I was trying to remember the other day when I first tied a knot. The memory came back to me not when I was tying my shoe but when I was rubbing Tiger Balm under my nose to help me sleep.
To tell you the truth, I have not done that in a million years. It was the smell of Tiger Balm that compelled me to try that again.
When I was a kid we siblings pretty much went to bed at the same time. Since there were seven of us, we all slept on a mat on a thin mattress on the floor. I liked sleeping on that mat. It was very cooling even on a hot night, and according to my mom, more hygienic.
Sleeping together like that, it became problematic when one of us could sleep and fidgeted about. When that happens, my mom would take the corner of a "mo gun" - a small towelly kind of handkerchief, and tie it into a knot. She would douse it with "fung yau" - usually Axe brand medicated oil, and have us hold and sniff to bed with it. It worked most of the time. In my case, if that didn't pan out, I would request to watch late night TV. Usually my mom would acquiesce out of habit. I was a static baby.
Remembering this knotty issue has also helped me recall a game we kids used to play. It was a kind of finger puppetry with that knotted handkerchief. We would stick a finger in it and pretend to be a character; we then play opposite one another. We often did it while waiting for our school bus especially on a hot, sweaty day. We would even tie knots at all corners and use that hanky as an improvised sun hat. It does work if you have a normal sized head.
Come to think of it, my mom also used this knotty 'sleep' solution on other occasions. I often got car-sick before I turned 10, and sniffing on that knot of medicated oil made me feel better. Later, as I rode the bus on my own, I would see aunties doing the same thing, especially when the bus got packed and stuffy. I think it worked both ways then: a cure for headache and at the same time, a scent-mask for body odors permeating all round. In those days, women wore sleeveless "mah-cheh" blouses and they would tuck their small hankies into a sleeve cuff. Others would simply tie theirs to the handles of their handbags or marketing baskets.
Related story: Static Baby
http://growing-up-in-geylang.blogspot.com/2011/08/static-baby.html
