DOWN MEMORY LANE

As a form teacher in Yishun Sec School - late 80s

With Bendemeer Sec School students - 1982?

Teachers Day celebration at BSS. Fauzi and Fatimah (centre) got married while teaching in BSS.

At YSS when I was in charge of Malay Dance - 'Timang Burung'. We won the Gold Award for SYF.

THANKS FOR THE NOSTALGIC TRIP

Ever since I got into Face book, I received an avalanche of requests from my ex-students to accept them as friends. I am still an idiot at face booking and hadn't done much on my Face book yet. Even my photo had not been uploaded, yet former students had been jamming my e-mail with their requests to accept them. I truly appreciate the tagging they had done for old photos too! Wow! That's the power of technology....you can still be tracked easily in cyberspace though your face is not plastered on the wall.

What am I suppose to do with the hundreds and hundreds of requests? If I do not accept, am I being rude and if I accept, what happens next? I am still at an infancy stage with face book, though I can shamelessly boast have reached the exert level for blogging.

I am taking my own time in learning about face booking. It's very interactive but I need a slower pace to internalise my feelings into the writing. For the time being, blogging would be the way I pen my thoughts.

Keep those photos coming folks!

MAHANI MOHD - 1980s SINGER

MEETING A SONGBIRD

Chanced upon a very popular Malay singer of the 80's at a wedding recently - Ms Mahani Mohd. One one of her famous hits is 'CHI BHI DHI BHI DHI'. Took some photos for memory.

Click here to see her record cover

http://www.pbase.com/sid_presley/image/91760110


Enjoy her rendition of 'KAPAN LAGI' (WHEN AGAIN?) in this video

NDP KOLORSCOPES

DAY @ THE BAY




NDP - Remembering Dad

I am proud to be a Singaporean because my late father had a part to play in the nation building. Pak once served in the British Army, worked at a chemical factory when Jurong was transfromed from a swamp and was involved in the building of the Benjamin Sheares Bridge.

Pak’s strong sense of admiration for the government was evident as he witneseed the struggles Singapore had gone through and his pride to be a Singaprean never faded even till his death. Through Pak’s story telling I was able to learn how Singapore grew from infancy till adulthood, from a less developed to a developed nation and from a mere dot to an island whose voice is heard all over the world.

I learnt about how life was difficult back then for Pak when every cent counts and how discipline could change your life. My father, and his generation, and his previous generations had laboured hard to build Singapore to reach where it is now. My own children are enjoying the contributions made by Pak and his generation and the previous generations.

Should’nt I be proud to be a Singaporean then? You bet I am! ‘Majulah Singapura’ never ceases to make make my hair stand and my eyes beam with pride.

Happy 44th Birthday Singapore and Thank You Pak for the heritage you bequeathed us! I miss you.


Pak takes great pains in his personal outlook


Pak during his younger days

RAIN AND WIND DID NOT DETER ME

THE NDP THEME SONG



WHAT MAKES US SINGAPOREAN




Our goody bag and its contents
With student performers
SOKA performers always perform yearly

Hot bods - Not easy to have such bodies. Lots of sweat and swear!

With a Bibik and the Peranakan Family

The Indian dancers in thir loverly gree pawadeh

Taking the pledge at 8.22pm
Marina Bay flooded with lights

Our flag flying high

Our 3 G soldiers taking position

The Red Lions landing safely

Standing beside an MP

A prancing cub with a big roar

Got his permission to take a shot with him
Fiq and aunty

On the way in the train - Fiq, Me, Nami, Aish
2009 NDP Logo and tag line

Red and white team - not MU ok?
The time to take note

PROUD TO BE A SINGAPOREAN

Reaching out, Reaching up

I did not manage to get the NDP tickets this year but was fortunate enough to preview the rehearsal. I would not elaborate much on the celebrations as plenty of that had been in the media.

What was different this time round was the that our red dot vibrant island experienced its very first Pledge Moment at 8.22 pm on 9 August 2009. For just 30 seconds of their time, Singaporeans from all walks of life put aside whatever they were doing, clenched their right fist over their chest and stood together in reaffirming their commitment to the nation. The pledge was written by the late Mr S. Rajaratnam.

You may want to know why at 8.22? According to a report, it's because it sounded cool and it was not too late in the night to say the pledge with all your heart. Ironically, however, if you look at the clock at 8.22, you would see a sad face being formed by the hour hands of the clock. I hope our gloomy economy state would be lifted and the smiling curve of 1020 return to Singapore as fast as possible.

Have I taken part in any National Day celebrations as a student before? Hear! Hear! Yes I did in 1968. As a Cedarian, the cohort I was in had to perform a Scottish dance. We underwent months and months of practice, jumping over two swords placed at a cross in a clockwise manner with the choreographer clapping and shouting "Heel, Toe, Heel, Toe" till her face turned blue.

The day arrived and we were sent by the busloads to the Padang. In those days, National Day was celebrated at the Padang and all the Members of Parliament would be seated at City Hall overlooking the green where the NDP participants would be standing in attention for their turn to take 'padang stage'. Our many rehearsals took place at Jalan Besar Stadium. That was where I lost a classmate and her cousin who were knocked down by a rubbish truck near Jalan Besar before they could enter the stadium for one of those rehearsal days.

I left home at 10am for school on that National Day. Home was at 10 Jalan Kasturi, near Central, Jalan Eunos. I had been ironing my scottish costume the past night and just could not wait to don it the next morning. Gobbling down some breakfast, I got ready for the big day.

My kampung mates were sniggering behind my back the minute they saw me coming out from my house wooden gate. The chuckles grew into guffaws. I could have slaughtered and slew them with my 'Excalibur' but I kept my cooI. I bet I must have looked weird like 'Xena The Warrior' (minus the skimpy loin cloth) with my silver wooden sword in my hand and marching down the red mud track from my house to the main road in a chequered kilt and a white long sleeved blouse with a ruffle down the neck to the waist. I did not care if pairs of eyes were looking longer than necessary at me. I simply was just too proud to be part of the contingent which would be performing on that auspicious day.

The sky did not take mercy on us that late afternoon. The contigent parades were all standing stiff at the Padang. As we waited for our turn to dance, the sky above us decided to be generous with its condensed water vapour content. Like someone who had slit a plastic sheet which was holding litres and litres of water, the sky decided to open up its belly and pour the rain heavily, relentlessly and mercilessly on us. We did not move, we did not waver, we did not back out! The rain washed our makeup, matted our hair, crinkled our skin, shivered our bones, soaked our white blouse, weighed down our kilt and flooded our black shoes. We steeled and stood with pride for we did not want to miss out on performing the dance which we had memorised every step of it even in our sleep. We wanted to be a part of history on that wet 9th August 1968.

As the police band played our Scottish song, we put our hands at the waist and began to jump "Heel, Toe, Heel, Toe." I persevered till the end of the song though the rain and the cold were numbing every limb of mine. I would not want to waste those moments of hard work which my schoolmates and I had put in. The minute the song ended, we stood facing City Hall with the wind lashing and drowning the applause. However, I underestimated myself. As I curtsied I blacked out and that was when my spirit and rattling body gave way. I collapsed from hypothermia. An ambulance had to rush me to SGH as my blood pressure was too low and my fingers were taking a bluer shade.

A doctor fussed over me. He had a quick check on me and instructed the nurses to wheel me to the heater room immediately. The warmth of the room stabilised my pressure. After my temperature had climbed to normalcy, I made my way home alone. I might have looked real silly with the sword in one arm and a wet bag in the other hand boarding the red and white bus No 51. My parents heaved a sigh of relief when they saw me approaching the house gate for they had waited for my reutrn but I had not appeared at the appointed time.

I was extremely proud to have been part of the NDP history in 1968 though had to be an SGH patient for two hours!

SEMBAWANG SHOPPING CENTRE - SPLASH PARK @SSC

Giant looking pipes and funnels spouting H2O

A burst water pipe?

Give that Peace sign to your mum who is waiting to drag you away

Colourful and striking colours to attract the kids

Another happy boy at the wet splash park

Mum and her side kick

Mum and her right arm lady

Mist of water envelops the arch

The space looking structures with 'aliens' hanging down from the poles

It was a nice cloudy that day

See the water coming out from the ground too

Slide too for added fun

For agility and balance

Enjoying the sound of water splashing down

A colourful backdrop behind us

Hear the horn blaring away?

So what are you waiting for? Bundle those kids here

Just soak in the water and fun

It's safe. The kids won't slip and fall on the rubber ground

A water haven on a hot day for the family

Run through and get wet

Mummy and daddy can keep an eye over their kids here

A H2O PARK

If you are at your wits end and do not know where to bring your kids out on a hot day, spare yourself of that 'head banging against the wall' punishment. Drag those screaming kids of yours and let the Splash Park at Sembawang Shopping Centre douse their anger, frustrations and tantrum for a therapeutic effect.

The Splash Park is located on the third floor of the shopping centre. Admission is free and the kids would be bowled over by the colours, structures and off course the wet experience of playing and running around water that spouts out from funny and colourful looking robotic shaped structures or getting drenched from bucketfuls of H2O pouring down their heads. Let them have fun and don't bother about them getting wet. Just bring some spare clothes for change and a towel to wipe them dry.

This heartland splash park is opened from 11am-2pm and 5pm-8pm in the evening. If you are wondering why it's not opened for the whole afternoon, it's because the kids would not want to be pulled back to go home after finding their 'water haven' on a third level story high concrete building. The afternoon closing hours would mean the mums or house husbands could call it "QUIT" after the morning day off at the H2O Park and go home to attend to other things. It's tough I bet. Just check with my husband who had to get a crane to pull and tear me away from the park for dinner as the 'child in me had gone loose and astray' that evening while we were there.

Good Luck at getting your kids to go home!