Perhaps the recent move in houses makes this the appropriate series to reflect on. I am finding change gets harder and harder with age. It seems acceptance is a muscle that loses its youthful flexibility. Guess that is why they say to keep stretching; one must include, imagination, and comfortable boundaries. Reading has taken a back seat this month. Martini fueled meditations are at the wheel…
The “Balik Kampung” series, six in all, are a colourful collection of short stories on Singapore by various local authors, edited by Verena Tay. The submission call included a caveat; the writers must have lived in the area they write of, for more than a decade! This parameter set the tone; these stories are not fleeting impressions, but reflections of change.
For Singapore to morph into the citadel of modernity, changes have happened rapidly, intensely, and all within a generation; it is no wonder there is a strong sense of nostalgia here for such a young country. In The Bush by Woon Chet Choon,we read of a bush where a prize winning fighting spider nest was found by local school boys, only to have it torn down, not by their rival gang, but without passion – by a bulldozer. In The Snakes of Seletar by Carol Chan,the narrator recalls not seeing the pythons or king cobras in the jungly paths anymore, begging the reader to imagine the secret mass culling. Many of the stories include wonderful titbits of history mixed with local lore. Some include the violent past of Japanese rule. Modern time stories bring up issues of domestic abuse, mental illness, and the aging population.
The series is the embodiment of living memories – remember, we often live longest in our childhood home and “balik kampung” means just that in Malay: going home.
“Like on a road trip, I long to know what lies at my new destination. But first, I need to decide where I’d want to stop. In all the time in the world that I still have, I’m hankering for my awareness of sky.”
-The Great Dying by Yong Shu Hoong
“Kok Seong’s last ex-girlfriend had educated him that rolling his eyes in response to other people’s earnest attempts to make ‘small talk’ was socially unacceptable behaviour. He settled for the invisible alternative – tightening and releasing his sphincter for one long beat, then a short beat, then a long beat – the universal signal for S.O.S., in the ass.”
-Peace is a Foot Reflexology Parlour by Joshua IP
“Forgiveness is no longer a pill worth swallowing when it sours your stomach with acid and bloats you with resentment. It is in the heartlands that the heart breaks.”
-Better Places by Jollin Tan
JohannaAirth 
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