Dear Mom...

Dear Mom, Our lives have become busier. With schoolwork and college application deadlines fast approaching, I sometimes find us slipping away. And of course, as I get ready to depart from the Singapore that I have known all my life, I begin to feel sentimental, thinking about what I'd like to do most before I go. Because when I go, it also means I inevitably wait a long time before seeing you again. Perhaps when I look back at my 17 years of life, my biggest regret is keeping quiet. Not in the sense that I never talked; heck, I am such a loud person and have always been! That's literally why I enrolled in debate and theatre! But what I mean by quiet is not being proactive. I first realised I wanted to know and hear the stories of others four years ago, when I first realised there were other immigrants and Third Culture Kids who share my story of growing up in a culturally diverse space. Now, I turn back and want to hear the stories not of these immigrants far away from me, but from the one person that lives the closest. I want to hear tales of your life before me, of your life presently: what inspires you the most? Who are your favorite celebrities? What are some of your philosophies about life? What are the interesting work and life experiences you had before me? Who are the most important people to you? You seem to know so much about me, the K-pop groups I'm into, the foods I like to eat, but there is a gap when it comes to how much I know about you. I'll blame it on childhood ignorance for the years before, when I focused more on developing myself and playing with dolls than questioning the people and world around me. But it is different now. Dear Mom, let us share our lives once more before I venture off and find a life in a new nation, on my own. 亲爱的妈妈： 我们的生活变得越来越忙碌。随着学业压力增大和大学申请截止日期的临近，我有时感觉我们之间的距离似乎在悄悄拉大。 当然，当我准备离开这个我从小生活到大的新加坡时，我不禁感伤起来，开始思考在启程前最想做些什么。因为一旦离开，就意味着我将不得不等待很长时间才能再次见到您。 回首这十七年，我最大的遗憾或许就是“保持沉默”。这并不是说我从不说话——天哪，我向来是个嗓门很大、爱说话的人！我当初参加辩论队和戏剧社，正是因为这个原因！ 但我所说的“沉默”，是指缺乏主动去了解他人的意愿。四年前，当我意识到还有其他移民和“第三文化孩子”（Third Culture Kids）与我有着相似的成长经历——即在多元文化环境中长大——时，我才第一次萌生了倾听他人故事的念头。 如今，我回过头来，想听的不再是那些遥远移民的故事，而是身边最亲近之人的故事——那就是您。我想听听您在我出生前的生活，以及您现在的生活点滴：什么最能给您带来灵感？您最喜欢的名人是谁？您的人生哲学是什么？在我出生前，您有过哪些有趣的工作和生活经历？谁是您生命中最重要的人？您似乎对我的一切了如指掌——我迷恋的韩国流行组合、我爱吃的食物——相比之下，我对您的了解却存在着空白。过去那些年，我只顾着自我成长和玩洋娃娃，无暇去探究周围的人和世界，这或许该归咎于年少无知；但现在，一切都不同了。 亲爱的妈妈，趁我即将独自远赴异国他乡开启新生活之际，让我们再次深入分享彼此的生活吧。