The Beginning ......

I was born even before the first hour of 4th of July. It was 1969, in a little town down south of peninsula Malaysia called Batu Pahat. In a small room in the lower part of my paternal grandparent's home, my 24 year old mother gave birth to her 2nd child by midwives as my grandmother watched and helped.

I was born to a young parents, Syed Taha Dato' Syed Esa and Sapiah Abdullah. My father was 26 years old and was in London at that time, studying. My mother was living with him in London but returned to Malaysia with my older brother before I was born.

A first pregnancy had ended tragically as my oldest brother died soon after birth of blood poisoning. My older brother Syed Yazrin Syed Taha was born in May 1967. They use to call him Tengku Putra which is like Cherish Prince or something but he would end up with the unfortunate nickname of Bobo.

I think the effects of losing her firstborn son effected my mother so much that she became over protective towards her subsequent children . When I was born my grandparents had hired 2 extra maids whose job was primarily to take care of my brother and I. Knowing my mom we were probably the most clean and well fed babies in Malaysia at that time.

I was given the name Sharifah Faraliza Syed Taha. My mum came up with Faraliza by combining the names of 2 women she taught was most beautiful at that time the empress Farah Diba and the actress Elizabeth Taylor. My mum was a very beautiful woman, she had hoped her daughter would have been blessed with the same attributes and was severely disappointed as I grew up. I know this as she told me on numerous occasion as I was growing up.

I think its her way of punishing me when I misbehaved and I know I was a very mischievous kid . I am sure it would have devastated her to no end if someone had called her Ugly but unfortunately for her and fortunately for me It did not bother me much up until I had my own kids and It hit me like a ton of bricks that my mother had called me ugly.

I remembered just shrugging off my mom's and my brother's observations of my lack of beauty and looked at myself in the mirror and thinking that I was not that bad. Thank you God for blessing me with a thick skin.

This is a picture of my brother and I at my grandparent's house. I must have been about 1 and my brother would be 3 years old. I think my mum left my father soon after this picture was taken. He was still in London when she left. I have a memory I think of that day which is odd as I was still so young. I remember looking up from the car sitting next to my brother. I saw my grandmother looking down at us very upset as my mum said goodbye and slid into the car.We were all sitting at the back of the car. That must be the day we left.