A Penny Saved Is a Penny Earned

I came across this phrase "A penny saved is a penny earned" recently. Isn't this an old teaching from my father? We learned to save by his example.  My father was a petty trader in his life.  He told me how he moved to Kota Kinabalu from Keningau bringing along his 5 schooling children.  I respect and admire my father's hard work and uphold his responsibility as a China man father.  He ensured every child to have school to go to, and enough food to feed every mouth.  He worked as ku-lee （苦力）for a while when he set his foot on Jesselton. After that he went to Keningau, went through the Japanese occupation, got married with my mother (taukeh's adopted daughter, for fear of the Japanese cruelty to chinese single ladies), and came to Jesselton for better prospects for the children, also to start life afresh.

It was just simply logical for him to earn money by selling food he knew how to make, though not so professional. He sold chinese cake on weekdays and iced drink on Sunday horse racing.

Father worked very hard and saved every penny he could.

The story of my father was educational and meaningful to each of us in the family.  Should I have time, I would write down for remembrance.