This was my breakfast at AMK before starting the cabin crew wannabe seminar. Had 9+1 participants. All told me they are going for the 8 July interview at Pan Pacific Hotel in Singapore. I wish them luck.
After the seminar at 1pm, we proceeded to a coffee shop nearby and spent another 2 hours together.
I hope I had instilled confidence in them.
I had visitors this evening and they were my former neighbours who had moved out a few years ago to Punggol. They brought their lovely pet dog with them.
It rained in the evening just like yesterday (afternoon) and it cooled down the temperature a bit as well as the humidity.
Today is the last day of the month long school holiday. Tomorrow is also the start of the working day after a long weekend due to Hari Raya Puasa.
It was a big relief when Uncle Lim and family moved out. The next tenants were Abang Ali and Fatimah. This Malay couple was in their forties without children. They were nice and friendly.
My late grandma and I became quite close to Abang and his wife. They would invite us over to their house for tea and chat with us. They were always at home as they were unemployed.
The best thing I liked about them was when they organized card games. They would invite a few more neighbours and we would spend the night playing card games. I really enjoyed my time with this couple. It wasn't just the card games only but the fun, jokes and laughter we had together.
After a few years, Abang and Fatimah moved out to another place. The whole neighbourhood missed them dearly.
Uncle Lim looked fierce and cruel to me. His step daughter Mary would surely agree with me. Uncle Lim, his wife Auntie Lim and the 6 year old Mary were my neighbours.
We used to live in a kampong and it was quiet and peaceful until the Lim's family became our next door neighbours. Fortunately for us, they only lived there for a year.
Certain things in life, one could never forget even though they may have happened many years ago.
The story I am going to relate happened when I was about 10 years old.
Uncle Lim was about 30 years old and his wife was 5 years younger than him. He was unemployed but his wife struggled to keep the family of 3 going. Auntie Lim worked as a dance hostess at the old Happy World Cabaret in Geylang.
Almost every evening, a trishaw rider would come and transport Auntie Lim to the Cabaret. She would come home very late in the night.
Whenever Auntie Lim was at work, Uncle Lim would beat up Mary for the slight wrong she did. Mary would cry and screamed and pleaded for the neighbours to help her but no one dared to help her. Next day we would see the red cane marks on Mary's hands and legs.
Mary was Uncle Lim's step daughter. We did not know what had happened to Mary's father. We suspected that Mary's father was either killed or imprisoned for being a gangster.
I noticed that Uncle Lim was a body builder. He was seen to spend a lot of time lifting weight. He was big built and a bully. As a child, I was always afraid of him.
Lunching at home
Lunch was ma bo tofu, mushrooms + veggies and rice. Simple but satisfying and healthy.
There would be certain special memories we cherished throughout the rest of our lives especially the wonderful ones. More so when these occurred in our early years.
One day, a lovely and loving couple moved in next door. They were in their late twenties and were nice people. I was about 17 then and being helpful, I was instantly liked by them. The gentleman's name was Tim and his girl friend was Dolly.
Tim wasn't employed while Dolly was working in the office. I used to run errands for them as I had a bicycle. The shops selling groceries and food was about a mile or two away and I would cycle to get the stuff for them.
In the evening after dinner, I would sit around and chat with them. During the weekends when Dolly wasn't working, she would cook for us. Sometimes I felt bad for invading their privacy. I had wanted to leave them alone but most of the time, they would pester me to be with them.
I learned the Cha Cha as well as the slow dances like foxtrot and waltz from them. Their favourite songs were those sung by The Everly Brothers, examples "All I have to do is dream", "Bye Bye Love", "Cathy's Clowns" etc etc. I had a terrific time with Tim and Dolly.
Tim was like a big brother and Dolly a big sister to me.
One day after I returned from a school camping trip, I discovered that Dolly and Tim broke up. As Tim related the story of the breakup, tears began to roll down my cheeks. For the first time in my life, I felt very sad.
Dolly, I found out was a married woman. She had to leave Tim as her husband had found out about their affair. Tim was brokenhearted and almost resorted to suicide.
It took Tim many months before he recovered from the sad episode. A year later, Tim married a girl from the same kampong. I was really happy for Tim.
Even till today, 53 years later, I still love the songs by the Everly Brothers. In fact, one of my favourite songs I would sing at the karaoke session is " All I have to do is dream.."
Tim has since passed away.
