Living Next Door to Mrs. Danker

She was a nice elderly Eurasian woman who lived behind us. The first thing that struck you about her was her black hair permed into a ball, and her glasses that made her eyes look unnaturally large. She lived alone, save for the Indian gardener cum handyman who came once a week, and the Hokkien cleaning lady every other day. She spoke very little pidgin Malay, and struggled to communicate with the two helpers.

But she spoke the Queen’s English in a slow, enunciated way. And she that’s what she did, she gave English tuition to kids from primary one up to teenagers. She gave 4-5 classes every day, in the mornings and afternoons after her short nap. My brother and sister took classes from her before me, and so did I, twice a week for a few years. She’d divide her lessons into Grammar, Language and Vocabulary. For the younger kids, she would even teach a spot of art before the English lessons.

I remember her house very well. It was beautifully renovated and decorated artistically, an anomaly in the small rural town we lived in. There were dark cooling marble tiles on the floor, with fluffy rugs. At night she’d light up the soft yellow ambience lighting. There was an antique wind-up clock on the side table in the kitchen which chimed four times an hour. The garden was well kept, visitors were immediately greeted by her cooing white pigeon on the perch. Mrs. Danker loved to paint. She painted beautiful pictures on the walls of the rooms, and hung her framed masterpieces in the dining.

Even when i was small, Mrs. Danker lived alone, i had never met her husband. My mom once said he had passed on very early on, and her sons were all living far away. I never really found out how such a cultured person came to spend her twilight hers in such an unspectacular town like mine. I’ve never known anyone to visit her, even though she was such a sweet old lady. One day long after I stopped going for English classes, my mom told me old Mrs. Danker had passed away.

Thanks for all the English lessons, Mrs. Cora Helen Danker.