MELAKA, Centenarian Evelyn Lowe looks forward to Christmas every year, as she fondly recalls the many happy memories of Christmases past with clarity.

A long-time resident of the Portuguese settlement in Ujong Pasir here, Evelyn shared that she would always serve several signature dishes, including wajik (a sweet glutinous local kuih), dodol, devil's curry, chap chai (mixed vegetables), chilie pickles, along witth an assortment of cakes to symbolically mark the occasion.

'Like Muslims celebrating Hari Raya, I will make wajik and dodol myself to serve to guests who drop by.

'But because of my age, and my hip injury that I sustained falling from a chair several years back, I can no longer prepare those dishes,' she told reporters here tonight.

The mother of ten said that she celebrated Christmas moderately now as her children had all grown up and were living away from her, in Sabah, Penang, Kuala Lumpur and some as far away as Singapore and Australia.

'My husband passed away around 35 years ago, and both my sons passed away several years ago.

'My other children couldn't make it back for Christmas this time due to age and health reasons, but they have asked me to stay with them but I choose to stay here. So they hired a nurse to look after me,' she said.

She recalled how she and her husband, Maurice Lowe, started a family tradition of visiting a nearby church before heading to St. Peter's Church on Jalan Bendahara. The whole family would then dig into their Christmas feast, prepared by Evelyn herself.

When asked about the secret behind her good memory and health, she said life before a lot of technology was what kept her healthy.

'When I go to the hospital, the doctors are surprised when they discover I'm 100 years old and still can speak Portuguese fluently. They do love to test the extent of my memory.

'People in the old days used to walk a lot if they wanted to go anywhere...maybe that's why I'm still healthy, except for my bad hip,' she said with a laugh.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency