The old hometown looks the same, and yet...Been many years since I have been back there. My family moved away from there in 1986, and since then I have been back only a couple of times.
The old pre-war shop house where I grew up. Below was a coffee shop, and we stayed upstairs. It is now a clothes shop.
Horrors of horrors, they have replaced the wooden shutters on the windows with glass, and the air-conditioners. Haiyah..... Sure spoils the look of the place. Wish they would implement a law legislating against this!
The back lane of my old home. Glad to note that they have cleaned up the rubbish. It used to be a nightmare walking through the place, especially after a public holiday, when the garbage disposal truck took a break.
The local market. Downstairs is a wet market, and upstairs is a hawker centre.
My former primary school which dates back to the colonial era. The old wooden block that I studied in has been replaced by the concrete building on the left. Facing the school field is the old assembly hall. Luckily they have left the classrooms in the background intact. Fond memories...
As with every place with Chinese, there is always the temple. Every lunar new year eve, at midnight, the place would be brightly lit and crowded with the townspeople praying for a bountiful new year. Can remember watching Chinese opera on the makeshift stage during the annual festival in June, I think. As a grand finale, the 'toong chi' would go into a trance, and pierce needles through their cheeks. The chief 'toong chi" would be carried on a chair of knives, and they would take the gods on a parade through the town. The residents would place tables with offerings at the front of their homes for the gods.
The local Hindu temple. During the temple's annual festival, they would have a chariot pulled by cows, and go round the town. The faithful would follow barefoot behind the chariot.
The road leading to the Chinese village. Went through this place quite often to visit my cousins who stayed in the village.
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