Amma came from a divorced couple. Both her parents remarried to other people and put her up for adoption coz neither one wanted to look after her. Fortunately she was taken in by a family member (whom I called Tok Aji and bless her soul!) Amma grew up as a trained maid since she was small, so at tender age of 9, she's a qualified maid in her adopted household. She never went to school and never had all the chances that I had when I was a child.
Appa also came from a divorced parents. The grandad left my Tok (she's the first wife) with 5 children and Appa is the youngest. Unlike Amma, Appa went to school and finished his high school. Then, he went into the army and quit when my Pak Long (Appa's eldest brother - who was also in the army) was shot dead by the Communist. He then became a teacher.
Appa first met Amma while she was doing some laundry. Guess what! Amma's adoptive family is closely a relative to Appa. They got married in 1970. Amma was 10 years Appa's junior, but Amma has more character than Appa...maybe because she's gone through a lot in her life.
Did I tell you that my grandad (amma' side) married 5 times and my Tok Wan (appa's side) married 4 times...I've never searched how many relatives I have both sides...but at one time in the Uni, I almost fell for a guy...and found out that he's a second cousin...daaaaa