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Sunday, November 11, 2007
[Places in your past...]
I was watching an episode of CSI last night which ended with Warrick looking at a rec centre, which he spent his childhood, getting locked up for good. There seems to be this stereotypical scenario with African-Americans on TV. They must have grown up in a tough neighbourhood, the main character must have made good, and when they return home, their beloved rec centre, that they must have fond memories of, is always in trouble.
But it got me thinking...What about the places I spent my childhood or teenage years? Are they still there for reminiscing?
I don't know how the system works now, but when I was a kid, we had three years of pre-school. I only had two. I can't remember the reason why, but I think it was because my parents forgot or didn't know I was of pre-school age. In any case, I spent one year at this church kindergarten. The church is still around, the one at the Rail Mall, at the junction of Hillview, across the road from the bank whose name I cannot remember right now. The place has changed. A new wing has been added. I have several memories of the place, but the exterior is definitely different from the memory in my head.
I spent my second year of pre-school at South View Primary School. They had this foundation class thingy, at the end of which, you get "promoted" to Primary One. I believe that was one of the reasons why my parents enrolled me at that school. They figured they could send me there for my primary education. I can't remember where the school was located, but I'm almost 100% certain that it has moved.
As it turns out, I did not stay at South View for my primary education. My mother went to great pains (I think, can't quite remember the facts) to get me into Bukit Panjang Primary School. I think I wasn't allocated a place at first, she actually went in person to talk to the Principal or something and I was finally granted a place.
BPPS was originally on the land that is now occupied by Ten Mile Junction. I still remember the place as if it was yesterday. It was extremely old, and was even used by the Japanese soldiers as their base for the area during WWII. The building was built with wood and concrete. Yes, wood. The second-level floors were made of wood, imagine that.
I spent one and half years there before moving to the new premises. The new BPPS is still around and has undergone major changes since my time. I pass by it often, on my way to NUS. I can no longer recognise most of it. I believe they made several additional wings to the main building. In any case, from what I can see from the street, a lot of the places where I had many memories are no longer around.
Moving on to secondary school...My secondary school was recently torn down for re-building. So yeah, more memories, gone forever. I won't go into it too much, I really haven't a lot of nice memories to share of my time in secondary school. David Beckham once said he had a little black book filled with names of people who's wronged him in the past and one day, given the chance, he'd do something about it. I have such a book too, but it exists only in my head. More than half of the people in it, I met in secondary school. But Singapore is a small place, and really, the six degrees of separation thing is sometimes true, and it brings me great comfort to know how screwed up some of the people from my past are now. Balls to you. All of you.
After secondary school, I attended Ngee Ann Poly for three years. I haven't been back there since I graduated, but I know for a fact that the place I was at for my Graduation Ceremony is no longer around. The bus-stop has changed a lot too. I remember the railings we used to sit on and the dirty wall next to it. They're gone now. Now there's a Cheers right behind the bus-stop. During my time, we had mosquitoes instead of convenience stores.
After I completed my diploma, I enlisted. Not by choice, but whatever. The camp I spent most of my time in has been taken out of commission. I still pass by my camp a lot, during my driving lessons. It brings back memories...Some good, some not so good. Most of which I can do without.
Fast forward to the present. SoC moved to the old Law faculty this semester. The other day when I was on the internal shuttle and passed by the old SoC buildings, I saw that extensive re-modelling was taking the place. Some of the rooms where I spent a great deal of time were no longer there. The walls have been torn down, and all the small rooms are gone and it's really just one big room now. You can't stop progress. If you're not fast enough, progress will run all over you it seems.
So there you have it. All the places from my past that created so many memories in my head are mostly gone or have been shut down. What about your's?
And it's probably because Singapore is such a small place, but on my way to NUS, I usually pass by my pre-school kindergarten, primary school, secondary school as well as Ngee Ann Poly. That's practically all the places I've been in, education-wise. Maybe that's why the memories never fade...
^^^ by Locksley @ 10:52 AM.
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