Proud Dad!

My boy looked something like this - photo from iStock

It is indeed strange being proud of something like this. I am in Kota Bharu and my son is in Kuala Lumpur. And suddenly I received a video call. Any call from my family is priority one, so of course I immediately answered.

Apparently, he needed help with shaving! He will turn 18 this May and he was called up by his teacher for sprouting facial hair. He needed help with getting them off. A few days earlier, when I was back in KL, I bought for him shavers and a cream. So, he wanted to know what to do with them.

Thank God for technology! With WhatsApp video call I could guide him on his first shave! My scrawny son (when he was a baby) is a young man now. He was quite excited to have his first shave and he did really well, did not nick his face or anything.

He will be sitting for his Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia soon. His recent Trial Exam, he didn't do that great. He obtained 3As, 5Cs and 1G (that's a failing grade). The paper that he failed? Additional Maths (Trigonometry, Algebra, Geometry and Calculus) is not an easy paper. He is not much of a mugging student, so how did I motivate him? I said, you better buck up or else in university or college, only courses open to you are law and accounting. NOT LAW! He cried out.

What's wrong with law? I read law and I ended up as a project manager, implementer and monitor, nothing whatsoever to do with law. Okay. That's not right. That won't sell taking up law to my son.

My son is very techie. Actually, techie doesn't describe what he is capable of. He is a wonder, a wiz with computers. Nothing fazes him where technology is concerned. So I am at a wits end to help him make the right decision when the time comes. I don't want him to take up something related to computer science or programming because he's already good at that. He can type pot reams and lines on SQL Java and other programming language. He is teaching himself Python now. And he taught himself coding and programming, and he's been at it since he was 12.

Ever since he saw me with my computer, he has been hooked himself. He now surpasses me by many leaps and bounds. Compared to my 17 years old son, I'm still barely crawling. But still a little better than most.

So, that's why I am a proud Dad. My son was born premature. He was in hospital for quite a bit, in an incubator with his head under an oxygen box, for his lungs to develop properly. He was a scrawny little thing that was overwhelmed by newborn diapers. But now, if one were to look at him, you will definitely not call him scrawny anymore. He is a strapping young man, getting taller than me, and I am 5ft 9 in (short and stumpy).

So, I am just telling the whole world about my son, who just started shaving. As we speak, I am texting to my Add Maths genius friend, hoping of he can teach or impart knowledge to my son.