Memoirs of a 'kampung'-like life

Kampung, meaning village.

As you walk through the town, you will often see familiar faces, same people often doing the same things for years.

Take for examples, "H1" and H2". H1 & H2 are busses...busses that have gone around driving school kids to and from school for a decade or two now. I boarded H1 everyday for 8 years from kindergarden through to the end of primary school.

In this 'kampung', the groceries comes to us. Every morning, 'Mr lifeless' comes on a motorcycle with meat in a metal container. Then, between 11-12, Ah Keong comes to house #44 in a truck with vegies, eggs, tofu, spices and fishes. During special occasions, he might even bring goodies like biscuits for sale! And around 6.15 pm everyday, the Angel bread truck passes by with freshly baked bread. Now, how's that for convenience? :)

Mum use to wake Al & I up early on a Saturday morning to go to the market. We would stroll out of home in our pj's (we were only v. young), it wasn't a problem at all. I remember the live chickens that they use to kill on the spot for sale. Gory, but fascinating!

While Saturday mornings are good, the afternoon was dreadful - filled with tears and tantrum. I am referring to piano lessons. We were nightmares to every teacher in the music school :) Only Juliet could accept as we are. We must have left quite an impression because she remembered us years & years later!

In a small town like Sri Muda, school choices are limited. So, you’re bound to grow up with the people around you, and for some of us, it is kindergarden through to high school and beyond!
School was good and is a bit of a boot camp, depending on how you look at it. Some teachers and a great bunch of friends made it memorable. On the other hand, imagine this:

- " perhimpunan" (weekly assembly) was a bit of a drag… 800 or so students lining up, in height order, and with even spaces. Oh, did I mention that the "pengawas" (prefects) go around checking that you have got clean shoes, shirt tucked in and the ‘correct’ hairstyle and hair accessories (black/blue/white only). Talking in an assembly also carries the result of humiliation: being forced to stand in the front of the whole assembly.
- If the teacher doesn't fancy your haircut, he'll give you a very gross snip in assembly & you'll have no choice but to get a haircut after school.
- The students’ works very hard to keep the classes clean, so that they can retain the "cleanest class" trophy and be proud of the achievement. We have a weekly roster to sweep the floors, dust down the windows, straighten the tables, clean the board, ...
- When talking to a teacher, you need to raise your hand and get the permission to stand up.
- You need a pass/permission slip to go to the toilets!
- The list goes on...and on and.... (Having said all that, it did teach discipline and to some extent respect)

Having lived in it for 15 years, some things are hard to forget... and why should they be forgotten - they are good memories! A totally different life to what it is in Sydney. It's great being able to live on both sides of the world.

Only another week before Al & I "balik kampung"!