firecrackers & cny before 1972

when the letting off of fireworks was completely banned in august 1972, it seemed like a part of the festive mood was extinguished. those of us who grew up during the pre-fireworks ban era found it hard, initially, to accept chinese new year without the noise, smoke, smell and red carpet of shredded paper that wrapped the low explosives.

the chinese believed that the lighting of firecrackers scared off evil spirits and attracted the god of wealth to their doorsteps. so, to welcome the lunar new year, on the eve and to send off the new year, on the 15th day, there were firecracker wars all over the island. throughout the other fifteen days of celebration, there would be sporadic firing of crackers.

shop-owners on the same side of the street or on opposite side would try and outdo and outlast each other by firing more packets of firecrackers than their competitor. sometimes, there could be more than two or three businessmen joining in the fray, especially in the business area of north bridge road.

the firecrackers were stringed together into a long chain, sometimes a few storeys long, and then fired. at the same time or following that, packets of firecrackers would be lighted and thrown onto the road outside the shop.

when the 'firing' stopped, the spectators, especially children, would rush into the pile of shredded papers to hunt for unexploded sticks or packets of firecrackers.

the start of the chinese new year was signalled by the lighting of firecrackers at the stroke of midnight on new year's eve.

the bukit timah mrt line

the future mrt map (ver 3) shows that the bukit timah line will terminate at the present bukit panjang lrt station, next to the bus interchange. including the bukit panjang station, there are 16 stations along the route, some of which, like bugis, newton and little india, are existing stations. two of the stations along the circle line will also be along the bukit timah line. they are botanic gardens and promenade.

all the stations will be underground. the other stations are beach road, kampong java, eng neo, sixth avenue, dunearn, anak bukit, hume, hillview and chestnut.

part of the circle line is expected to be operational by 2010. the whole circle line network should be in service by 2012. the expected date for the bukit timah line to be ready is in the year 2015, about seven years from now.

looks like, come 2015, can give up the car.

challenging trial @ bt timah nature reserve


in preparation for our assault on mt kinabalu, i think i need to get my companions to take to the trials at bukit timah nature reserve on a regular basis. if we can surmount the many trials here, especially the taban loop and the rock path, then our climb up the highest mountain in south-east asia later this year should be smooth sailing.

this morning i did the taban loop, south view path, cave path and catchment path before heading for the main road. when i came to the junction of cave path and catchment path, i decided to take a right as i had followed the left in my last walk. the catchment path ends at an open area which leads to the bike trials.

as i was on the main road making my way back to the ranger's office, i stopped to check the gradient of the rock path. the steepness of the path reminds me of the path we took when we climbed bukit timah in our younger days. i remember we had to struggle, even in those youthful days, to make our way to the top of the path.

walking in nature reserves seems to be really catching on in singapore. never have i seen so many cars and so many people at bukit timah reserve in the past. i think a lot of people who have stayed overseas must have realised the pleasure and benefits of such jaunts to continue doing so in singapore.

the four-camera hotel katerina

malaysia's former health minister chua soi lek's downfall was the result of something that happened on the 13th floor of this hotel in batu pahat.

i have been to batu pahat but have not stayed overnight at this town, much less in this four camera, i mean four star, hotel.

pang sua pond

view of our block of flats (the lowest block) from the other end of the pang sua stormwater pond in bukit panjang.

every time it rains and the water overflows into the canal, it reminds me of the many canals that we saw in switzerland. however, in switzerland, the water is not the colour of milo; the water is bluish.

ever since they dredged the pond to deepen it, there has been no instance when the bottom of the pond was exposed, even during the driest months. however, the water level appears to go down very fast in spite of the rainy season at this time of the year.

these days, i do not see much angling activities by the side of the pond. i am sure there are still lots of fish in the pond. i have often seen tilapias, luohans and cat fish and occasionally, the rare dragon fish in this pond.

may primary school


there used to be a number of schools in the kim keat/whampoa area. there was griffith's primary which was located at the junction of towner road and serangoon road. there were balestier boys, balestier girls and balestier mixed schools. there were may north primary and may south primary schools. these two schools eventually amalgamated to become may primary school.

may primary existed until 2001. in january 2002, it merged with boon keng primary to become farrer park primary school. the rooms in the old school buildings were converted into dormitories and offices for the moe may adventure centre. this urban campsite was closed in may 2006.

the buildings are still standing. newer buildings like the former moulmein primary school
is now being converted into an international institution - the global indian international school. older buildings like may primary school - built in the 50s - may be converted into hostels, just like owen primary school.

walk to memory lane


this morning i covered part of the kallang park connector - the whampoa part of it. started my journey from jalan rajah, i walked past the nkf building and the majid hajah rahimabi kebun limau.

just before whampoa drive, i made a detour to the newly reopened whampoa food centre. the banners stated that the upgraded centre of blocks 90 and 91 were officially opened on 15 december 2007.

the whole place seems to have a new look. it took me a while to identify the place. it was only confirmed when i saw familiar names like loy kee chicken rice and hoover road rojak. in the past when i visited the food centre, i would go for the rojak, duck rice or the fried oyster omelette.

i did not stop to eat. i crossed the overhead bridge that spans the central expressway to get to may road. may road eventually links up with serangoon. i recognise that stretch of the whampoa canal. i used to dive past this canal practically every day when we were living at towner road until 1997.

the water in this stretch of the canal is not as clean as the water in the lower reaches, which i had covered in earlier walks. apart from discarded items floating in the water, there were a lot of leaves from the seashore malapari (pongamia pinnata) found growing alongside the canal.