The dragon playground at Toa Payoh Lorong 6

I had heard so much about you, but never got to see you face to face. Last night, I ventured out in search of you. I vaguely recall someone saying before that you lived somewhere in Lorong 6 Toa Payoh. But you could be anywhere, hidden behi...nd some multi-storey carpark, wedged between decaying HDB flats.. you could be anywhere. Heck, I didn't even know where Lorong 6 was! Walking along Toa Payoh Rise, I was grateful to see quite quickly a signboard pointing towards Lorong 6. Walking down Lorong 1, I didn't even realise that it had at some point morphed into Lorong 6. Still, no sight of you anywhere. I was so tempted to ask the old man at the Town Centre if he knew where you lived. Surely an old timer like him would know. But something stopped me. It felt like if I had received a "Go Straight to Go" card, my adventure would have been short-circuited. And so I pressed on. And just as it felt like Lorong 6 was coming to an end, I spied you from the left corner of my eye, rising majestically from your elevated plateau, peeking back at me. Instantly, my face lit up and I felt like a little boy who had found a great treasure. You were not squashed between some flats as a planner's afterthought. You were placed strategically at the top in wide open view, commanding and overlooking the critical road junction below. Your imposing presence was needed here. You were, after all, a dragon. Now overrun by rats and red ants, with nary a soul clambering up your steps or running along your back. The blocks surrounding you once contained your followers and devotees, now bolted and boarded up, waiting to be demolished. I fear a similar fate awaits you. Surely you had seen better days! Surely there was a time when children fought for the right to ride down your neck, a time when you laughed as they played 'catching' around you. I'm sure there was a time when you were the King of playgrounds in Singapore. Before rubberized surfaces and exercise machines and playgrounds that no longer feel like play areas for children. When the time comes for them to hack away your concrete, and cut away your metal, I know you will still smile that courageous and royal smile of yours. For you will soar into the sky, carrying with you the years of laughter, joy, memories... You are after all, dragon.See More