STORIES

When I closed the door on my professional career, I didn't see an ending; I simply found a new canvas. Retirement, for me, was a call to return to a passion I’d put aside for decades. Through watercolours, I found my purpose. My journey with the brush started in earnest in 2018. I took the Basic, Intermediate, and then the Advanced Watercolour courses at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) in Singapore.. I was 67 when I completed the course. For years before that, my focu

Kakak's Kai Si Mee This is the final post of a 3-part series on the food memories of a schoolboy fromTaiping - of simple dishes in simple...

A broken ankle in cast In Form 1, our classes were held in the afternoon. That meant most of us boys would gather on the SGI Primary...

Watsons Bungalow at Maxwells Hill It was November 1969 when a group of about 35 of us - Georgians together with friends from the Convent...

Ice Kacang This is the second of a 3-part series on the food memories of a schoolboy fromTaiping - of simple dishes in simple stalls, but...

Curry Mee Kuah with fish balls This is the first of a 3-part series on the food memories of a schoolboy fromTaiping - of simple dishes in...

Merlion Singapore In late 1970, my Singapore pen pal invited me to her party. I decided to hitchhike from Taiping to Singapore and...

Kites soaring in the sky Kite-fighting was one of the best parts of our childhood. We didn’t buy kites - we made them ourselves, and half...

Beng Guan and Cheng Yan with their Kayak ​​​​This happened after the MCE exams in 1970 - It began with a blueprint for a single-seater...

Fighting Fish that grows in the wild I used to follow an older neighbour, Nam Thoo, to catch fighting fish in the swamps near Green House...

Sleeper Berth in KTM Train - Ekspres Senandung Malam The first time I stepped into the old Taiping railway station was in November 1968,...

Boys frolicking in river The Sungai Batu Tegoh flowed just across from my old house in the Green House area.  We children were strictly...

To school by Trishaw In primary school, I often shared a trishaw ride to school with Ng Chong Koon, the present day Physician. We were...

Designated Jeep waiting at the foothill of Maxwell HIll I was about 15 when one day, my elder cousin came to me and said, “I went to see...

Chinese New Year festive snacks Chinese New Year was always a highlight during our school days in Taiping. In 1969, when I was 16, a few...