I went back to our old HDB flat in Clementi sometime back last month. I’ve gone back there a couple of times before, always to reminisce the nice old memories and the carefree days back when I was a child. This time round, I took the chance to take some snapshots of these memories so that I can keep them with me forever.
Our unit was a small 3-room flat, including two bedrooms, two toilets, one kitchen and a living room. My two brothers and I shared a bedroom together. Both of them shared a double bunk bed while I slept on a mattress on the floor. We used to fight a lot, but we also played together and played made believe games together a lot. My favourite was the make believe where one of my brothers acted as a thief and tried to rob the rest of us. We probably were watching too many episodes of Crimewatch back then. What else could we do but watch TV programmes last time?
The image above shows the view that we get to enjoy every time we opened the window from our bedroom. The bedroom was situated along the corridor, so that’s the view you get when you look up from the corridor. It’s quite nice actually, as the view used to be clear of all the skyscrapers. Also, it was great to be looking out with the strong wind trying to push past you as the wind used to blow into our bedroom. We didn’t have a lot, but we found many different, simple ways to make ourselves happy.
From the image, you could also see that Yusof Ishak Secondary School, which is now the International Community School, used to be located at Jubilee Road. I remember the government used to run ‘rationing exercises’ and we had to go to this school to queue up to collect our buckets of water and dry food packs. There were also frequent power blackouts – these blackouts were great fun. It affected not just our unit but the entire neighbourhood, so the entire corridor, block, and neighbourhood would become pitch black. The second the lights and television died, out came all the candles, torch lights and full blown games of ghost in the dark. We always knew exactly where the torch lights were kept because these blackouts were quite frequent. Our imagination streamed endlessly because we had nothing else to do. The Gen Z and Gen Alpha should really get through a weekend of this as well – no Wi-Fi, no air-con, just two buckets of water and a candle. They might not be able to survive past five minutes without their TikTok stream though.
The basketball court below our block of flats was always teeming with life. Everyone played basketball after school and for leisure back then, in the evenings on weekdays and throughout the entire weekends. Even though we stayed on the eleventh floor, we could hear the balls being slammed on the backboard above the rim of the nets, the sound of the balls bouncing and teenagers shouting to each other during the game plays. My brothers often joined in these games as well. It was a nice neighbourhood and I loved that it was so lively. Presently, where we stay, I don’t hear any balls bouncing anymore, but rather, pickleballs ‘popping’ around. I’m not so upset by the sound though, and I’m guessing it’s because I grew up getting used to the ‘sound of sports’ and life. If you ask me to choose, I would definitely choose the one I had over a neighbourhood that’s rich yet spooky quiet and lifeless.
Above left: corridor along our old flat unit; above right: common area at lift lobby
Above image is a view that I used to see when I looked out from our kitchen window, through the metal grills. I have loved to sketch since I was young, so the sketch on the right was an attempt to sketch my neighbouring block located across the road, when I was around ten years or so? Gone are the metal grill. You can also see that almost all the flats have installed air-con units as well.
