the years 1973 - 1974 marked my no-turning back transition from a kampong boy to become the typical urban-creature that so characterise almost all singaporeans today.
by mid-73, due to the mass re-deployment of the population to government's relocation order as a result of the mass housing programme, we had to vacate our kampong (and might as well for things were also getting a bit uneasy with the not-too-friendly neighbours in the kampong). my dad was told he had successfully balloted for a flat in marine parade. the flat would only be ready in jun 74. in order to give me and my sisters a seamless year in school, my parents decided that we had to transfer school and start term in the new school term come jan 74. and naturally, my dad decided to rent a room in his friend's house in joo chiat - a place that was a mere 5-min from my pri school and less than half hour walking distance to our new flat. i remembered leaving my kampong with a heavy heart for i had planted a mango seedling hoping to enjoy the fruits one day. when i left, the seedling was as tall as me. to a 6-plus year-old me, it was my everything. that was also my first experience with loss... and heartbreak.
the joo chiat place residence was an old bungalow that had been converted to a metal recycling factory (in hokkien, we call it the chow-ti-long). the whole place was filled with old discarded metal items savaged from all over the area. and because of the rust and the thick black oil / grease used, the whole place smelled heavily of metal. i use metal as a descriptor here for i cannot find a more accurate adjective for it. i wouldn't call it an unpleasant nor good-smelling. but it certainly reek of a distinct smell that is somewhere between that of rancid oil/ grease and that of freshly-produced metal sheets. and given a choice, many people would not want to stay in it for too long nor be associated with it. despite this, my brother and i played catching amongst these waste metal parts, climbed all over the metal beams and make a lot of noise (well, which 7 and 4 year olds do not make noise rite? :-)... ) however, my dad's plan to stay there till the marine parade flat was ready was disrupted when my dad's friends complained we were too noisy. in the end, we had to move to my second aunt's place in toa payoh.
toa payoh (omg! i just found out from wiki that the name means `the big swamp'!) was a new hdb satellite town then. everything was modern and hip - from hawker centers to community centers to shopping centers - could be found in toa payoh. but to me, this also meant long bus-rides to and fro my school in telok kurau. the daily 5.45am bus trips on service 152 took me through pig and poultry (chicken & ducks) farms and swampy areas that spotted the potong pasir areas at the outskirts of toa payoh. i still recall the daily distinct farm-smell (some called it kueh-sai bi or chicken-shit smell) and sights of morning mists lifting from the kampongs. those were perhaps the only few things i could remember cos i would be dead asleep through most of the journey... the early morning journeys ended in jun 1974 when we finally moved to marine parade.
today, the swampy areas has been filled and has been replaced with the central expressway (cte). the places where smelly farms used to be has been occupied by the multi-storeyed comfort-delgro transport company building. nonetheless, whenever i travel pass by the area, the memories of the smells and sights still return.
by mid-73, due to the mass re-deployment of the population to government's relocation order as a result of the mass housing programme, we had to vacate our kampong (and might as well for things were also getting a bit uneasy with the not-too-friendly neighbours in the kampong). my dad was told he had successfully balloted for a flat in marine parade. the flat would only be ready in jun 74. in order to give me and my sisters a seamless year in school, my parents decided that we had to transfer school and start term in the new school term come jan 74. and naturally, my dad decided to rent a room in his friend's house in joo chiat - a place that was a mere 5-min from my pri school and less than half hour walking distance to our new flat. i remembered leaving my kampong with a heavy heart for i had planted a mango seedling hoping to enjoy the fruits one day. when i left, the seedling was as tall as me. to a 6-plus year-old me, it was my everything. that was also my first experience with loss... and heartbreak.
the joo chiat place residence was an old bungalow that had been converted to a metal recycling factory (in hokkien, we call it the chow-ti-long). the whole place was filled with old discarded metal items savaged from all over the area. and because of the rust and the thick black oil / grease used, the whole place smelled heavily of metal. i use metal as a descriptor here for i cannot find a more accurate adjective for it. i wouldn't call it an unpleasant nor good-smelling. but it certainly reek of a distinct smell that is somewhere between that of rancid oil/ grease and that of freshly-produced metal sheets. and given a choice, many people would not want to stay in it for too long nor be associated with it. despite this, my brother and i played catching amongst these waste metal parts, climbed all over the metal beams and make a lot of noise (well, which 7 and 4 year olds do not make noise rite? :-)... ) however, my dad's plan to stay there till the marine parade flat was ready was disrupted when my dad's friends complained we were too noisy. in the end, we had to move to my second aunt's place in toa payoh.
toa payoh (omg! i just found out from wiki that the name means `the big swamp'!) was a new hdb satellite town then. everything was modern and hip - from hawker centers to community centers to shopping centers - could be found in toa payoh. but to me, this also meant long bus-rides to and fro my school in telok kurau. the daily 5.45am bus trips on service 152 took me through pig and poultry (chicken & ducks) farms and swampy areas that spotted the potong pasir areas at the outskirts of toa payoh. i still recall the daily distinct farm-smell (some called it kueh-sai bi or chicken-shit smell) and sights of morning mists lifting from the kampongs. those were perhaps the only few things i could remember cos i would be dead asleep through most of the journey... the early morning journeys ended in jun 1974 when we finally moved to marine parade.
today, the swampy areas has been filled and has been replaced with the central expressway (cte). the places where smelly farms used to be has been occupied by the multi-storeyed comfort-delgro transport company building. nonetheless, whenever i travel pass by the area, the memories of the smells and sights still return.
2 comments:
Hi Jeff,
Did a home visit last week at Blk 51 Marine Crescent and thought of 1 of yr blogs.
Surprised to know that the rental flats will be demolished in 1-2 yrs time. I feel that it should be preserved, as the early heritage for Marine Parade. It has so much character and I'm sure it held many fond memories for many locals.
regards
kg
Ahhh so they have finally decided. The demolition has been talked about for a very very long time. It’s good in a way la. Blocks 51-53 are all the one room flats and are really too small for any family’s use. It’s also a good opportunity to refresh the place now that the MRT is coming up and they can optimize the use of the space too.
:-)
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