masked plovers @ upper seletar

i seem to be meeting not so common species of birds at upper seletar reservoir park. the last time i came across hornbills, two days ago came upon these six plovers feeding on the grassy slope facing the executive golf course at upper seletar.

"the masked plover or masked lapwing, also commonly known simply as “plover” is a medium-sized conspicuous bird with loud, penetrating calls. it is a bold bird that swoops at intruders and its apt scientific name of miles comes from the latin for soldier and refers to the spurs, which give an armed appearance.

features that distinguish the masked lapwing from other plovers are its black crown and nape separated from the mantle by a white collar; white underparts; yellow bill; bright yellow wattle that reaches well behind the eye and hangs down beside the chin; and a long and sharp wing spur."

these birds are known for their swooping actions when their youngs are still not mobile. they will attack any intruder, including human beings. sometimes, venturing into their territory called the swoop zone is enough to invite an attack.

(p.s. victor, please do not assume that i am a bird expert (ornithologist). the last time you labelled me a botany expert, now my walking kakis call me ' the boh terr ni man'.)

the koyok man - s'pore busker

(photo from national archives of singapore)

in the 60s, entertainment also came in the form of the chinese medicine travelling salesman and his assistants. we refer to this wandering salesman as the koyok man. koyok means 'quack medicine' in malay. koyok is also the name of a plaster, concocted by the koyok man, to treat all kinds of aches and pain.

a number of these itinerant salesmen were martial art exponents and they used their strength, knowledge of the art and technique to demonstrate amazing feats like bending long iron rods pressed against the throat, eating fire, breaking bricks with their bare hands and other feats requiring extraordinary human strength.

some were also jugglers, entertaining us with juggling acts with pins, hoops, balls and the fire torches. these performances were usually scheduled somewhere in between all the sales talk. first, the assistant would hit a gong loudly and repeatedly to draw the crowd. once they had attracted a sizeable crowd, the medicine salesman would begin his proclamation of the merits of his wonderful products, which we children paid scant attention to as we were there solely for the show.

the hitting of the gong by his assistant was done throughout the performance: when the koyok man had emphasised or wanted to emphasise a point, at the end of a long sentence, at the start of the demonstration of strength and when the performance was building up to a climax.

i do not remember staying behind to find out how much sale was made at the end of the performance. at my kampong, the koyok man normally made his appearance in the evening but, in the past, i have seen the koyok man making his sales pitch in the day at sungei road thieves' market.

when i visited covent garden and watched the non-singing buskers, they reminded me of the entertainment provided by the koyok men in the old days. the difference was the koyok man entertained to promote his products whereas the busker showcased his talent only.

hotel 81 rochor

this hotel located at the corner of jalan besar and mayo street used to be a popular drinking place for british soldiers during the pre-war days. today, it is called hotel 81 rochor.

what was its original english name? white house hotel

the backlanes of jalan besar


























today, i went to walk the back lanes of jalan besar to take pictures of some elegant and curvy structures that are a feature of houses built before the wars. most of the spiral staircases are stone structures but there were some that are made of metal.

the spiral staircase is the title of a 1946 classic. a remake of it was screened in 2002. it is also the title of a book by karen armstrong. maybe we can get victor to write a poem entitled ' the spiral staircase'.
















































i have yet to see anyone using the spiral staircase at these houses. is it meant to serve as a fire escape, for use in an emergency?

why mca?

by comedy court