Jam Patek Phillipe Ayah

My dad owns a Patek Phillipe. "You never really own a Patek Phillipe. You merely look after it for the next generation". That tagline says a lot about the quality and prestige of the swiss watchmaker.

We all know how much a Patek Phillipe watch is worth. For all those who dont know, a Patek Phillipe watch can cost hundreds of thousands of ringgit. You certainly will not get one for less than the price of an average family sedan. And I'm talking about foreign made family sedans. Not locally made ones.

However, my dad's Patek Phillipe costs Rm100. Yeap, its fake.

We're nowhere near poor but my dad could never afford a watch that costs the same as his children's education. All four of them. It aches me inside everytime any one of my siblings make fun of my dad's fake Patek Phillipe. I used to make fun of it myself in the past. But I am sure as hell that I will not make fun of it anymore.

Ayah has sacrificed a lot for his family. He never buys anything for himself. Not clothes, not perfumes, not watches not anything really.

Situation 1

"Ayah, kenapa ayah tak beli jam mahal sikit? Go la buy something for you, you work so hard, beli la something as a reward for yourself..baju ke...anything la, go splurgeeee, go buy something expensive for yourself"

"haha, ayah hang mana ada duit nak beli mahal mahal"

I joined him laughing.

"Ayah, aduh!!! Asal ayah pakai baju free pergi KLCC? Jom la we buy something nice for you. This time takyah nak beli yang ada 70% discount. Go get something you like. Sekali sekala beli baju mahal takpela"

"Haha, ayah hang mana ada duit nak beli mahal mahal"

Again, I joined him laughing.

"Ayah!! Raya kot! Tolonglaaaa beli baju lawa lawa sikit for yourself!! Mahal sikit takpela, setahun sekali"

''Haha, ayah hang mana ada duit nak beli mahal mahal"

This time instead of laughing along with him, I said to myself: "Ayah kedekut".

Situation 2

"Ayah, nak four thousand. Nak bayar tution fees"

"Ok, nanti ayah bagi"

"Ayah, angah nanti nak buat practical. Tak nak naik public transport. Ada kereta lagi senang angah nak ulang alik"

"Ok Faisal, nanti kita beli"

"Ayah, angah nak Gen 2, dalam thirty four thousand"

"Ok Faisal, nanti kita pergi book".

"Ayah nak duit beli baju, angah nak yang elok elok sikit"

"Ok Faisal, dua ratus cukup?"

"Ayah, angah dapat 3 pointer. Nak duit hadiah?"

"Ok Faisal, heres three hundred"

"Ayah, angah nak pergi PD dengan kawan kawan, Nak duit?"

"Ok Faisal, berapa ratus nak?"

"Ayah, angah nak beli something mahal sikit. Tak cukup duit. Nak duit?"

"Ok Faisal,berapa ratus hang tak cukup?".

My dad is asleep in his room while I'm outside in our "gazebo" ie a family area surrounded by ceiling high glass panes with an L shaped fish pond surrounding it. We tease my dad about calling the family area a gazebo because it is so obviously not one. When we tease him about calling it his gazebo, he'd go:

''Yela, ayah hang tak dak duit nak buat betul betul".

All of us would break into laughter. My dad would just smile.

That used to be funny. As I grew older making fun of my dad for owning a fake watch, wearing old clothes and being cheap in general suddenly wasnt funny anymore.

He couldve bought an expensive watch for himself instead of buying me (and my brother) a car. He could have sent all of us to public universities and not have to pay tens of thousands of ringgit in tuition fees every single year (My dad firmly belives MMU is the best, Well we are one of the best, we're the only private institution of higher learning in Malaysia that made it top 200 in Asia). He couldve used the hundreds of ringgits (perhaps thousands by now) he gave us to splurge and shop to buy things for himself.

But he didnt. Ayah has never complained about spending so much for us. Not even a sentence of complaint. Not even a word. Not even a sigh.

It never was "Ayah hang mana ada duit nak beli mahal mahal". It has always been "Ayah loves us more than Ayah loves himself ". What we want is more important to him than what he wants.

My dad is not cheap afterall. He does not spend on himself because he wants to save money. Not for himself, but for us. For our education. He wants to make sure we will live a good life in the future.

I'm going to get you a real Patek Phillipe one day.

Thanks dad. You Rock :).