Old Home At Paya Lebar..

It is very interesting how memory works.. I stayed at a corner terrace house on Upper Paya Lebar Road since I was born and that stay lasted for about 18 years..

After our move to Tampines in 1984, memories of that long stay in Paya Lebar slowly faded into nothingness. I dreamt about that place once in a while but nothing worth mentioning.

And after mum's passing for more than a year, I am slowly noticing that little details of that old home came flashing back into my memory bank -

The little kitchen complete with sink, cooker, cupboard etc..

The dining area where we ate, watched TV, prepared food for festivities and prayer sessions..

The hall where the altar, row of chairs for guests, chair for GOM, table for display, table for study...

The bedroom where wooden beds, cupboards, mattresses and the window that linked to the dining area..

The bathroom where large ceramic urns were used to contain water...

The side corridor where clothes were dried and dad would rest in the day...

The attic where the ceiling was done in an angle that flowed along the house roof, large wooden bed for mum and me and the traditional wood cupboard...

And the little things I did with mum since young - preparing, kneading and washing of flour for vegetarian cooking, making fresh fishcake from fishes caught by mum's friends, preparing and helping out in food preparation such as glutinuous rice with red dates, chicken, and more, filling up the prayer papers diligently for mum, citing the birth dates for mum's friends during their visits to GOM, entertaining mum's friends, cutting and working on jeans, plastic carriers to earn extra money, playing with neighbours along the road and catching little insects and animals like spiders and Pui Muay in the canal...

Wow... it is really amazing..

I come to realise that I have actually done so many things there not just alone or with friends but with mum and her friends as well.... I smile with these recollections...

Honestly, it has been a long growing up process and really, it is good to realise that I have kept these fond and good memories somewhere within me and that they still stay so vivid till today...