Long time
readers of this blog and those who have read my book will know that I grew up
in a kampong near the present CTE called Lorong Kinchir. Lorong Kinchir only
got its name after Lorong Chuan was completed in 1963, joining Braddell Road to
Serangoon Gardens. Before that it was a dirt track which ran from Braddell Road
to Upper Thomson Road and did not have an official name – at least not that the
kampong folks knew of. At that time our address was 288 Ang Mo Kio. The local
folks called it Chui Arm Lor in
Hokkien, or Water Pipes Road. Another name was Kau Tiao Kio or Nine Bridges. This was because the nearby Kallang
River and its tributaries crossed our road nine times from Braddell Road to
Upper Thomson Road.
Over the
years, I have yet to meet anyone outside of our kampong who knew this name, except
perhaps, Freddy Neo. But two days ago, I finally met a 79-year-old gentleman
who did. He grew up in a kampong just like ours in neighbouring Yio Chu Kang. He was being interviewed by a
group of Sec 4 students from Nanyang Girls’ School, and I was helping out as an
interpreter in case the girls could not understand Chinese dialects. This event
was held at the Lions
Befrienders Senior Activity Centre @ Blk 150 Mei Ling Street. It was organised
by the Singapore Memory Project.
