There was a time in my life when I spent most of my waking hours in housing board estates. Mornings I woke up in one, took a long bus ride to another, and then evenings when office hours were over, took a long bus ride all the way back to the first one. In between the working hours there were occasions when I had to go to another housing board estate because there were people to speak with, papers to submit, and things to do.
If living in a housing board estate establishes the pattern of your life and creates memories, working in one draws you closer to the 'hood itself whilst introducing you to the lives of those whose patterns are established there.
I can't say I got to know many of the residents in the 'hood.
In fact I think I got to know the 'hood more than I got to know the residents, which is why I can say that I know where the famous mifenmian stall is (you see the stall through the banisters and the chairs because two aunties were sitting at the coffee shop and boy, the curious stares), I know of its delish fried chicken wings, I'm glad that the teh tarik stall hasn't shifted from his spot at the corner of the new hawker centre, and that I wish we'd asked the uncle from the old ice kachang stall where he was shifting his stall to.
It may not be a big deal, you might say- there are ice kachang stalls everywhere- but those of us familiar with the old hawker centre (very 70s design, I tell you, with open air central courtyard and all) will remember the old uncle who sold refreshing pineapple drinks for fifty cents a cup (in the 2000s) and who served his very affordable ice kachang with ladlefuls of gula melaka.
A couple of stalls in the old hawker centre command my memory. There was the porridge stall at one corner. One of its offerings was very fish porridge- the kind where the slices are really fresh and which they throw into the hot bowl of congee to simmer until cooked. Let's just say I had it only a few times because, well, bones. There was the chap cai png stall somewhere in the middle- lots of vegetables at very affordable prices. Then there was the kuay chap stall on the other side which I didn't eat from because whilst I'm okay with the kuay and the soup, the chap (pig tails?!) part of the dish scares the heck out of me and I don't like to offend the uncle.
The shops near the hawker centre are more or less still the same. You have the family clinic (for the MCs), you have the liquor store (for the biscuits and the packet drinks), the electronics store (for batteries) and the provision shop- which I think is the only shop from that time that has undergone renovations to place more shelves.
There are the coffee shops, one of which is Two Chefs- famous for its spare ribs (or is it chicken?) that they prepare with lots and lots of milk powder, and the other which only opens in the late afternoon and is well known for its ordinary mifenmian kuay teow but not-so-ordinary fried chicken wings. By the way, I wanted a packet the day I dropped in, but the stall was closed.... *sniffles*
It is impossible to think of this crescent (or circle) without thinking of the church. Indeed, whilst the shops and the hawker centre might be the most frequent hangout for everyone living in the surrounding blocks, it is this church- with her distinctive steepled roof- that centres the 'hood. She's been here many years, more than 50, I should think, and no surprise it would be, I'd believe, that nearly everyone in the 'hood will know someone who will know someone who will know someone who participated in something on its grounds.
It is also impossible to think of this 'hood without thinking of the school. The school is another icon in the place, especially if you're coming from the Queenstown side, for many a child has studied there, graduated from there, and will, I'm sure, have fond memories of their time there. The structure is still there, thank goodness, and is today a museum by the Education Ministry.
I'd come to this 'hood for no specific reason.
Nostalgia, maybe; that might have been one reason for my presence on this particular afternoon, but strangely enough, the years that I'd spent here didn't come to mind. I didn't find myself thinking (much) of the office space (which still exists, by the way) or the colleagues I used to have, or even of the children whom I unfortunately had to say goodbye to.
What came to mind, instead, were the lessons I'd subliminally picked up here, including techniques which I quietly observed but never used. I remembered the varied experiences I'd had both large and small, and I recollected the perspectives of those years which honestly I should have seen, but didn't- because stubborn me thought that I should be disciplined in the career goals I yearned to pursue.
Those goals, by the way, didn't come to pass.
Other plans came into play.
Better plans.
Plans that anchored me on a belief that I'd actually had for years but never realized, plans that evolved through the decade and brought me to where I am today, plans where at this stage of life I'm pretty sure I don't wish them to be diverted anymore.
I guess this is where timelessness holds its charms.
Because even though not all of them may be relevant for the present day, new revelations there always will be, and re-interpretations there certainly shall be.
By the way, if there's one thing you must know about this 'hood, it is that when it rains, it really, really, really RAINS. :D