THE BASE SOCCER 'NUTS'

 

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 next to a rubber plantation, located just outside the Naval Base, and it was separated by a black steel boundary fence.  The flats along Fraser Road used to be occupied by the British forces.

This place has long been replaced by the Woodlands Industrial Estate

  I was born in Penang and brought to HM Naval Base by my parents. As a child I remember our doors were always kept open so that we children could freely go out and play with other neighbours.

In the late mornings, around 11 am, a pick-up van would arrive at our barracks and collect the tiffin meals from our mothers and these were then sent to our fathers for their lunch.

 Our meals were very simple, usually consisting of rice, veggies and either fish or meat as the main dish.

My dad would then bring back the empty tiffin carriers after work around 5.00pm. If I may recall, my dad used to work on shifts. My siblings and I lived in the standard quarters provided for us. The eldest lived in Penang and my other four siblings lived in Naval Base.

One thing I will always remember, as a little boy, about the quarters is that the kitchen and toilets were quite a distance away from the barracks. Going to the toilet late in the night was my biggest nightmare then.  Now on hindsight I laugh every time I think of the incident.

The Haunted Tree

This experience about a Haunted Tree is one of the spooky stories I recall. It was about a spirit residing in the Pokok Jambu Bol or Guava Jamaika /Apple Tree.

According to our neighbours, it seemed that one night she was possessed by a spirit believed to have come from this tree. The toilet where she washed the clothes is near to the tree

So, the elders summoned a Bomoh, a traditional medicine man or shaman, to exorcise the spirit within the girl. As a young boy I witnessed the entire purification process, standing just outside her house. I remember hearing the girl’s voice turning into a hoarse man’s voice and I wondered if this was the voice of the spirit?  I also observed that as the spirit was gradually leaving her body she fell into an unconscious state. It was a very eerie and scary experience for me.

Many years later when were told to evict our premises to make way for redevelopment, I witnessed the contractors demolishing all the buildings in the area but the haunted guava tree was left alone. I presumed that the contractors were also haunted by the spirit. A few days later I saw a red banner tied on the tree and presumed that the contractors must have also carried out rituals to appease the spirit.

This lingering childhood memory will always stay with me, just as my happy memories of staying in the Naval Base. Where we truly lived and enjoyed the kampong spirit or the spirit of the community. There were between 9 to10 families living in a row of houses. There were about seven rows, totalling about 70 families and everyone knew each other. Having three square meals a day was the biggest challenge during that period of baby boomers.  So, we made do, by sharing food with others almost every day.

Celebrating Hari Raya was the happiest and best memories of my childhood days. On the first day children would dress in new traditional outfits and go out in groups visiting our neighbours within the quarters. Then on subsequent days we travelled with our families visiting nearby friends and relatives at Woodfield Road, Kowloon Road, Canberra Road, Kampong and Kampong Wak Hassan, Kampong Lobang Bom, Kampong Tengah and Kampong Tanjong Irau. Those were my carefree days!

I studied in Sembawang Primary School which was located at Kampong Wak Hassan. I used to take the Naval Base Bus to school. Thanks to social media, I am able to still keep in touch with my primary school classmates. One of them is the great grandson of Wak Hassan, who once owned the land at Kampong Wak Hassan.

As for our school, the old building is still standing, and was converted into the Boys and Girls Brigade Campsites.

I now live along Admiralty Road, which is near where the former Naval Base Fire Brigade Quarters was located. I have many memories of old buildings, landscapes; structures such as the Rotherham Gate, Canberra Gate, Sembawang Gate—which were all demolished to make way for new developments.

So, I am glad to know that the Old Admiralty House and Sembawang Fire Station are preserved till today.”

The opinions in this article are the author’s and may not be reproduced without his prior permission.