Remains of my kampong

I have often been approached by students; usually from NUS or NTU, to assist them with their projects. Usually they found me through this blog or my Goodmorningyesterday Facebook Page. 

Much as I enjoy speaking to young people about the Singapore of my childhood, I usually turn down their requests because I simply could not afford the time. Besides students, my fellow nostalgia/heritage bloggers and I also get requests from media professionals and documentary producers. Usually, I would tell them that the information they are looking for; for example what it was like to visit the New World or Great World Amusement Park, can easily be obtained from their parents or older relatives and neighbours. If for certain reasons, they are not able to do that, I would accede to their requests. Here are two recent examples.

The first was a Malay boy from NUS who wanted an oral interview about the Chinese operas that used to be organised in our kampongs. The second was also from NUS. He interviewed me for his project about the everyday life of Chinese kampong folks. As part of his assignment, he produced a short video of the place where my home once stood. I share it with you here.

Post by Yang Sheng Syamsul.

PS - One thing I have always wanted to tell anyone who approached me for such assistance; but was too shy to say so openly, was this; if you want me to spend a few hours of my time to assist you with your project, shouldn’t you at least show your appreciation by purchasing a copy of my book? Even if you don’t read such books, you could give it to your parents as a gift, right?

Meeting my new old friend Judith Johnson

Last month, I met another of “my new old friends”, Judith Johnson, and her husband, Robert. I brought them to see two places that held strong memories of her years in Singapore, the Changi Airbase in Loyang Avenue, where her school, the RAF Changi Grammar School used to be located; and Chiltern Drive when she used to live. She gave me a CD of old photos of Singapore, a few of which were from my former kampong in Lorong Chuan. I have been very busy these past weeks and have not had time to organize them and share them with readers. She also gave me a DVD of her dad’s cine films, segments of which contain scenes of Singapore in the early 1960s. Finally she also gave me a CD containing photos of the Joint Air Traffic Control Centre at Paya Lebar Airport, which her dad helped to set up, to hand over to the relevant organization.

Our first stop was the Changi Airbase West in Loyang Avenue.   Although she was not able to obtain permission to enter the premises, we were, nevertheless, able to view the buildings close-up from the nearby golf course. She shared with me many stories of her time in this school; especially of how naughty the boys (Brian Mitchell, are you reading this?) used to be.

After a short drive around the Changi Village vicinity, we proceeded to visit the house that Judith lived in at 10 Chiltern Drive in Braddell Heights. Judith was fortunate in that the house was still standing, and did not look very different even though it had undergone major renovation. Unfortunately, there was nobody home, and we were not able to enter the compound for a closer look.

1961 photo of Judith's house

2014 photo of Judith's house

Judith showed me the place opposite her house where there used to be an “ugly square cement structure” from the top of which she could see my kampong. She brought out her iPad and showed me photos that her dad had taken of our kampong. I was a bit disappointed because I could not recognize the place in the photos.  As you can see from the map below, it was probably quite a distance from where I stayed. From her description of the farms and ponds that she saw; including the trellises where the gourds were planted (described in detail in my book, Good Morning Yesterday), I concluded that she was referring to the area presently occupied by St Gabriel’s Primary School. Nevertheless, I am truly thankful to be able to get hold of these precious photos of my kampong. These photos were taken around 1961, which was prior to the construction of the Lorong Chuan in 1963. This new Lorong Chuan linked Braddell Road to Serangoon Gardens; and separated my section of our kampong from the section shown in Judith’s photos.

 

The "ugly cement structure" opposite Judith's house in 1961

This place is now a playground. The building in the background is St Gabriel's School, I believe.

The Lorong Chuan in this 1963 map is a dirt track which we kampong folks referred to as Chui Arm Lor (Water Pipes Rd) in Hokkien. Actually it continues all the way to Upper Thomson Road (refer to my book for details). X marks the spot where my house stood; and Y is the area shown in Judith’s photos. I can tell by referring to an old topographical map of this area which showed the ponds and the streams.

After taking several photos of Chiltern Drive, I brought them to the entrance of the Australian International School at Lorong Chuan and pointed out to the spot where my house probably stood. From there we drove to the Saddle Club travelling along stretches of Braddell Road and Thomson Road that Judith would have traveled on her way to her riding lessons. We proceeded for lunch at Toa Payoh before I brought them to their last destination at Geylang East Central where they had arranged to meet the family of her amah, Ah Moy, who unfortunately had passed away just two years ago. I understand that they had quite an emotional meeting.

I am glad to have met my “new old friend” Judith Johnson. I am glad to have played a small part in helping her recall found memories of her childhood years in our little island; and I have been richly rewarded by her gift of many precious old photos (of very high quality) of the Singapore of my childhood days; including a few of my kampong. I share some of them with you below. I will upload others to the Good Morning Yesterday Facebook Page.

Finally I met someone who knows the Nine Bridges

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.

It was a meaningful session. Both the seniors and the young ladies enjoyed themselves. The girls certainly learnt a lot about the Singapore of the past; something they might not be able to learn from the textbooks. I think this initiative to involve school children in interviewing senior citizens to gather memories for the SMP is an excellent idea. It kills several birds with one stone. Both young and old benefited from the session and SMP harvested many memories at one go.

Bridge over smelly waters

Long time readers of this blog will recall that I had blogged several times about the tributary of the Kallang River which flowed through my kampong not far from my house. I have also included it in my book Good Morning Yesterday; Growing Up in Singapore in the the 1950s and 1960s. We called this tributary the Dead Chicken River of “Sei Kai Hor” in Cantonese (死鸡河).

Recently, I found two old photos of my late father and his friends taken at an unnamed place. After some discussion with my brothers, we have good reason to believe that this place is indeed the Dead Chicken River.

I believe these photos were taken in either 1947 or 1948 because I found other similar photos of my dad and his buddies, and written at the back of these photos were the dates 1947 or 1948. This explains why the waters in the photos look rather clean compared to what I remember. My memories are from the late 1950s and early 1960s when I was in primary school. These photos were taken more than a decade earlier. It was probably a new kampong with fewer residents then. My guess would be that my dad had already decided to move to this kampong because his parents had bought some land here. He must have been hosting a visit to his new home. In fact, when we were growing up, my siblings and I – especially my younger brother Chun Meng - often had our friends stay over in our kampong.

Coming up next – Photos of my dad and his buddies at a place called Paradise Island.

My earlier posts on the Dead Chicken River:

1)    Our kampong  (posted on 19/10/2005)

2)    Nomore dead chickens (posted on 24/2/2006) 

3)    Hurrah,they are going to revive the dead chicken river (Posted on 12/10/2009)