A small ornamental wooden plaque on the wall of my kitchen reads ‘Mothers of little boys works from son up to son down.’
This brings to mind the petite mother I used to see chasing after 3 young sons down a supermarket aisle buying them water and snacks before their skating lessons. After that, she would keep a keen eye on them as they swirl, twirl and tumble on the ice rink before packing up and packing them home late at night.
Fast forward more than 20 years, the boys are now established in their careers with one married and (did I mention?), the youngest Julian Yee is an Olympian figure ice skater. Irene Cheow, 63, invested almost a decade into planning and nurturing Julian’s career path, accompanying him to competitions and supporting him financially and emotionally.
Feeling liberated from maternal duties, Irene has downsized from a bungalow to an apartment and filled her time with activities that “make me happy”.
Actively on her list is curling. It’s a winter sport that involves sweeping a heavy cement stone across the ice and sending it into a target house. Irene is particularly fond of ice sports having pursued further education in Canada. She says curling is a natural progression from ice skating and skiing.
“With the help of a curling coach from Hong Kong and his equipment a small group of us started curling at the Malaysia National Ice Skating rink in Empire Damansara.
“In 2018 he conducted classes and a coaching course for us. A group of us got certified at level one which enabled us to teach beginners level until the Covid pandemic and the rinks were closed.”
When the ice rinks reopened, Irene and another coach were eager to play but didn’t have the equipment. They decided to make their curling stones and brooms until the management of the Blue Ice Rink in Pavilion Bukit Jalil collaborated with them by buying equipment to help promote the sport.
“We organise open days at 4 ice rinks (which belong to the same management) to let people try the sport. There is no need for skates as we will provide sliders that imitate the real curling shoes. It is a team sport but each player gets their turn to play individually,” Irene explains.
She describes herself as a rebel when trying new activities, “I like to do things people think I won’t be able to or people my age don’t. For instance, curling requires going down very low. Many will tell me they cannot go down so low, then I would say let me show you how low I can go and ‘die die’ also I would go down.
“I owe a lot of my fitness to regular workouts in the gym daily. When I do Steps it involves a lot of cardio workouts and coordination of steps otherwise I would bump into someone. Memorising the steps helps to train my brain.”
Although Irene is doing all she can to stay alert and physically nimble she is also mindful of her limitations “In the gym I ask for ‘aunty option’,” she laughs “so that I won’t injure myself and extend my mobility for as long as possible. I don’t know how many years I can continue doing this.” Irene admits that she also allows herself couch potato days.
And with whatever’s left of her time, Irene dedicates it to voluntary work as deputy president of her alma mater St Mary’s alumni.
“10 years ago a group of us organised the 100th anniversary of the school. Among the activities, we run fun English classes for girls who are very weak in English. We sing songs and do word games to help them. Since the school relocated from Kuala Lumpur to Selayang, many of the students there come from Chinese medium schools and were unable to converse in simple English.
“There are volunteers in their 50s to 60s to teach them. It has helped many of the students to pass their SPM. It is a great encouragement to us. We just aim to teach them to be good enough to get a job. These are the ways we give back,” she says.
Never short of ideas, Irene and her friends organised a virtual walk challenge for the alumni during the MCO. They got alumni members to sign up under their former school house colors and they would challenge each other by logging in the number of steps they walked a day.
“The house that logged in the most number of steps walked jointly by its members would win. Battle of the houses! No prizes just bragging rights!
Members from as far as South Africa also joined in.
“This idea has evolved into version 2 with 4 events to compete in. The young and old members came together to compete. This will culminate in a gala dinner at the end of August. It was so exciting when we had members ages ranging from 30 to 70 participating,” Irene is pleased that many found their old friends through the events.
Even though she has no brood to chase after, Irene’s life is no less a whirlwind, with her new apartment under renovation, a rented apartment to vacate, a gala dinner to attend and a long overseas trip happening one after another.
Looking unfazed, Irene adds “A day at a time.” Indeed Irene, Bon voyage! – JE Tan
