My Former Home 1

I had lived in the Kampong Kapor area, at 30A Upper Weld Road, from birth till I was in Sec 4.

It was a rented pre-war corner terrace - and it's still there. I visited it and the neighbourhood last July. As I was snapping away with my camera, I couldn't help my eyes misting up as the memories came back.

Papa's coffee shop "Toh Huan" was on the ground level and we all lived upstairs. Toh Huan means Peach Garden.

There were 3 bedrooms, a hall, a kitchen cum dining place, a bathroom and a toilet that is right at the other end across a small open space where Mother had many plants.

I liked this small open space. Sometimes we'd have 2 chickens. In the evening, a man would come to collect the tin of leftover food which he'd use for swill. In return, during Chinese New Year, he'd give Mother some eggs or perhaps a chicken. Papa made a metal drum to collect rain water here. We had an earthen urn which we'd keep some guppies or red swordfish. Mother had a pomegranate shrub, on which she'd hang the shells of crabs.

We'd hang laundry here, oh yes, lots of laundry. This space also leads to a stone spiral stair column to the back of the coffee shop below. From here one can look down at the coffee shop's rear storage space, look across to our neighbour, look behind across the back lane to other neighbours, and - with a ladder, we can look down and across the street whenever there's a wayang show.

In the back lane, there were free roaming chickens and even a scrawny turkey. I'd commute via this back lane to some neighbour's kitchen to place chap ji kee bets for my Ah Ma, grandmother.

The 5 foot way was where once my father used to roast coffee beans. Wow, the fragrance was rich and robust. Papa took no short cuts to roasting. Even during the 1st and 2nd days of CNY, which Papa would customarily close the shop, customers would want to buy his coffee.

I should mention that the place is now rented to a 2nd hand dealer in household appliances and furniture.

I remember one early morning, just past mid night, when I awoke, and decided to check out what it was like on the roads at this time of the night. I leaned very far out of the window, clutching precariously to the shutters, and realized that those orangey street lights are the same at the main road's junction, and traffic was almost none existent. If I had fallen, things would have been gravely different, and I thank God that the wooden shutters with metal joints didn't give way.

My two years of kindergarten was at the Church of The True Light, just 30m away. I enjoyed myself there. My teachers were very kind. I remember using matchboxes and fabric to make a dresser.

There is a 'secret' passageway that one can access from the back lane - and it is still there, although I didn't dare venture into it now. I did it once when I was in Pri 5 or 6, and behold, it opens up to a dinghy courtyard of one of the houses.

Around the neighbourhood, the building that was once Hong Wen Primary School, the one with the pretty tiles, is still there.

The orangey building (some hotel now) once housed our family clinic. I remember Mother piggybacking me up to see Dr Yap whenever I fell ill. Dr Yap, his wife and the nurse were ever so gentle and patient. If I had fever, I'd be fed on the spot, from a porcelain teacup and a teaspoon, some powdery liquid, and it didn't taste awful at all. I like the place and isn't afraid of the word 'doctor'.

Sungei Road, or the Thieves' Market, was a stone's throw away, and although I wasn't allowed to wander that far off, I've seen the wares put up for sale along the road.

Kampong Kapor Methodist Church and Kampong Kapor Community Centre were also nearby. I remember enjoying myself thoroughly during a funfair held in the church.

Diagonally across from the community centre is the Foochow Clan premises. Papa would go there occasionally for a few rounds of mahjong and clan fellowship. The Foochow Building is several streets away.

Finally, my footsteps found me at the former entrance of the New World Amusement Park. In its heyday, it was brightly lit and people throng the place especially on weekend nights. There's a cinema, a nightclub, a restaurant, food stalls and numerous exposition stalls. Of course, the highlights for children are the carnival game booths and equipment - the ferris wheel, bump cars, 'boats', and 'aeroplanes'. I particularly remember Mother almost always buying medicated oil during these visits, to send them back to Papa's relatives in China.

As I clicked my last photo for the day - standing before the entrance - I felt a lump in my throat and my eyes rippling.

I returned to the early 70s and see a dedicated couple bringing their 9 children for a evening of fun at the New World Amusement Park. I had fun, and enjoyed such visits. I cherish the sweet memories, even as I thank God for my wonderful parents and siblings.

I remember that once I was unable to go for this outing to the 'tiam lang huay' as I was ill. Ah-Ma was with me. Sometime in the night when the family returned, my second brother woke me up, smiling and eager. In his hand was a yellow plastic lion! I hadn't been forgotten.

And I will never forget those days of living in 30A Upper Weld Road, Singapore 8. Telephone: 362467.