Memoirs of Childhoods ..

Peoples' childhoods facinate me. Everyone's childhood is so different and it's nice to be able to get a glimpse into a moment of time that will never come by again. It also helps me to see where people come from; what makes them tick, why they are how they are today.

I was doing some Amazoning to see what stories of childhoods that have been published and came across many facinating ones. Therefore, I've decided to list them (you can see them on the list on the left panel) and link them to Amazon so you can read more about them.

From childhoods in India to Indiana, Alaska to Wales .. isn't all so facinating?

Temerloh and Coconut Candy

"Temerloh?"
"Err..where is that ah?"

Yeap, I lived in a SMALL town. In the bigger picture, it's situated between Kuala Lumpur and Kuantan. If you're familiar with the Karak Highway, then it's between Mentakab and Kuantan. Anyway, it's in the large state of Pahang, about 2 hours drive from Kuala Lumpur (though in the 'olden' days, it could take up to 3-4 hours).

The nearest town to Temerloh is Mentakab; that's where I went to kindergarten and to church every Sunday. Both towns were pretty self sustaining, with their own market and HSBC, but if I'm not mistaken the hospital was in Mentakab.

As mentioned, I lived in Taman Bahagia, which was the first housing estate as you enter Temerloh from the west. It was pretty convenient, with schools and a little row of shop houses. I can't really remember any of the shops except for the little grocery shop. Conveniently located across the primary school gate, I often visited the shop on the way to my best friend Fiona's house, buying little tid-bits to munch on. It was also the grocery shop Fiona and I would walk to when, in the middle of the afternoon and we were either hungry or bored, to buy ingredients to make coconut candy.

Yeap, we made candy from scratch in those days; some freshly grated coconut, a can of condensed milk, some pandan leaves and butter and we were set. In her mom's big wok, we would mix all the ingredients together and take turns to stir and stir it until our arms got tired. When the mixture was thick enough we would pour it into some baking trays and patiently wait for it to set. Then we would carefully cut it and pop it into our mouths. Sometimes we couldn't wait for it to cool down completely and would burn our tongues.

Anyway, I digress ...

Temerloh wasn't very big and until the day I left, there wasn't a single traffic light in sight either! I wonder how people drove in those days ...

When I was in Standard Two, my family moved to Taman Kaparga which was situated at the other end of town. How sad I was to be away from my beloved Taman Bahagia, where my world revolved. Taman Kaparga had nothing; it was just houses. The good thing was that our house was a semi-detach so we had a bigger garden and I could finally get a dog. That's when Pepe entered our lives.

Pepe was given to me by my Uncle Eric from Ipoh. He was a cross between a spitz and bassert hound (so we were told anyway) but it meant he was rather short and longer than the average spitz but with thick white fur. How he loved to run in the garden chasing the monkeys away.

When I was young I could not imagine living anywhere else than Temerloh. It had the best bread shop in the world, which was right next to the bookshop - my two favourite shops in the whole wide world. Very rarely, I would go with my mom to the market which was quite wet and stinky. In the middle of town, there was a big ravine (it has since been covered and more shophouses built on it!) and during the monsoon, it was out little lake. Some enterprising townfolk would bring some small boats and give rides in it. The Town Hall was situated on one end of this big hole and I have many fond memories of playing badminton and performing school concerts in it.

We had a really nice post office, housed in a beautiful old building. It was surrounded by government offices; in one block was the town library and in the other block, my doctor, Dr Lam, had a clinic there. I spent much time in the Library; Grace's mom would drive us there after school when she went to work and we would sit there and read the latest Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys novel while we waited for her to finish work. When the time came to leave, we would often leave with a pile of books which we would have finished reading within 2-3 days before our next visit.

Not far from the Post Office is Jalan Datuk Abu Bakar (I think) and this was the Main Road / Jalan Besar equivalent for the town. We would make trips to see Ms Wee, my mom's tailor who worked just above her father's photography shop. We didn't buy many ready-made clothes in those days as I was taller than average so finding clothes was harder and we would have to go to Kuala Lumpur to buy them. Instead, Mom would design the dresses, inspired by american magazines and Laura Ashley, and Ms Wee would tailor them up within a week or two.

Further down from the tailor was the best chicken rice shop in town. The guy who owned the stall was blind in one eye and I was always nervous when I watched him chop up the "pak cham kai" (steamed chicken) or "siew kai" (roasted chicken) but never once was his chopping any less than perfect. Mom would often stop the car outside the shop and I would run down and order our takeaway chicken rice.

At the end of Jalan Dato Abu Bakar was a junction and if you turned to the right, there was the Temerloh Bus Station. If you kept going down the road you would drive along the mighty Pahang River which is very wide and deep. This was also the road where my parents regularly stopped to buy pots for the garden. On the weekends, further down this road is also the venue for the Weekend Market.

Near the Pahang River, there was a big sports field. Another huge hole in the ground, it was another the other 'lake' during the monsoon season. During the dry season, Sports Days were held here and I remember that the group The Alleycats even performed here! Today, it has been filled and become a much larger sports complex for the town.

I haven't been to Temerloh in while but I hope to go visit her one day soon ....

Taiping, Tosh!

THIS town looks just like any other!

My usual lament, when I drive past almost all the smaller human congregations along our "off the NKVE" route. Simply, shop houses lining the one or two main roads.

Now, Taiping, on the other hand, falls sheepishly into the one of a kind basket. The difference noticed almost immediately with the looming backdrop of the Taiping hills. The feeling that this could once have been the centre of Perak dawns as one enters the town after passing Simpang. A history center it certainly is as being the first train journey in Malaysia from here to Port Weld ( now known as Kuala Sepetang ). The first museum, the first zoo and the jewel on the crown, The Lake Gardens.

I was kinda fortunate to be living just off this beautiful landscape paradise. My address was ...Lorong Bintang,... LAKE GARDENS! Envious short people might dismiss Taipings' treasure as nothing more than 'proud owner syndrome'. Similar to Penangites and their food obsession. I have debated a proportionate response and I could only come up with Nyah, nyah nyah nyah, nyah!

Truthfully, I highly recommend all towns to have a "water feature" as it can breed calmness, grounded-ness (you know what I mean, so, shut up!) and a total disregard for normalacy :)

I went to school at St George primary and secondary, an all male establishment :(
Girls only made their appearance in form six. So, there was light at the end of my tunnel.

Across the street was the dreaded King Edward school, our one and only (some say paralysed)
rival. On a sweeter note, we battled for the pubscent affections of the Convent girls, who in turn had their hands full battling the TMGS opponents. ( for the less endowed, it stands for Treacher Methodist Girls School )

On the monumental subject of food, Taiping boasts to have the best roti canai. Bismillah, located on main street, has it all. Freshly masak roti and a killer kuah. Just ask for kuah campur cos the tambi there sometimes behaves like an ass and pushes their less popular gravy.

Taiping also has reasonably good banana leaf food. Most restaurants are quite tasty in their offerings. This town used to be also famous for chicken rice, wantan mee and popia. I think only the popia remains. Seafood restaurants are aplenty.

I have no big reason to return to Taiping anymore. Like most of us, my dad has moved to KL and has sold the house. Friends are all overseas or elsewhere. The price of time takes a toll on us all.

Taiping is still a quaint place, mostly a retirement town now, but somehow, in my opinion, has not lost it's subtle charms. I hope to return again one day..

My home in Penang

I grew up in Penang....which was not really a small town even in the 70's, but life was much more simple and laidback than it is today. Those were the days of the old roundabouts with far fewer cars in general revolving sedately around them, which made getting around the island much easier. And there were always those colourful rickshaws to hop into, bells ringing merrily, to get you from 1 spot to the other around town.

What I remember and miss most about Penang are the lush green hills surrounding the island and constant sea breeze of my childhood. This was a time when much of the island was still undeveloped. It was also a time before open burning had become the offence it is today; as the evening breeze was always thick with the smell of burnt coconut husks.

I lived in Minden Heights, which at that time was a new housing development. The first house I lived in was a bungalow along Jalan Gelugor. It was large and had a big garden where we kept our dog.

A few years later, we moved into a link house deeper inside Minden Heights. It had 3 rooms and 2 bathrooms upstairs, a hall with a high ceiling and dining area, a study room with attached bathroom, a large dry and wet kitchen, a store room and a maid’s room with attached bathroom. In the front was a square-shaped garden, while at the back was a little kitchen garden where clothes could be dried and chilli plants, lime plants and curry plants could be planted. My favourite part of the house was the airwell, which had an open skylight. The area was tiled with tiles in various shades of brown and had a lot of plants in it.

At that time only one road, Changkat Minden Jalan 5, was ready for occupancy. There were no other houses in front of us at the time – only lush greenery. There was a beautiful hill at the end of the road called Bukit Gambir, which was a sanctuary for wildlife and birds of all kinds. Our front garden overlooked the back of the Universiti Sains Malaysia; I remember my Dad simply opening the gate at the front of our house and walking up the hill to work!

Every evening the neighbourhood kids in Minden Heightswould head out to the playground to play "catching", ride their bicycles or swing on the swings. Every evening, the “roti” man would come around on his motorbike, laden with cakes, breads and pastries of every kind. On weekends, the “kuih” man would come by the house and we would buy all sorts of “kuih” to eat for breakfast. Almost everyone in Minden Heights at the time knew each other - many of my friends' parents also worked at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, so it was a fairly closely-knit community.

My home in Temerloh

I grew up in a small town named Temerloh in the state of Pahang. We lived in Taman Bahagia and our neighbours included a lovely old couple (whose grand daughter from KL used to come and stay and I remember speaking to her in Mandarin, though I can't speak it now!), a noodle seller (who also sold ice cream - the kind that you put some cordial in a long plastic bag, tie it up and freeze it), and a coffee seller (as I write this I can almost smell the aroma of local coffee being grounded).

Across the road was the home of my good friend Fiona and her family (parents, 4 brothers and her). Her neighbour had a cheeky young son who used to climb over our house wall to steal custard apples from our tree. My parents caught him once but his "they're so delicious, uncle, aunty" saw him go scot free. 

My mom taught at the secondary school, Sekolah Menengah Jalan Bahagia which was almost walking distance from our home but I think she used to drive anyway. The primary school, SRK Jalan Bahagia was also walking distance from our home but in the other direction. 

Home was a single story link house with a large airwell. There were 4 rooms; one for my parents, one I shared with my nanny, a music room and another storeroom at the back next to the kitchen. 

The airwell was my playground. On weekends Dad would blow up the inflatable pool and I'd play in it, sometimes with my backdoor neighbour's sons Kay-Sen and Kay-Vin. I used to like spinning too and would spin round and round until I got dizzy.

Taman Bahagia was a great place because all my friends lived within walking distance and we were constantly in each other's homes or walking to the local shops together to buy sweets or snacks.

We lived there till I was about 8 and we moved to Kaparga Garden which was like the other side of town. How sad I was to leave my friends, even though I would still see them in school. 

The house in Kaparga Gardens was larger, a semi-D bordering the jungle and swamp. And it had an upstairs! I remember running up and down a lot in the beginning as it was so exciting to have an upstairs. It had a large garden too and Dad grew orchids on the side and at the back we grew vegetables and herbs like lemongrass. We attempted to grow papaya trees once but the monkeys came and grabbed them all. We used to play badminton in the garden in the evenings when the weather had cooled down. 

How about you? Where did you live? Tell us about your home ...

Malaysian Childhoods

Welcome to Our Malaysian Childhoods. This is a little 'knowledge retention' idea which I hope will help document our childhood memories of growing up in Malaysia in the 70s and 80s.

Before the Petronas Twin Towers, before colour TV, before McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken and other fast food outlets, there was a time we were children, growing up in small kampungs and towns ..

Let's share and document our childhoods for the next generation (and for our senior years!)