A Tale on how I was born Volume 1

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The pain came and went. It was getting more frequent now. She had to get to Johor Bahru. She does not want to give birth in Kluang. Especially not in an army camp. Not without her husband. Her husband is an army officer in an assignment in Sabah. There was no one in Kluang. She wanted to be with her sister in Johor Bahru. Her daughter who was 3 at that time sat next to her.

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As she was driving the pain became unbearable, so she had to stop. This was Malaysia in the 1960s, there were only single lane traffic. And it became to rain. As she was trying to cope the best that she can, out of the corner of her eye she saw a car stopped behind hers. An elderly gentleman alighted the car, as he approached, she noticed that he was Caucasian, with a look of concern, he asked her what the matter was. She said she was in labour, and she needed to get to a hospital quickly. He offered to drive her there, but she couldn't leave the car. As she felt a little better, he next offered to accompany her by driving behind her in case she gets into any trouble. This he did until she reached the hospital, she never did get to know his name or who he was because she was wheeled in immediately.

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I took my time being born. She was in labour for a while. By that time, I was getting quite large, and she was no longer alone and her sister was by her side. Doctor said he cannot wait any longer and that she had to go through the C-section. Her husband was in the meantime trying to make his way out of the jungles of Sabah. Headquarters have managed to contact him with the news that I was about to be born. He had to fly on a helicopter out of the jungle. From there he caught a military transport to fly out of Sabah to take him to Kuala Lumpur. From there he took another transport to get him to Johor Bahru. That took a few days.

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On a Tuesday night I was finally born. It wasn't an easy birth. Both my mother and I had to be monitored closely. I was apparently known as a blue baby. It was a few more days before I was finally held in my father's arms. It was a few more days before we were able to go home. I was quite a large baby, or so I was told.

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