Passing of an Era

 

My deceased mother was 4 years older than Queen Elizabeth and admired her. She told me when my elder brother was born and our family was struggling with poverty she lamented her station in life when compared with that of the queen's, who had given birth to a prince and the whole commonwealth was celebrating. My mother probably followed the Queen's life story as they had similar personal life milestones.

My mother grew up when Singapore was a British colony and must have lived in awe of the British.  I remember she held very high regard for white men in general. It could be because my grandfather's watch shop was at Change Alley close to where the British civil servants worked. Perhaps through my grandfather's influence she loved light Western classical music and had a weak spot for Western goods inclusive of English biscuits and shortbreads which we could hardly afford. 

My mother's generation is sometimes called the Silent generation and their characteristics include thrift,  respect for authority, loyalty, diligence/determination and strong sense of responsibility. In some ways Queen Elizabeth was an embodiment of all the above. With her passing I feel the final finale of an era which belonged to my mother's generation. In some ways it was also like a closure of some kind. 

Amid the bewilderment I now often feel about this fast changing world and my struggle to keep comprehending new social attitude and contour, I feel the Queen's passing marks the end of any lingering nostalgia about the past and reminds us to move on to embrace a new era.