MacPherson Gang

I grew up in Geylang but went to Mattar Primary School next to MacPherson HDB Estate some 5km away.  As a result, many of my classmates came from there. The estate was quite quaint. Most of the flats (about 40 blocks) were located in a circle, ringed by the aptly named Circuit Road. But unusually, a third of this circuitous road was formed by Pipit Road, which itself had a few blocks of flats to call its own. Another set of blocks were also located along an off-road called Balam Road which ran beside a canal.

So, many of my classmates had addresses in Circuit Road, Pipit Road and Balam Road. Only three or four classmates stayed near me in Geylang.

Going over to MacPherson Estate to play meant I was never short of friends and classmates to hang out with. Sometimes, three or four of them would live in the same block. And once we set our minds on going out, we would use the telephone to get hold of everyone. If someone did not have a phone, we simply ran up to the flat or call them from the common corridor. Most of the flats were three-room affairs, so the corridors ran straight from one end-staircase to the next. Seldom did we take the lift (they did not stop at every level then). The phones we used were the old rotary pulsed ones common in those early days.

A typical visit to MacPherson would see me visit Blk 57 first. I'd drop by Chuan Yeow's place and together  go look for Hup Boon who lived on the 2nd storey. HB had a phone, so we would normally call up first. His mom was a very nice lady who would always offer us drinks and cakes. After HB, we'd look up Mui Chow or Lucy Teo - they both stayed in the beside block. There was also Koon Hai, a skinny chap with a mousy Brylcreamed look. Like him, HB was also well-groomed with his brown tinged hair parted and always creamed in place. He carried a comb in his back pocket all the time. HB's school uniform was one of the neatest. He and I wore the same kind of kaki shorts to school, not very different from what the policemen used to wear but shorter. Our school uniform was grey below and yellow on top - quite striking. Come to think of it, we also wore the same kind of starched shirts. So, in a way, we were kindred souls - brothers in suffrage from wearing those stiff shorts and shirts!

No kid should have to wear starched shirts to school in our kind of tropical weather. But because of that, I learned how control my discomfort, often psycho-ing myself to remain cool despite all that heat. I could easily have become a yogi in India for performing such a mind trick all those years in school.

If we did not look up the girls, we would head to Blk 76 to look for Lee Huat - the fella with the Chopper bike (see blog A Chopper Legacy). Living around Lee Huat were Woon Leng and Bee Har. BH was fair and pretty but she stood out for being very petite. She was so small in size you could have stringed her to your mobile phone! (Just kidding.)

Size notwithstanding, she had a big heart. Her hazel eyes often betrayed her shyness. However, step on her toes or disturb her best friend and she could be sharp and reprimanding. WL, on the other hand, was tall for her age. She was the smartest girl in class and always spoke in an easy, sweet voice. Her distinctive feature were her panda eyes - they made her look as if she hadn't slept in a while. BH and WL were good friends; they kind of complemented one another. BH could be fierce whilst WL tended to cry more easily.  Another good friend of theirs was Adelene Wee who lived  a few blocks behind. She had a lot of hair, mostly wiry, and she's one person who seemed always cheerful. I think it was her religious ways that set her so. She spoke good English with a distinct nasal accent and was the only one who wore her pinafore over the knees longer than the rest.

What did we do when we came together? We would play Skip Rope, Five Stones, Hide and Seek, Police and Thief. At times, we played table tennis on those purpose-built concrete tables. We also moved from one playground to the next.

Often, the kids with bikes would bring them along. For those who didn't (like me who did not live there), we simply "tompang" each another. I would often ride pillion on LH's Chopper bike.

MacPherson Estate had quite a few playgrounds then. As we moved from one playground to the next, we would always knock on the doors of classmates who stayed nearby. These playgrounds were the old ones made of iron and concrete materials. There were ring tubes, round climbing frames, spinning carousals and monkey bars.

A big playground could be found near the wet market at Blk 66A, where we often hung out at. Then we would call Pow Choo, Poh Lin and Puay Hoon to come out to play with us. PC reminded me of Nancy the cartoon character because of her hair and small beady eyes that needed thick glasses. PH was a girl who fell sick easily and didn't or couldn't join us all the time. She was often pale and sniffing a knotted hanky covered in Axe medicated oil. Lately, she has informed me that she suffered from severe anaemia as a kid and fainted often in school. Nevertheless, as a kid with such a worrisome condition, she was still spunky and full of grit went on to join the National Cadet Corps in secondary school and Singapore Police Force later. Poh Lin had a loud voice that matched an outgoing personality. She was Cantonese just like me and we got along fine. She was a brave girl not afraid to speak her mind. She would later argue much (always in a good-natured manner though) with Mr Pang, our P6 form teacher. You could say she liked to tease him. He in turn treated her like a Teacher's Pet. The same with a girl called Lin Hiong, who was like a mother hen to the rest of us.

Across from this big playground was Balam Road, where Ee Meng and Yong Meng (not related)  lived. We often teased YM for being a horse because of his gait. He had a butt that stuck out like a horse. EM was not a  very good student and liked to be active. If you didn't know him, you would think he was a gangster from his rough voice and gruff Hokkien. At Balam Road, we would find Sarbjit Singh and Ramli and a few other of our Malay classmates. Many were relocated from nearby kampungs.

For food, there's always that food centre next to the bridge that crossed the canal to my school. We seldom ate there unless it was to look up classmate Subari whose family had a stall there selling mee rebus. My classmates tell me his father was very generous and would give them 10, 20 cents each time to spend. Subari was also generous like that.

The canal that ran beside it was long and wide. It connected Paya Lebar to Geylang East. We would sometimes stand on the bridge to watch the canal waters flow under. Back then, it was filthy - the color of chee ma wu; and we would look out for disgusting stuff like dead dogs and rats. Most of the time however, what we saw were daily-use items like plastic bags, beer bottles, broken furniture, rattan shopping baskets, and the like.

This canal ran behind my school, bordering an area overgrown with shrubs and lallang (see blog Big Field Wild Fence). We were very sure there were pythons and spiders inside. Because of the thick brush, there was no way we could get in there to retrieve our lost balls and marbles. This wild area also added to our imagination about headhunters looking children's heads to build a bridge. Later I would learn that the story was concocted to discourage kids from wandering too far from home!

Beside that long food centre was the bus terminus. This bus terminus was not a built-up area; it was simply the side of the road. Buses arrived and departed to go to various destinations around Singapore. For me, the regular services to take home were 61, 62, 63, 135, 158.

If I took 135 or 158, I would alight outside Methodist Girls School at the junction of Sims Avenue and Aljunied Road and walk home from there. The other buses would bring me nearer to Lorong 19 on Geylang Road.

MacPherson Estate at the time was also known for its gangsters. Many were said to reside around the Balam Road area. It was in this area that two-storey shophouses could be found. I often wondered what kind of protection money the business owners had to pay, an idea no doubt fueled by violent Hong Kong TV serials at the time.

As kids we loved to go to the bookshop and cakeshop there.

The concrete table tennis tables mentioned earlier could be found all over MacPherson Estate. When we were not playing table tennis, we would lie down and just look at the sky.

Another wet market (a two-storey one) was located at Pipit Road to serve the residents there. Because it was separated by a road, we seldom ventured there.

I think Ms Leng, my P4 form teacher, was the only teacher I knew staying in MacPherson Estate. As kids, we were very curious what our teachers were up to (like married or not; got bf or not) and would trail them home to find out where they lived.

In my childhood time, MacPherson Estate was a very lively place with the coming and going of buses, cars and people. Today, it looks deserted and feels very much like a ghost town. Only old people seemed to be left. I wonder if I should drop by and see if any of my classmates' families are still there and perhaps be fortunate enough to reconnect with them again.

Below: Meeting for the very first time after 38 years! A week later, two more classmates were found, making a total of 12 of the original class of 44 classmates reconnected.

Big Field Wild Fence

In the old days, "Mata-mata" was Malay for police. It's usage was so common that it got incorporated into the other dialects as well. You can find its use in Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew, etc., - often shortened to just "mata", as in "Kew mata lei" (Cantonese, "Let's call the police come.")

So, when you go to a primary school named Mattar Primary School, everybody will tease and say you went to a police school. Your school would be the "mata chu" (police station). Nevermind that there's also a Mattar East Primary School!

However, having a government minister that was named Ahmad Mattar at the time made us feel better, so we largely ignored the taunts.

Despite its name, I liked my school. It had probably the biggest school field in its day. I know, kids tend to imagine things larger given their small size, but I've been back and I can say that the school field was probably 3-4 football fields large. Why such a big field, you ask? Well, it's because it's shared between three schools: Aljunied Primary, Mattar East Primary and Mattar Primary.

Recess time was the best. We would literally run out of breath before reaching the other side. This was fantastic for the game of Catching. Run far enough and no one will bother to chase after you.

Yes, the field was huge to us at the time. However, there were two spots we avoided. One was a long grassy patch that was shoe-suckingly muddy, the other was in the middle by the fence where a banana tree stood hung over. Banana trees were supposed to be very haunted so we never dared venture near.

Besides that tree, the chainlinked fence itself held a fascination for us.

It ran for a few hundred metres by the left edge of the field. But because it bordered the wild area between the school field and the MacPherson estate canal, it was also similarly wild and overgrown with morning glory creepers and lallang. You'd find bees, lady bugs, stick insects, etc., often on the plants. This fence ran from the left all the way to the back of the school where our school canteen was.

Our school was typical of its kind in those days: four storeys and arranged like the letter H. A porch covered driveway (supported by many round metal poles) lies in front just where the flag poles are. Each morning, we would face the school and flagpoles to sing our national anthem. Two students (usually prefects) would be tasked to raise the flags. When I was in P6 I was tasked to lead the school in morning exercise. A small metal dias (painted yellow with chain all round) was built for this purpose in the field. I remember being very nervous on my first trip out, but I soon got over it. If you were in the morning session, you would assemble in the front porch area. At one time, I even led the anthem singing. I didn't like it much as I felt very uncomfortable in my singlet and starched uniform. Till this day, I wonder why my mom never got us the light polyester kind! And I used to envy kids who wore them!

On the left of the school (facing it) would be a garden and fish pond. It had a curved railing with pointed tips (something you would see at the Van Kleef aquarium also). I was always fascinated by a large cactus in the corner. It's one of those dark green ones with long sharp needles and many ungainly arms.

The school canteen at the back of the school was also typical of its time.

It had food stalls at one end and a large stage at the other. In between were the tables and benches for dining  and an assembly space that also doubled as a badminton court. The roof was of an inverted-V shape supported by leaning cantilever steel girdle beams that themselves were anchored by low cylindrical concrete bases. We often stood on these bases to get a better view of the stage when we got to P5 and P6 when we had to line up at the back.

The stage itself was made of parquet with two side staircases. Behind, along its width, was a storage area; two concrete staircases led up to it. The wall of this storage area was also the back wall of the canteen. It's recognisable for the many ventilated airholes that punctuate up and down the length of the wall. Behind this wall was a small patch of sandy area and then a grassy slope down the drain. Whenever we boys wanted to play 'hamtum bola' in the field, we would rush down this slope and jump the drain. This slope ran the side of the school. I remember spending many recesses in the shade of the school on top of this slope to trade/play with picture cards and stickers. It was a much quieter and undisturbed area. Picture cards with Ultraman was popular, as well as Xiao Liu Mang (the Little Wanderer) and Long Fu Meng (Dragon Tiger Gate - those 70s pants wearing, high-kicking kung fu fighters).

The storage area of the stage was also a popular play area. I remember forming a "Famous Five Club" with my buddies and we would spend recess 'spying' on our classmates through the airholes. It helped that the toy vendor outside the school sold spy toys as well. A popular one was a small book that held a torch; another one held a gun. -All palm-sized and made of plastic, of course. My spy 'books' were black and green respectively. I still have them (check out the pics on Facebook group Mattar Primary School)

Back to that wild fence.

As you can imagine, this fence ran the left and back of our school. It went up that grassy slope and down the length of the canteen. Between the fence and canteen was a popular sandy area. Both boys and girls would use this area for play like skipping, marbles and sa ku lei, a kind of coin/washer distance tossing game.

Playing marbles with that fence in view was something. Because what lay beyond was quite wild... you could kiss your marble goodbye when it rolled into that fence. We often dreaded that. And there's no way to get in unless with parang and fire torch. At a time when pythons swallowing chickens and children were common (real or rumoured), we often imagined a giant python to be living in that wild bush beyond.

After this sandy patch, the fence ran on and turned back upwards after a small space behind the canteen. It then ran parallel to the basketball court to open up to a small gate. On the other side was a low block of single-room flats. This backgate opened to a short sandy path that connected to an open space between two such blocks of flats. Vendors and children would mingle and carry out their activities after school while school buses took time and turns to arrive. It was quite the ideal waiting place as we would play quite a bit with one another. We often wished our school buses would come late, and they often did!

From this backgate, the fence ran on by some tall casurina trees along the main driveway to the front gate. From there, it continues on to Mattar East Primary and to the main Aljunied Road. And along this main Aljunied Road was where Aljunied Primary was. Beyond this school was the canal and where this wild fence would both end and begin. Yes, it was a huge compound that these three schools set on. And we boys had a fun time running about it.

One lasting memory of playing on it was during a game of humtam bola - a kind of tag game with a small rubber ball or tennis ball. One time somebody threw it at my classmate, Sarbjit Singh. It hit his tonchek (his balled-up hair on top, typical of a Sikh boy) and bounced over the fence into the wild bush. Despite losing the ball, we could do nothing but look at each other and laugh. It was funny and ironic at the same time. Just like that field, being so large and giving us endless opportunities to play and run about in it.

Next story: Eat and Play