...a water colour painting by a friend and ex-colleague....thanks again, Gian Hon kind courtesy of Gian Hon.
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Story from Kamal Bin Abu Serah (FB: Amai AS) My Name is Kamal Bin Abu Serah, son of late Abu Serah who came from Penang, Malaya, to Singapore in 1949 at the age of 21 and started to work as a fireman at HM Naval Base Fire Brigade located within the dockyard, now known as Sembawang Shipyard. My father was very committed to public service and he served for 22 years until he was retrenched in 1971, when the British left Singapore. He later joined the ANZUK Forces (Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom), also as a fireman. One of his saddest moments during his 22-year career was when his colleague was killed in an accident involving a fire truck . During my childhood days, I lived at the Fire Brigade Quarters provided by the Royal Navy. We occupied a wooden-quarters opposite Attap Valley Road, also known as Royal Naval Armament Depot, (popularly RNAD). This was where the British forces used to store their weapons. I also remember that our quarters were situated n...
My early swimming oppotunities.....by Ck Shek I missed swimming underwater in my "private" mini swimming pool when I was staying in the Naval Base Batchelors' Block. The long "man made concrete pools" were about 30 ft long and 10ft wide and 2 and a half ft deep?? The water in the baths were enclosed and the water was cool and refreshing, unlike open air swimming pools, exposed to the sun, rain treated with chlorine. These long baths were the common bathrooms for residents living in the bachelor blocks. Whenever nobody was around , we took the chance to swim from one end to the other in a single breath.....which was our goal. Two conditions were critical...the water level had to be at its highest point and none of the workers living in the block should be present! Needless to say, I learnt to swim VERY quietly and quickly! The opinions in this article are the author’s and may not be reproduced without his prior permission.