There's an address written at the back of this photograph.
It's written in ballpoint pen of dark blue.
I don't know who wrote it.
But the handwriting- and the description of "99 ONAN ROAD"- in capital letters looks to be that of Miss Brown.
And I wouldn't be surprised if it were indeed written by her.
There is much of Miss Brown that I do not know- I don't ask impertinent questions- but one thing I do know is that she used to run a beauty salon, and that beauty salon used to be at 99 Onan Road.
She hasn't forgotten the address.
Neither has she forgotten the area.
I suppose it must mean something to her that she's retained memory of the area after so long.
But, I'm not sure.
We don't have many stories of how her days were like when she ran the salon.
She doesn't talk very much about them- even when we ask.
Maybe it's her way being nonchalant about it.
I don't know.
We just know that she opened it every day from a certain hour to a certain hour and attended to customers both regular and new.
She doesn't talk about her customers- almost none seem to have made any impression on her- so we can only assume they were mostly housewives who lived in the area, or 'working women'.
What strikes me most about this description isn't so much about the role but where they came from and how they got there.
What was Onan Road like in the 60s?
Besides these shophouses, were there anything else there?
The flats of Haig Road would not have been there, so what was there?
Were it from the homes there that the ladies came from?
Also, Joo Chiat Road, Upper Changi Road... what were they like back then?
Geylang Serai was possibly not called Geylang Serai back then so how was it really like?
Miss Brown's mention of the 'working women' interest me.
Not because of their occupation or where they worked, but because it's not frequent that we hear of them in the Onan Road vicinity in those years.
Makes me wonder if they stayed nearby and if there were entertainment places in the area even back then.
They're the only customers that Miss Brown mentions.
Maybe because they dropped in often, and maybe because they paid well.
We've no idea whether she did their facials and their makeup.
(Yes, Miss Brown was trained in that)
But we're pretty sure she did their hair.
It was around the late 50s and early 60s that her salon and beauty parlour was there.
i wonder what sort of hairstyles she did for them at that time.
It would have to be pretty vogue, I should assume.
After all women of that time did want to look pretty when they went to style their hair.
I wonder if Miss Brown remembers how to do those styles.
I think she does.
Maybe a little bit of prompt, but I think she does.
There are things you don't forget- no matter how much time has passed.
It doesn't even matter if the world around you has changed.
The roots- they stay the same.
Sure, the hair spray might be different..
The quality of hair spray might be better even.
But like how some brands don't change- Shiseido, for instance- which Miss Brown remembers using during her days of beauty classes- and which we still have today- there're some skills that remain innate deep in our memory.
It's a skill, an ability.
Albeit she might have- with a slightly different memory.