A simple life that we had lived, eat and play (Part 1)

For those of you who born in early 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, the places where we lived without HDBs or Condos, only to be seen as swampy areas and villages (kampongs), attap-houses or stilt houses. Back then, we were poor, living in 'poor' conditions and yet lived a simple life without electricity and used oil lamps or kerosene lamps to keep warm and safe on cold nights 

Stilt Houses

We hardly lived off with little foods and drinking water (running taps) or boil kettle with charcoal-stove (no electric kettle). We got water from the river or from a Well to wash our clothes and for drinking water or for bath.

Kampong house in 1950s

The quaint Kampungs give an insight of the life that most of us have relegated to the back of our memories. Our memories, but they are indeed real in rural Singapore.

'Open' Field

The 'Open' fields or swampy fields that we lived with full of flies and mosquitoes within my late grandma's kampong, surrounded in the forests. Yet we endured to it as if the kampongs that we lived and endured through time.

Old bug sprayer

We used mosqitoes' net for our wooden bedroom and used bug sprayer to spray within the house before we slept.

Kerosene Lamp on a wooden wall

We used kerosene lamp that attached to a wooden wall, to keep swarm in the cold nights and make the house stayed in dim lights surrounded the house, to make sure everyone had a good night sleep and safe. We also used it for studying at nights too.

Chicken and Ducks roaming at kampong

We reared chicken, pigs, ducks and even played with them. We feed them grains, such as wheat, barley, soy, rice and corn. Our kampung cockerel would make a sound "crowing" early in the morning as if predators are nearby or it wakes us up. We even planted some rambutans trees, coconut trees, bananas and sweet potatoes.

Kampong's Kitchen

At times, we brought water from the well at my late grandma (born 1912)'s kampong in 1960s where the huge kitchen with full of utensils, a 'huge' well (centre of the kitchen), fire-stoves using 'black' charcoals, washing area (washing clothes and & dishes), dinning tables with wooden tables/chairs and stoned-tables/chairs gathered for the whole families of 20.

Stool, wooden board, 'round' steel pail and charcoal stove

Those were the days, we were kids and grandma and parents were washing clothes using wooden blocks or boards with pails of water within the kitchen.

Granite Grinder with durable wood handle

I remember that my late grandma's solid granite grinder was huge with a durable wood handle as a grinding mill. As a young kid, I put the soya beans, grinded it and soya bean milk was made.

Charcoal Stove and mortar

Most villagers like us used charcoal stoves for cooking dishes, soup or boiling kettle while solid granite durable mortar/pestle for grinding chilli and spices.

Dining 'Marble' Table and durable wood chairs

When we were having a 'family' dinner at my late grandma's Kampung houses, we sat on the 'durable' wood chairs and marble wood table in those good old days. We use chopsticks and rice bowls instead of plates, a simple meal that we have to eat that would filled up our stomach.

Old 'Airmail' Envelope

Soft & fine thin paper 1990s

We used soft and fine 'thin' paper for writing a letter before it invented in computers, ipads, handphones (SMSes), only sent local/oversea mails, snail mails, pen-pals (overseas) as above. We never failed to write a letter when we received from loves ones and friends. We even lost or unable to receive a letter from postman or in the mail box due to floods in kampong days or letter get trapped by machine for a long time before it reached to our destination. Accidents do happen, and when a mail is found behind or under machinery or careless postman, it gets delivered.