Josephine Chia - Goodbye My Kampong!

Reading this book was like spending a weekend in intimate conversation with a good friend. While savouring the pages, I wanted to shout, hear hear as Josephine Chia expressed sentiments concerning kampong life, family relationships, technology, politics and inevitable change. As an expat in Singapore, I am truly appreciative of the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of this tiny countrys roots. Many readers will see that their memories strongly align with those of the authora poignant reminder that borders and oceans have little significance when considering mankinds commonalities. Thank you, Josephine Chia, for sharing your passion, and for enriching your readers levels of historical awareness.

~ Margaret Johnson (Teacher and librarian from Australian International School)

An evocative presentation of bitter-sweet memories. The loss of strong community relations prevalent in a multicultural kampong, in exchange for desirable housing with necessary facilities, is sad. The scarcity of land in an island state, a burgeoning population, and the need for rapid economic and societal development regrettably necessitated the loss of some of Natures gifts, such as lakes with fishthe price of progress!

Josephine Chias fortitude and drive in rising from her humble beginnings to provide us with a clear record of the colourful cultural history of early Singapore is most impressive.

~ Raja Arasa Ratnam (Former resident of Singapore, and author of four books on immigrant integration)

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with.

If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please consider getting your own copy from ethosbooks.com.sg. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

GOODBYE MY KAMPONG! POTONG PASIR, 1966 TO 1975
Josephine Chia, 2017

ISBN 978-981-11-5038-8 (Print)
ISBN 978-981-14-3256-9 (E-Book)
Published under the imprint Ethos Books
by Pagesetters Services Pte Ltd
#06-131 Midview City
28 Sin Ming Lane
Singapore 573972
www.ethosbooks.com.sg
www.facebook.com/ethosbooks

The publisher reserves all rights to this title.
Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

The work herein refers to and discusses historical matters in connection with a Singapore location and does not, and should not be construed in any way as referring to or creating any association with the current owners, tenants, occupants, customers, visitors or their related affiliates and any such express statement or imputation is disclaimed. This work documents a past which is no longer linked to the present, except as a matter of historical record.

This is a book of memory, and memory has its own story to tell. The book reflects the authors memories of experiences as much as recollection permits and/or can be verified by research at press time. Some names and characteristics have been changed, some events have been compressed, some dialogue have been recreated and some names have been changed to respect the privacy of individuals.

COVER DESIGN by Ben Lai
LAYOUT AND DESIGN by Pagesetters Services Pte Ltd
PRINTED by Ho Printing Singapore Pte Ltd

2 3 4 5 6 21 20 19

First published under this imprint in 2017

TYPEFACE: Cormorant, Bell MT
MATERIAL: 80gsm GHS Ivory Woodfree

National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing in Publication Data
NAME(S): Chia, Josephine.
TITLE: Goodbye, my kampong! : Potong Pasir, 1966 to 1975 / Josephine Chia.
DESCRIPTION: Singapore : Ethos Books by Pagesetters Services Pte Ltd, 2017.
IDENTIFIER(S): OCN 1007791514 | ISBN 978-981-11-5038-8 (pbk) | ISBN 978-981-14-3256-9 (ebk)
SUBJECT(S): LCSH: Communities--Singapore--Social life and customs. | Urban renewal--Singapore--History. | Economic development--Singapore--History. | Country life--Singapore--History. | Potong Pasir (Singapore)--Social conditions--History.
CLASSIFICATION: DDC 307.762095957--dc23

We are going to have a multi-racial nation in Singapore. We will set the example. This is not a Malay nation; this is not a Chinese nation; this is not an Indian nation. Everybody will have his place: equal; language, culture, religion.

Lee Kuan Yew
Founding Prime Minister of Singapore
Excerpt from a transcript of a press conference at
Broadcasting House, Singapore, 1965

About Ethos Books

Giving voice to emerging and exciting writers from diverse backgrounds, we help foster an environment in which literature and the arts not only survive, but thrive.

Thats why our authors and their ideas come first. By taking a collaborative approach to publishing, we bring each authors voice and vision to fruition.

We are always open to new ideas: different ways of working and fresh ways of delivering the unparalleled satisfaction only a good book can bring.

Established in 1997, Ethos Books, an imprint of Pagesetters Services Pte Ltd, aims to create books that capture the spirit of a people and reflect the ethos of our changing times.

Visit us at www.ethosbooks.com.sg

Preface

M ANY of my readers wanted to know what happened after 1965, the last chapter in my book, Kampong SpiritGotong Royong: Life in Potong Pasir, 1955 to 1965, which won the Singapore Literature Prize for Non-Fiction in 2014. They wanted to know: When did kampong life end? How did it end? What happened to the villagers who had lived there? So, I am writing this book to answer those questions and also to lay my kampong life to rest.

For many, the exodus and transition from kampongs to Housing Development Board (HDB) flats was difficult, painful and emotional. Writing this book does not mean that I, or the kampong folks, did not approve of the move or of modernisation. On the contrary, we welcomed progress, rejoiced in the new creature comforts offered to uslike flush toilets, electricity and running water. And yet, inevitably, we were also human and thus grieved for the loss of a way of life which would be impossible to replicate.

At that stage, we couldnt imagine Singapore becoming the Singapore of today, catapulted into international renown as a First World country, with housing and job opportunities for everyone, easy availability of food, a safe and clean country, free from political strife. This was the dream of our great visionary, first Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew, who made that dream come true. Because the majority of people in my generation had suffered extreme poverty and deprivation, and the fact that Mr Lee and his team took us out of those dire circumstances meant that our generation unashamedly admired and respected him. It did not mean that we agreed with all his policies, but we knew that whatever he did, he did with the interest of the country and the people in his heart. As he himself once replied when asked about what he gave up to build Singapore, What did I give up? Just my whole life.