Boys and Drains, Canals

Creative Statue near the mouth of Singapore River

This bronze statue is a very creative one where a group of young boys, are pushing each other into the river. This reminds me of my young days when I lived near a kampung in Adis Road. My family lived in a bungalow house on Adis Road, and surrounding it were 2 schools, the Methodist Girls School (MGS) and the Nan Hwa Girls School. We had 3 pariah (mixed breed) dogs named Jippy, Mickey and Scamper (named after the dog in Secret Seven I think). The private estate was a mixture of all races with the Malays living in the kampung, the Chinese and some Indians living in the terrace houses. At the end of the street was a bungalow occupying perhaps 200,000 square ft, which belonged to a very wealthy Chinese businessman, called Eu Tong Sen. His bungalow,was not occupied and was locked and there were murmurs that it was haunted.

During the times when it rained heavily, the drains would overflow, and the boys (of all races I must add) would run and jump into them and letting the muddy water flow over their bodies and pretend that the were 'shooting the rapids'. We had no idea of hygiene, cleanliness and safety except as young boys we were always on the lookout for 'fun' things to do. The screams and shouts of joy are what I remember the most. Such were the carefree days of past Singapore life.

We can never go back there again.