Memory of Mr Sim Yeong Hak

Paya Lebar as it was: Mr Sim Yeong Hak by Chin Siat Mui Mr Sim Yeong Hak, retired school principal, is 83 this year (2013)! His maternal grandfather, Mr Ee Teow Leng, bought a big tract of land between Yio Chu Kang and Kovan Road many decades ago! So Mr Sim grew up in an attap house at 67 Kovan Road, a house built on the plot of land his mother, the eldest daughter, received from her father. One of Mr Sim’s uncles was the architect who later built houses on that piece of land. The road servicing those houses was named Ee Teow Leng Road. His old home was the typical farmyard house with vegetable gardens around and the inevitable farm animals. Rubber trees in that area provided the dry twigs and left-over latex in the latex cups for kindling of fire. Life was simple. Kang-kong, cai-xin, and other greens were plentiful. Fruit trees abound: durian, chiku, mangosteen, rambutan and coffee. A smile lit up Mr Sim’s face as he reminisced on how they used to chew the coffee fruit. Other trees bore kwei-nee (a kind of mango), buah sukun (bread fruit), and buak sunto (an oversized duku). These are names that not many people know. Another less-known fact may be that durians, when ripe, fall from the tree during the night. Mr Sim’s face beamed when he recollected how he and his siblings used to listen out for that most welcomed ‘PLOP’. Each of them had a designated tree and would try to be the first to get to the dropped fruit. “First-come-first-served” was the rule of the day where durians were concerned. Fun and games were simple and original. Bicycle tyres and wheels needed only a stout stick to provide hours of good outdoor fun on roads with hardly any traffic. Spiders in gramophone needle boxes were pitted against one another. Losses were not big deals: many more spiders in the bushes waiting to be caught. The ball game called ‘Roundus’ needed only two slippers for posts, a ball and a bat (any kind of flat wood would do). What could be more challenging than destroying ‘castles’ (made of cigarette packs) with a well-aimed stone cast with all one’s might? Growing up in Paya Lebar was anything but dull. When asked to describe old Paya Lebar with one word, he thought for a long minute, then said “Paradise”. What then of Paya Lebar today? “Paradise Lost”! Thank you, Mr Sim for your sharing! (404 words) Pay