A rather significant bass guitar

After my uncle's death, only an old guitar and a bass were what he left to us, nothing much. His ex-wife took his guitar and my mom kept the bass. Since nobody in my family was into music, my mom was going to sell it. She found some buyers but no one offered a good price for it. Soon, my father said why don't we keep it since it was the only thing he left after all.

The bass was sitting idly in my house for almost 3 years before i picked it up again last month. It is still in very good condition. Luckily my mom didn't sell it. The guitar was doing the same during this 3 years. Nobody had played them since my uncle's death. So i called his ex-wife, my aunt, for the guitar. When i saw her carrying the guitar to me, i almost cried. The guitar was inside a black rubbish bag, and covered with a thick layer of dust. I am so sad that a musical instrument is treated as such. Well it wasn't the only bad thing, due to its age and lack of maintenance, the guitar is severely damaged and couldn't be repaired anymore. There is only one place left for the guitar - the rubbish bin. I felt so sad, as if the guitar was a patient in deep suffering and had no chance to heal again, and i was the doctor and i had to end his life for good, when i threw the guitar. 

Recently, i had a dream. I rarely remember my dreams, and even rarer, i had this dream for 2 times. It was about my uncle. The dream always started like this, i was waiting for something or somebody, obviously waiting for my uncle, because after he appeared, i would follow him. He was wearing a grey turtleneck and a thick grey coat, super smart. After that, i followed him into a building which looked like a shopping mall. On the way, a lot of people were greeting to my uncle, and most of them were dressing strangely, by my guess, i think they are some sort of fashion designers. Then it stopped here and i would wake up from the dream.

My mom said it was a sign, showing my uncle was really willing to let me play the bass. Well, having the same dream twice is quite strange. Hopefully, it is like what my mom said. I feel deeply honored to take on the bass. I will take really good care of it.  ^^

My uncle's bass.

My uncle

In a restaurant on top of Komtar, i was on my stepsister's wedding. A familiar voice was floating in the air. One has to know, on a Chinese wedding, those who are dare enough to go on stage and sing are usually not very good in singing, they always are some old people, drunk and doing some no-senses on the stage. Their voice are always terrible, but nobody would listen to them anyway, while the people below the stage are busy 'yam seng' -ing. Due to social pressure, i always put a smile on my face while i am so damn bored deep inside.

However it was not the case this time. It was a rather a good voice. My attention was immediately drew to the stage. The singer was my uncle! I am amazed, truly amazed. I'd known he was in a band, he was a bassist, but i'd never known he could sing very well. I can't remember anymore what song he was singing, but i really enjoyed the moment.

He died in 2009, while i was in France. He was playing with his band in Langkawi that night. He friends said he went to the resting room, after they finished performing. He was discovered dead in that room the next morning. Doctor said it was a cardiac attack. My mom was so sad when she called me and told me the news. She didn't cry but i could sense her sadness in her voice, which made me feel so guilty, because i was rather indifferent than sad for the lost. So guilty that i felt i must do something to commemorate him. I forced myself to be vegetarian for a week.

My uncle was the only sibling of my mom, it is totally understandable that my mom was particularly sad. Unlike my mom, i wasn't very attached to him. In fact, he used to be a mystery to me. I only knew him from what my mom told me. I was never sure about what he did for living. He sometimes was selling water filters, sometimes selling insurance, sometimes helping his friend taking care of an underground casino with some commission. In the matter of fact, i can say his full time job was a musician. He played in band of four, in various bars and pubs. 

He is a very kind and generous person. May be too kind and too generous. Too generous because whenever he got money, he would spend all the money on his entourages and his friends, rather than saving some for his own uses. From what i remember, he always invited me and my family for some decent meals, and he always bought things for us whenever he paid us a visit. Too kind because he believed in people so easily, that he got cheated so many times by his so-called 'friends'.

My mom always complained to me about him. Often my mom scolded him for buying us all those useless stuffs, told him to save the money for his own uses, and find a better job than playing in a band. It was hard to be a full time musician during his time. His job wasn't stable at all. It varied through out the year. Sometimes he would be jobless for quite a long time. Without income and control on expenses, it was a really hard time during the job-drought.  Most probably, it was also the main reason of his divorce a few years before his death.

I am so sorry, that i always looked him down when he was alive. I wished i could tell him how much i enjoyed his singing on that wedding night. At midst the noise of glasses clinging each other and people's laugh, i wished i could tell him, i was listening.

My uncle on the left, and Lim Guan Eng on the right.
This photo is at least 4 years old, Lim Guan Eng was much thinner that time.

My uncle and his band, the Blue Star band.
He had been in a few different bands before.