The Old Playground

Each time I took a short cut, which is rather rare these days, walking from the Oriental Theatre to Yan Kit Swimming Pool, using the old railway line turned into park, I could not help remembering the young days.

This has been the route for me to go to school and back, and to play with friends in the "Tng Tiam Hung" kampung. There were always the dogs to be fearful of. We kids were oblivious to the steady streams of trishaws making their trips to and from Keong Saik St. (^^)

Ah, the story would be too long to tell in one blog posting. I was just passing by the bridge over the old railway line when I noticed that the sign board on the Chin Woo Athletic Association was still there. Ah, my French friend is still practising his Taiji there with the master from this Association although he does not speak any Cantonese or Mandarin.

In my younger days, I was living at 29 Craig Rd (ah for posterity, I have better put my address here less later I can no longer remember and I missed the bid to get the road name from LTA!) and that was the side of the street that only have bucket system!

Cooped up in a tiny room and not allowed to make noise - you can imagine those noisy floor planks that creaked all the time - by our fierce Bibik, we only had the open air to scream our lungs out. And so, we went to this park. I could still remember the days when they screen movies open air. And there even a performance by Anita Sarawak!

Somehow, we kids got to know the kids along the street. Particularly one opposite to our house, where they made wooden swords for gungfu practice. Talk about child labour, we would gladly volunteer to polish the cut swords with sandpaper! Well, for our hard work, we got to read the "ko-chek" (old Chinese comics which was condemned by the teachers as not good, alas, we know now that they could have improved our kids' Chinese!).

At the park, there were many things to do. We would climb the Madras Thorn (tree) to try to get the fruit before the birds beat us to it. And yes, there was the Basketball court. Whenever anyone is playing, we would just walk near. It is almost always that the owner of the ball would throw to us to give it a try. And before long. we would be teaming up to play - half court. At times, it was more "professional" and we small kids backed off when the Tng Tiam Hung gang played against the Kong Saik Kai gang. When we kids played, there were no fancy stuff, like basketball shoes. We could only eye at them with envy. We played barefooted! Wearing the Japanese flipflops would run the risk of tearing the rubberout.

In the evening, the men and women in white tops and black baggy pants took over. It's the Chin Woo Athletic Association. We kids would sit by the slope or even on the Aw Boon Haw jaga's Charpoi (rope bed) to watch. The older people would be doing the "ghost catching" according to the master's call of "yet, yi, sam .." (one, two, three). Ah, I was to learn years later that it was Taiji.

And there were the younger ones who would do the unarmed gungfu or with the weapons of all sorts - spear, nan-tao, qian .. toys that my son now plays. Hmm, something that I wanted to learn, but never got to doing it because, I had no money.

The fun time must be when the Association was rehearsing for a performance. That's when the woolly Northern Lions would appear in their full form. In those days, that was probably the only Northern Lions that I have seen. Others, as seen during Chinese New Year, were the Southern Lions, as you would have seen in the Wong-Fei-Hong movies.

The whole streets of Tng Tiam Hung (Pawn Shop Alley in Hokkien) and Kong Saik Kai (as pronounced in Cantonese) are now quiet. No noisy boys. And so, what's left of the basketball court was also quiet. But to my surprise, the activities of Chin Woo Athletic Association goes on.

postscript: As days draw longer, it would have to take an occasion like a funeral wake to reminisce about the young days. This guy, about my age, but one generation higher because he happens to be the brother of my aunt, came from Indonesia (where he has since taken up residence and became a towkay) for the wake of his nephew, my cousin. We talked about the days when we were both about 12 years old .. and playing in this old playground. Ah, memories.

Singapore River and the Tua Kow

A couple of weeks ago, I watched a VCD of the China TV documentary series on Cheng Ho's (Admiral Zheng He) voyage to the western seas. Marvelling at how the Chinese built the huge wooden boats, I could not help remembering the days before I went to school. (My daughter was asking me how come I did not go to kindergarten) Yes, I must have been only 4-5 years old when Grandpa (my mum's adopted father - that's another story tied to the World War II) used to bring my brother and me on a trishaw to Siong Peck Kuay (I found out that this was Nankin St), where his coolie-keng (the coolie's clubhouse) was. We were alway looking forward to go to the kopi-tua (the Chinese version of the Sarabat Stall, or coffeeshop on wheels) where we will have kopi (thats coffee with condensed milk) on a plate. Ah, with a big surface, the kopi got cooler faster. (^^)

Grandpa was working in one of the huge Tua Kow (lighter?), one of the numerous that used to clog almost the entire Singapore River near to the place facing the landing place of Sir Stamford Raffles. He would from time to time bring us to his Tua Kow. While it was fun, it was also frightening. We had to jump from Tua Kow to Tua Kow from the river side. If we fell outside the Tua Kow, it would be into the murky, dirty and foul smelling river. If we fell into the Tua Kow, we were to have broken bones, as what my uncle did.

The unladen Tua Kow must be some two storey high, or higher? In those days, these huge Tua Kows are unpowered. Often, like the barges of what you see today, one small powered bumboat would be pulling a line of many Tua Kows from the Singapore River to the outer roads (the sea outside the breakwaters off Clifford Pier), where the cargo ships would be waiting. And the cargo? It could be rice, flour or copra. Ah, sometimes, we got the leftovers (what was spilled into the bottom of the Tua Kow) and so at home, it could be rice, flour or even copra for our stove. In those days, it was either wood, charcoal or copra as fuel. Try cooking rice in those different heating ingredients!

Imagine the coolies, balancing on long narrow planks, carrying heavy sacks of rice or flour from the lorries or the warehouse along the river bank to the Tua Kow. When they carried flour, you would see white-powdered men with a cloth over their shoulder and head as they carried the sacks. For rice sacks, there would be the rounded hook to help them carry, the hooks that the kids of today might be familiar with Captain Hook.

Further up the Singapore River, passing Char-Chun-Tau (in Teochew as the Teochew community dominated this place) where Clarke Quay is now on one side, further into almost where boats could not go, at Kim Seng Road, there were a couple of boat yards, where these huge Tua Kows were built. Brown, very tanned, bare-bodied men worked on the rotten-looking logs floating on the low waters. Two persons with long saws (almost similar to what I saw in the Zheng He documentary) were patiently sawing through the length of the log. Using clamps to make a space, they continued to saw, horizontally.

There was no sign of any blueprint. As my secondary school was by this part of the river, next to Kim Seng Rd, each day as I walked or cycled home, I would watch for the progress of the boat building. And slowly it took shape, from the skeleton, each plank was placed against them. I never got to see how they launched the boat into the water and towed to the river mouth, known to the locals as Chap-Puay-Kuay-Gi. Ah, they must have waited for the extreme high tide, since Singapore River is a tidal River.

Singapore River was the life of Singapore's early days, playing an important role in her entreport trade. Goods from Indonesia and Singapore come through Singapore River, and vice versa. The river bank was a busy place in the day, and a quiet one in the night. There were warehouses made from the shop houses, there were people living there, there were temples and there were hawkers.

Playing in the Tua Kow was part of our childhood fun .. catching those what we called "Hai Ka Chuah" (literally translated as sea-cockroaches). Alas, one day, in 1960, some came to inform Grandma that Grandpa could not be found. The night before, he was on his mission with his Tua Kow in a convoy to bring the goods to the ships on the outer-roads. A storm was brewing. What we knew then was, according to witnesses there, he was trying to cover the goods from the rain. The strong wind blew the cover backwards, knocking him cold, throwing him into the water.

Grandma went to consult a medium as no one seemed to be able to find his body. The medium advised that he would be found that afternoon. That afternoon, police reported spotting his body at Katong, some distance away from the Outer Roads. I was only into my Primary 2 class. From then on, the excitement and memories of the Tua Kow slowly faded.

And some four decades again, in my quest to look back at my younger days, I was surprised to discover that Grandpa's ancestral deities - Sam Tiong Ong (San Zhong Wang) - were still being worshipped. The original temple at the coolie-keng at Nankin Road is now in Toa Payoh.

It was a long journey from Grandpa's home village in Tang-Wha (Tong An) in China to Singapore, enduring poverty and a hard life during the World War II, working towards a better life with the Tua Kow .. and ending with it.

[Ack: Thanks to Ai Lin for the B&W photos from her grandfather's album]

Yan Kit Swimming Pool

Yesterday, I had a short opportunity to walk up memory lane.

I saw the Kim Lan Hng (Jin Lan Yuan) that was all that is left of the place where once stood temples, one being the Jin Lan Miao (which is now at Kim Tian Road). Across the road is the only temple that is still standing, the Phor Tor Jee, an interesting syncretic temple that must have seen much of the transformation of this corner known to the local residents as the "Chye Chi Ya", meaning market. In the old days, to reach the temple from "Tua Beh Lor" (big horse road or Tanjong Pagar Rd), one had to wade through the often wet and dirty street up Narcisus St where the wet market once stood.

That was the place where I accompanied my Mum marketing. I learnt how to select a piece of sting-ray by smelling (you know why?), got the cheapest offer, such as cockle shells at 5 cents a kati or the chicken hearts that were frozen (and often frown by the well off) - only to learn that they are high in cholesterol! Ah, chicken hearts fried with thinly sliced ginger and a touch of sesame oil was sedap (delicious). During festive days, we would be selecting the most alive chicken to buy to bring back and fatten it up for the actual day.

I was to take over the marketing when my Mum went to work to bring in extra income. For S$10 a week, I was to market and cook for a family of 8 people. But I digress as this would be a long story on how I started cooking at the ripe old age of 10! (^^)

Ah, the Yan Kit Swimming Pool brought back memories when with a neighbour, we would sneak off for a swim. If my memories hold, the entrance was like 30 cents and because Mum would not allow us to swim (the fear of us kids drowning), we would keep the swimming trunks at our neighbour's place.

It was also a time when apart of the fear of drowning, we had to contend with territorial wars of the local gangsters or secret societies. Of course, staying in Term Tiam Hung (Alley of Pawn Shops - although I remembered only seeing one) helps since we were the residents, but then, there were so many gangs operating there. "Li chi to si mi?" (what do you play?) a small boy would accost us in the swimming pool, expecting us to give the password, the two-digit number of the local gang/secret society. It was dangerous to try to give a number. We would say, "Gua bo chi toh" (I don't play) and try to look behind him, as often, there would be some bigger guys waiting. (^^)

Apart from such occasional encounters, we enjoyed our childhood in this neighbourhood with a swimming pool that was so near, and probably one of the very few in the 1960s.

When I tried peeking into the pool, I saw big recesses .. what were the pools were now dry. While Farrer Park Swimming Pool had reinvented itself, Yan Kit Swimming Pool did not seem to go that way. I could remember the three pools, the biggest being nearest to the entrance, often used for water polo and diving. The middle pool was probably the most congested, since it ranged from about 4 feet to 6 feet. And the further end was the wading pool, where we started, learning to swim on our own. From time to time, we would be adventurous enough to venture into the second pool. And when we tried to go at it in the first pool, the ever attentive life guard would blow his whistle and got us out of the pool.

At times, when we were lucky to have that extra 5 cents or 10 cents, after a swim, we would go to the small canteen to enjoy a piece of chye-tau-kueh (Chinese deepfried radish cake) coated with plenty of chilli sauce. Often, we would share between three persons, the neighbour and my younger brother. Happy, with skin and hair smelling of the chlorinated water, we would stroll back home.

Chinatown prepares for Mid-Autumn Festival

We are still in the midst of the popularly known as "Hungry Ghost Festival", more appropriately known as Zhong Yuan Jie 中元节, but this does not prevent the shops and traditional Chinese pastry shops from preparing for the Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhong Qiu Jie 中秋节.

While in the past, the streets of Chinatown, the part which is the focal point of shoppers - Gu Chia Chwee in Hokkien or Gnau Chei Shui in Cantonese or better known to the younger folks as Niu Che Shui 牛车水 - would be lined with paper lanterns of all shapes, colour and sizes, hanging from above, with the assortments of moon cakes laid on the tables as days got nearer towards the 15th of the 8th Lunar Month, these days, celebrations take on a grander scale.

Props and pillars were almost in place, to prepare for the banners and lightings, transforming Chinatown (mainly along New Bridge Rd and Eu Tong Sen St) into a fairy land at night. We await to see what's in store from the creative designers for a Chinatown in Mid-Autumn.

While the newer restaurants and hotels started work through their outlets, pamphlets and credit cards, offering all kinds of moon cake, very active in their marketing, the lao jiao pai (the old signage) Chinese pastry shops like Dai Tong (Da Tong 大同) and Dai Zhong Kok (Da Zhong Guo 大中国) continued with their preparations, almost quietly. They know and most of us oldies know, when the time comes, we would still want to have that piece of good 'ol mooncake that we are used to. The older men and womenfolk would still be queuing up to buy their share.

A quick run of a part of Chinatown got me the pictures here to share with you. Ah, there's quite an assortment of different moon cakes and cakes for the occasion, and each dialect group has its own specialty.

Xin Sheng Poets Society 新聲詩社

This evening, I was fortunate to be introduced to the Xin Sheng Poets Society 新聲詩社which now has its premise in Chinatown. After "wandering" for years, it has finally find a home in the right place! Chinatown. From what I understand, the Society should be 50 years old this year, having been in the current premise for the past 6-7 years.

I have been walking up and down the food street (Smith St) umteenth times but never paid attention to the occupants of the shophouses other than the restaurants. And what a pleasant surprise it was, when Liu laoshi 劉老師 showed me this place. Reminded me of James Bond show, from the hustle and bustle of a busy food street, we came up this serene place at 13A where folks (mainly with a median age of 50?) gathered to learn Chinese poems, read them, and sing them!



For the first time in my five decades of existence, I was actually excited by a Chinese poem! The way, Chen laoshi 陳老師 read it as one would probably see from the ancient movies of scholars reciting the poems, and then, sang it! Suddenly, the Ai Lian Shuo 愛蓮說, that I learnt some four decades ago sprang up in front of me, fresh and fragrant, very different from the miserable days of mo xie 默寫 (writing from memory) and bei shu 背書 (reciting from memory). Hmm, I thought to myself, why couldn't my Chinese teacher be like Chen laoshi. I suppose there is only one Chen laoshi, and probably there could be many undiscovered talented ones that the schools are in need of. (^^)

Oblivious to the noise, smells and smokes from the street downstairs - luckily, there is this technology called air-conditiongin - this little crowd, learnt, read and sang. And they just came, class after class.

Tonight is but one of the many classes that this society organises, much to the delight of a probably diminishing but dedicated crowd. But I could be wrong.

Lee Clan Association 李氏書室

Nestled amongst the rapidly renovated and transformed row of houses along ASH (as popularly known to many youngsters who grew up in this quiet neighbourhood) - Ang Siang Hill - stands a building that seems to be able to keep it at its time. It could have been rebuilt in the 1960s, this building houses a 133 year old Association of the Chinese who came from the three areas in GuangDong, Li Shu Shi Shi 李氏書室. Better known as an association for the people from these three areas, hence, Kwong Wai Siew, this is another association apart from its better known associate organisation in Peck Shan Teng.

While the outside might give a neo-modern facade, once inside, it brings many of us from that era to feel what an association is like in the 1950s, or probably earlier. Rows of big photographs of elders who have served the community through the association stood and these days, probably only a few could recognise them, and for their contribution to society.

One of the most outstanding members, probably known to most Chinese of the 1950-60 era, must be Lee Dai Soh, the famous Cantonese Story Teller, from whom we heard tales of China through the Rediffusion. Grandpa, grandma, parents and children would sit or squat by the Rediffusion box to listen this tales, starting with his famous words "Cham Mung, go de gong toll .. (Last night we talked till .. in Cantonese). For many who did not have Rediffusion at home, it was the kopitiam.

As typical in most associations or homes, there will be a board to block direct view from inside out and outside in through the main door. This build has that kind of aura that sees many DIY tourists trying to peek in to take a look. For the history buffs, there lies much treasure about this association and its association with the growth of Singapore, and indeed for many in Chinatown.

Chinatownology

Ah, the good old Chinatown, probably since the time when Sir Stamford Raffles started work in Singapura, is getting new interests. Yes, a new Buddhist Temple and Museum has sprung from where the dead or the dying used to stay. More memories will have to be archived as layers and layers of history would push them further underground.

Nothing is more refreshing than the young - our future - takes an active interest in Chinatown, the past, the present, and possibly shape the future. Chinatown is not just an attraction for tourists, it has to be our town, our home and in that way, the visitors can see and appreciate the lives of Singapores, from past to present. It is not disneyland or any theme park, although from time to time, we could re-create some theme-like-park scenes for locals and visitors to experience the heydays of the old Chinatown.

Chinatown continues to haunt us of the past, of those struggling to lead a decent life, and yet, it also continues to display the opportunities from which one could survive through grit and sheer determination. Reminds me of this old man who collects thrown away cardboard boxes (mostly from cosmetic packings) and newspapers to put his son to school right to his PhD! And this old man now has a stroke and only has the good support of a maid. Life has been tough but he is happy knowing that his next generation will have a better life.

It is with such scenes in the "heartland" of Chinatown that gives it its character, and I am glad to know that Chinatownology is going to capture such stories, on top of many useful tidbits and information both for the residents and visitors to Chinatown. Soon, Singapore Chinatown will have a big window to the world .. and then the door will be wide open. Visitors to Singapore Chinatown could do some pre-trip gazing and decide what he/she could do in the Chinatown, in a DIY tour. Or course, tour groups and tour guides would give the value-added service of stories and give a better understanding in a time-jam-packed tour. But for those who are on free and easy, nothing like sitting down by the coffeeshop and enjoying the ambience of Chinatown. Ah, perhaps, we should have Chinatown-borns to come and sit by the kopitiam to share their stories.

Junk or Treasure?

To many it could be junk, and yet to many, it could be treasure.

Many had thrown away what they considered as junk, and the same many could now be regretting that they have thrown away treasures. The "junk" that has escaped from the inferno could stay to be discovered again.

In Singapore these days, there might be too few of such diggers of treasure and so, according to Juzer Saifee of Odds "n" Collectables fame, junks are hard to get these days. Ah, many have become wiser and know the value. And so, it would not be cheap to try to get an old disused opium pipe or even an old picture of the then dirty Singapore River.

Nested in a row of pre-war houses (as we call them) along Telok Ayer St. is a shop that is filled to the bream with all kinds of things. There must be thousands of them and one could spend hours there just looking through them to get that treasure one could hope to find. An old glass-vacuum flask that probably keeps the water hot for hours compared to current day metal flask. A statue of Guan Gong, the famous Chinese warrior of the Three Kingdom. It is said that the beard of such statues actually grow over time! If you are lucky, you could even find your school's class photo!

Ah, just make sure you do not have butter-fingers. That junk could well turn out to be a very valuable antique!

According to Geraldene, our famed local Heritage Guide, Juzer takes a hour or more to open shop and that equal amount of time to close the shop. How did she know? Well, she would always bring her tourists to visit his shop. History is displayed all over the shop! What was used in the era gone by, these are represented in this small and compact shop. It's a museum of another kind! And I think Geraldene is probably an expert in these little histories. (^^)

I once visited a smilar shop in Shanghai in the old quarters .. both have the same characteristics and atmosphere. These are but getting rarer, but they are the depositories of our past!

So, if you happen to be at Telok Ayer, pay Juzer a visit. And well, if you have something to throw, maybe, he can buy from you too. (^^)

The place: 128 Telok Ayer St, Singapore 068597

Tel: 63230043

Email Address: lastimeone@yahoo.com.sg

A New Temple has arisen in Chinatown

On the night of 30th May 2007, a new temple opened its door to devotees and visitors. In a very grand way, filled with pillars of dragons that lit the entire South Bridge Road (it was even grander than during the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations!) lines of floats, dragon and lion dances paraded down the road to an audience seated near to the Tooth Relic Temple that was at the corner of South Bridge Road and Sago St.

Long queues of devotees and probably curious visitors (local and foreign) waited patiently to get into the temple. I was told that they were treated to four floors of wonder (I have yet to visit the temple, although I passed by at 5.30am on 31 May 07). Each visitor was also given a 1-kg pack of rice. And there was also a big tentage to serve free vegetarian food through out Vesak Day.

Visitors to the Temple were urged to be appropriately dressed. For those who came dressed more casually in shorts or spaghetti-strap tops, they were politely offered something to add on, so I was told by my wife who visited the Temple.

The new Tooth Relic Temple promises to add more buzz to Chinatown as tourists - local and foreign - will have one more destination to visit. For Buddhists, it would be another temple in which to meditate and to remind them of trying to achieve what Buddha has done. (^^)

This Temple has also added another dimension to the architectural landscape of Chinatown. Chinatown will never be the same again. (^^)

School Children Visit Chinatown

Took a day off from work and took some minutes to re-aquaint myself with Chinatown again. Although I live in Chinatown, I hardly see Chinatown. It's work, work and more work, outside town.

So, while waiting for my "new" barbershop to open, I took a stroll through the different streets of Ngau Che Shui (Gu Chia Chwee) - the originally Cantonese part of Chinatown. The stalls catering to the tourists were already open and doing some brisk business with the busloads of tourists visiting the Sri Mariaman Temple. Others took their time to open.

Just as I was walking along Pagoda Street, I saw something like three classes of kids from a Primary School. Wah, school excursion to Chinatown! I don't remember having such trips in my days. We visited factories then. One kid was quipping to the other and the teacher, "the stalls are not open because it is not Chinese New Year". If only they have seen Chinatown of yesteryears. (^^) I did not follow them to see if they were to visit the Chinatown Heritage Museum, which I think is a great place to visit. I love that original door of that original shophouse.

That house alone certainly brings back many memories of the hard life and struggle of the people who lived in that place, as well as thousands who have lived in Singapore during those period. Some books have been written and they could be found in the Chinatown Heritage Museum and main bookshops. Veterans like Ronni Pinsler and Geraldene Lowe-Ismail could share with you of the tales which their Amahs shared with them, and brought them to see, probably experience the Chinatown then. Geraldene has also written a book on Chinatown (which was also translated into Chinese) and she still leads tour in Chinatown, mostly to local expatriates, and increasingly, young Singaporeans searching for their roots. For many, one of their ancestors could well have lived in Chinatown.

For a glimpse of the life of Singaporean Chinese in yesteryears, Jack has written an interesting article titled: "Ah Ma and her Beliefs: The Migrant Experience and Religious Practices of a Chinese Immigrant Woman in Twentieth Century Singapore.”

Ah, with careful planning, Chinatown could well be a living "museum" housing various traditional activities that would not only preserve our traditions and customs but also share them with fellow Singaporeans and visitors. Let's hope it will not be just a tourist destination alone. It used to be a buzz of activities in the night for anyone in search of food or shopping for the locals.