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  Luo Lili and Rosa (left) and Mary (right) are as close as sisters. Her son Luo Weilun, who visits his Indian neighbours very often, speaks our national language fluently.

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  Mina celebrates Weilun’s birthday every year. She loves her Chinese nephew very much.

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MELAKA: 37 year old Luo Lili lost her mother when she was very litle, and after she married she moved to a flat with Indian neighbours, where she was often left alone with her 9 year old son by her husband who needed to go out and work.

Thankfully, her new Indian neighbours were warm-hearted people who did not hesitate to offer their help and companionship, and the two families soon grew very close. Lili even began to refer to Mina, the Indian housewife, as her mother. Whenever the two of them went out, others would often mistakenly think she had married into an Indian family.

Lili and her family moved into the Bukit Baru flat eight years ago. During the time she spent there, she often helped her Indian mother Mina with house chores and cooking. Sometimes, she and Weilun would accompany the Indian family on shopping expeditions.

Mina said, "Lili is like a daughter to me, and I think of her son as a nephew."

Mina has four daughters, two of whom are still single. These two daughters are close as sisters to Lili, and the three of them always find a lot to talk about when they meet up.

Rosa, one of Mina's daughters, often says to Lili, “We're all human beings, even if our skin colour is different.”

After her son became old enough to enter kindergarten, Lili and her family moved closer to a kindergarten to make things easier for Lili. However, she still goes to visit her Indian "family" every Monday.