flooding: past and present

in my younger days, when it flooded, we accepted it as something natural. it was bound to happen, especially during the north-east monsoon season. in fact, we, the children, would all be looking forward for it to happen. during the monsoon season especially, when it poured continuously for at least half an hour, we would be looking out for all the tell-tale signs.

first, the colour of the running water in the drains would change to that of 'kopi susu'. then the low-lying area would start to fill up quickly as the water level could be seen creeping up by the minute. the water from the smaller drains would all be rushing to dump into the big drain that ran through the heart of the kampong.

when the rain had stopped, it seemed like the whole kampong, especially the men folks, would be out in full force to survey the situation. the younger ones would be enjoying themselves splashing water at one another or just wading or trying to swim in the water.

i wonder what youngsters think of when it rains and floods these days. in those bygone days, a flood meant swimming for free. the field, the drain, the road and sometimes the house became a playground, a swimming pool.

and we never thought of blaming anyone for the floods.

these days when it floods, it makes the news. people perceive it as something that is out of the ordinary; something that should not have happened at all. that is why they call it a flash flood.

i think something like a flood, which is a natural occurence, is sometimes beyond the control of us humans.

a flood is no more thought of as fun. i do not see children swimming in the flooded field or even wading in the water.

people start blaming the authorities for not being able to prevent flooding. however, we do have the right to get upset if they build a big dam and tell us that it will help to regulate the flow, thus giving the impression that flooding should be a thing of the past.

eca then, cca now

(in today's straits times, my friend santokh singh wrote a piece on 'leaving school sports coaching to teachers. both of us are looking at the same topic but from our own perspective.)

the situation in schools now is so much different from the past when it comes to conducting of cca (co-curricular activities). in those days, it was referred to as eca (extra curricular activities). eca or cca, they refer to the same things. but how they are being administered and carried out have changed over the years.

when i first joined teaching, each of us was assigned an eca or two to either take charge of or to assist. as a matter of fairness, every staff member, with the exception of the principal, was allocated at least one eca. even the senior assistants - one in the morning session and one in the afternoon - were not spared. i remember one senior assistant (in my first school) was taking charge of the chess club and the other, calligraphy. those were the days before the advent of the vice-principal and the heads of department.

there were only a handful of eca where outside instructors were involved. one was the brass band where an instructor from the ecac (eca centre) was attached to the school. the other eca which sometimes had to employ instructors included the ethnic dances, swimming and the chinese orchestra. where the school had the expertise, no outside help was solicited. back then even the school choirs were handled by the school's music teachers.

most teachers learnt 'on the job' when it came to eca. a number of us were assigned eca which we had little or no knowledge of. some of us developed a passion for our assigned eca as we got to know the game/sports more and better. even those who took care of clubs and societies and the uniformed groups could become very committed to their eca. with the experience gained in the school, quite a number of teachers went on to become national coaches in their respective sports or games.

those days, some teachers themselves initiated the eca they wanted to promote. my former colleagues and i introduced the outdoor activities club and canoeing, which went on to become the most popular eca in the school. when the new nation newspaper included a school category for the race walking event, we started race walking as an eca in the school. we were not just taking charge; we were actively involved. we would train together with the students. for example, in canoeing, we went on sea expeditions with our charges.

things started to change in the 90s when schools were flushed with edusave funds. more and more outside instructors were drawn into the school scene. it first started with cca like the choir, gymnastics, rugby, calligraphy, batik painting and those that require some specialised knowledge and skill. today, practically every cca has paid helpers or outside support. the teacher's role in cca has, in most instances, been relegated to that of an attendance marker. in certain schools today, some teachers are not assigned any cca duty.

former students, former colleagues and their spouses

i am still with a group of my former students; we meet on a regular basis. some of them had been in my class but not all. one thing they have in common is that they all were members of the school's outdoor activities club. when i asked them about the greatest (school) impact on their life, the response is the same: the oac and the 10-day school camp.

school camps - for the primary 5 pupils or secondary 3 students - used to be run by the physical education department of the school or the teachers themselves. today, the running of this activity in most schools, if not all, is outsourced to outside organisations. the teachers literally take a backseat (at the campsite). i have come across groups of campers out on orienteering trips or nature walks led by young, part-time instructors without a single teacher in sight.

the chinese wayang

wayang stage in 1988 (picture from national archives of singapore)

wayang stage in 2009 ( picture taken at bendemeer road area)

if you compare the wayang stage in the 80s - or for that matter, in the 60s, with the wayang stage of today, you will realise that things have remained more or less the same. they still use bakau wood for the frame and tarpaulin for the roofing and the sides. in the very early years, they could have used attap sheets for the roofing.

the horn loud-speaker - seen on the left of the stage - used about 40 years ago is still in use today. i am sure the props have also survived all those years of use. the floor of the stage is constructed using planks, just like in the good, old days. the musicians would be seated on the two sides, at the front of the stage.

if you look at the dimensions, they have neither grown nor shrunk over the years; they are still the same in size. the raised stage is still six feet or, in today's unit of measurement, about 1.80m above the ground.

however, if you look close enough, you will notice a bit of changes. in the past, they used strips of rattan to fasten and hold the poles together. today, they use some material made from plastic. in the place of a wooden ladder, they now have one with a metal frame. i do not know about the microphone but in the past it was a rectangular piece that was suspended.

when i was young, i enjoyed going to places which staged wayangs although, most of the time, i could not follow what was going on. i was there for the fringe attractions - the bright lights, the gaming stalls, the food and the excitement.

i know of three dialect groups which staged wayangs - the teochew, the hokkien and the hainanese. there was only one place where hainanese wayang was staged and that was at lincoln road. i used to go with my hainanese neighbour to the wayang site but i cannot recall what i did there. i understand there is also the cantonese opera but i never had the experience to watch one.

in the old days, permanent stages were quite common in the bigger kampongs. the permanent wayang stage would usually go hand in hand with a temple. today, there are not many of these permanent wayang stages - the one directly below is at balestier road and the bottom one is at pulau ubin - which prompted chun see to ask here (where have all the wayang stages gone to?). i am sure philip chew knows of some defunct wayang stages; i read about one in his blog, the joo chiat story.

although i had never sat through an entire performance, i have picked up certain points from watching snatches here and there. there were two performances each day, one in the afternoon and the other, at night. the day performance was usually played to a sparse audience. it was at night, with the glaring lights, that everything seemed to come alive.

i know that the 'good' soldiers wore red while the 'bad' ones wore green. from the facial expression, the tone of the voice and the make-up, you could tell the good characters from the bad. but, not all those who painted their face black were necessarily bad characters.

to show that the person was travelling on a horse, the actor would carry and wave a stick in his hand. to indicate that a character was entering a place, the actor would lift his leading leg just a little bit higher as he appeared to cross a threshold.