On
the mainland heart-land it is a two week holiday festival, tonight the
important inaugural supper. All the trains, cars and aeroplanes have been
ferrying people back to their families for the gatherings. Air-line travel is
15-20 even 30 percent more expensive in this region through the month of
February. In the giant southern cities on the mainland some kind of substitute
observance will be involved. After this twenty and thirty year transformation
ancestral hearths have been long abandoned and no longer exist. We had the
Hindu bathing purification—the Kumbh Mela, the Pitcher—at the Ganges a
week or two back; now Chinese NY hot on the heels.
Here the red paper lanterns and streamers hang in all the malls and shops. Out in Chinatown they usually erect the long Dragon along the road divider, the PM making a speech and giving out hangbao to pensioners—$10/20 red envelopes; fireworks in the evening. The organic bakery at Aljunied, Yes, Natural, closing for a week; similarly the marvelous, cheap vegetarian Buddhist stall directly beneath the elevated line. (Brown rice, four veg & lotus or water-cress soup $4.) Malay and Indian food it will be for the duration down at the lower end. Monday and Tuesday is the designated holiday because of the weekend. Unlike anywhere on the Great Southern Land, at the lower end there will be little sign of the event: the Hindi 10 30am love-songs just the same, all the old Malays, the ring-sellers and groovers from the fifties, the beautiful scarved girls parading.
The window of the room at Four Chain View does not open because of the aircon, the Malay room-attendant explained at first showing. Therefore the small bathroom window for ventilation As previously disclosed, on the fourth floor one is quarantined from the busy in-and-out of the mainland Chinese working girls. Thus far, ten days of occupation, nothing unseemly. Short bright smiles behind the backs of granddads paying at the front desk. With family responsibilities trade might be slow on the weekend. As for the gals themselves, there are more than enough compatriots working on the construction sites to mark the occasion in some fashion.
For quiet a room was allocated at the back, away from busy Geylang Road itself. On the near side of the Lorong it is Condos all the way along to Sims Avenue a hundred and more metres off. The other side the same, with one or two gaps currently being filled in, apart from one exception. On the corner of the lane directly below, on a site of 25 metres width and stretching right the way back to the next Lorong, sits a girls middle school Madrasah. Yes, Al-Ma'Arif Islamiah. Just checked. On the tight block the building rises six storeys, looks like an admin area ground floor and car-parking usually underground. A tall peach-coloured fence screens the perimeter.
From the window the eating area on the first floor corner is visible, the girls arranging themselves around fixed round tables, kicking their legs, making wings of their arms and tugging on their slipping scarves. The uniform consists of a long, loose pink shift, faded mid-tone, that reaches the ankles. In the rain it needs gathering for puddles. Over the top comes a white vest that stretches toward the knees, and another layer of scarf over the top again, the cowl wide and comfortable. A flock of Juniors climbing aboard the bus in Victoria Street at a much larger Madrasah always produces an effect of geese skirting a pond, a quiet little restrained gaggle, with cheekiness well screened. Traditionally madrasahs intend to produce religious scholars and teachers; regular prayers and Islamic studies integral to the curriculum. If only one could get in the door there to observe lessons and earnest youthful prayer in that appareil spread over a large body!
Opposite the Madrasah the corner condo on the first level holds an open, triangular fish pond on the balconey, where three or four large carp-like fish do their turns. The largest is an appropriately bright mandarin color, no doubt chosen intentionally, if not for this season in particular. Water circulates in an endless cycle inaudible at this height. As the pool sits on the outer of the balconey, regular downpours add more water that no doubt helps keep the mix fresh. During downpours the fish keep deep and seem to move with a slowed rhythm. After the downpours a short young Indon maid comes out to broom the water from the tiles, gather leaves and pluck stray growth. No surprise her glum look. If there is a dog indoors she walks it along the pavement below morning, noon and night. (No need for confirmation. Large parts of the cycles of these lives are known after twenty full months in the community.) Occasionally the Grannie comes out to the outdoor table to clean and dice vegetables. A despondent Grannie too as there look to be no children. Ten days and more now Sir and Madame are invisible, working long and late no doubt. A two-bedder here might cost around $450k; perhaps over $500. The fringe greenery perfectly tamed forest. In fact, apart from the school-kids opposite, there has not been a single other child visible along the lorongs in all this while. Dogs and cats certainly. And for the sake of full and fair disclosure, it should be stated last night a Chinese owner was actually sighted at the end of a leash, her daggy dress arresting. Rare is there anything other than neat-presentable around these precincts, even leisure-wear. Hairdressing alone must account for a sizable proportion of the local economy. One is forced to wonder what is the full psychic damage.
Here the red paper lanterns and streamers hang in all the malls and shops. Out in Chinatown they usually erect the long Dragon along the road divider, the PM making a speech and giving out hangbao to pensioners—$10/20 red envelopes; fireworks in the evening. The organic bakery at Aljunied, Yes, Natural, closing for a week; similarly the marvelous, cheap vegetarian Buddhist stall directly beneath the elevated line. (Brown rice, four veg & lotus or water-cress soup $4.) Malay and Indian food it will be for the duration down at the lower end. Monday and Tuesday is the designated holiday because of the weekend. Unlike anywhere on the Great Southern Land, at the lower end there will be little sign of the event: the Hindi 10 30am love-songs just the same, all the old Malays, the ring-sellers and groovers from the fifties, the beautiful scarved girls parading.
The window of the room at Four Chain View does not open because of the aircon, the Malay room-attendant explained at first showing. Therefore the small bathroom window for ventilation As previously disclosed, on the fourth floor one is quarantined from the busy in-and-out of the mainland Chinese working girls. Thus far, ten days of occupation, nothing unseemly. Short bright smiles behind the backs of granddads paying at the front desk. With family responsibilities trade might be slow on the weekend. As for the gals themselves, there are more than enough compatriots working on the construction sites to mark the occasion in some fashion.
For quiet a room was allocated at the back, away from busy Geylang Road itself. On the near side of the Lorong it is Condos all the way along to Sims Avenue a hundred and more metres off. The other side the same, with one or two gaps currently being filled in, apart from one exception. On the corner of the lane directly below, on a site of 25 metres width and stretching right the way back to the next Lorong, sits a girls middle school Madrasah. Yes, Al-Ma'Arif Islamiah. Just checked. On the tight block the building rises six storeys, looks like an admin area ground floor and car-parking usually underground. A tall peach-coloured fence screens the perimeter.
From the window the eating area on the first floor corner is visible, the girls arranging themselves around fixed round tables, kicking their legs, making wings of their arms and tugging on their slipping scarves. The uniform consists of a long, loose pink shift, faded mid-tone, that reaches the ankles. In the rain it needs gathering for puddles. Over the top comes a white vest that stretches toward the knees, and another layer of scarf over the top again, the cowl wide and comfortable. A flock of Juniors climbing aboard the bus in Victoria Street at a much larger Madrasah always produces an effect of geese skirting a pond, a quiet little restrained gaggle, with cheekiness well screened. Traditionally madrasahs intend to produce religious scholars and teachers; regular prayers and Islamic studies integral to the curriculum. If only one could get in the door there to observe lessons and earnest youthful prayer in that appareil spread over a large body!
Opposite the Madrasah the corner condo on the first level holds an open, triangular fish pond on the balconey, where three or four large carp-like fish do their turns. The largest is an appropriately bright mandarin color, no doubt chosen intentionally, if not for this season in particular. Water circulates in an endless cycle inaudible at this height. As the pool sits on the outer of the balconey, regular downpours add more water that no doubt helps keep the mix fresh. During downpours the fish keep deep and seem to move with a slowed rhythm. After the downpours a short young Indon maid comes out to broom the water from the tiles, gather leaves and pluck stray growth. No surprise her glum look. If there is a dog indoors she walks it along the pavement below morning, noon and night. (No need for confirmation. Large parts of the cycles of these lives are known after twenty full months in the community.) Occasionally the Grannie comes out to the outdoor table to clean and dice vegetables. A despondent Grannie too as there look to be no children. Ten days and more now Sir and Madame are invisible, working long and late no doubt. A two-bedder here might cost around $450k; perhaps over $500. The fringe greenery perfectly tamed forest. In fact, apart from the school-kids opposite, there has not been a single other child visible along the lorongs in all this while. Dogs and cats certainly. And for the sake of full and fair disclosure, it should be stated last night a Chinese owner was actually sighted at the end of a leash, her daggy dress arresting. Rare is there anything other than neat-presentable around these precincts, even leisure-wear. Hairdressing alone must account for a sizable proportion of the local economy. One is forced to wonder what is the full psychic damage.
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