Nostalgia ....

A wave of nostalgia has been sweeping over me lately. I do not know if it is due to the fact that I am with an older guy, who has lived a full decade before me, or whether I am reflecting on the modernisation of society which unfortunately, stops giving favours to things of old.

But whatever it was, I found myself wandering around Chinatown one night, thinking of all the old toys and games and candies which I used to have when I was young, but now they are no longer available. Or rather, no longer available at most stores. One may still be able to find them at stores which have been left over from the early days though, and even those are a rarity now.

I was reminiscing about the things of old - how I miss the White Rabbit brand of milk candy that I love so much, but now can hardly see any of it anymore; how I grew up watching "Smurfs" and "Sesame Street"; how some friends spent part of their childhood in a kampung (small village that comprised of zinc-roofed or attap huts which were quite a sight about half a century ago), which soon gave way to high-rise flats and factories.

I guess my parents have more to remember since they have actually seen how the sixties and seventies era were like, whereas by the time I was born, there were no more kampungs left except for areas which were sparsely populated and still developing.

I wonder how the early flats were like. The first housing estate was built as early as the late 1950s. I never had a chance to live in a real housing estate as I have never lived in a flat before, so the oldest flats I have seen were those that were built in the seventies, and even then, they have been renovated so the old flavour was no longer there.

My parents used to live in shophouses where one shophouse consisted of a few families living under one roof together. My dad's family and relatives lived together, and my mum's entire family lived together. Often when there were no room and space, my dad had to sleep in the corridor, and my mum had to sleep on the floor.

But it was good as there was unity, and my parents still keep in touch with all the other relatives who are now scattered all over the island and some overseas even. Whereas I do not even know if I can even stay in touch with my cousins once all of us are married with our own families and the older generation has passed on.

Anyway I was roaming around Chinatown as I thought that would be the place to get the White Rabbit candy. And I was right! I went up and down Chinatown, before I finally found it in a provision shop tucked behind some other shops. Chinatown has also lost its flavour somehow after the massive renovation due to the construction of the train station.

I finally found the candy! There were only a few packets left so I just grabbed all. The shopkeeper actually smiled at me and told me that not many people buy this candy anymore. I said it is still my favourite candy (besides chocolate of course).

I went home, found some empty cans that used to hold New Year goodies left behind from Chinese New Year, and started arranging the candy inside. I am going to give my colleagues at work tomorrow. I really hope they will like it!

Now what I want to know is where can I still find the triangular shaped cloth-bound things which we used to play "five stones" with? Or marbles? Especially multi-coloured marbles that were so priceless in the past?

Or sago seeds? I used to collect sago seeds as there was a tree outside my grandmother's house (before her house was renovated) and whenever the wind blew, red sago seeds would come flying in and scattering all around.

My cousins and I used to have a competition on who could find the most number of sago seeds so we would go prowling around the grounds of my grandma's house looking for the sago seeds. She never minded as it would save her all the sweeping and cleaning up.

Sago seeds are called "love seeds" when translated from Chinese. Apparently, the more seeds you collect, the more likely your Prince Charming will come, or so I was told. I remember picking up all the sago seeds, putting them into a bottle, and seeing the bottle filling up, and dreaming of my own true love to come.

When we moved house about more than twelve years back, that bottle was the first to be thrown away by my mum, together with my entire seashell collection. I collected the shells from those beach resorts we went to in Malacca, Penang, Sydney and Batam.

I thought I could collect enough shells and make them into jewellery or something in the future, but my mum threw away most of my collection, especially the bulkier items. I was only allowed to keep my stamp collection, sticker collection, badges collection, coin collection, soft toys and books and clothes of course.

Now I regret letting my mum throw away my sago seeds and seashells. The sago seeds can now be a valuable item, not that I would ever want to sell away because it contained a lot of memories. The seashells can be made into jewellery as the shell necklaces and bangles are so in right now, and I can easily set up a push cart or something and market them.

But modern society brings changes, some good and some bad. I have not much complaints about my life now. Although if I am to make a choice, I will hope to live life of the past, where everything is simpler, and people are more innocent and carefree, instead of the high stress and nastiness one sees nowadays.