I like to reach ahead of time for reporting assignments. Many a times it is the atmosphere that prompts the most interesting conversations. On Saturday, 27th April 2013, Google maps led me and I reached Kovan a good twenty minutes before the required time. I was on my first assignment as a volunteer roving reporter for the Singapore Memory Project.
It was a relaxed walk around Block 206, Kovan Hub. Families with young children, not so young children; elderly with friends, family and helpers; students in school uniform raising money for charity, people alone savoring a relaxed breakfast with a newspaper in hand were all around. A lot of stalls were setting up, beginning their day. Some people had done their bit of shopping and were on the way back home. There was a sense of purpose wherever I looked. One part of the area had a cultural event going on. Women sat on white plastic chairs, just ahead of the stage, singing and tapping their feet, enjoying themselves. They nudged one another, clapped, and were just short of standing up and dancing to the music. I liked it here.
The banners told me that the Singapore Memory Project (SMP), Paya Lebar Community Arts & Culture Club and Paya Lebar Citizens’ Consultative Committee had come together to bring ‘iremember goes to Paya Lebar ‘ as part of the Paya Lebar Arts Village festivities.
On a few side tables were game stalls- games like five stones (triangular cloth bags filled with seeds, sand or rice; played between two or more), another table was of kachang puteh (fried or roasted nuts) like sugar coated peanuts given in small handmade narrow paper cones (making them very handy and portable); and on the other side, stood panels of memories of people, streets, heritage and life of Singapore over the years.
Memories are information and they make history. As I stood there reading each interview with interest, a few people stopped by to read as well. A couple got very excited at seeing a picture of a building that they remember from their younger days. That structure existed in their memories though no longer in the street. A man sighed as he remembered how he and his friends ran around most afternoons rolling a cycle tyre with a lone stick. Some youngsters took pictures saying they would like to share them with their parents and grand parents since they
spent their childhood or some years in and around Paya Lebar.
As an observer I felt that each interview or memory printed on the panel touched a chord with every individual who stopped by. Some, because they remembered it; some, because at a level they associated with it; and some, because they were unaware of it and learnt something new. Imagine the scope of the Singapore Memory Project that aims to record five million memories by 2015. Imagine the binding force that each of these memories hold, and visualize the joy in all those eyes that relate to them in whatever capacity!
Unfortunately many of those I approached declined to contribute their memories to SMP because of lack of time or unwillingness to share details like phone number, email or address. Each polite refusal meant a memory, a tiny piece of history going unrecorded. It saddened me a bit, but there was enough in the interviews that I did, that gave me happiness.
My mentor on the day was Ms Lily Bok. She was familiar because I had read her piece on a panel here. A gentle mentor, she taught by her own example. She explained the process and got down to work immediately. Though most people preferred speaking in Mandarin, I did get a chance to interview four people who spoke in English. Ms. Lily Bok sat through the first two interviews that I did. She allowed me to take lead and when they were over was generous to say that I did well.
When one thinks of collecting memories, one usually thinks of senior citizens since they have seen more of life and would therefore have more to share. In this assignment what struck me was that among all the people not wanting to record their memories, there were some younger people who willingly came forward- not because of the goodie bag that they were entitled to, but because they genuinely wanted to share memories that make them the person they are. 40-year-old Rosalin Lim was one of those and waited patiently till we entered the recording booth. A young mother herself, Rosalin was brimming with childhood memories. Memories of how her mother would take her and her two siblings on the train to Malaysia for the weekends, memories of her giggling and clapping her hands in joy as she and her grandmother watched street operas, bought kachang puteh and sometimes ice kachang; or just playing outdoors and having conversations with people in the neighborhood. Her eyes twinkled as she talked, as if reliving those moments again. She missed the kampong feeling that existed earlier and
the old way of living and socializing. She understood that things change and evolve with progress but she wished there was a way to maintain the cohesiveness of earlier times. She remembered the nursery rhyme that her grandma taught her and even sang it for us on camera. As we came towards the end of the interview she said what I think is the essence of this wonderful project. She said that she wants to share her memories because she wants her daughter to know the background, the basis of her and her people’s existence.
“Gift of a Generation” is the theme set by the Singapore Memory Project for its memory collection this year, and it aims to engage the whole community. It gives all age groups something to share and learn from. We may have the tendency to undervalue our experiences on a large platform but each experience, each memory holds value. The truth is that each minute that passes becomes a part of history, and we don't realize its value until we are unable to recall it.
It is a pleasure to be associated with the Singapore Memory Project. Each assignment, each experience, is a learning one.
