Kampong Badminton

This week, everybody seems to be blogging about the General Election and James Gomez. I too should join in … sort of.

I saw, in the front page of yesterday’s newspapers, JG criticizing his opponents for engaging in ‘politics of distraction’. When I got to the back section, I saw some news about the ongoing Thomas Cup and Uber Cup badminton championships. I realized that all the GE news has distracted many sport lovers from the popular sport of badminton, and so I think I should do my part to refocus their attention on badminton by blogging about how we were introduced to the sport of badminton during our kampong days in Lorong Kinchir .

Let me begin by asking you a simple question. What is the best time of the day to play badminton?

You youngsters probably don’t know the answer right? That’s because you are so used to playing in a proper indoor badminton hall. But when we were kids living in the kampong, we could only play in the open air, and the best time to do so was early in the morning when the air was still. Otherwise the wind would do havoc to our game. (See photo below - taken in Malaysia)

My 7 Uncle, the badminton champ

We were introduced to the game of badminton by our 7th uncle, Ng Yook Soon. He was in fact one of the top badminton players in Malaya in the 50’s and a contemporary of people like All England champion, Eddy Choong. We used to play in front of his house which he converted into a crude badminton court. As it was not possible to paint lines on the ground, what we did was to dig narrow grooves and plant strips of wood to form the lines of the badminton court. Then we painted the surface of the wood white, and voila - you have your badminton court.

My younger brother, James, smashing in style. Hey I recognize that tree - its a soursop tree.

Wave - that's me. Don't you envy our classic Nike's. In the background is our 7 Uncle' house.

As for rackets, the 2 famous brands during that time were Dunlop and Flight Commander. But we couldn’t afford those until much later. I sure was glad to see 2 similar rackets at the Grassroots Heritage Centre recently. Now you know what I was talking about when I blogged about my precious Dunlop Maxply earlier.

I am shy to say that, in spite of my uncle’s coaching, I never got to be very good in badminton. My younger brother, James was much better. In fact, when I got to secondary school in ACS, I did not even qualify to represent my house. However, when I entered NJC in 1969, I managed to get into the school team. How? Via the back door lor! Here’s how I did it.

At first, when I went for the selection trials, I actually did not qualify. But my good friend, Chou Feng, who was also from ACS got selected for the school team. When he saw my disappointment, he ‘invited’ me to join their training sessions. At first I was too embarrassed to do so, but after much prompting, (Don’t care lah! Just join in. Nobody will dare to throw you out one) I did one of the bravest things in my life. I ‘kar-kar’ gate-crashed, joined in their training. When our coach, Mr Seah Lye Huat first saw me, he gave me a puzzled look. But fortunately, he did not pursue the matter, and I remained on the team as a doubles reserve. My partner was a crew-cut, Chinese stream guy by the name of Heng Chye Kiow. Today, I understand he is a VIP in transport giant, Comfort Delgro. (not the sort of ‘VIP’ that Dr Tan Wee Kiat wrote about in NJC69Net, Issue no. 3 - Very Impotent Person. Haha). On occasions when we were up against the weaker opponents, Chye Kiow and I were given the opportunity to ‘kick some butts’.

I remember the tough training under Mr Seah who was a former Thomas Cup player. I think he was from Bartley Secondary School. Besides lots of skipping and running, we, the doubles players had to perfect our low service. To achieve that, he made us serve repeatedly to this guy in our team called Ng Chor Yau. In case you do not know, he was in the Singapore national badminton team at that time (maybe national champion even). Every time, we served a little too high – WHAM! You can get the picture I think. I don’t remember much else about those days, except one time when Mr Seah brought us to the famous Kuok Road hawker centre for dinner after evening training.

Another memorable occasion was when we participated in the parade at the official opening of the college. I remember proudly putting on our gaudy red blazer and being inspected by PM Lee Kuan Yew himself.

I had wanted to blog about this for a long time, but was too lazy to sit down, dig out the old photos, scan them and write down the details. What finally got me to overcome the inertia was not the general elections, but a (virtual) meeting with a former NJC teacher, Dr Tan Wee Kiat who recently joined our Friends of Yesterday.sg group.

Welcome to the blogosphere, Dr Tan.

Singapore General Elections

What is an article about the Singapore General Elections doing in a nostalgia blog like Good Morning Yesterday? - you are probably asking.

Good question. The reason is, I have more difficulty remembering about the last time I voted than about my kampong days in Lorong Kinchir. You see, I live in the prestigious District 10 of Singapore where the residents are supposed to be all rich and successful. Consequently, no opposition had dared to venture into our neighbourhood for ages.

I do not know for sure, but I believe the last time there was a contest in my constituency, it was between the PAP’s Lim Boon Heng and the son of Francis Seow – my apologies, I can’t even recall the guy’s name. I remember he was quite a bald chap. Please don’t ask me what year that was. I heard that the gentleman has since emigrated to Australia or somewhere.

Not much has happened, politics-wise in my area since that memorable event. I think my area became part of Bukit Timah, and then subsequently Bt Timah-Holland GRC.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I don’t know much about politics. But nevertheless, I cannot help wondering; why are the opposition so scared of Bt Timah? Could it be that, since politics in Singapore is all about bread-and-butter issues, and Bt Timah being perceived as a ‘rich man’s area’, the constituents will always vote for PAP?

Just for the fun of it, I would like to apply my friend, victor’s ‘contrarian’ way of looking at this issue.

People in Bt Timah are suppose to be rich and successful. We do not need to approach our MPs for help. Consequently, we hardly know our MPs. Likewise, our MPs also don’t need to know us. I have never, in all my twenty years in Bt Timah met an MP walking about to meet the people. In contrast, I have met Mr Tharman in the food court in Taman Jurong Point twice. As it is walkover every time, I also do not get to see their photos on banners during election time, unlike other parts of Singapore. So I can be excused for not knowing who my MPs are (Actually I know 2 of the names, Lim Swee Say and Mrs Yu-Foo ? ?)

Given this happy situation, it does not seem to matter who gets elected in Holland-Bt Timah. Even if we voted in a bunch of opposition MPs, it is not going to make much difference in our lives anyway, and we would probably not get to see them until the next election.

So I think the opposition should have tried their luck and come to Holland-Bt Timah. Heck, they don’t even need to promise us lifts on every floor. All they need is to assure us lots of fireworks in parliament, and who knows; some of the problem-free residents here may just decide to vote for them.

Yes, I know what you are thinking. Mr Lam, your so called political analysis sucks. You better stick to nostalgia.

Memories of a Beautiful Country

This may not qualify as my usual nostalgia blog because I am recollecting events that happened less than a year ago. But, I was prompted to write this post when I read about the Burmese Water Festival Celebrations in Singapore at Yesterday.sg and subsequently visited this blog by a Myanmar national working in Singapore.

Last year, I spent 2 weeks in Myanmar to conduct a training programme on Productivity and Quality Management for a group of government officials. Although the assignment was very tough, I had a great time. The Myanmar people I met everywhere were simply wonderful. And so I want to share some of my impressions and photographs with you. Although I did take some photos, most of them were of the activities in the classroom. At that time, I have not starting blogging yet. Otherwise, I would have taken more photos of the street scenes. As you might have read in an earlier article (What Prompted Me To Start This Blog), one of the reasons why I started Good Morning Yesterday was because the streets of Yangon reminded me of Singapore when I was young. (My apologies to my Myanmar friends – no insult intended. Just speaking from the heart).


This is the famous Shwedagon Pagoda. At night, it can be seen from miles away when it is lit up




On Sunday, I went to this church (Methodist English Church) near my hotel. After the service, I had a nice chat with the bishop of the Methodist Church himself

What I relish most about my visit was the warmth of the people I met everywhere. In Singapore, we talk so much about customer service. But I tell my friends, wait till you go to Myanmar. Take the hotel where I stayed for example (Singaporean-owned Grand Plaza Park Royal). One evening, when I finished my lectures and got into the hotel car, the driver greeted me with a “Happy Birthday Mr Lam”. Apparently, they found out from my passport particulars that it was my birthday that day. When I reached the hotel, I was similarly greeted by several of the staff. When I got to my room, there was a huge birthday cake waiting for me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t even finish half - real sin to discard half a cake in a country like Myanmar.

One day I sent my shirt for cleaning. It was my favourite shirt which I kept even though it had a whiteboard marker stain which I had not been able to remove for months – part of the hazards of being a trainer. When the shirt came back from the cleaners, I discovered that the stain was gone.

My trainees deserve special mention. They were so warm and hospitable and appreciative and keen to learn. Mind you – many of them are highly qualified professionals; a couple of them even have MBA’s and even a Phd. And the respect they show to the teacher is something we simply do not see in Singapore these days. Everytime, I wanted to shift the projector, the guys in front practically jumped up to help me.







When I got to know them better, I followed a few of them (most of them brought their own lunch – to safe money I suppose) for lunch at a nearby ‘kopitiam’. They didn’t dare to invite me earlier for fear that I might find the conditions too ‘third world’. So they were very happy that I actually asked to join them. Knowing that these people had very low salaries, I insisted that I pay my own share before we went out. They agreed, but when the waiter came, they settled the payment before I could do anything. They said it was their tradition. So the next day, I insisted on paying 1,000 kyat upfront before I would join them.






On the final day, they brought me for dinner and cultural show at the Karaweik Palace, reassuring me that it was very ‘cheap’ as there was a promotion going on.



This is the beautiful Karaweik Palace on the Kandawgyi Lake

What saddened me most was the state of the economy; caused presumably by the economic sanctions by the Western powers. In my hotel, I hardly saw any Caucasian tourists. Most of them were business people from India, Thailand and maybe some Singaporeans.

Let me just cite a couple of examples.

In the photos below, you see the beautiful Inya Lake, near the Yangon University. At the edge of the lake, you may be able to make out some chalets and an amusement part. On closer look, I found that the chalets were all unoccupied and abandoned; and in a state of disrepair. What a waste. Imagine how popular such a place would be to Singaporeans. The facilities at amusement park were run down and the eating outlets quite empty.




People fishing at the Lake Inya. Across the road (right of this photo) is another Spore hotel; the Sedona

There was a Chinese restaurant next to my hotel – huge enough for wedding banquets. Out of curiosity, I went there 1 evening. To my surprise, I found that I was the only customer there. Just picture it, 3 or 4 waiters pandering to 1 diner. I thought maybe it was just a coincidence, and so I went there the following evening; and guess what? Exactly the same situation. I asked the head waiter and he told me that was the normal situation. They depended mainly on weekend wedding dinners and banquets, and occasional group tours – mainly from Thailand for their income.

I don’t know or care much about politics. But it just does not seem right to me to punish a people because of their government. I often see blog sites where young Singaporeans lambaste the government of Myanmar about their human rights record and so on. But it seems to me, these young people are simply echoing what they read in the internet from Western websites. If only they could make a trip to the country and see what I saw; maybe they will change their tune.

I am looking forward to another opportunity visit this beautiful country. This time I promise I will come back with lots of pictures of Singapore in the 60’s and 70’s.

Toys Were Us (4): Gelek Reng – By Chuck Hio

I have been wanting to post about this game for some time. However, I find it difficult to decribe without a good picture, and it is a bit too much to go and actually construct one.

Fortunately, I recently came across an article with a good photo in the Straits Times of the Mentri Besar of Trengannu playing this game with the kids. The game is called Gelek Reng in Malay.


The picture is quite self-explanatory. Basically, it involves rolling the bicycle rim from one point to the other with a stick. I am sure many of the older readers will remember this kampong game that we used to play in the old days. The is another example of the toys we played using 'recycled' material.

Commentary on Du Mu’s Poem – Simon Chu

Chun See,

Thank you for putting up that beautiful poem, 清明 (Qing Ming) by renowned Tang Dynasty poet, Du Mu. In response to your questions, here are my comments.

清明时节雨纷纷
路上行人欲断魂。
借问酒家何处有？
牧童遥指杏花村。

It drizzles endless during the rainy season in spring,
Travelers along the road look gloomy and miserable.
When I ask a shepherd boy where I can find a tavern,
He points at a distant hamlet nestling amidst apricot blossoms.


Du Mu's poem depicts, to a great extent, the sentiment of those people during that era (i.e. Tang dynasty) when Buddhism was widely followed by the Chinese society.

Du Mu was describing the mood of the people who went tomb-sweeping. While on their way to the cemeteries, they reminisced about their deceased loved ones and wished they could repay their (deceased) kindness.

The atmosphere is serene, with light drizzle, and the air is cool (return of spring). The flowers are blooming - mainly the xin hua [杏花 ], a flower which was common in the area south of the Yang Tze River [江南地带 ], known to be land of ‘fish and rice’ [ 鱼米之乡 ]. That is why Du Mu put it in as the last line of his poem. It is a beautiful picture. Must be in the countryside where the graves are found. The air is crisp and cool. The shepherd boy is minding the cows. The tomb-sweepers were on their way to the graves to remember their loved ones...in total sadness...[欲 = thinking of, or looks like ]

Also, the word, ‘travelers’ [行人] does not necessarily mean they are people who go tomb-sweeping. It could also mean those lonely travelers e.g. traders from afar. When they think of their deceased loved ones, they like to buy themselves a few cups of wine to drown their sorrow; what's more, accompanied by the timely atmosphere - crispy air and light drizzle. I am sure you have come across the ancient Chinese brush painting ［山水画］


In case some of your readers prefer a Chinese version of the explanation of the poem, I provide it below:

从诗歌的语境看，为什么到清明行人就要断魂，要去借酒消愁？他可以去回家喝酒，可以欣赏春天的美景嘛。没有必然的道理。

其实古代“行人”有几种意思：
1出行的人；
2出征的人；
3使者的通称。

或者说远行之人，可以是使者，也可以指征人、商人。汉代以后主要指后两者，所谓“若非征戍，必为商旅”。

这样我们就可以理解杜牧的诗意了。清明春意盎然，山花烂漫，本该是家人团聚游春上坟祭祖的日子，而今却孤身赶路，离家万里，更兼春雨纷纷，倍增忧愁乡思。杏花村可能是因为卖酒出名吧。



This leads me to your 2nd question about the Chinese idiom concerning filial piety. It reads:

子欲养而亲不再

This line explains the time when the son (descendant) wants to repay his parents' kindness, but they are already gone!. This is probably taken from Confusius‘ collection:

树欲静而风不止，子欲养而亲不在。
《孔子家语·致思》



Finally, here's my version that sounds rather crude and rude: (hey, I was only a kid!)

My Qing Ming poem has to be taken in the Singapore context though, where the weather is always hot and humid. It goes:

清明时节，路焦焦
路上行人， 想吃蕉
借问何处， 有蕉卖
屎塘里面， 一条条

Come to think of it, my inspiration came from spending nights at your Lorong Kinchir place back in the late 60s/early 70s when the human waste was collected and disposed of at the sewerage centre, so called [ 屎塘 ].

The tracks at Pik San Teng were non-tarmac, and when the weather was dry and humid, one could feel the roasting dust ［路焦焦］. Banana trees ［香牙蕉］were common among the kampong area; but you need to buy – its not free. The reader has to read my version in Cantonese to bring out the ‘aroma’.

(Not sure if it is appropriate to post this naughty poem on your blog – but then you asked for it. Haha)


Posted by Simon Chu, Scotland.