Tanjong Rhu

( Themes )
WEALTH
VS
VALUES
- In this story, Ah-Ma tells his son that she
does not need the things that he could
buy and that she has everything she
needes.
- This seems to suggest that although her son
has provided well for her in terms of wealth,
there are other things that are more important
that cannot be bought, perhaps his time and
attention as her son is a busy man.
- Her life at present is far easier and more
luxurious than her life in the past, and yet
she yearns to go back to the time when she
lived in a wooden house with her life.
REGRET
- Mr Li regrets not listening to his
mother’s stories of the past and asking
her more questions when he had the
chance.
- It is only when she dies that he realises
he would never have the answers to those
questions and mourns the fact that he
has forgotten most of his childhood.