Page 126 - Stories from our Grandparents

a, I’m off to school now.” I shouted across the
living room as I wore my shoes. I walked out of the
house and made my way through the uneven rocky
“Mroad. My everyday routine was to walk for
almost one kilometre to school. There were no buses available by
the end of the day. My legs would have usually feel worn out.
While walking my way to school, I always detected a foul-
smelling odor. I got very used to the foul-smell whenever
I walk to school. At first, I was reluctant to walk along the
road but I had no choice as this way was the only
passage-way to make it out of the kampung. The foul-
smelling things came from the excreting from the animals.
“Residents living in the Kampung raise animals
like cows, chicken and ducks. They would bring
the animals out for a walk after their meals. While
walking on the road, they would pass out their
bodily waste, causing the road to have a stench.
Itwas very unhygienic, but was a common sight.”
“Back then, after the sun had set, I arrived back
home. I lit up the lamp with kerosine so that I can start doing my
homework. Soon, “Ah Mei, come and help me set up the table,”
my mother shouted at me. I came out of the room and took the
utensils from the kitchen and place them neatly on the table. Then,
I took out
the leftover food from a cupboard which was placed beside
the dining table. That cupboard was used for placing
leftover food that we could not finish the previous day.”
After everyone sat around the dining table, we began munching on
our food. Although the leftover food was cold, it tasted good. There
were no refrigerators to store our food or drinks. My mother would
go to the supermarket and buy ingredients for lunch and dinner.
68 Grandma Stories
Mdm XX Born 19XX
By Amanda
Pasir Ris Secondary School
After dinner, my neighbourhood friends would came into
my house and we watched shows on the black and white
screen television. As not every household could afford a
television, kids would usually gather in one house to enjoy
watching cartoons. The atmosphere would be lively and
full of laughter. After the cartoon ended, everyone would
go back home and get ready to sleep and start a new day.
My mother always used her handmade straw fan to create
wind for me at my bedroom so that it will be cooling at
night. Her motherly love was evident to me.
As years went by, Singapore began to developed into a high technology
world and a garden city. People moved from kampungs to private housing
or public estate as the governments had demolished the kampung houses
to use the land for other purposes. Every household would have proper
basic services such as supply of clean water and electricity making life more
convenient and easily accessible like switching on the light with just pressing
the “on” button. Everyone would have their own phones to communicate or
for entertainment uses. It is not surprising for someone to own more than
one phone.
Even though Singapore faces new big changes today, I still miss the good old
kampung days where everyone would play catching or go to the river and
catch small fishes. But now, the younger generation would always have their
eyes glued to their smart devices’ screen. Even though life is much better
today than the past on the whole, I still hope that the future generation will
learn to appreciate the simple life.
Grandma Stories 69