calls for a sanction on leisure reading.
SEVEN
Score well in said school exams, and you will be rewarded with… wait for it… books!
EIGHT
Book fairs are a big deal. Every minute there is precious. Therefore, we gorge an enormous breakfast to prep. The last thing we need is to sacrifice book time for lunch!
NINE
We had strong opinions that MPH bookstore wrap their books to prevent browsers. How to read now?! What kind of rubbish policy is this?!!
P.S: Dear MPH, it wasn’t this way before. You changed.
P.P.S: Thank you, MPH staff, for entertaining my constant bugging.
P.P.P.S: Also, I apologise for the wasted plastic.
P.P.P.P.S: Here’s an idea to save the environment: don’t wrap your books.
TEN
Running, cooking, throwing a punch, how to tail a suspicious looking character down a busy street- we learnt it from a book.
ELEVEN
Our default meeting place in church or at the mall is the library or bookstore.
TWELVE
You are severely judged for your choice in genre.
P.S: I stand by the institution of Chick Lit.
THIRTEEN
Very often, the government’s tax exemption limit for books is insufficient to cover our total literary cost.
FOURTEEN
By age 9, I knew that my father’s “5 minutes only” before disappearing into a bookstore really meant “2 hours. Minimum”.
The way to a Lee’s heart is …
Fun note: My best friend practically lives in a library, I’m talking about her room. She eventually earned first class honours in english literature, and currently makes a living (a lot of money!) writing propaganda statements to cover screw ups (although she might disagree with my definition of her job).